Drug News

DRUG REHAB – USA
Kelly Osbourne regrets putting parents through drug hell – San Francisco Chronicle
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The singer-turned-reality TV star battled an addiction to painkillers for more than five years and she endured three stints in rehab before finally kicking her habit in 2009. She has since managed to turn her life around and restore her image, but Osbourne admits she is ashamed of her rebellious behavior and will always feel bad for putting her mom Sharon and dad Ozzy through so much torment.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Probe is needed connect-the-dots in pharmaceutical industry – Kansas City Star
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The latest was an 18-year-old Shawnee girl who began taking OxyContin at 13. Each pill cost $20 to $40, explaining why this is predominantly a middle-class addiction. That’s also how heroin entered the picture as the teen’s addiction increased. It’s cheaper. The girl is now in her second week of rehab. “I don’t think the drug companies necessarily care, nor do they see my end of this. It needs to be exposed.”

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
One teen’s story of breaking free from addiction – Buffalo News
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Some teens become addicted to drugs in high school and spend their whole lives dependent on them.

ALCOHOL – USA
Our View: Deaths bring us, again, to alcohol culture – Wisconsin Rapids Tribune
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Changing a statewide propensity for alcohol abuse is a big, long-term matter that requires a combination of efforts to move things forward. The biggest part of making a change, as ever, has to come from culture. There’s no magic new law or program and no perfect public health campaign that will cause us all to recognize the serious risks that come from the culture of binge drinking.

DRUG TREATMENT – USA
LA House considers welfare drug testing again – WAFB.com
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Sherman Mack would mandate that 20 percent of all recipients should be tested, and if they fail they would have to go to drug treatment in order keep getting benefits.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Obama declares war on drugs, state cuts rehab programs – WGAL.com

In light of Obama’s recommendation, proposed cuts to treatment programs in Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget have some worried about drug treatment programs in Pennsylvania. Hundreds of people in need of human services urged Corbett to not cut their funding Tuesday evening in a packed Community Center in Silver Spring Township. “I believe I would have been in jail or dead.”

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Children pay cost of family alcohol abuse – Sydney Morning Herald
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Children are the victims of alcohol-related harm in more than one-fifth of Australian households. Most were harmed by family members or by other relatives, and the rest by the drinking of family friends, neighbours, coaches, religious leaders or others, according to the study published in the latest edition of the international journal Addiction.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Addiction Diagnoses May Rise Under Guideline Changes – Pittsburgh Post Gazette‎

In what could prove to be one of their most far-reaching decisions, psychiatrists and other specialists who are rewriting the manual that serves as the nation’s arbiter of mental illness have agreed to revise the definition of addiction, which could result in millions more people being diagnosed as addicts and pose huge consequences for health insurers and taxpayers.

DRUG REHAB – USA
From drug user, dealer to mentor – NewsLeader

Hillcrest student Jacquline Lane, 17, with the support of her great-aunt and legal guardian Lulu Washington, has worked hard to turn her life around. After getting in trouble with drugs and alcohol and realizing she wanted to take a different path, she now volunteers at Boys and Girls Clubs and strives to be a positive role model.

OXYCONTIN / HEROIN – USA
Bill aimed at making opiates tougher to alter, abuse – Wicked Local‎

Ever since OxyContin hit the market more than 15 years ago, drug abusers have found ways to beat the time-release nature of the prescription painkiller to get a fast, powerful high. So many followed the recipe that OxyContin abuse created a new wave of addicts, and fueled an epidemic that led to a resurgence of heroin use. The result – thousands of overdose deaths.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol problems not uncommon among surgeons: study – Reuters
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About 15 percent of surgeons have alcohol abuse or dependency problems, a rate that is somewhat higher than the general population.

HEROIN – USA
‘There is hope’: Local woman tells tale of her heroin addiction – BND.com

She is blonde, pretty and dresses as normal as an elementary school secretary. But just a couple of years ago she was living on the streets with one thing on her mind — heroin. “I can honestly say I loved it from the very beginning,” said Jamie, of Alton.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
How prescription drug abuse costs you money – Money.CNN.Com

More than 36,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2008, the most recent year for which data has been analyzed, according to the CDC, only a few thousand shy of the total killed by car crashes. Of those drug overdoses, prescription drugs were involved in over 20,000 cases.

ALCOHOL – USA
George Huguely trial highlights alcohol abuse among college students – Washington Post
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There’s little question that George Huguely V, the former University of Virginia student on trial for murder, had a problem with alcohol. The alcohol abuse starts in high school, with kids imbibing on the weekends, and frequently grows out of control once they’re out from under their parents’ supervision.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Teens may be boozing less but now they’re abusing the prescription drugs found in home medicine cabinets – CultureMap Austin
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Hey parents, I have some good news and bad news. First, the good news. Your teenagers are boozing less and using fewer street drugs like cocaine and Ecstasy than previous generations. Now the bad news, they’re getting high on prescription painkillers like Oxy and Vicodin.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS / ALCOHOL – USA
Deadly Duo: Mixing Alcohol and Prescription Drugs Can Result in Addiction or Accidental Death – Scientific American
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Prescription drugs and alcohol can be a dangerous combination. Painkillers and booze are perhaps the worst to mix, because both slow breathing by different mechanisms and inhibit the coughing reflex, creating “a double-whammy effect” that can stop breathing altogether. Alcohol also interacts with anti-anxiety drugs (including Xanax), antipsychotics, antidepressants, sleep medications and muscle relaxants—intensifying the drugs’ sedative effects, causing drowsiness and dizziness, and making falls and accidents more likely.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Arrests mark U.S. prescription drug abuse crackdown – Reuters

U.S. authorities arrested 22 people in Florida on Friday, including pharmacists and doctors, in a crackdown against prescription drug abuse that officials say is the nation’s fastest growing drug problem.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Tennessee drug task force waging lonely war on Rx diversion – KnoxNews
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Tennessee created a statewide task force on prescription-drug abuse four years ago and never set aside a penny to fund it. The state Drug Diversion Task Force subsists on volunteer efforts in its battle against Tennessee’s most widespread drug problem. “Everybody thinks we get money,” said Elizabeth Sherrod, the task force coordinator. “We get nothing. Speakers at our meetings travel at their own expense.”

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Expert on drug abuse tells local conference that fatal overdoses are rising – Herald
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For the first time in 2010, the leading cause of accidental death in the country was from accidental fatal overdose with prescription opiates as the primary drug involved.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse video contest launched for Ky. high school students – WPSD Local 6

Kentucky high school students are being asked to enter a video contest as part of efforts to educate the public about the dangers of prescription drug addiction.

ALCOHOL/DRUG ABUSE – USA
Talk to children about drugs, alcohol – Auburn Citizen
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Did you know that the average American has his or her first drink around age 14? According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost 80 percent of high school students have tried alcohol. In an average month, about 9 million Americans teens drink alcohol. A study done recently by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center states that underage alcohol use happens between fifth and sixth grade!

ALCOHOL ABUSE – UGANDA
Excessive Alcohol Consumption is a key to chronic poverty in Uganda – New Vision
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Excessive Alcohol Consumption is a key ‘’driver and maintainer’’ of chronic poverty in Uganda. The reason why excessive consumption of alcohol has become a new frontier for chronic poverty in Uganda is that, the discussion on excessive alcohol consumption in the country has for long been in the back –seat of what is considered to be ‘’ personal choices.’’ This mentality has hindered attempts to bring the issue into the public domain and the frontline of public policy.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Baby seller case: Not first time a child taken from Fousek because of meth exposure – Mercury News

A jury Tuesday convicted a Salinas man of endangering the baby girl he exposed to methamphetamine and offered to sell in a Walmart parking lot last year. What the jury did not know, and what Judge Pamela Butler will take into consideration when sentencing Patrick Fousek, is that it’s not the first time one of his children has been taken from him because of methamphetamine exposure.

PARTY DRUGS – UK
Party drug meow meow kills one young Briton a week – Daily Mail

Banned last year, mephedrone is blamed for causing a further 19 users to commit suicide. Children are also at risk from the increasing availability of so-called ‘legal highs’, a Home Office report found

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
A Real Debate About Drug Policy – ‎Wall Street Journal

Drug use in the US is no lower than in countries with different approaches. We believe that drug addiction is harmful to individuals, impairs health and has adverse societal effects. So we want an effective program to deal with this problem.

SYNTHETIC DRUGS – USA
Police, counselors, hold breath for July 1 law effect – Winona Post

A local 16-year-old boy suffered a seizure after combining his medications with synthetic marijuana often called “K2.” A woman in Kentucky high on “Plant Food” hallucinated that her two-year-old son was a demon, knocked him unconscious with a folding chair and then threw him onto the passing lane of a major highway. In Louisiana, a man seeing visions when using Plant Food opened a skinning knife and repeatedly slit his face and stomach, but he survived.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Former Psychiatrist Gets Probation In ‘Pill Mill’ Case – The Beverly Hills Courier

A former West Hollywood psychiatrist who wrote prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose to make money to pay for his methamphetamine addiction was sentenced today to three years probation.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription pills blamed for ‘Pharmageddon’ in Kentucky – BBC News

In Kentucky 978 people died from prescription drug overdoses in 2009. It’s hard to meet a family in the state which hasn’t been affected in one way or another. Across the state, a number of treatment and rehabilitation centres are trying to deal with the huge numbers of addicts.

HEROIN/PRESCRIPTION PAINKILLERS – USA
Heroin all too easy to get, DEA agent tells Colchester forum – Norwich Bulletin

But there’s something else in town not so easily seen, and not celebrated: a supply of heroin and prescription painkillers like oxycontin and vicodin. “It’s not that they get these drugs on the street. They get them from grandma’s house,” Hoffman said.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
‘Silk Road’ website called the Amazon, eBay of heroin, cocaine, drug trafficking – ABC Action News

You can get anything on the internet nowadays — cars, homes, and now, black tar heroin. It’s a website boasting thousands of members that was created in February, according to its administrators. On the main page, they proudly and openly sell LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, and most any other drug you can name.

ECSTASY – CANADA
Strathmore teen charged with trafficking after 15-year-old overdoses on ecstasy, dies – Calgary Herald

Herrmann went into “medical distress” and died in hospital last Friday after taking the yellow pills, each bearing a Mickey Mouse design. His friend, 19-year-old Richard Mulvihill, was also taken to hospital after taking up to four pills.

ALCOHOL – USA
Duncan Sheik Postpones Concert Tour to Deal With Alcohol Abuse – Wall Street Journal

Facing an alcohol problem, Duncan Sheik postponed the first week of a concert tour that was scheduled to start on June 8 in New York.

BATH SALTS – USA
N.J. Legislators Sponsor Bill To Ban ‘Bath Salts’ – Patch.com ‎

Everyone knew he was a drug addict, everyone that knew him.” Laface said he saw Parisio last on March 9, and said he was very edgy. “Bill wasn’t his usual self, he seemed paranoid. I suggested that he’d check himself into a hospital.”

DRUG ADDICTION – INDIA
Chidambaram Expressed Concern Over Drug Addiction Among Indian Youth – MedIndia ‎

Union Home Minister P. Chidamabaram expressed concern over the growing drug addiction among the youth, saying that India has turned into a big market of narcotics.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Charlie Sheen’s rants and the early symptoms of drug addiction – Tulsa World‎

Sheen has convinced himself that he is his own higher power, on a drug called Charlie Sheen, which is a symptom I have seen all too often in drug addicts. Sheen’s tirades might be caused by his long-term drug use.

DRUG ADDICTION – UK
Bid to sterilize drug addicts sparks fury – Herald.ie ‎

She has already paid more than 1200 American female drug addicts to be sterlized and 26 British addicts to have contraceptive coils fitted. She has now turned her attention to Ireland and says she is looking for donations to expand into this country.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Md. health official decries prescription drug abuse – Washington Examiner‎

According to Dr. Fran Phillips, there is ample evidence of a major public health concern from prescription drug abuse. If the bill is passed, a database would be created to track prescriptions of potentially dangerous drugs like OxyContin.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE – SOUTH AFRICA
Poverty fuelling drug and alcohol abuse – Times LIVE

The widespread poverty and unemployment in South Africa is fuelling drug and alcohol abuse. “Unless we can offer hope to our youth, we will never to able to wean them away from practices which promise some short-term escape, but inflict deadly long-term damage to their bodies and minds.”

ALCOHOL ABUSE – UK
Early drinkers more likely to use booze to cope – Independent

“We found that the impact of stressful life events on drinking behavior depends on the age at first drink. The earlier they start with alcohol use, the stronger the association between life stress and drinking.”

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Federal sting nets 25 in meth-distribution ring – Salt Lake Tribune

Two indictments unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court name 25 people connected to a methamphetamine distribution ring that investigators believe has been operating in Utah since 2009.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
OxyContin abuse spreads from Appalachia across U.S. – Bellingham Herald
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Nearly every family in eastern Kentucky has been touched by prescription drug addiction and death. In the late 1990s, it was easier to find OxyContin – pure oxycodone with a time release – in Kentucky. The pills’ maker, Purdue Pharma, was selling it “hand over fist” to doctors in eastern Kentucky, rich with coal mine injuries and government health care cards.

DRUG ABUSE – USA
Bill Aims to Ban Common Cold Remedy Without a Prescription – KLAS-TV

Senator Leslie says it’s a solution to a growing drug abuse problem in Nevada. She claims it is a proven option and cited Mississippi, which took pseudoephedrine off the market six months ago. She says the state has seen a 90 percent drop in crime …

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
City, county, school officials ready drug drop-off – Republican & Herald‎

More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately, 2500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – UK
Health bodies attack government alcohol abuse campaign – ShareCast ‎

A group of health organizations are refusing to sign up for the government’s campaign to tackle alcohol abuse as they feel it does not go far enough.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Doctors Lax in Monitoring Prescription Drug Users – About ‎

The same doctors who are prescribing powerful pain-killing pills to an estimated 48 million Americans are lax in monitoring those patients to determine if they are abusing the drugs, even those who are at high risk for opioid misuse.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – UK
3-year-old Diagnosed as Youngest Ever Alcoholic – Fox 31 KDVR.com ‎

“This is an extreme case and definitely one of the youngest cases of alcoholism we have heard of. However, it does raise the issue of the accessibility of alcohol and how normal it has become.”

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Bills target meth ingredients; ignore drug, alcohol addiction – The Daily News

Synthetic meth drugs such as methylone, MCPV, mephedrone, methedrone, flephedrone and 3-FMC, which are basically the same substance and are labeled not for human consumption, could be purchased legally until the state began targeting them last week.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Narconon Graduate Speaks Out About His OxyContin Addiction – Benzinga ‎

Trey, a graduate of the Narconon Arrowhead drug rehab program speaks out about his devastating addiction to OxyContin and how Narconon helped him regain …

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Ted Williams Enters Rehab for Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Report Claims – Fox News

Ted Williams, the “golden-voiced” homeless man who became a media darling, is entering rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, People magazine reported Wednesday.

DRUG REHAB – KENYA
Free medicare for 10,000 addicts at the coast – Capital FM ‎

Ten thousand drug addicts at the Coast Province will for the next three months get free medical treatment in public …

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Experts give tips to prevent youths from using drugs – The Salem News‎

“Drug addiction really knocks down all barriers.” Aside from finding drugs, paraphernalia, or your child telling you, there’s no perfect science for figuring out if your kid has a problem. But …

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Police say Maine men robbed Domino’s Pizza to support drug habit – Seacoastonline.com‎

Police say prescription drug addiction is at the core of recent indictments of four local men in connection with a robbery at Domino’s Pizza.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Utah: Want to quit drugs? Get rid of the cigs, too. – Salt Lake Tribune ‎

“It’s all addiction,” the mother of three young children said. “And when you’re in recovery, you have to continually work on that recovery. Any addiction can set you back.”

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Brett Favre’s sister arrested in Miss. meth bust – Washington Post ‎

Karl says Brandi Favre was among five people arrested Wednesday in the bust and was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and generating hazardous …

ECSTASY – USA
More than 2000 ecstasy pills disguised as candy recovered in Bexar County – KENS 5 TV

Narcotic officers recovered over 2000 ecstasy pills, otherwise known as the “love drug.” The investigation all started with a suspicious package. …

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Good for something: TSA scanner finds passenger’s meth – McClatchy Washington Bureau

Rhonda Renee Simmons is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 12 on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance after police say she got caught with about a gram of methamphetamine in her pocket Tuesday night at the Boise Airport.

MARIJUANA – USA
Experts worry that medical-pot laws promote teen use – Denver Post ‎

The experts say they especially worry that increasingly permissive attitudes surrounding marijuana use might be leading to higher teenage drug use and …

HEROIN – USA
Man sentenced to 6 years in heroin overdose death – Chicago Tribune‎

A southwestern Illinois man has been ordered to spend six years in prison after he admitted his role in the heroin overdose death of another man.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Limits on over-the-counter decongestants could aid fight against meth – The Tennessean

Authorities’ reasoning is that pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in the decongestants, is also a critical element for making methamphetamine.

METHAPHETAMINE – USA
Man told police he was high on meth when he stole car with baby inside – Pioneer Press‎

… with stealing a car in St. Paul last week with a baby inside told police he was “really high” on methamphetamine at the time, a criminal complaint said. …

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
State expands ID check for drugs – Boston Globe ‎

“The rising number of overdose deaths from prescription drug abuse is a very significant problem in Massachusetts.”

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse ‘epidemic,’ local doctor says – Beckley Register-Herald‎

Nearly half of all emergency room visits result from prescription drug abuse involving opioid-related medicine, or for a combination of illicit substances, …

ALCOHOL – USA
Students fight back on alcohol abuse – MiamiHerald.com‎

The poster is part of an innovative campaign called “Project Brain” to help change students’ perceptions about alcohol abuse. Having lost several friends …

Drug Addiction – Former Miss USA
Former Miss USA Tara Conner Talks About Her Drug Addiction On “Oprah Winfrey Show” – Thaindian News

Apr 29, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Former Miss USA Tara Conner created quite a buzz on Wednesday night when she appeared on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and gave revealing insights into her addiction to drugs and how it had affected her in more ways than one.

Needle Sharing Leads to Syphilis – USA Study
Sharing needles may play major role in transmission of syphilis – Thaindian News

Washington, April 29 (ANI): A new study has discovered that female sex workers who inject drugs and share needles are at a greater danger of contracting syphilis than those who don’t.

Drug Trafficking – Ohio
Ravennans arrested for trafficking: Face felony charges for heroin, Oxycontin  – recordpub.com

Following a two-month-long investigation, the Portage County Drug Task Force arrested two Ravenna men Monday on drug trafficking charges.

Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness – Arizona
Mother talks about son’s tragic drug abuse – Eastern Arizona Courier

Tough love and a drug rehabilitation program couldn’t save the life of Adam Hall, who died eight years ago from an overdose of methadone and vicodin.

Anti-Meth Ad Campaign – New Mexico
Ad campaign targets meth use in Indian Country – FoxNews.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal officials are launching a national advertising campaign aimed at curbing methamphetamine use in American Indian communities.

Heroin Seizure – Africa
Nigerian arrested with 2.5 kg heroin – Thaindian News

Panipat (Haryana), April 29 (IANS) A 26-year-old Nigerian man was arrested in this Haryana town and over 2.5 kg heroin seized from him, police said Thursday.

Prescription Drug Abuse – Florida
Prescription drug abuse on the rise – wmnf.org

According to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office, prescription drug abuse has become more fatal than abuse of illegal street drugs.

Underage Drinking – Georgia
Zach Mettenberger Arrested, Charged With Underage Drinking – The Huffington Post

REMERTON, Ga. — A quarterback competing for the starting job at the University of Georgia has been released on bond after his arrest in south Georgia over the weekend on charges related to underage drinking.

Meth – USA Study
Women and Methamphetamine Use – Drug Addiction Treatment

The ratios of men to women who use particular substances vary greatly and generally statistics show a significant trend toward more substance use by males for all classes of substances.

Overdose – Michigan
Grand Rapids woman sent to prison for role in Amy Bousfield’s heroin-overdose death – Kalamazoo News

KALAMAZOO — A Grand Rapids woman will spend three to 20 years in prison for her role in a heroin deal that led to the fatal overdose.

Heroin – UK
Burglar jailed for student murder in Leeds – BBC News

A 31-year-old man has been jailed for life for stabbing a student to death while burgling his house in Leeds.

Marijuana Bust – Nebraska
Lincoln Police Bust Big Marijuana Grow Operation – KETV.com

LINCOLN, Neb. — Lincoln police have busted what they called the largest indoor marijuana growing operation in memory.