Drug News

ALCOHOL – UK
In Young University Students, Attention And Working Memory Affected By Binge Drinking – Medical News Today

Binge drinkers are defined as males who drink five or more standard alcohol drinks, and females who drink four or more, on one occasion and within a two-hour interval.

DRUGS – UK
Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2008 – Scottish Government

Statistics of drug-related deaths in 2008 and earlier years, broken down by cause of death, selected drugs reported, age and sex, includes three tables of figures for Health Board areas.

DRUGS – UK
Older generation blamed as drug deaths soar – The Scotsman

The human cost of long-term drug use was laid bare yesterday, as figures show Scotland’s drug death toll has risen to record levels, with a sharp increase in deaths among older users.

ALCOHOL – UK
Don Shenker: We need action to shield children from alcohol – Yorkshire Post

Last month’s statistics from the NHS revealed the true extent of children’s drinking in England and a worrying pattern which has emerged over recent years.

ALCOHOL – UK
Charity warns over child drinkers – BBC News

Fewer children are drinking but those who do are consuming more than ever before, a charity has warned. Alcohol Concern said the number of under-18s admitted to hospital has risen, and more have liver disease.

DRUGS – UK
Drug experts advise ban on Spice – Guardian

The government’s drug experts today advised the home secretary to ban Spice, a herbal smoking mixture thought to be as strong as some strains of skunk cannabis.

CANNABIS – UK
Heroin laced cannabis heading to Brighton streets, police fear – The Argus

Dealers are lacing cannabis with highly addictive heroin to get users hooked on the deadly drug.

ALCOHOL – USA
Oral Cancer Tied to U.K. Binge Drinking Plague – Join Together

Cases of oral cancer have risen sharply among middle-aged Britons since the mid-1990s, and health experts place the blame on binge drinking and a surge in alcohol consumption in the U.K.

ALCOHOL – USA
Energy drinks with alcohol face new regulations – Billings Gazette

People seeking the boost of an energy drink with the buzz of alcohol would have to go to the liquor store to make their purchases under a bill supported by lawmakers.

DRUGS – USA
Neb. bill would prevent charges in some overdoses – The Chicago Tribune

For a person suffering from a drug overdose, the decision to seek possibly lifesaving medical care could be trumped by the threat of criminal charges.

ALCOHOL – USA
Energy drinks with alcohol face new regulations – KXMB News

People seeking the boost of an energy drink with the buzz of alcohol would have to go to the liquor store to make their purchases under a bill supported by lawmakers.

ALCOHOL – USA
Moderate alcohol consumption may still raise cancer risk – Personal Liberty

British scientists have found evidence that even moderate alcohol intake may be associated with a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer.

ALCOHOL – UK
The families torn apart by teenage skunk epidemic – Guardian

It is the end of a taboo: articulate, middle-class parents are speaking out about the nightmare of seeing their children spiral into drug abuse and, all too often, mental illness.

DRUGS – USA
Drug use higher here among students – NWI Times

Students from Porter County schools have revealed they are using illegal and prescription drugs at a higher rate than their peers elsewhere across the state.

METH – USA
Meth on rise in Calhoun County – Battle Creek Enquirer

Twenty-two police officers and firefighters, some of them wearing protective white suits, boots and breathing packs, spent 10 hours trying to remove a plastic detergent bottle from the basement of the house.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Sheriff’s Office Combats Prescription Drug Abuse – Hernando Today

The sheriff’s office is charging forward in its campaign against prescription drug abuse.

ALCOHOL – USA
N.M. Attorney General Calls for Ban on Alcoholic Energy Drinks, New Taxes to Battle Underage Drinking – Join Together

An aggressive legislative package proposed by New Mexico Attorney General Gary King to fight underage drinking includes banning alcoholic energy drinks, classifying and taxing flavored malt beverages as liquor products, and allowing local communities to impose their own alcohol taxes.

ADDERALL – USA
Studying on the edge – Oregon Daily Emerald

You don’t need superhuman powers to skim textbooks from cover to cover, camp out in the library long after regular hours or work on final papers in marathon-length stints – but you might need drugs.

ALCOGOL – UK
Chronic Drinking Can Lead To Severe Pneumonia After Surgery – Medical News Today

Consistent alcohol consumption can impair immunity functions following surgery.

ALCOHOL – UK
Effects On Drinking Differ By Gender: Study On Drinking By Hispanics Along The Texas-Mexico Border – Medical News Today
Acculturation in the Texas-Mexico border region: effects on drinking differ by gender

DRUGS – UK
Popular Music Often Exposes Children To Positive Portrayals Of Drug And Alcohol Use, Pitt School Of Medicine Study Finds – Medical News Today

A third of the most popular songs in 2005 contained lyrics explicitly referring to drug, alcohol and tobacco use. What’s more, two-thirds of those references portrayed substance use in a positive light by associating it with such outcomes as peer acceptance and sex, researchers found.

METH – AUSTRALIA
20,000 sought drug, alcohol help – Advertiser Adelaide
MORE than 20,000 South Australians cried out for help with drug and alcohol addiction last year, the latest figures show. About 1000 more people called the state’s Alcohol and Drug Information Service in 2007 than in 2006. March was the busiest month, with 2118 calls.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drugs – Winston-Salem Journal
The U.S. Office of National Drug Policy has started a media blitz that warns parents of the dangers that lurk in their own medicine cabinets.

PRESCRIPTION – UK
NCPA Statement On White House Campaign To End Teenage Prescription Drug Abuse – Medical News Today
Patients should routinely discuss the dangers of their prescriptions with the children in their homes, as well as with their community pharmacist. Medicines are small but powerful health tools with the ability to heal — or cause harm if not used appropriately.

CANNABIS – UK
Cannabis is stronger, but users smoke less – Guardian Unlimited

A more potent “skunk” form of cannabis now accounts for 70-80% of the British market for the drug, but many users are cutting down and only smoking enough to get high, the initial results of a Home Office study show.

DRUGS – UK
The Big Question: What is the truth about skunk, and have the dangers been overstated? – The Independent
Yesterday, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs began reviewing scientific evidence on the classification of cannabis, amid widespread fears that Britain is in the grip of an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis.

DRUGS – UK
Motorists to face roadside tests for drugs – Telegraph
Police could be using a device within the next two years to detect illegal substances in saliva.