Drug News

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Doctor labeled ”candy man” – TheDay

Drug addicts called Dr. Scott W. Houghton “the candy man” because he readily wrote out prescriptions for the controlled substances they sought.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – CANADA
Addicts getting desperate – TheChronicleHerald

KENTVILLE — Members of the group fighting drug addiction in the Annapolis Valley are warning of a possible rash of crimes as increased pressure from police, doctors and the provincial prescription monitoring program reduces the supply of pills on the street.

ALCOHOL – USA
Substance-abuse program helps pregnant women deliver healthy babies – Daily Press

Fetal alcohol syndrome can include mental retardation, abnormal facial features and growth, memory, hearing vision, behavioral and central nervous system problems. There is no cure. The lifetime cost for one person with fetal alcohol syndrome in 2002 was an estimated $2 million.

ALCOHOL – USA
Keep Booze in Bars, Not at the Pit – Daily Lobo

Scott Owens, the guy who killed four teens near Santa Fe last summer was acquitted. His attorney never disputed Owens’ 0.16 blood-alcohol level — twice the presumptive legal intoxication limit. He only disputed reasonable certainty that Owens was solely responsible for the crash. The reasonable doubt was created by the teens’ erratic driving before the crash.

METHAMPHETAMINE – NEW ZEALAND
Fake tour group busted in New Zealand with $8 million of meth stashed in their shoes – New York Daily News

A group of Malaysians posing as tourists was busted in New Zealand after authorities found nearly two pounds of methamphetamine stashed in each of their shoes. Officials said the 10 traffickers were posing as an innocent tour group in order to try to …

HEROIN – USA
Portsmouth man sentenced for giving roommate fatal heroin dose – Daily Press

A Portsmouth man who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after giving heroin to his friend was sentenced to 4 years.

ECSTASY/COCAINE – USA
Authorities charge 27 people in cocaine, ecstasy ring in Somerset, Middlesex Counties – The Star-Ledger

Baillie, 28, was one of 27 people recently snared in a three-month investigation that unearthed a cocaine and ecstasy ring in Somerset and Middlesex Counties.

ALCOHOL/DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Summit reveals the devastation of one bad decision – NorthJersey.com

“I brought alcohol, weed and pills to the party,” he said. Dean and his friends got drunk and took the drugs he had brought. Dean passed out. When he woke up he found out that his best friend had died from an overdose.

DRUG REHAB – CANADA
‘Fetal rights’ mom: Drug rehab a ‘miracle’ – UPI.com

A Canadian woman involved in a landmark fetal rights case in 1996 says facing forced drug treatment led to the “miracle” of her getting free from addiction.

MARIJUANA – USA
Teen marijuana use rising after years of decline – San Francisco Chronicle
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… who noted that in California, more teenagers are admitted to inpatient addiction programs for marijuana use than for any other drug, including alcohol. …

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Funds awarded for addiction treatment – Youngstown Vindicator

Alcohol and drug addiction programs in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties will receive shares of $5 million to be dispersed to all counties in Ohio. …

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Fighting a Culture of Drunkenness – WBAY
Wisconsin’s culture of drinking has turned into a culture of drunkenness

“We really have our heads in the sand, and I’m hoping this paper will bring more attention and more focus to the problem so that we can address it and stop pretending that it isn’t a serious problem.”

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Our addiction fuels the Mexican drug war – NMPolitics.net ‎

America has a ravenous appetite for drugs, legal and illegal. There’s a drug store on nearly every corner. When we have a problem, we generally don’t think about exercise, or eating better. We want to pop a pill and get on with things.

DRUG LEGALIZATION – USA
The decriminalization of heroin – The Periscope Post

All drugs, including heroin and cocaine, should be legalized according to MP Bob Ainsworth, the former Defence Secretary. Ainsworth argued that it is better …

HEROIN – KOSOVO
Prime Minister of Kosovo Accused of Leading a Heroin and Organ-Stealing Ring – Gawker ‎

… of exerting “violent control” over Eastern Europe’s heroin trade and conducting “assassinations, detentions, beatings and interrogations. …

CLUB DRUGS – USA
6 charged in theft of drugs from animal hospitals – Pittsburgh Post Gazette‎

The attorney general’s office said it has become “a popular club drug among teens and young adults at dance clubs and raves.” In high doses…