Drug News

Crack – UK
Six arrested over crack cocaine finds – BBC News

Six people have been arrested following discoveries of crack cocaine in two areas of Aberdeen.

Cocaine – Scotland
Court appearance over £75,000 cocaine haul – NEWS.scotsman.com

A MAN appeared in court yesterday charged in connection with the discovery of £75,000 of cocaine.

Heroin Overdose – Michigan
Kalamazoo man pleads no contest in death of Amy Bousfield – KALAMAZOO NEWS

PORTAGE — Curtiss Odell Thompson pleaded no contest Friday for his role in the heroin overdose death of 18-year-old Amy Bousfield nearly two years ago.

Underage Drinking – Florida
Spring Break Teen Tragedy: How Safe Are Your Children? – abc GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Promising Teenage Football Player Dies After Intoxicated Fall from Hotel Balcony

Tainted Drugs – UK
Merseyside Police warning over dangerous drug batch – BBC News

Police have issued a warning after all three people experienced symptoms such as excessive confusion, agitation, fitting and nausea.

Drug Bust – Australia
Illicit drug haul in Newtown: children exposed to drug fumes – The Medical News

In a shocking report a Newtown, Sydney couple have been arrested and charged with exposing their young children to fumes while they were allegedly cooking drugs in their unit. The police raid also found illegal drugs like amphetamines, pseudoephedrine tablets, marijuana and syringes.

Meth – Michigan
Trail from meth found at gas station leads to Lawton man – Kalamazoo News

ANTWERP TOWNSHIP — A Lawton man on probation for maintaining a methamphetamine lab was arrested Sunday on new drug charges, police said.

Military Drug Use – UK
Is the Army losing its war against drug abuse? – The Independent

More than 6,000 soldiers have failed drugs tests over the past decade, an investigation by The Independent has found. Figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show that the main drug of choice for military personnel has been cocaine, with a fivefold increase in the number of soldiers failing tests for it between 2000 and 2008.

Drug Violence – Mexico
Mexico game preserves hope to lure back U.S. hunters leery of drug wars – azcentral.com

Across Mexico, drug violence is putting a damper on efforts to attract American hunters, a form of tourism that ranchers and the government have been trying to encourage in recent years as a way of bringing jobs to rural parts of the country.

Drunk Driving – New York
Drunk driver sentenced for killing pedestrian in NY 12 years ago before fleeing to Ecuador – Thaindian News

NEW YORK CITY (BNO NEWS) – A New York man was sentenced after hiding in Ecuador for more than ten years, prosecutors said Friday.

Prescription Drug Abuse – Minnesota
Pharm Party Awareness – KAAL-TV LLC

(ABC 6 NEWS) — When you think about drug abuse, you probably think of things like marijuana, cocaine, and meth. But the drugs being abused most often these days are far more accessible, and Minnesota cities and counties are fighting back.

Meth – Oregon
New script for Sudafed? – Stateline.org

Oregon raised eyebrows in 2005 when it became the first state to require a doctor’s prescription for tablets of Sudafed, Claritin D and several other common cold and allergy medicines. Intended to stop production of crystal meth — which is made with a decongestant found in those medicines — the law was panned by some as a huge hassle.

Drug Trafficking – USA
Michael Douglas In ‘Vanity Fair’: I Put Career Over Fathering Cameron – The Huffington Post

Michael Douglas covers the new Vanity Fair and inside he opens up about his son Cameron, who faces at least ten years in prison for trafficking meth, and trying to get fatherhood right the second time around with his family with Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Marijuana – USA
AP IMPACT: Drug Gangs Taking Over US Public Lands – abcNEWS/U.S.

Not far from Yosemite’s waterfalls and in the middle of California’s redwood forests, Mexican drug gangs are quietly commandeering U.S. public land to grow millions of marijuana plants and using smuggled immigrants to cultivate them.

Drug Overdose – USA
Three Cave Creek girls sent to hospital for overdose – azcentral.com

Three middle-school girls in Cave Creek were transported to a hospital Friday afternoon, after they apparently overdosed on Tylenol cold medicine while at school, according to Deputy Chief Frank Salomon of the Phoenix Fire Department.

Drunk Driving – Australia
90-year-old loses licence for speeding, drunk driving – Thaindian News

Melbourne, Feb 28 (IANS) A 90-year-old man lost his driving licence in Australia’s Victoria state after he was clocked over-speeding and detected with double the alcohol limit, police said.

Meth – USA
Great-grandmother gets 5 years on meth charges – The Associated Press

A Northern California great-grandmother has been sentenced to prison after being convicted on methamphetamine charges.

Heroin – USA
Abington Heights drug policy working, officials say, but heroin problem remains – thetimes-tribune.com

Two years after Abington Heights School District officials began responding to a growing heroin problem, statistics show a slight drop in the number of students in trouble over drug and alcohol abuse.

Drugs & Alcohol – World News
Safety Information for American Students Traveling Abroad – eNewsChannels

Washington, DC /eNewsChannels/ — As spring and summer breaks approach, many students are getting ready for a trip abroad. The majority of students traveling abroad will have safe and enjoyable adventures. However, even with the best-planned trips, things can go wrong. Each year, more than 2,500 American citizens are arrested abroad – about half on narcotics charges, including possession of very small amounts of illegal substances.

Meth – USA
States mull Rx rule for meth ingredients – USA Today

State and local efforts to thwart methamphetamine production by further limiting consumer access to a popular decongestant are pitting law enforcement against pharmacists and patients.

Heroin – Vietnam
Vietnam to execute four over heroin  – AAP News Limited

A court in northern Vietnam has sentenced four men to death for trafficking heroin.

Heroin – UK
‘Babies born to heroin addicts deserve a fresh start in life’ – Telegraph.co.uk

Addicts who won’t give up heroin while pregnant should have their children removed.

Marijuana Bust – USA
743 pounds of pot found in septic-tank truck – azcentral.com

The Department of Public Safety says 743 pounds of marijuana was found inside the tank of a septic truck.

DUI Testing – USA
Prosecutors: Flawed DUI Tests In Springs Double – TheDenverChannel.com

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The number of flawed Colorado Springs police DUI tests has doubled to 167 since a crime lab audit last year discovered that some blood-alcohol results were inflated, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported

Meth Lab – USA
Meth Lab Found In Kentucky Home – kypost.com

WILDER, KY — Police and investigators from the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force found materials used in the production of methamphetamine at a home on Hillside Drive in Campbell County.

Drug Rehab – Cambodia
Rights Group Alleges Cambodian Drug Rehab Centres are Torture Chambers – MeDIndia

Detainees at Cambodian government-run drug rehabilitation centres suffer “sadistic violence” such as electric shocks, forced labour and rape, a human rights group said Monday.

Marijuana – USA
Major Drug Bust in Berks County – WPMT-TV

Police Seize 100 lbs of Marijuana

Methamphetamine – USA
Prescriptions Required for Cold Medicine? – About.com Alcoholism

Losing the battle against methamphetamine abuse, many states have passed laws requiring pharmacies to place cold and allergy medications behind the counter. Other states require photo identification from anyone purchasing medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient in making meth.

Cocaine – USA
Woman accused of smuggling cocaine, pot – United Press International, Inc.

NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities allege a Guyanese woman was caught trying to smuggle 54 pounds of cocaine through a New York airport.

DUI – USA
Woman Sentenced To Prison For 4th DUI – The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — A Fremont woman who was caught driving drunk with her 5-month-old baby in the back seat has been given 15 to 36 months in prison.

Marijuana – USA
Pot And Pop: New Research Finds Stronger Link Between Music And Marijuana Use Among Teens – Medical News Today

Teens who frequently listen to music that contains references to marijuana are more likely to use the drug than their counterparts with less exposure to such lyrics, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study online now in the journal Addiction.

GBL – UK
GBL Causes Death Of One Londoner – Thaindian News

The outlawed drug, Gamma Butyrolactone has claimed a life on Wednesday.

Drugs – UK
Positive Signs That Teenagers Increasingly Shun The Most Problematic Drugs, UK – Medical News Today

More teenagers in England who need it are receiving help for problems involving drug and alcohol use, but fewer have problems severe enough to require treatment for addiction, new national statistics reported on Wednesday by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA), show.

Prescription Drugs – USA
US stars are falling victim to prescription drugs – The Observer

Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has finally admitted he has a drug problem. Given the rock star’s legendary excesses of the past, such a move might not seem surprising. But there was more to Tyler’s decision last week to check himself into rehab than first meets the eye.

Meth – USA
Ind. police hope new database will help fight meth – Chicago Tribune

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Police hope a new electronic database for tracking sales of cold medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine will help curb Indiana’s meth problem.

Drug Testing – UK
Drug tests catch out 10 police – Andover Advertiser

Ten Scotland Yard officers were caught using illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis over the last year.

DRUGS – USA
Wyoming Libraries Get Drug Prevention Book – Join Together

The Wyoming Department of Health has purchased a copy of a new book about raising drug-free kids for every public library in the state.

ALCOHOL – USA
Recurrent Breast Cancer Risk Raised by Smoking, Drinking – Join Together

Breast-cancer survivors have a 120-percent greater risk of suffering a second breast cancer if they continue to smoke, while daily drinkers face a 90-percent increase in risk of cancer returning, according to researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

METH – USA
Feds join Wyoming Meth Project fight against drug – KULR News

The federal government is joining with the Wyoming Meth Project in a media campaign to encourage people to avoid the drug.

METH – USA
Feds join Wyo. meth fight – Wyoming Tribune

The federal government is joining with the Wyoming Meth Project to fight one of the state’s nastiest drugs with a media campaign of its own.

DRUGS – USA
New meth formula avoids anti-drug laws – Sand Mountain Reporter

The new formula, called “shake and bake,” is a simpler recipe requiring a two-liter soda bottle, cold pills and chemicals. The maker shakes the bottle and the result is highly addictive meth in powder form.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Sheriff Rambosk: Prescription drug abuse becoming an ‘epidemic’ – Naples Daily News

They are found in a friend’s medicine cabinet or purchased in a local pain clinic. Prescription drugs have eclipsed street narcotics as the most common abused drug in the state, not including alcohol, and the most lethal.

DRUGS – USA
Peoria County Drug Related Deaths Rise Over Last Year – Central Illinois Proud

The Peoria County Coroner’s Office is seeing a rise in the number of drug-related deaths.

ALCOHOL – USA
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day – VOXY Radio News

The message the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) is sending this International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum (FASD) Disorder Awareness Day, is that drinking even a small amount of alcohol during pregnancy is not worth the risk.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Abuse of prescription drugs dips – USA Today

Fewer people abused prescription drugs last year than in 2007, reversing an upward trend in abuse of potent painkillers such as Oxycontin, a federal drug survey found.

ALCOHOL – UK
Young People Fuzzy About Drinking Limits –Medical News Today

325 students completed a questionnaire that tested their understanding of government guidelines on drinking thresholds. The results showed that the students overestimated what constituted binge drinking.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Fighting prescription drug abuse – Access North Georgia

Law enforcement officers from six northeast Georgia counties are in Hiawassee today to learn new ways to fight prescription drug abuse.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Presentation focuses on ensuring prescription drugs are taken safely – The Jackson Citizen Patriot

Three Albion-based pharmacists will lead a presentation to help people learn about potentially dangerous combinations of prescription medications.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Maine Bill Tries to Tackle Prescription Drug Abuse – The Exception Magazine

The Maine legislature is holding a work session today on LD 1193, “An Act To Establish Uniform Protocols for the Use of Controlled Substances.” The bill aims to close loopholes which may facilitate prescription drug abuse in Maine.

ADDICTION – USA
Families Play a Vital Role in Addiction Recovery – Trans World News

When addiction to drugs or alcohol strikes, the situation can seem hopeless. The addict may make promises to “cut down” or quit that he or she just can’t keep. But that is the nature of addiction.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Awareness Month protecting our children – Arizona Silver Belt

April is Alcohol Awareness Month. Did you know that Alcohol kills more kids than all other drugs combined?

ALCOHOL – USA
Meeting will address providing alcohol to underage drinkers – Herald Time Reporter News

A town hall meeting to address the consequences of providing alcohol to underage drinkers will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. April 22 in the auditorium at Two Rivers High School, 4519 Lincoln Ave. A variety of presenters will discuss the legal, financial and social responsibilities people accept when they provide alcohol to those under 21.

METH – USA
Methamphetamine tied to abnormal brain development – Reuters

In children who were exposed to methamphetamine during pregnancy, MRI findings suggest that alterations in the maturation of white matter occur, according to a report in an online issue of Neurology.

DRUGS – USA
Study: More whites, fewer blacks going to prison for drugs – CNN News

For the first time since the war on drugs became a national law enforcement obsession in the mid-1980s, the number of African-Americans in state prisons for drug offenses has declined, a criminal justice reform organization said.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
FDA Stops Firm from Marketing Unapproved Cold Medicines – Drug Discover and Development

Federal regulators have secured a court order barring a New Jersey pharmaceutical company from distributing more than 50 unapproved cough and cold medicines.

DRUGS – CANADA
Local substance abuse meetings prove a success – Revelstoke Times Review

A series of presentations by Dan Reist of the Centre for Addictions Research of BC, an organization based at the University of Victoria, drew a solid turnout this week.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Silent Killer: prescription drug overdoses killing more people than car accidents, shootings, or stabbings – WPEC TV News

“There are more people in this county that die of drug overdose deaths than die from homicide, suicide and motor vehicle fatalities,” said Palm Beach County Sheriff’s detective Gary Martin, who oversees all investigations of overdose deaths.

DRUGS – USA
Abuse of over-the-counter cold medications top methamphetamine – Press Enterprise

Cough and cold medicines are available at any grocery or drug store, but parents and teens shouldn’t think they’re completely safe, says Deb Beckwith, a contractor with La Vista Prevention Services in Hemet.

METH – USA
Salt Lake PD launches new ads for Meth Initiative Campaign – KSL TV News

The Salt Lake City Police Department’s Meth Initiative has launched a new public awareness advertising campaign for 2009. Revolving around the “know more… kNOw DRUGS” theme, the ads started appearing on UTA buses and TRAX trains this month.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol may increase breast cancer risk – Tampa Bay News

Researchers say it’s a level of consumption that has been associated with low risk of harm. But many previous studies have found that alcohol appears to increase not only breast cancer, but other cancers as well.

ALCOHOL – FRANCE
France moves to ban sale of alcohol to minors – International Herald Tribune

French lawmakers passed an amendment Monday to ban the sale of alcohol to minors, part of an effort to tackle the rise of binge drinking in a country known for a relaxed attitude toward a little libation.

ALCOHOL – USA
France moves to ban sale of alcohol to minors – Houston Chronicle

The change, if passed in its final form, could mark the beginning of a cultural shift. The French are among the world’s top consumers of wine but proud of their tradition of moderation. And some give their children watered wine with dinner from a young age.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Rx drug abuse a teen epidemic here – Staten Island Advance

At first glance, the numbers seem jarring — 21,000 prescription painkillers put into the hands of teens and young adults, bought and sold by a makeshift cabal of nearly two dozen Staten Islanders, most in their early 20s.

PAINKILLER – DENMARK
More girls attempt suicide with painkillers – Copenhagen Post

New figures from the National Patient Registry obtained by Politiken newspaper show a substantial increase in the number of teenage girls being admitted to hospital after an overdose of painkillers.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Abuse: Part One – KAUZ News

Texoma is facing growing drug problem. Experts say more residents are becoming addicted to prescription and over-the-counter medications.

ALCOHOL – USA
Binge drinking summit – ABC News

Dr Nelson is convening a four hour summit on binge drinking in Canberra today, with about 20 people from various interest groups.

ALCOHOL – USA
College chiefs urge new debate on drinking age – CNN News
College presidents from about 100 of the nation’s best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.

ALCOHOL – UK
Deaths by drugs or drink ‘are now run of the mill’ – Wales Online

A CORONER who has overseen the spate of apparent suicides in a Welsh community said drug and alcohol deaths had gone from non-existent to “run of the mill” during his time in the role.

DRUGS – UK
Drugs fuel admissions to Bristol hospitals – This is Bristol

More than 280 people were admitted to hospitals in the Bristol area due to drug problems last year, according to new figures.

ALCOHOL – UK
Binge drinking is turning Britain into ‘Wild West’ – Telegraph

The Tory leader claims a culture of excess is “taking over our streets” and many areas were now “uninhabitable”.

ADDICTION – USA
Recovery Month Planning Materials Now Available Online – Pushing Back

Recognizing that addiction to drugs is a treatable disease and that recovery is possible, ONDCP has supported innovative and effective programs designed to help expand the availability of treatment services.

METH – USA
A New Weapon Against Meth Abuse – US News and World Report
The federal drug czar’s office has shown preliminary interest in a new Internet-based program from an Australian maker to track pharmacy purchases of pseudoephedrine, which can be abused to make methamphetamine.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Dangers of Prescription Drug Abuse – WSIL TV News

More people are getting high by abusing prescription pills. An expert on prescription abuse is in our region to talk about the dangers of the drugs and prevention.

ALCOHOL – UK
Excessive alcohol use linked to fertility problems – Telegraph

Excessive drinking has been linked to having children later in life, possibly because alcohol damages fertility, scientists have suggested.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Survey: Youngsters Can Procure Prescription Drugs Easier Than Beer – eFluxMedia
More youngsters say it’s easier for them to get prescription drugs than it is to acquire beer, shows a new survey released today by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

PRESCRIPTION – CANADA
Teens Illegally Access Prescription Drugs – Ontario Now

A new study has revealed that nearly 34 percent of today’s teenagers are engaged in some type of prescription drug abuse.