Drug News

Crack Cocaine – USA
Police confuse candy for crack – United Press International, Inc.

New York police are refusing to apologize to two men arrested for drug possession and held for a week over what turned out to be a bag of candy.

Drug Rehab – Cambodia
Report Details Torture in Cambodian Drug Rehab Centers – SPHERE

Drug rehabilitation centers in Cambodia are being used to torture and extort money from detainees, according to a report released Monday by the international human rights group Human Rights Watch. The group alleges that the government-run detention centers are not rehabilitating drug users but instead holding them illegally, often at the request of inmates’ families.

Heroin – USA
Pair in Colorado Springs busted with “balloons” of heroin – DenverPost.com

Police in Colorado Springs acting on a tip arrested a suspected drug dealer and buyer who were driving around with 60 balloons containing heroin.

Heroin – Scotland
Anthrax claims eighth drug addict victim in Scotland – DailyRecord.co.uk

THE number of drug addicts who have died after being infected with anthrax has risen to eight, officials said today.

Underage Drinking – USA
Drunk 15-year-old caught for hit-and-run crash – ColoradoConnection.com

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — An unlicensed, drunk 15-year-old boy was caught by Colorado Springs police officers after he allegedly drove southbound in the northbound lanes of Academy Boulevard Saturday night, then managed to speed onto I-25 with officers in pursuit.

Alcohol – India
Man beaten to death in west Delhi – Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) A man was beaten to death and his younger brother was severely injured by four allegedly drunk men when the duo objected to their urinating on their house’s wall in west Delhi, police said Saturday. One of the assailants has been arrested.

Drug Addiction Help – USA
Ex-drug addict helps others in need in Ky. – heralddispatch.com

SOMERSET, Ky. — Ashlee Steele doesn’t fit the stereotype of a drug addict. At 24, she’s well-spoken, beautiful and friendly — a former cheerleader who is now a wife and mother.

Drunk Driving – USA
Hawthorne, NY officers arrest man for driving drunk with children – Thaindian News

Maureen Montero, 42, was arrested with aggregated Driving While Intoxicated charges under Leandra’s Law, a felony to drive intoxicated with children under the age of 16 in the vehicle.

Underage Drinking – USA
Eugene, OR police arrest teen for drunk driving after causing a head-on collision – Thaindian News

Oregon State Police arrested a Eugene, Oregon resident on Sunday for drunk driving after a two-vehicle crash that resulted in serious injuries to a woman.

Drugs – UK
Teenagers steer clear of drugs – Swindon Advertiser

FEWER teenagers in Swindon are needing treatment for drug addiction especially for heroin and crack abuse.

Drug Abuse – USA
Drug abuse in US prisons is tough to stamp out – The Buffalo News

Richard Pillajo, a wellness education officer at a Florida state prison, strayed beyond his job description, according to investigators who arrested him last year. He allegedly planned to smuggle cocaine, marijuana and hydrocodone pills to inmates for a payoff of $2,500.

Heroin – USA
Westbury Parents Arrested for Heroin Sale – Long Island Press

Nassau police officers searching the car of a Westbury husband and wife arrested for attempting to make a drug sale found the couple’s sleeping toddler and a supply of heroin in her diaper bag.

Alcohol – Germany
Young German Kids Binge Drinking Youth – MedIndia

Binge drinking among young people in Germany has risen sharply over the past decade, statistics showed Tuesday, with the number of 10 to 20 year-olds hospitalized almost tripling.

Drugs – Mexico
Mexican Navy Kills Top Cartel Kingpin In Shootout – The Associated Press

CUERNAVACA, Mexico (AP) – Two hundred Mexican Navy marines stormed an upscale apartment complex and killed a reputed drug cartel chief in a two-hour gunbattle, one of the biggest victories yet in President Felipe Calderon’s drug war.

Drug Trafficking – Africa
Drug Trafficking, Use Spreading HIV/AIDS In Kenya – Medical News Today

Drug trafficking and use are fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya, according to a recent report by the U.N. Security Council…

Crack Cocaine – Brazil
Brazil Succumbing to the Scourge Of Crack Cocaine – MedIndia

In rags and bare feet, they walk through Sao Paulo’s dilapidated city center like ghosts. Some beg for change that goes straight to purchasing the drug that has wasted away their bodies as surely as it has their personalities, their futures and their sense of self-worth.

Zoloft – USA
Neb. inmate loses appeal in lawsuit blaming Zoloft – TheState.com

LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska inmate serving time for his girlfriend’s murder likely won’t be able to pursue his lawsuit against the makers of Zoloft. Randall Robbins II filed his lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. and his former doctor in June, blaming the widely prescribed antidepressant for influencing his behavior.

DUI – USA
10 Year Old Flees Car; Mom Charged With DUI – Young Broadcasting, Inc.

A Fredericksburg mother is facing several charges after allegedly driving drunk with her 10-year-old daughter in the vehicle.

COCAINE – INDIA
Cocaine Use on the Rise, but Heroin Down – Med India

Official figures provided by the National Treatment Agency show that while use of heroin or crack has come down in young people, use of cocaine is on the rise.

ALCOHOL – USA
ADF Tackles Binge Drinking Head On, Australia – Medical News Today

The Australian Drug Foundation is responding to the binge drinking problem in Cairns by rolling out its Good Sports program across North Queensland – a program committed to reducing alcohol related problems in sporting clubs.

DRUGS – UK
Revealed: Drug users in Scotland spend £1.4bn every year to feed their habits – Daily Record

Scotland’s drug users are spending an astonishing £1.4BILLION a year to feed their habits. And the drugs scourge leaves the nation with a £3.5billion annual bill. The harrowing scale of the illegal drugs industry was revealed yesterday in a new Government report.

ADDICTION – USA
Seeking Addiction Treatment Makes All The Difference – Trans World News

Affluent addiction victims typically seek the services of luxurious private treatment facilities. Unfortunately, that search is often impeded by a lack of information from and about exclusive rehab centers.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Risks of Opioids for Arthritis Outweigh Benefits – ABC News

Older folks looking to find relief from painful arthritis should steer clear of codeine, OxyContin and other powerful prescription “opioid” painkillers, even if their pain is severe, doctors advise in a report published this week.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Time To Trash Your Old Prescription Drugs – KETV News

Sarpy County officials plan to collect old prescription drugs from residents this weekend with no questions asked.

ALCOHOL – USA
Truck Crashes Way Down Since Alcohol Testing Began – Join Together

There have been 23-percent fewer alcohol-related truck crashes per mile in the U.S. since commercial truck drivers were required to submit to alcohol testing beginning in 1995.

ADDICTION – UK
Fewer young addicts seek treatment – The Press Association

The number of young adults seeking treatment for heroin and crack addiction has fallen significantly. But cocaine use appears to be on the increase, data from the NHS’s National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) shows.

ALCOHOL – USA
Teens Look to Parent Openness for Drugs, Alcohol Advice – ABC News

Teens say hearing about their parents’ experiences with drugs and alcohol would make them less likely to use the substances themselves, according to a new study.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Operation Medicine Cabinet: Old prescription drugs can get tossed – safely – The Morning Journal

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office is hosting its first prescription turn-in program on Oct. 24 in an effort to get drugs off the streets and out of the water supply. Fourteen drop-off locations for the Operation Medicine Cabinet program will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

COCAINE – UK
Addiction to cocaine among young doubles in four years – Times Online

The number of young people addicted to cocaine has nearly doubled in four years as dependence on heroin or crack declines, NHS figures suggest.

HEROIN – USA
D.E.A.: Heroin Problem Growing in St. Louis Area – St. Louis FOX News

Heroin deaths are close to double than what they were this time last year. Drug Enforcement Agency agent in charge, Harry Sommers says the increase in deaths can be attributed to an increase in the intensity of heroin being sold on the streets.

ALCOHOL – USA
Military Families Targeted by New Prevention Campaign – Join Together

A trio of organizations is sponsoring a new campaign intended to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse among the children of military families.

ALCOHOL – USA
Mandatory Tests Cut Alcohol-Related Truck Crashes – ABC News

The risk of alcohol-associated crashes involving truck drivers has declined about 23 percent since the US implemented mandatory alcohol testing for commercial truck drivers, researchers estimate.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Misuse Among the Elderly: An Opportunity for Prevention – American Journal Psychiatry

Current census estimates predict that by the year 2020, 18% of the population will be 65 years or older. As most adults in this age group have health care needs, it is vital that clinicians are competent in identifying and intervening in the most common health issues among older adults.

METH – USA
“Shake And Bake” Meth Continuing Problem In Oklahoma – KFDA News

Lawmakers in Oklahoma are looking to the public to find ways to reduce the “Shake and Bake” Meth labs.  “Shake and Bake” Meth is made by mixing cold pills and certain chemicals together in a two liter soda bottle.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescriptions for controlled substances up in Kentucky – The Leaf Chronicle

Prescriptions for high-powered narcotics are on the rise throughout most of Kentucky, a sign that abuse of those drugs may also be increasing, according to a report released Wednesday.

COCAINE – UK
Hope For Crack Cocaine And Heroin Users – Sky News

The two A-class drugs are known to cause serious and enduring harm to both addicts and the community at large, through a miserable cycle of addiction and crime.

ALCOHOL – USA
Italy Grapples with Rising Binge Drinking Among Youth – Join Together

The romantic notion of Italian children sitting down with their families over a bottle of wine at dinner is being replaced by a harsher reality common elsewhere in the Western world: crowds of rowdy, binge-drinking youths causing havoc downtown.

DRUGS – USA
In Some States, More Die from Drugs than Car Crashes, CDC Says – Join Together

Rising rates of prescription-drug overdoses have propelled drug-related fatalities to the top of the accidental-death list in a growing number of states.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
PSA Targets Teens Who Abuse Prescription Drugs – KSWT News

A new video aims to highlight the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, and it all comes as experts report an increase in pill popping among teens.  A commercial spot by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America takes place in a morgue, and it’s supposed to be a sobering reminder that abusing prescriptions can be deadly.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Pain Pill Addiction: 6 Tips From a Mother Whose Son Overdosed – US News and World Report

Seeing a family member struggle with addiction to prescription painkillers can be tough, especially when it’s your child.

MARIJUANA – USA
Be alert for marijuana or meth ‘trash’ – Carroll County Comet

Hunters taking to the woods, farmers harvesting and many people taking walks through the woods or along county roads should be alert for evidence of methamphetamine labs or marijuana growing operations.

DRUGS – USA
Drug kits ‘invasion of privacy’ – The Ashburton Guardian

The $225 kits can give a drug history of a child for the past 90 days from taking around 90 to 120 strands of hair cut off at scalp level and sending it to a lab. The hair is then tested for seven illegal drugs; marijuana, cocaine, opiates such as codeine and morphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and PCP (Phencyclidine).

METH – USA
Pictures of ‘meth mouth’ show teens drug’s dangers – Honolulu Advertiser

In just a couple of school presentations so far this year, speakers from the Hawaii Meth Project have discovered that gruesome photos of an extremely painful condition called “meth mouth” send a more vivid anti-crystal methamphetamine message to Hawaii’s teenagers than any statistics or warnings from adults.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescriptions now biggest cause of fatal drug overdoses – USA Today

Addiction to prescription painkillers — which kill thousands of Americans a year — has become a largely unrecognized epidemic, experts say. In fact, prescription drugs cause most of the more than 26,000 fatal overdoses each year.

DRUGS – USA
ADHD Madness – The Jewish Journal

In my past life of teaching special education and practicing as a child therapist (ok, not my past life, but many moons ago), I have seen far too many children “drugged” to make their teachers’ jobs easier.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Medicaid: Prescription Drug Abuse Rampant – Trans World News

A recent report by the government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed Wednesday that millions of dollars are being spent by Medicaid to buy addictive prescription drugs which are abused.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
FDA issues dosage alert for Tamiflu prescriptions – News OK

The Food and Drug Administration is asking doctors and pharmacists to be alert for dosing errors with the oral version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
New Prescription Drug Research Shows Bad Reaction in Children – WTVY News

New research shows more than half a million children have bad reactions from prescription drugs. Children younger than age five are most commonly affected. Penicillin and other prescription antibiotics are among drugs causing the most problems.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Use Can Lead To Relapse – Trans World News

Narconon also has a unique method of handling substance abuse on two levels. First through a detoxification program that removes drug resides from the body and reduces physical drug cravings to tackle and physical aspect. Then, Narconon uses an approach that raises the ability of the individual by giving them life skills to help keep them off drugs permanently.

HEROIN – UK
Heroin use a ‘national crisis’ - drugs group – RTE

Heroin use is now a national crisis, according to a group that provides assistance to drug users and the homeless.

HEROIN – USA
Meth Abuse Down – Heroin On the Rise – CBS News

Heroin killed seven people in Jefferson County in 2007, but the drug is being blamed for sixteen deaths so far in 2009.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office made a huge heroin bust earlier this year. Lt. Randy Christian says dealers are trafficking more heroin because of a nationwide clamp down on ephedrine, the raw material needed to make meth.

HEROIN – IRELAND
Heroin use a ‘national crisis’, says charity chief – Irish Times

HEROIN USE has become a national crisis, the chief executive of drug addiction and homelessness charity Merchants Quay Ireland has said.

COCAINE – USA
Tainted Cocaine Raises Health Risk Concerns – FOX News

At Minnesota Poison Control, they’re on the look out for a deadly side-effect you won’t find on any warning label. The problem is with powder and crack cocaine, laced with a drug called levamisole.

COCAINE – AUSTRALIA
Ice usage down, cocaine usage up: research – ABC News

New research has revealed there has been a dramatic fall in the number of people using the drug ice in Australia. But the drop has coincided with an increase in the use of cocaine. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has today released its 2009 statistics on illegal drugs.

ALCOHOL – USA
Campaign targets military teens’ alcohol, drug use – The Associated Press

Concerned about drug and alcohol use among teens in military families, three organizations are undertaking an online educational campaign on Wednesday to encourage parents and children to talk about substance abuse.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Interlocks Are Gaining Traction – New York Times

Earlier this month, in response to a Wheels post on the increase in arrests among women driving under the influence, one reader wrote that in Australia drunken driving is addressed much more aggressively than in the United States.

ALCOHOL – USA
Commentary: Drinking age of 21 saves lives – CNN News

The national policy that set a minimum legal drinking age of 21 is being questioned by a group of 135 college and university presidents through an effort called the Amethyst Initiative.

ADDICTION – NETHERLANDS
Teenage cannabis addiction on the rise – Expatica

The number of Dutch under-18s addicted to cannabis is on the increase. Many of them begin smoking pot regularly at age thirteen, and get into such difficulties that they have to be admitted to a rehab clinic.

COCAINE – USA
Cocaine’s detrimental effect on the cardiovascular system – Staten Island Advance

After marijuana, cocaine is the second most used illicit drug in the United States. It has been shown to have many detrimental effects; many of these effects involve the heart.

COCAINE – USA
DEA Warns of Tainted Cocaine; But it’s Government’s Fault – Opposing Views

This week the federal government warned that “substantial levels of cocaine” may be contaminated by levasimole hydrochloride, an anti-parasitic agent used in animals that kills white blood cells, leaving people vulnerable to potentially fatal infections.

COCAINE – USA
Crack Cocaine: Danville’s drug of choice – Madison Messenger

Crack cocaine breaks all social, economic and racial barriers as dealers supply addicts in affluent neighborhoods and impoverished housing projects.

METHADONE – USA
Oklahoma authorities say methadone use on the rise – KFSM News

Oklahoma authorities say the number of people dying from methadone use is growing. Last year, 110 people in Oklahoma died from either methadone overdoses or overdoses in which methadone was used in combination with other drugs.

ADDICTION – USA
Russia Heroin Addiction “Spreads Like Wildfire” – Addiction Inbox

Last week, both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times declared that heroin addiction has reached epidemic proportions in Russia. However, Soviet drug enforcement officials have a plan: They have called on the United States to defoliate Afghanistan.

ADDERALL – USA
Adderall abuse not worth it in the long run – Chicago Flame

Now that the semester is well underway all us students have reached that big hurdle of surviving the first round of exams for the classes we have. Even though the college life is a high-pressure lifestyle many students are capable of making the grade through honest studying and dedication.

HEROIN – USA
Young and Suburban, and Falling for Heroin – New York Times

The kids weren’t all right. They lived in the same comfortable Long Island town and were barely in their teens when they took their first hit of marijuana or sip of alcohol, propelling them on dark journeys they couldn’t seem to escape. Within a couple of years, they were in heroin’s grip.

DRUGS – USA
Drug abuse large part of crime in North Port – Sarasota Herald Tribune

A police report to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows violent crimes essentially level compared with 2008, and property crimes such a burglary dropped by 9 percent.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin: More Than A Big City Problem – NBC News

It’s no longer thought of as just a “big city problem.” Heroin is showing up in smaller communities all over our area. Mt. Horeb is known for a lot of things. Heroin would probably not be one of them. But police are seeing it here as well. And just like other areas in south central Wisconsin, it’s got their attention.

ALCOHOL – USA
Women and Men in Drug Rehab or Alcohol Treatment – Trans World News

Studies and surveys conducted by various state and federal agencies have shown that the ratio of males to females who enter drug rehab or alcohol treatment is 2.3 to 1 respectively. Recent census data indicates an almost even number of men and women in the US.

METH – USA
The dangers of methamphetamine – Richmond Register

Representatives of state and federal law enforcement agencies gathered with media members in an airplane hangar Wednesday morning to discuss the rise in methamphetamine production.

DRUGS – USA
Substance Abuse Treatment Facilitator Locator – SAMHSA

To locate the drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs nearest you, find your State on the map below and click on it.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Study urges action to get patients to follow prescriptions – Boston Globe

Patients who do not take their medications as prescribed pay a price in poorer health, more frequent hospitalizations, and a higher risk of death.

DRUGS – USA
Drugs 101: Introduction to Marijuana – Examiner

When I was in high school, so many, many years ago, marijuana was the drug of choice. Cocaine was around, but it was expensive. Speed was available, as was LSD and mushrooms, all cheap and easy to obtain. Methamphetamine, crack cocaine, MDMA, GHB and ecstasy, were not around yet.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
1 in 5 teens shares prescriptions – USA Today

About 20% of U.S. teens exchange prescription drugs such as antibiotics and allergy medications with friends, a practice that can be dangerous and potentially deadly, warns a new study.

ALCOHOL – UK
Reducing Drinking And Preventing Relapse Using A Synthetic Derivative Of The Kudzu Vine – Medical News Today

Kudzu and its extracts and flowers have been used in traditional Chinese folk medicine to treat alcoholism for about 1,000 years.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Nine out of 10 want alcohol health warnings – Australia News

A vast majority of Victorians support the placement of health warnings on alcohol products, a VicHealth survey has found.

ALCOHOL – USA
Local College Requires ‘Alcohol-Wise’ Course for Freshmen – KYW News Radio

It’s summertime, but new freshmen at Rowan University are already taking their first test. Rowan University is requiring 1,700 incoming freshmen to pass an online course on the dangers and consequences of alcohol use.

ALCOHOL – UK
Daily alcohol limit ‘unhelpful’ – BBC News

Daily limits on alcohol consumption are meaningless and potentially harmful, experts have warned.

COCAINE – UK
Don’t understate the dangers of cocaine – Times Online

The so-called “normalisation of cocaine use” by middle-class users somehow implies that this group — which largely uses powder cocaine— is immune to the dangers faced by users in deprived communities who smoke “crack cocaine”.

HERION – USA
Heroin abusers number rising – The Straits Times

Heroin has reclaimed its place as the drug of choice among addicts here after a hiatus of six years, when it trailed behind party drugs and then Subutex.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller addictions not uncommon: Prescription drug use can turn into a “vicious cycle,” rehab experts say – Rome News Tribune

The role prescription drugs might have played in the death of pop icon Michael Jackson has put the spotlight on a problem that ranges from Hollywood to Floyd County.

CANNABIS – FRANCE
Scientists find cannabis trigger for forgetfulness – AFP

Researchers said they had pinpointed the biochemical pathway by which cannabis causes memory loss in mice.

CANNABIS – SPAIN
Link between cannabis and memory loss explained – Think Spain

A team of scientists at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona have identified the specific part of the brain affected by cannabis and the mechanism by which it causes memory loss, one of the least desirable side-effects of the drug.

PAINKILLER – USA
One in 10 High School Seniors Have Used Narcotic Painkillers – US News and World Report

Pain relief isn’t the main reason why one in 10 high school seniors have tried opioid drugs, a new U.S. study finds.