Drug News

DRUG REHAB – VIETNAM
Vietnam’s Drug Rehab Centers Under Fire – Voice of America

Rights advocates in Vietnam are criticizing a form of treatment used by the government to rehabilitate illegal drug users. The government says the work keeps addicts away from the temptations of the outside world while giving them useful jobs. Human Rights Watch says the centers are “little more than forced labor camps,” designed as profit-making machines for businesses.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Meth investigation nets unlikely dealers – Richmond Times Dispatch

Its street names include “bikers’ coffee” and “poor man’s cocaine,” but an ongoing investigation into a loosely confederated group of area meth dealers shows the drug cuts across all social lines, hooking some unlikely players. Many of the 16 defendants sentenced thus far had little or no prior criminal records and led lives far removed from the dangerous, makeshift rural meth labs and renegade biker gangs popularly associated with the drug.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
For seniors, addiction often begins with prescription drugs – Miami Herald

According to the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the phenomenon of elderly addicts has grown exponentially in the last decade and it requires doubling the number of centers of specialized treatment before 2020.

DRUG ADDICTION – THAILAND
Yingluck’s drive to ‘reduce drugs scourge by 80%’ – The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday launched a comprehensive campaign against the drug scourge called the Force of the Land, aiming to reduce the problem by 80 per cent within a year by getting state agencies to work together systematically. Yingluck said statistics showed that the country had 490,000 illegal drug users in 2007 and their population had tripled within four years. Drug abuse has spread to 60,000 of the country’s 80,000 villages.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Rowan seeks to head off alcohol abuse among students – Today’s Sunbeam

All first-year students must also take the school’s Alcohol-Wise online course before attending classes. “What we really try to do is debunk the whole Animal House image of the college experience,” said Rowan Dean of Students Richard Jones. The effort begins with orientation for incoming freshmen, Jones explained. The newbies and their parents learn about Rowan’s policy on drinking and drug use. parents’ participation in a big key, as they’re supposed to be “allies,” he said, of the university in making sure students intend to follow the straight and narrow.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
UW-Madison changes policy on alcohol citations – Chicago Tribune

University of Wisconsin-Madison is now requiring most students who get an alcohol-related citation to take a course on the risks of alcohol abuse. Now, if a student gets an underage drinking ticket, a trip to detox, or an alcohol-fueled disorderly conduct citation he or she is required to enroll in the program. Students will be flagged by UW police or referred by Madison police officers.

ECSTASY – USA
LA Coliseum, Insomniac sued by parents of dead teenager – Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and the event company Insomniac were sued Thursday by the parents of a teenage girl who died of an Ecstasy overdose after attending a Coliseum rave.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin a deadly draw in ‘Bluff’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution

He has seen a steady stream of suburban heroin users slip in and out of the neighborhood. More young Caucasians are traveling from suburban counties into the city to buy heroin. They buy a gram for about $160 and return home to abuse the drug and sell the leftovers.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Officials warn of prescription drugs in schools – WVLT

Maryville City school officials worry more kids are abusing prescription pills like Oxycontin, Percocet and Adderall.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
No shame, only hope, in fighting your child’s drug addiction – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Really, really good kids become addicted to drugs, and really, really good kids lie, cheat and steal to protect that addiction. The change doesn’t happen overnight.

DRUG ADDICTION – UK
Lib Dems to vote to decriminalise all drug use – The Independent

The proposed reform is based on legislation in Portugal, where the personal use of any controlled drug is no longer a criminal offense.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Former Judge Richard Baumgartner tells his story of drug use – WBIR-TV

Drug addiction can happen to anyone. A criminal court judge for more than a decade, Richard Baumgartner was a family face at community function focused on the prevention of crime and drugs. However, the shocking revelation of his own addiction forced him to step down from the bench.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Michael Jackson’s doctor sued for fueling his drug addiction – Star Lounge

Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Arnold Klein has been accused of fueling the pop star’s addiction to prescription drugs.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Army hiring more counselors for alcohol abuse – ‎The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The army is increasing its staff of substance abuse counselors by about 30 percent to help the rising number of troops with alcohol problems.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
What Parents Should Know About Party Schools – LifeGoesStrong

Headline-grabbing is list of top party schools put out by Princeton Review inevitably draws protests from administrators at the “winning” schools and probably lots of interest from potential students. But most parents look at this list in horror – as they should. You’re paying a fortune for your kid to get an education, not for partying.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Unscrupulous pain clinic operators give good doctors a bad rap – Knoxville News Sentinel

Every month for two years, Freddie McMahan would get in his Lincoln LS and drive to a nearby pain clinic, where a doctor would prescribe him a cocktail of narcotic drugs. Initial prescriptions for codeine and Demerol to treat McMahan’s scoliosis eventually led to large amounts of OxyContin, Xanax and morphine. By the third week of his month’s supply, McMahan would run out, leaving him scrambling to get his fix somewhere else or go into withdrawal.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Our view: All must join war to put meth labs out of business – Utica Observer Dispatch

It’s time to go to war. Looking the other way is no longer an option because the losers in this fight could very well be your neighbors, your friends or even your own family. This war is against methamphetamine. Perhaps it’s being made right now in a home near yours. Methamphetamine is ugly. Users inject it, smoke it, snort it or swallow it. It affects the central nervous system, and is highly addictive. Results: Anxiety, psychotic and violent behavior, paranoia and brain damage. Addicts can die from continued use, if not before.