Drug News

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.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Scams Happening in the Ozarks – Ozark First

It’s not exactly what the doctor ordered, but a scam involving prescription drugs is making its way through several Ozarks communities.

DRUGS – UK
Orthodox community steps up its anti-drugs campaign – The JC

A strictly Orthodox charity is planning to step up its campaign over the next few weeks to educate its constituency about the risk of drugs.

METHADONE – USA
Methadone Rises as a Painkiller With Big Risks – The New York Times

A synthetic form of opium, it is cheap and long lasting, a powerful pain reliever that has helped millions. But because it is also abused by thrill seekers and badly prescribed by doctors unfamiliar with its risks, methadone is now the fastest growing cause of narcotic deaths.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin Becoming Local Drug of Choice – WSAZ News

Heroin, one of the deadliest drugs in the country, is taking a toll locally — quickly becoming the drug of choice.

HEROIN – UK
Red alert for heroin users – Evening Telegraph

Heroin is cut with other substances to maximise dealers’ profits and whatever red heroin has been cut with creates new and potentially fatal risks. The drug, off-red in colour, crystallises quickly in the syringe so addicts must shoot up quickly.

ALCOHOL – USA
CADCA Survey Finds Alcohol Top Problem Facing Communities – CADCA

According to CADCA´s 2007 Annual Survey of Coalitions, 68 percent of community anti-drug coalitions across the country ranked alcohol as the number one problem facing their community.

METH – USA
New Publication Offers Strategies to Tackle Methamphetamine Abuse – CADCA

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 5.8 percent of the U.S. population aged 12 or older have abused methamphetamine (meth) at least once in their lifetimes.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Cocktail in a pocket entices teen drinkers – Sydney Morning Herald

ShotPak is a line of alcoholic beverages that comes in shot-sized, laminated-foil plastic pouches reminiscent of the drinks American children pack in their school lunches.

HEROIN – UK
Addicts warned over red heroin – The Courier

POLICE IN Tayside fear that deadly “red heroin” may have reached the region—and warned addicts to stay away from the contaminated substance.

DRUGS – USA
Latest Drug Trends Show Rampant Heroin Abuse – News Radio WTVN

The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug-Addiction Services has released its biannual report on the latest drug trends across the state.

ADDICTION – SOUTH AFRICA
Addiction to potentially deadly drug Cat surging – Weekend Post

SCHOOLS, businesses and nightclubs in Nelson Mandela Bay are fast falling prey to a new and potentially deadly designer drug called Cat, which is becoming the latest craze among teens and young adults.

PAINKILLER – USA
Finding the right substance abuse rehab for you! – Trans World News

Every substance abuse treatment center offers nominally different rehab programs for different types of addiction. Too often, though, the differences between those programs are only superficial, and the benefits of them are, in practice, nonexistent.

METH – USA
AG steamed over ‘meth coffee’ – World Net Daily

You can “chew them whole, snort the powder dry, cook it over a lighter and huff,” a San Francisco-based Meth Coffee company claims, but Illinois Attorney-General Lisa Madigan is brewing with anger over a marketing campaign that she says promotes drug use.

ALCOHOL – USA
Recovery Month Toolkits Available Now – Join Together

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).

DRUGS – USA
Drug-related deaths in Utah reach a new high – KSL TV News

A report from the state medical examiner says drugs killed 519 people in Utah last year. That breaks the previous record of 485. The report also shows a disturbing and growing trend: Prescription drugs are now behind the majority of drug-related deaths in Utah.

HEROIN – USA
As the price of heroin drops, the drug is attracting younger users – Farmingham

The first time he dabbled with the drug he was a teen in the late 1960s, when a bag of heroin was about $30-$40 per bag, he recalls.

ALCOHOL – USA
OHSU working on drug that takes the pleasure out of drinking alcohol – KPIC

Oregon Health & Sciences University is developing a drug that could take the buzz out of drinking alcohol, raising the question of whether alcoholism could be cured with a simple pill.

COCAINE – UK
UCSF Study Shows That Cocaine Addiction Is Linked To Voluntary Drug Use And Cellular Memory – Medical News Today

Rats that voluntarily use cocaine show a persistent cellular memory in the brain’s reward center even after several months of abstinence from the drug, while their involuntary counterparts had no such memory, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

COCAINE – UK
New Study Finds Persistent Brain Changes In Response To Cocaine Depend On The Expectation Of Reward – Medical News Today

Drug addiction dramatically shifts a person’s attention, priorities, and behaviors towards a focus almost entirely on seeking out and taking drugs.

HEROIN – UK
Most Scots think alcohol is worse than heroin – Sunday Herald

A majority of Scots think alcohol is the drug that causes most harm to society, newly published survey results show. Some 51% of respondents to a module from the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2007 said alcohol was the drug which causes most problems for Scotland, compared with 22% who said heroin and 9% who said tobacco.

DRUGS – USA
Drug-related deaths hit new high in Utah – Salt Lake Tribune

Even as the state is trying to reduce the number of drug-related deaths, Utah has set another record for people killed by pills, powders and needles.

METH – USA
Crystal Methamphetamine - The New Drug of Choice – American Chronicle
Crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice, crank, glass and shards, is today’s street drug of choice.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drugs May Increase Falls Among Seniors – NBC News

University of North Carolina researchers have released a list of prescription drugs that may increase the risk for falls among seniors who take at least four medications on a regular basis.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription for Disaster – Injury Board

A recent study shows that prescription medication related deaths have drastically increased in the last two decades.

METH – UK
Warning over crystal meth – The Press Association

Ireland must pull together to stop the drug crystal meth ravaging the country, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy warned.

METH – IRELAND
Crystal meth explosion feared – Limerick Post

Limerick must prepare itself for an explosion of crystal meth abuse, and put measures in place to prevent large scale addiction, a city councillor has warned.

METH – USA
Meth Coffee fails to amuse Madigan – Sun Times

“Parody or not, it’s still glorifying drug use and it’s sending a terrible message,” said Madigan’s spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler.
PRESCRIPTION – USA
Report Underscores Fatal Risk of Combining Prescriptions, Other Substances at Home – Join Together

While medication-related fatalities in clinical settings have long captured the attention of researchers and health authorities, skyrocketing rates of deaths at home from combining medications and other substances have gone largely unnoticed

HEROIN – UK
Heroin batch death risk warning – BBC News

A warning has been issued to drug users about poor quality “red heroin” circulating in southern Scotland.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Girls smoke dope just as much as boys – The Age

While men in their 20s and 30s are still more likely to smoke the drug than their female counterparts, the gender difference has disappeared among teenagers.

DRUGS – UK
Rapid rise seen in fatal medication errors at home – The Associated Press

Deaths from medication mistakes at home, like actor Heath Ledger’s accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds.

DRUGS – UK
Mexico battles drug addiction – United Press International

Health officials report drug addiction is a growing problem in Mexico since the government’s crackdown on cartels and stepped-up U.S. border enforcement.

DRUGS – USA
Drug-abuse backlash in Mexico – Arizona Republic

Mexico confronts a growing problem with drug addiction, a phenomenon that some experts blame on the Mexican government’s crackdown on drug cartels and stepped-up U.S. border enforcement.

HEROIN – USA
Student heroin use meeting – WWMT News

A Kalamazoo County community will come together to fight a dangerous trend Monday. They are concerned over teenagers abusing heroin and other drugs.

METH – USA
Expert educates law enforcement about dangers of meth – Foster’s Daily Democrat

Meth is more addictive than cocaine, crack-cocaine and amphetamines, and meth labs are driven by addiction, not by finance.

ALCOHOL – USA
Trailer donation aids Elkins’ alcohol awareness program – Northwest Arkansas Times

Elkins police have a way to transport their donated drunk driving education golf cart thanks to an additional donation by a local business, Ranalli Farms.

ALCOHOL – USA
Stemming the Tide of Alcohol? – red Orbit

When the head of the Royal College of Physicians says we are on the verge of a “tsunami” of alcohol-related health problems, perhaps we should all put down our pints or wine glasses and listen.

RITALIN – USA
AntiDepressants and Suicide – Injury Board

All but lost in the story is the fact that David had been prescribed “Ritalin, Zoloft and antidepressants, each with the broken promise of some return to normalcy.”

ALCOHOL – UK
Pub chains flout drinking rules – Times Online

Pub chains are flouting their own rules on responsible drinking by selling double measures of spirits cheaper than singles, offering two-for-one promotions and holding happy hours where prices are slashed.

DRUGS – UK
Scotland facing ‘drugs Doomsday’ – BBC News

Scotland could find itself facing a drugs Doomsday that would see primary school children following their parents into drug use, an expert has warned.

DRUGS – UK
The drugs scourge – The Herald

Drug-users tend to die young, but we know surprisingly little about those who survive the dangers of overdose or violence to which their lifestyle makes them susceptible.

DRUGS – UK
Drug abuse inquiry unravels secret of higher death rates in Scotland – The Herald

Drug abuse is a key factor behind previously unexplained higher death rates in Scotland compared to England and Wales, according to a study published today.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol hospital admissions hide individual tragedies – BMA

The new government figures released today (Tuesday 22 July 2008) revealing that 811,000 people in England were admitted to hospital with alcohol misuse problems in 2006 hide the individual tragedies that hospital frontline staff see day in day out, said the BMA.

ALCOHOL –USA
Family Meals Can Help Teen Girls Avoid Drugs, Alcohol – The WashingtonPost

Eating meals together as a family can reduce a teen girl’s risk of turning to alcohol or drugs, a new study suggests.

ALCOHOL – UK
Frontline Health Staff See Individual Tragedies Of Alcohol Misuse Problems In England – Medical News Today

According to government figures published today, 811,000 people were admitted to hospital with alcohol misuse problems in 2006 in England. The figures hide the individual tragedies that hospital frontline staff see everyday, says the British Medical Association.

CANNABIS – SOUTH AFRICA
SA drug culture hit by ‘very dangerous’ cannabis – Daily Dispatch

A NEW strain of higher-potency cannabis was being produced that is more addictive than ever before, says a UN official.

DRUGS – USA
U.S. Ranks #1 in Consumption of Pot, Cocaine, Smokes – Alter Net

According to a new study released June 30 by the World Health Organization, the U.S. leads the world and — just in time for the Olympics — takes the gold for the use of tobacco, pot, and cocaine, far outpacing other countries.

DRUGS – USA
Random Student Drug Testing Stops Drug Use Before it Begins – Pushing Back

The goal of prevention is to stop substance use before it ever begins. Believing not only in this mission but in our ability to achieve it, this Administration outlined a strategy 6 years ago that called upon multiple sectors of society—parents, schools, employers, communities, and the media—to help Americans, and youth in particular, take a stand against drugs.

PROZAC – AUSTRALIA
Subsidised Prozac prescribed to children – NEWS.au.com

Several hundred thousand scripts for anti-depressants such as Zoloft and Prozac were last year prescribed to children and subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, despite the Federal Government’s own drug watchdog not recommending them for use by anyone under the age of 24.

PAINKILLER – USA
Prescription for addiction: Painkillers only a click away – The Missoulian

Despite recent efforts to regulate Internet pharmacies, the majority of Web sites peddling controlled drugs do not require a prescription. As a result, a vast unregulated online drug bazaar has emerged, according to officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

DRUGS – USA
British Authorities Credit Health Messages for Drop in Youth Drug Use Rates – Join Together

Department of Health leaders in England are attributing decreases in drug experimentation rates among the nation’s young teenagers to a well-financed campaign on drugs’ dangers.

METH – USA
Survey shows misconceptions about meth – Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming teens and young adults believe that methamphetamine is low-risk and easily accessable, according to a new statewide survey by the Wyoming Meth Project.

DRUGS – UK
Crackdown on drugs use in prisons – BBC News
Prisons’ Minister Paul Goggins said a series of robust new measures would be introduced to help stem the flow of drugs within the prison system.

ALCOHOL – UK
Tackling alcohol misuse – Scottish Government
Tackling alcohol misuse is theme of a series of visits the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will make today.

MARIJUANA – USA
‘Marijuana Addiction — The Key to Overcoming the Emotional Component’ Revealed by Hale Dwoskin – PR Web

Hale Dwoskin, featured teacher in the blockbuster book and film “The Secret” and author of The New York Times bestseller The Sedona Method, has revealed a powerful way to help overcome the emotional component of marijuana addiction.

ALCOHOL – USA
Long Fight to Regulate Alcopops Faces Key Hearing in Nebraska – Join Together

A Nebraska youth alcohol-prevention group has been grappling with state lawmakers, regulators and the alcohol industry for years to get alcopops classified as liquor, not beer, and the rollercoaster process will make a key stop on July 31 as the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission holds a hearing on the classification issue.

DRUGS – USA
Psychiatrists Received Biggest Chunk of Pharmaceutical Company Payoffs, Vermont Study Finds – Join Together

With abuse of prescription drugs a growing problem, Vermont is one of a handful of states that require pharmaceutical companies to report how much cash and gifts they give to doctors.

COCAINE – USA
Cocaine Addiction – Trans World News
“Coca leaves have been used for centuries by natives as a stimulant,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director of Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia.

METH – USA
Prosecutors seek help in anti-meth campaign – Visalia Times Delta

The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office is seeking volunteers to help put on a public awareness campaign about the Central Valley’s problem with crystal methamphetamine.

METH – USA
Crackdown on meth has made cocaine cheaper – Grand Junction Sentinel

Nearly anyone these days can recognize the hollowed-out features, skinny limbs and pockmarked skin that characterize someone hooked on methamphetamine, thanks in part to intensive local education campaigns.

ALCOHOL – USA
Prenatal Drinking, Environmental Enrichment: Effects On Neurotrophins Are Independent Of Each Other – Science Daily

Prenatal alcohol exposure may be particularly destructive for neurotrophins, a family of peptides that influence the growth, development and functional plasticity of the fetal brain.

ALCOHOL – USA
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Endangers Neurotrophin Levels – US News and World Report

Exposure to alcohol prenatally could specifically be harmful to neurotrophins, peptides which are involved in the growth and development of the fetal brain, a new study shows.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol + loud music = more alcohol – Los Angeles Times

Trying to limit your alcohol intake is tougher when you’re drinking in a bar with loud music, according to a new study.

ALCOHOL – UK
Loud music in bars makes customers drink more, say scientists – Telegraph

The study, to be published later this year in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, said the drinks industry already knows that music can have an effect on how long people stay in bars.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin deaths worry health officials – KEX

An increase of 32-percent in heroin deaths this year has Multnomah County health officials worried.

HEROIN – USA
Methadone Use is on the Rise, and the Effects are Deadly – Injury Board

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, overdoses caused by prescription painkillers are increasing, and Methadone abuse is escalating more rapidly than any other drug.

MWTHADONE – USA
FDA addresses Methadone Dangers – Injury Board

Issued back in 2006, this Health Advisory from the FDA warns against the dangers of methadone and includes important prescribing information for its safe use.

MARIJUANA – USA
Marijuana Mouth Spray: The New Pain Reliever? – Fox News

A new marijuana mouth spray aimed at relieving pain is being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in clinical trials, USA Today reported.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller Patch Fentanyl May Have Killed 3,500 People, Warns FDA – Natural News

The popular patch version of the pain killer fentanyl is suspected in more than 3,500 deaths, and the FDA has issued a new warning about its use.

ADDICTION – USA
Addiction helps hide what’s within – Republican Eagle

In the past year I have written several letters about meth addiction and some of the feelings that go along with it. More and more people have come to me commenting on how they substitute the word alcohol in place of meth.

ADDICTION – CANADA
Regular exercise may counter addiction – Calgary Herald

A Davidson College study in drug and alcohol dependence compared self-administered cocaine use between two groups of caged rats — those with an exercise wheel and the rest without.

ADDICTION – USA
STAGES of Recovery program addresses addiction – Lubbock Online

According to a Texas Department of State and Health Services survey of college students conducted in spring 2005, 11 percent of Texas college students were frequent binge drinkers.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol impact area proves power of community – The News Tribune

Neighborliness is a powerful thing. A few years ago, when Whitman area resident Pat McGregor started noticing his neighborhood declining around him, he knew that stopping the degradation would require cutting off the supply of cheap booze that keeps street drunks plastered.

ALCOHOL – UK
Bachelot seeks under-18 alcohol ban – The Press Association
France’s health minister said she is working on a Bill which would prevent under-18s drinking in bars or buying alcohol at supermarkets.

ALCOHOL – UK
Risky Drinking In Over 55s Becomes The Focus Of New Research – Medical News Today

A new study led by Simon Coulton, Professor of Health Services Research at the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent, aims to improve services for over 55s caught up in ‘risky drinking’.

ALCOHOL – USA
U.K. Health Official Wants Zero Tolerance for Alcohol Use by Young Drivers – Join Together

Drivers ages 17 to 20 should not be allowed to legally operate motor vehicles with any detectable level of alcohol in their bodies, according to Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer in England.

DRUGS – UK
Hair tests for drugs wins award – BBC News

Cardiff-based TrichoTech will receive royal recognition for work developing new ways of testing for substance misuse over periods of months.

DRUGS – UK
Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among young people in England 2007 – NHS

This report contains results from an annual survey of secondary school pupils aged in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). Overall, 7,831 pupils in 273 schools in England completed questionnaires in the autumn term of 2007.

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.