Drug News

ALCOHOL – SOUTH AFRICA
Alarming increase in drug, alcohol abuse – The Herald Eastern Cape

THE number of people who sought advice and treatment for alcohol and tik (methamphetamine) addiction rose by 100 per cent from April last year to March this year.

ALCOHOL – USA
If under 21, alcohol, drug offenses to be reported to parents – Knoxville News Sentinel

Some Tennessee college students may think being 18 means freedom from parent oversight. Those in state schools will need to rethink that assumption.

DRUGS – PAKISTAN
World Anti-Narcotics Day observed – The Nation

Since independence several intoxicating items have been introduced in the country, however, besides heroin, opium and chars, the injections are the newest and easily product available at medical stores, revealed by the experts while commenting on the eve of “International Anti Narcotics Day.”

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Overdose deaths jump 147% in Indiana – Indianapolis Star

The number of Hoosiers who died from drug overdoses increased 147 percent from 1999 to 2004, a trend driven by the growing abuse of prescription medications, according to a new study.

DRUGS – INDIA
‘Awareness needed to curb drug abuse among kids’ – Express India

Why do so many chemists throw caution to wind while selling Schedule-H drugs without prescription?

DRUGS – USA
Calif. Drug-Reform Initiative Approved as Addiction Groups Choose Sides – Join Together

The state of California recently gave final clearance for the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA) to appear on the November ballot, but some prominent groups in the addiction community have come out in opposition to the measure, fearing its national implications.

PAINKILLER – USA
As FDA Focuses on Safety, Fewer New Drugs Are Approved – The Wall Street Journal

Why are new drug approvals tapering off? For one, there’s the industry’s research labs, which have produced a leaky pipeline of promising products lately.

DRUGS – USA
PDFA Joins Pharma Co. to Warn Against Prescription Drug Abuse – Join Together

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) has joined with the Abbott pharmaceutical firm to sponsor a new campaign against teen prescription-drug misuse.

HEROIN – IRELAND
Children as young as 14 using heroin – Irish Examiner

CHILDREN as young as 12 years of age are abusing drugs and by the time they reach 14 many are addicted to heroin, a study of teenagers in the Dublin region has found.

CANNABIS – UK
Australian Medical Association Launches Publication On Health Risks Of Cannabis Use – Medical News Today

To coincide with Drug Action Week 2008, the Australian Medical Association today launched a brochure about the short and long-term effects of cannabis use.

OPIUM – KENYA
World losing battle against drug abuse: UN – Daily Nation

The world seems to be losing the battle against the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs, a UN report has warned.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller Deemed Dangerous by Advocacy Group – HULIQ
Some painkillers may do more harm than good. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, is pushing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban a prescription painkiller chemically known as propoxyphene, citing the dangerous risks it poses to consumers.

CANNABIS – UK
Teenage cannabis use revealed – Scotsman

MORE than a quarter of teenagers have tried cannabis by the age of 15, Government figures have found.

CANNABIS – PAKISTAN
Cannabis — a fast emerging health problem in Pakistan – The News International

In Pakistan, the youth comprises more than 20 per cent of the population but unfortunately it is the worst target of drug abuse, as almost five per cent of adult population in the country uses drugs.

DRUGS – USA
Heroin, marijuana use on rise – Glendale News Press

Heroin and marijuana are the most commonly used drugs in Glendale and are primarily being sold to teens, according to police.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcohol is making women fat – The Daily Telegraph
As women catch up with men in the drinking stakes, their waistlines are also catching up with the beer belly, according to health experts.
DRUGS – UK
Drug Treatment Programs Influenced By State Policies – Medical News Today

State policies have a significant impact on the services performed by substance abuse treatment programs, and could play a key role in efforts to expand the use of research-based “comprehensive” treatment approaches, reports a study in the June issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol Abuse More Common In Insured Patients, Drug Abuse In Uninsured – Medical News Today
Fourteen percent of patients admitted to hospital have alcohol/drug abuse and addiction (ADAA) disorders, the costs for which have risen sharply in recent years, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

METH – USA
County’s Meth Task Force continuing efforts – Hudson Hub-Times

The Summit County Methamphetamine Property Awareness Task Force has agreed on a form to help coordinate the documentation of discovered meth labs on a county-wide level.

METH – USA
False positives are common in drug tests on new moms – Los Angeles Daily News

Hospitals’ initial urine- screening drug tests on pregnant women can produce a high rate of false positives - particularly for methamphetamine and opiates - because they are technically complex and interpretation of the results can be difficult, some experts say.

ALCOHOL – USA
Anheuser-Busch ends sales of alcoholic energy drinks – Central Valley Business Times

Anheuser-Busch Inc. is ending sales of its alcoholic energy drinks, including Tilt and Bud Extra, and says it will not produce any caffeinated alcohol beverages in the future.

DRUGS – UK
The 26th Of June International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking – Medical News Today

The 26th of June International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was established by the United Nations in 1987. In its 2006 edition, the UNODC launched an anti-drugs campaign entitled “Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs.”

OPIUM – UK
Opium, cocaine threaten Africa and Europe - UNODC – Summary – Earth Times

The surge in opium and cocaine cultivation last year has negative effects on the drug control situation in Africa and Europe, the head of the UN drug agency said

CANNABIS – UK
28% of pupils admit trying cannabis – The Press Association

More than a quarter of teenagers have tried cannabis by the age of 15, Government figures show. Nearly a fifth of 13-year-olds have been in a fight, while 12% admit to having shoplifted, the study said.

ALCOHOL – USA
Anheuser-Busch will stop alcoholic ‘energy’ drinks – CNN News

Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. will reformulate its alcoholic energy drinks to remove caffeine and other stimulants they contain as part of a nationwide legal settlement.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Pill Deaths Continue – Tampa Tribune

Three times more Floridians died from prescription pill abuse last year than from a fatal overdose of an illegal drug.

METH – USA
Free home meth test kits at Superday – Wyoming Tribune
Up to 250 testing kits will be provided free at Superday to tenants or property owners concerned about prior methamphetamine use or laboratories in their residence.

ALCOHOL – KENYA
Revealed: Students drowning in alcohol – Daily Nation

The devastating effects of alcohol and drugs on young people in Kenya can be laid bare today.

ALCOHOL – KENYA
Industry invests millions to curb alcohol abuse – Daily Nation

It was not until four years ago that the country’s alcoholic beverage manufacturers stepped up efforts to encourage responsible drinking.

ALCOHOL – INDIA
Alcohol linked to brain damage – Times of India

You might not just realize this while downing a mug of chilled beer on a summer afternoon, but a new study has revealed that too much alcohol can cause permanent damage to brain.

PAINKILLER – USA
Group Sues FDA in Effort to Ban Painkiller – Washington Post

A prescription painkiller sold under names including Darvon and Darvocet is too risky to stay on the market, a consumer advocacy group argued in suing the Food and Drug Administration.

ALCOHOL – USA
NIAAA Publishes Guidelines on Physician Alcohol Interventions – Join Together

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has published new advice for physicians interested in “Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much.”

HEROIN – USA
Oregon fears heroin is tempting more kids – The Oregonain

In the wake of Oregon’s crackdown on methamphetamine, police say, heroin has become a cheaper, more plentiful alternative, especially for kids tempted to venture beyond marijuana and alcohol.

PAINKILLER – USA
Public Citizen Sues FDA for Failure to Act on Darvon – Consumer Affairs

Public Citizen sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today for failing to act on its petition to withdraw Darvon, Darvocet and all drugs containing propoxyphene gradually from the market as is now required in the United Kingdom.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Help needed to fight prescription drug abuse – Times-Mail

Clear realities and a big question have come from the newspaper’s six-day look at prescription drug abuse in Lawrence County. The most basic reality is this: Prescription drug abuse kills.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescriptions Killed More Floridians Than Street Drugs In 2007 – Injury Board

A report released this week by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission, concludes that prescription drugs killed more Floridians in 2007 than illegal drugs.

METH – USA
Meth Dangers to Propane – KARK TV News

Methamphetamine producers are now using propane tanks to store harmful chemicals, something experts say could have deadly consequences.

ALCOHOL – USA
Random alcohol testing proposed for Chicago police officers who fire their weapons – Chicago Tribune

On-duty Chicago police officers and any officers who shoot their weapons, on or off-duty, would be required to submit to random alcohol tests under a contract proposal sent to the union.

ALCOHOL – UK
Supermarket alcohol price cuts ‘fuelling binge drinking’ – Telegraph

Some best-selling drinks now cost 20 per cent less than they did a year ago, new figures reveal.

ALCOHOL – CANADA
Putting a price on alcohol abuse shows a simple first step – Vancouver Sun

No one doubts that alcohol abuse is a major social problem. The evidence — public disorder, drunk driving, failing health and broken homes — confronts us every day.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcopop alarm on children in country areas – Melbourne Herald Sun
Paramedics are reviving 12-year-olds passed out on the streets of rural Victoria after drinking alcopops, a Senate inquiry was told yesterday.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Doctor urges better community alcohol education – ABC News
A Bendigo health emergency specialist says better community education is needed to help curb the number of people admitted to hospital due to alcohol-related problems.

CANNABIS – NEW ZEALAND
Cannabis at highest potency in 30 years – The New Zealand Herald

Marijuana potency increased last year to its highest in more than 30 years, says a report released by the White House.

ALCOHOL – UK
Are British Youth Drinking And Bingeing More? – Medical News Today

The UK Youth Alcohol Action plan was released in June - targeting alcohol use by underage drinkers. The report cites encouraging evidence.

ALCOHOL – UK
How To Save $1 Billion And 800 Lives In Canada – Medical News Today

The economic burden of alcohol abuse costs each Canadian $463 per year. In fact, the direct health care costs for alcohol abuse in Canada exceed those of cancer.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Proposal Expands – WEEK TV

It’s one class project that’s stretching way beyond school grounds. Students at Pontiac Township High School developed the Prescription Drug Disposal Program about five months ago.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse rising among youth – Union Democrat

Alcohol has long been the cornerstone of youthful experimentation. More and more, teens and young adults are tapping into those child-safe orange bottles as an additional means to a high.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
5 Ways to Avoid Prescription Drugs – Stop Aging Now

Before you get that prescription filled, consider what lifestyle changes you could make, first. Just these five changes can make a big difference in your condition or your risk.

METH – USA
Report: Valley teens’ attitudes about meth are changing – ABC TV News

It’s hard not to notice the billboards around the Valley. You know, the ones showing methamphetamine addicts in all their glory, sores on the mouths, rotted out teeth and skin aged beyond their years.

METH – USA
Acoma hosts meth awareness meeting – Cibola County Beacon

It isn’t here in full force, but it will be. It is methamphetamine and it will not let you go once it takes hold.

MARIJUANA – USA
Marijuana more potent than ever – Los Angeles Times

Marijuana is more potent than at any time since scientific analysis of the drug began in the 1970s, according to a report from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project.

MARIJUANA – UK
US report says Marijuana strength increasing – Telegraph

Marijuana strength has increased to its highest levels in more than 30 years, according to a report by scientists.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says – The New York Times
From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.

ALCOHOL – USA
Most Binge Drinking Takes Place in Public, Involves Beer – Join Together

About half of all binge drinking takes place in public and in large groups, increasing the risk of injury, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

DRUGS – USA
Students Get the ‘Dirt’ on Drugs – Join Together

A Boston based actor and comedian who performs an irreverent one-man show on drugs and making good choices has become a hit with young audiences.

ADDICTION – USA
More research planned into whether exercise can help prevent addiction – WDBJ News
Studies in both humans and animals suggest that exercise may help prevent drug or alcohol addiction. The government is pumping more money into research to find out.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Popular prescriptions can cause dependence – Whittier Daily News

Physicians prefer the term “dependence” because it describes withdrawal symptoms rather than depravity. Problems with withdrawal don’t occur only with drugs of abuse. Many prescription medications can cause unpleasant symptoms if they are stopped suddenly.

DRUGS – USA
Arlington officials identify drug found in drinking water – KDBC News

Drinking water in Arlington, Texas, tested positive for trace concentrations of the anti-anxiety medication meprobamate. That’s what city officials revealed today in response to a series of public records requests.

METH – USA
Prosecutor Warns About Propane Tanks Used For Meth – WLWT TV News

The Hamilton County prosecutor is asking the public to keep an eye on any propane tanks they buy for their grill this summer.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Binge-drinking linked to increase in harm – News.com.au
BINGE drinking is being blamed for a dramatic increase in alcohol-related harm among young people.

ALCOHOL – UK
Brain protein cuts excessive alcohol drinking – Telegraph

The new approach is remarkable because it prevented relapse - the common tendency found in sober alcoholics to easily return to heavy drinking after just one glass.

METH – USA
Two-thirds of Glenn eighth-graders know someone who uses methamphetamine – Enterprise Record

Though a survey recently completed in Glenn County shows low student methamphetamine use in the middle-school population, it also shows nearly two-thirds of those questioned know someone who uses.

METH – USA
Chinese Now Dominate ‘Ice Distribution’ In Northern Marianas – Pacific Magazine

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Claudio K. Norita and Police Sergeant Alfred Celes, in a press briefing, said Chinese nationals have pushed out the Japanese, Filipinos and locals who used to dominate the distribution of crystal methamphetamine.

COCAINE – UK
High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine-taking – Cambridge Network

Many individuals take addictive drugs at some point in their lives – not just illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin, but also legal and commonly available substances such as alcohol and nicotine.

COCAINE – CANADA
Cocaine use rises after three years of decline – Canada Free Press

COCAINE use among young people in Britain is on the rise after three years of decline, a survey showed last week.

METH – USA
Drug measures: Success of Montana Meth project unclear – Southern Idaho Business
It’s been nearly three years since images of strung-out teens flooded Montana primetime TV as part of the statewide Montana Meth Project aimed at warning kids of the dangers of methamphetamine.

ALCOHOL – CANADA
Wine uncorks challenge to beer as alcohol drink of choice: StatsCan – CBC

Beer continues to be Canada’s top alcoholic drink, though a growing number of consumers are favouring wine, according to a Statistics Canada report released Monday.

ALCOHOL – BULGARIA
Bulgaria, Germany Rank First in Europe in Alcohol Consumption – Sofia News Agency

The Bulgarians and the Germans occupy the first place in Europe in the consumption of hard liquor.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin addiction is on the rise in New York State – am New York

Heroin addiction in New York, which ravaged city neighborhoods in the 1970s, has been creeping up again, officials said.

COCAINE – UK
Researchers Learn More About Cocaine Related Brain Damage – Medical New Today

When mothers use cocaine during pregnancy, the exposure of the developing brain to the substance can cause specific neurological and behavioral abnormalities.

DRUGS – USA
Baby Boomers Continue Recreational Drug Use in Senior Years – Join Together

One-third of the U.S. population was born during the Baby Boom — the years 1946 to 1964 — and many Boomers grew up using drugs and may be continuing to do so.

METH – USA
Meth workshop raises questions, starts conversation – Willits News

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman brought his town hall meeting on the dangers of methamphetamines to Willits last Thursday night, airing a 19-minute video presenting an overview of the meth problem in Mendocino County, which also showed how to use a simple drug testing kit Allman and the sheriff’s office are distributing as part of their meth awareness program.

ALCOHOL – USA
Taking Steps to Ensure First Legal Drink Isn’t the Last – Join Together

Heavy drinking has become a dangerous tradition for individuals celebrating their 21st birthday and experts say that more needs to be done to prevent tragic alcohol overdoses.

ALCOHOL – USA
Reality TV: Upcoming Segment on Alcohol on PBS’ Teen Program ‘In the Mix’ – Join Together

It’s true: What you don’t know CAN hurt you! In the Mix, the national PBS program for teens and by teens, takes a hard look at drinking with hard facts.

ADDICTION – USA
Exercise may fight addiction – The Enquirer

New approaches for treating and preventing drug addiction range from low-tech - regular exercise - to high-tech such as experimental vaccines aimed at helping to prevent former drug users from relapsing.

ALCOHOL – UK
Online Booze Tracker Can Help Beat Cancer – Medical News Today

If you find it difficult to keep track of just how many glasses of wine you’ve consumed during the week, help is at hand thanks to Cancer Research UK.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Proper disposal of prescription medications – Battle Creek Enquirer

The Calhoun County Medicine Abuse Prevention Task Force of the Substance Abuse Council, in collaboration with the Calhoun County Public Health Department, encourages everyone to take advantage of the June 7th Hazardous Waste Collection in Marshall. In addition to old flashlight batteries, pesticides, or car cleaner, Calhoun County residents can drop off any unused prescription medication.

DRUGS – USA
Study Finds Link Between Amphetamine Abuse, Heart Attacks in Young Adults – Health News Digest

Young adults who abuse amphetamines may be at greater risk of suffering a heart attack, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

ALCOHOL – UK
TEENAGERS CAN GET ALCOHOL AS EASY AS A COKE – UK Daily Express

THE alarming state of Boozy Britain and the menace of underage drinking was yesterday laid bare by a police chief.