Drug News

DRUG REHAB – USA
Drug rehab better option than prison – Vineland Daily Journal‎

Drug addicts who go to prison and don’t get treatment to break their habit come out still addicted and inevitably fall back into crime.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Oklahoma tops in prescription painkiller abuse – New England Cable News

Sherri Carwithin was lying on the hardwood floor of her south Oklahoma City home when police found her body, clad in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. Perched on her chest was her small dog, Patches, who growled at the arriving officers. The 51-year-old woman, who had a history of chronic back pain and prescription drug abuse, last was seen alive four days earlier, when she asked a neighbor to give her a ride to the pharmacy.

DRUG ADDICTION – MEXICO
Children Hired to Work as ‘Mules’ by Mexican Drug Gangs – Fox News

Mexican drug gangs have found a new way to transport drugs across the border. Children are being used as “mules” to ferry drugs across the border into the United States or sell them in a nearby Mexican town. Luis Alberto is only 14 but has the wizened gaze of a grown-up hardened by life. He never met his father, worked as a child, was hired by a gang to sell drugs and then got addicted to them.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse efforts under way in county schools – Mount Airy News

The national statistics are alarming: One in four teens will abuse some form of prescription drugs before graduating high school. Nationwide, 100,000 Americans will die this year from prescription drug abuse. That number translates to 270 per day, or twice the number who will be killed in a car accident. With statistics like these, it’s easy to see why the Surry County Schools has become involved in a county-wide task force to raise awareness of prescription drug abuse.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Workshop aims to disable those enabling drug use – Naperville Sun
‎
Why won’t Johnny quit using drugs? Don’t ask his family. … factors can keep loved ones from stepping in to start the process of treatment and recovery.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug dependence an epidemic in East Central Indiana – Muncie Star Press
‎
Since 2009, drug overdoses have caused or contributed to 62 deaths in Delaware County. Add Henry County to the mix, and the two counties have seen a combined total of 77 overdose-related deaths in the past three years. “That’s a significant number, and I think there’s probably a bigger problem than we’re seeing. We’re just seeing the tip of it.”

MARIJUANA – USA
New wrinkle in pot debate: stoned driving – The Seattle Times
‎
Authorities envision a legal threshold for pot that would be comparable to the blood-alcohol standard used to determine drunken driving. But unlike alcohol, marijuana stays in the blood long after the high wears off a few hours after use, and there is no quick test to determine someone’s level of impairment.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Liquor Law Changes Encourage Alcohol Abuse – Hartford Courant‎

Liquor law reform advocates say liquor stores in Connecticut’s border towns would better be able to compete with stores from neighboring states that are not restricted by our laws. They say expanding store hours, lifting the ban on Sunday sales and repealing minimum price barriers would help Connecticut stores. But the reforms also run counter to countless health initiatives aimed at lowering alcohol consumption. Expanding alcohol availability is a step in the wrong direction when it comes to combating alcoholism and drunken driving.

HEROIN – USA
Cops say they’ve busted huge Park Slope heroin ring – BrooklynPapers.com

Federal investigators say that several “brands” of Heroin like this one called “Cream,” were readily available on the streets of Park Slope. The brownstone neighborhood is slowly getting a reputation as a one-stop shopping destination for drug buyers.

COCAINE – USA
Officials push for stiffer penalties for cocaine possession – WLBZ-TV

“In the city of Portland, cocaine is the drug that is creating the most trouble, we have many stories of how the cocaine has ravaged communities, neighborhoods and families. This law is a policy statement that the state of Maine does not condone drug use,” explained Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Ex-Drug Addict: I’m Forever Grateful to David Wilkerson – Christian Post

“The gang members became drug addicts. The same young men we knew as gang members, we started to know them as drug addicts,” explained Wilkerson, who still directs Teen Challenge Brooklyn.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Meth lab found in Loup City – Grand Island Independent

LOUP CITY — A 48-year-old Loup City man was arrested Tuesday when the components of a methamphetamine lab were found in downtown Loup City. Jeffrey Arnold was arrested on felony charges.

ALCOHOL – USA
Now is time to talk to teens about alcohol – Marietta Times

Youth who begin drinking before age 15 are 5 times more likely to develop alcohol dependency or abuse alcohol later in life. When drinking is delayed until 21, a person’s risk of serious alcohol problems is reduced by 70%.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Territory doctors tackle alcohol abuse debate – ABC Online

We get lots of people who suffer injuries as a result of alcohol related violence but we also see the effects of long term alcohol use and very young people with chronic illness of many forms relating to alcohol from chronic brain injuries, from recurrent infections which are likely worsened by alcohol, chronic liver disease, acute pancreatitis.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug drop-off points being set up throughout county – The Flint Journal

The drugs eventually will be incinerated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. With a rise in opiate abuse in the area and after a string of fatal overdoses, preventing prescription drug abuse is the major motivation for the drug take-back.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Police investigation leads to major bust – StarPhoenix

In total, 53 grams of cocaine, five pounds of marijuana, numerous prescription pills, a small amount of ecstasy, a large amount of cash and a weapon were seized, along with three vehicles. “We’re sending a clear message to those who choose to deal drugs. It is unacceptable to the good people that choose to live, work and raise their families in our part of the world. This is just the start.”