Drug News

Illegal Prescription Drug Distribution – USA
South Carolina doctor sentenced for illegal drug distribution – Thaindian News

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA (BNO NEWS) – A doctor, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, was sentenced to 41 months of supervised release for conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone, U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald announced on Friday.

Drug Prevention – USA & Mexico
U.S. and Mexico issued a declaration of drug demand reduction cooperation – Thaindian News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – The White House announced on Friday that government officials from the U.S. and Mexico issued a declaration of drug demand reduction cooperation.

Drug Rehabilitation – World News
Narconon network celebrates its 44th birthday – Behavioral Health Central

The Narconon drug rehabilitation program began on February 19th, 1966, based on a decision by Arizona State Prison inmate by the name of William Benitez. After reading a book by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, “The Fundamentals of Thought”, Benitez recognized there could be a whole new approach to curing himself and helping others get permanently off drugs – concentrate on your abilities, rather than your addiction. It sounds simple now, but it wasn’t to an inmate who had tried every other method to get off drugs way back in ’66.

Prescription Drug Abuse – USA
Superwoman syndrome credited to popping prescription pills – Thaindian News

New York, Feb 26 (ANI): A survey has revealed that most women, who are overwhelmed by jobs, kids and commitments, pop prescription pills to boost their energy, calm them down or for any other non medical reason.

Drunk Driving – USA
Police: Drunk man drove off with gas hose – UPI.com

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Feb. 25 (UPI) — Indiana police said they arrested an alleged drunk driver who drove away from a gas station with the nozzle and hose still attached to his vehicle.

Drug Related Incarceration – USA
Michael Douglas’ son Cameron to stay in jail until sentencing – Thaindian News

New York, Feb 26 (ANI): It has emerged that actor Michael Douglas’ drug-dealing son, Cameron, will remain in jail until he is sentenced in April.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
FDA issues dosage alert for Tamiflu prescriptions – News OK

The Food and Drug Administration is asking doctors and pharmacists to be alert for dosing errors with the oral version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
New Prescription Drug Research Shows Bad Reaction in Children – WTVY News

New research shows more than half a million children have bad reactions from prescription drugs. Children younger than age five are most commonly affected. Penicillin and other prescription antibiotics are among drugs causing the most problems.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Use Can Lead To Relapse – Trans World News

Narconon also has a unique method of handling substance abuse on two levels. First through a detoxification program that removes drug resides from the body and reduces physical drug cravings to tackle and physical aspect. Then, Narconon uses an approach that raises the ability of the individual by giving them life skills to help keep them off drugs permanently.

HEROIN – UK
Heroin use a ‘national crisis’ - drugs group – RTE

Heroin use is now a national crisis, according to a group that provides assistance to drug users and the homeless.

HEROIN – USA
Meth Abuse Down – Heroin On the Rise – CBS News

Heroin killed seven people in Jefferson County in 2007, but the drug is being blamed for sixteen deaths so far in 2009.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office made a huge heroin bust earlier this year. Lt. Randy Christian says dealers are trafficking more heroin because of a nationwide clamp down on ephedrine, the raw material needed to make meth.

HEROIN – IRELAND
Heroin use a ‘national crisis’, says charity chief – Irish Times

HEROIN USE has become a national crisis, the chief executive of drug addiction and homelessness charity Merchants Quay Ireland has said.

COCAINE – USA
Tainted Cocaine Raises Health Risk Concerns – FOX News

At Minnesota Poison Control, they’re on the look out for a deadly side-effect you won’t find on any warning label. The problem is with powder and crack cocaine, laced with a drug called levamisole.

COCAINE – AUSTRALIA
Ice usage down, cocaine usage up: research – ABC News

New research has revealed there has been a dramatic fall in the number of people using the drug ice in Australia. But the drop has coincided with an increase in the use of cocaine. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has today released its 2009 statistics on illegal drugs.

ALCOHOL – USA
Campaign targets military teens’ alcohol, drug use – The Associated Press

Concerned about drug and alcohol use among teens in military families, three organizations are undertaking an online educational campaign on Wednesday to encourage parents and children to talk about substance abuse.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Interlocks Are Gaining Traction – New York Times

Earlier this month, in response to a Wheels post on the increase in arrests among women driving under the influence, one reader wrote that in Australia drunken driving is addressed much more aggressively than in the United States.

ALCOHOL – USA
Commentary: Drinking age of 21 saves lives – CNN News

The national policy that set a minimum legal drinking age of 21 is being questioned by a group of 135 college and university presidents through an effort called the Amethyst Initiative.

METH – USA
Idaho Meth Project targets minorities – FOX Idaho News

A year after a campaign was launched to warn teens and young adults away from methamphetamine through graphic television, radio, print and billboard ads, the Idaho Meth Project is targeting minority groups.

METH – USA
Shaken or cooked, meth can still kill – San Marcos Daily Record

It hasn’t been seen on the local level yet, but narcotics authorities are on the lookout for a new generation of methamphetamine that is said to be easier and cheaper to make, but just as dangerous as old-style “cooking” operations.

ALCOHOL – USA
Internet Can Help Curb Drinking Among College Students – US News and World Report

Heavy drinking is a growing problem among university students, but an Internet-based intervention may help them control their alcohol use, a new study finds.

ADDICTION – USA
Addicts Celebrate Continuing Recovery – WSMV News

Hundreds of people in middle Tennessee are battling addictions, whether it be to drugs or alcohol. In honor of this month being National Recovery Month, hundreds met at Centennial Park Tuesday to celebrate their continuing recovery from addiction.

ALCOHOL – USA
College Drinking Reduced by Online Interventions – Join Together

College students who received Internet-based screening and brief interventions were less likely to drink alcohol.

ALCOHOL – UK
Scottish alcohol death toll up to six times UK average – The Scotsman

Deaths linked to alcohol in some areas of Scotland are six times higher than the UK average, new figures reveal. The death rate in Glasgow Shettleston last year was 574 per cent of the UK national average.

ADDICTION – USA
Narconon Louisiana: The Solution To The Drug Addiction Epidemic – Trans World News

Narconon Louisiana, a non-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, opened its doors in 2006 as a resource for locals struggling with addiction. In an area that had seen some of the worst devastation in years after Hurricane Katrina, there was no real solution in place for the rampant drug use.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
OPD takes prescription drug abuse fight statewide – WFIE News

Owensboro Police will be joining the so-called Drug Diversion Task Force set up by the Kentucky Attorney General to fight prescription drug abuse. Police say it’s a growing problem.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Calif. Drug Database to Target Prescription Abuse – ABC News

California is about to join 20 other states who have a database to monitor people abusing prescription drugs. The idea is to prevent people from going to different doctors to get their drugs.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
What parents should know about teen use of prescription – The Plain Dealer

The fact of the matter is that teens are abusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs in alarming numbers. This is the first of two columns about that abuse, and what parents need to know.

DRUGS – USA
Drug addicts march for recovery – KXLY News

Millions of Americans are enslaved by their addiction to drugs, and this month may provide them with the motivation they need to recover.

ADDICTION – USA
Former Addicts Hold Rally To Celebrate Recovery – NY1 News

Recovering from any type of addiction is often a long road, but the participants in the second annual Recovery Rally on Saturday made great strides.

HEROIN – USA
Painkiller addicts turning to heroin when prescriptions run out – Bristol Press

Bristol Police Detective Sgt. Chris Lennon of the narcotics division, says heroin is the second most prevalent drug his unit runs into, after marijuana.

METH – USA
Wing Fest helps fight meth use – Redwood Times

This is a family friendly event to increase public awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine use and to assist agencies that provide medical and psychological help for members of our community that have been affected by this illegal and damaging drug.

ADDICTION – USA
Forum: Addiction plagues U.S. health – Traverse City Record-Eagle

All you have to do is read the newspaper to be reminded that many Americans suffer from the reality of an addiction every day. From the outside, addiction is not always evident in any given individual. Substance abuse is one of the most severe health and social problems facing our county.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Problems – NBC News

Prescription drugs are ruining lives, hurting our kids and leaving police without many options. Now a Reedsburg teenager is stepping in where adults have failed. Quite literally, these are poison pills. Prescription drugs, no longer needed, laying around and too often in the wrong hands.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Addict Recovers Through Narconon – Trans World News

Because of her addiction to pills, Tanya Mesa didn’t have much of a life. She lost her job, her physical health was deteriorating, and worst of all she lost the love and respect of her family.

HEROIN – USA
Elmhurst police, schools crack down on teen heroin use – Chicago Tribune

A couple hundred parents who attended a community forum at York Community High School in Elmhurst Sept. 10 learned that Elmhurst police and schools are cracking down on heroin use among teens after a student confessed late last school year to using the drug.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Reedsburg Teen Organizes Prescription Drug Disposal Program – WISC News

Scientists say that drinking water across the country contains traces of prescription drugs.
Now, one Reedsburg teenager is trying to do something about that alarming fact.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Disrupts Body Clock, Sleep, Study Demonstrates – Join Together

Alcohol use can disrupt the body’s natural clock and sleeping patterns for days after consumption ends, according to a new animal study.

ALCOHOL – USA
Government: Growth in women who drink and drive – The Associated Press

The number of women arrested for drunken driving has jumped nearly 30 percent in the past decade, a dangerous trend that was all too evident when a wrong-way crash involving a woman in New York killed eight people.

ALCOHOL – USA
Crackdown on drunk driving begins Friday – The Capital Times

Hundreds of police officers and deputies will be out in force this weekend, cracking down on drunks who think it’s okay to get behind the wheel.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Rehab and Your Health – Trans World News

The abuse of alcohol, an addiction to alcohol can destroy your life on many different levels.  The number of people who have lost jobs, broken relationships and literally gone broke as a result of their alcohol addiction is huge.

PAINKILLER – USA
Even Pain Killer Addiction Requires Professional Treatment – Trans World News

The chemical nature of painkiller addiction makes it particularly tough to beat. Prescription painkillers like morphine, codeine, and oxycodone are linked to the same kind of drug dependency that underlies heroin abuse.

PAINKILLER – USA
Common painkiller more effective in fracture pain – Press TV

A simple over-the-counter painkiller is reported to be more effective in alleviating pain in children suffering a fracture than the more powerful combinations.

COCAINE – USA
U.S. Currency Contaminated with Cocaine – Join Together

The vast majority of U.S. paper money in circulation contains traces of cocaine, a new study finds. CNN reported Aug. 18 that researchers found that 90 percent of $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills tested had detectable cocaine residue. Bills from major cities were more likely to test positive than those from smaller cities.

DRUGS – USA
More women held for driving while intoxicated, study finds – CNN News

Arrests for women driving under the influence jumped by nearly 30 percent during the decade ending in 2007, according to a study released Wednesday by the U.S. Transportation Department.

ADDICTION – USA
Narconon Graduate Handles Addiction Permanently – Trans World News

Feeling “helpless, undeserving and pretty hopeless “was what Paul experienced for more than 12 years while addicted to drugs. Paul says the more he used the more his life fell apart to the point that he was so self-destructive, his family finally stepped in to help him.

ALCOHOL – UK
Poor diet and alcohol abuse behind tripling of liver cancer – Wales Online

Poor diet and alcohol consumption, together with drug use are seen as the main factors behind the increase.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin high here getting cheaper – The Columbus Dispatch

Mexican drug cartels have saturated Columbus’ heroin market, pushing down the price of a kilogram and hooking a larger share of the city’s users.

PAINKILLER – USA
70,000 U.S. kids overdose each year — accidentally — on everyday household meds – TIME

Some 100,000 kids end up in U.S. emergency rooms each year because they’ve accidentally been poisoned. No, they’re not all raiding the cupboard full of cleaning supplies.

ADDICTION – USA
10 reasons to kick addictions – Desert News

Making the decision to give up an addiction may seem like a simple act to those who have never struggled with the issue. The truth is that sobriety is a process that, for those who follow the path, will last a lifetime. The great news is that by enduring and eventually embracing the process, you will also have a life. Here are 10 reasons to get started.

DRUGS – USA
Rescue Ink helps young people striving to quit drugs, alcohol – Zanesville Times Recorder

Smith along with her husband, Richard, have opened a new store in New Lexington with that idea in mind. Rescue Ink, at 126 Main St., has clothes, bikes, shoes and other items at prices that are affordable to those families and teens finding themselves in financial crisis.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Abuse Is Treated With The Most Extensive Treatment Programs – Trans World News

Sunset Malibu, an exclusive treatment center on the California coast, has long been a transformational force in the field of rehabilitation and recovery. Now, Sunset is announcing its redoubled efforts in the fight against alcohol dependency.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Your prescription drugs can kill – Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Iowa health officials warn of the growing threat of unintentional poisoning. A University of Iowa report shows the state’s number of unintentional poisoning deaths rose from 67 in 2002 to 160 in 2008.

ADDICTION – USA
Campaign focuses on addiction awareness – Scarlet Scuttlebutt

NCADD’S eighth annual Tree of Hope campaign is designed to raise the consciousness in Middlesex County to the fact that addiction is an illness from which many do recover, and to celebrate those recoveries.

ADDICTION – INDIA
Drug addiction among adolescents on the rise – Indian Express

The alarming trend of adolescents taking to drugs, including sniffing petroleum products, cigarettes, alcohol and even smack, has caught up across all economic strata in the city, doctors dealing with such cases say.

MARIJUANA – USA
Smoking Marijuana Damages Cells, DNA, Study Suggests – Join Together

Researchers who compared the effects of marijuana smoke to tobacco smoke concluded that smoking marijuana did as much cellular and genetic damage as smoking cigarettes, although only tobacco smoke damaged chromosomes.

ADDICTION – USA
Narconon Graduate Lives to Tell Story of Addiction – Ex-addict’s Journey with Prescriptions to Heroin Told on CNN – Newswire

Every day American citizens are being legally given prescription medications for injuries and illnesses, but given the abuse potential many wind up getting hooked on these drugs and moving on to street drugs to feed their habits.

DRUGS – USA
How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents – Straight Dope for Parents

Every day, you work hard to be a good parent, doing hundreds of things to make a healthy, productive future come true for your child. But sometimes it’s hard to know if all the big and little things you do make any difference.

ALCOHOL – USA
Binge drinking affects later cognitive performance – Los Angeles Times

College students who describe themselves as regular binge drinkers performed considerably worse on a test measuring attention and memory skills compared with students who didn’t binge. The test, by the way, was conducted while all the students were sober.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Responsible for 50 Percent of Russian Deaths – FOX News

Russia is grappling with a major public health crisis in which residents are essentially drinking and smoking themselves to death, according to the country’s public health officials.

ALCOHOL – USA
More Research Links Alcohol Intake to Cancer Risk – Modern Medicine

Men who drink moderate or high amounts of alcohol over their lifetime may face a higher risk of several types of cancer, according to research published in the current issue of Cancer Detection and Prevention.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol link to huge rise in oral cancers among people in their 40s – Mirror

Alcohol is behind a huge rise in oral cancers among people in their 40s, experts said yesterday. The number of men getting tumours of the mouth, tongue, lip and throat has shot up 28% since the mid-90s and women 24%.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Older drivers unaware of prescription risks – USA News

Many older drivers who take medications that could affect their performance behind the wheel are unaware of the risks associated with those drugs, according to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

DRUGS – UK
Drug death toll at record levels – BBC News

Scotland’s drug death toll has risen by more than a quarter in the last year, new figures have suggested.

METH – USA
National campaign uses Utah’s anti-meth ads – Deseret News

Three television ads produced for Utah’s anti-methamphetamine campaign, End Meth Now, are being incorporated into a revamped public education effort by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

DRUGS – UK
Moving towards Real Impact Drug Enforcement – UKDPC

This briefing is aimed at key strategy and policy makers and influencers. It highlights the implications of our review Refocusing Drug-Related Law Enforcement to Address Harms.

DRUGS – UK
Drug use amongst young people in England in 2008 – Drug Education Forum

The third in the series of presentations drawn from the statistics provided the Information Centre’s annual report into Smoking, drinking and drug use amongst young people in England in 2008.

METH – USA
Blount County pharmacies recognized in battle on meth – Blount Today

Local and state law enforcement gathered on Tuesday, July 28, to recognized area pharmacies that have helped in the battle against methamphetamine use.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drugs back in the spotlight – Tampa Bay Online

Prescription drugs accounted for five of the top seven substances involved in lethal overdoses in Florida.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin on Long Island – The New York Times

Heroin is back on Long Island, and it is killing people at a record pace. There were 46 heroin deaths last year in Nassau County and 50 in Suffolk. The related damage from the epidemic — in overdoses, drug arrests, calls to addiction hotlines — is also up drastically, officials in both counties report.

DRUGS – USA
Drug Rehab in Connecticut – Methadone death toll is rising quickly – Trans World News

A recent study published by the NDIC indicates a 390% increase in deaths due to methadone since 1999. Increase in methadone deaths attributed to the drugs immerging popularity for use with chronic pain sufferers as well as increased diversion (stealing from legitimate sources and diverting to the street for illegal consumption).

ALCOHOL – USA
Pancreas: Alcoholic Pancreatitis—It’s the Alcohol, Stupid – Medscape

The management of alcoholic pancreatitis is mostly reactive; little is done to prevent disease progression. It is time for physicians to pay attention to the root cause of the condition—that is, alcohol—rather than just responding to its effects.

ALCOHOL – USA
Hospitals in joint plan for alcohol treatment – Toledo Blade

Toledo Hospital and Arrowhead Behavioral Health have formed a joint venture so that their patients needing help with alcohol and substance abuse will be treated at the Maumee behavioral health hospital, the health-care providers announced yesterday.

METH – USA
Why Mexican crystal meth is America’s problem – Reuters

Here in the heat of northern Mexico, the factory churned out record amounts of methamphetamine — known on the American streets as crystal meth, or ice.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise – WTVQ News

There is a growing problem in many Kentucky communities related to prescription drugs, and authorities tell us that I-75 may be an illegal supply line.

ALCOHOL – USA
Italy Starts Cracking Down on Underage Drinking – CNN Time

This let’s-go-get-loaded spirit might not seem so strange in countries that have long battled excessive youth drinking and alcoholism.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse growing at an alarming rate in the U.S. – Examiner

Death due to prescription drug abuse is in the headlines now because of the death of Michael Jackson. The media also harkens back to the death of Elvis Presley and other celebrities who have died from drug overdoses.

ADDICTION – USA
Drug addiction Skyrocketing – Trans World News

Almost every young person knows someone who is a drug addict if they know at least five people, according to statistics. 21.1 % of Americans ages 18 to 25 have alcohol or other drug problems serious enough to require addiction treatment, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

ALCOHOL – USA
UND employs approach to combat student alcohol use – Grand Forks Herald

Like North Dakota State University, UND also employs a multipronged approach to alcohol use among students.

CANNABIS – AUSTRALIA
New highsnlows short film gets young people talking about cannabis – Drug Info

The second animated film in the “Is your high getting you low?” campaign was launched today. While the first animated film looked at some of the potential effects cannabis can have on mental health, the second film encourages young people to talk to their friends about cannabis use.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Rapid detox for prescription drug addiction – Examiner

Prescription drug abuse has led to unprecedented numbers of people becoming addicted. Pain killers and opiods are among the most abused drugs.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Pills: The New Drug of Choice for Teens – San Francisco Chronicle

Statistically, too, the officers had reason to worry. Although high school drug use is down across the country, in the past 10 years the rate of prescription drug abuse among teens has risen steadily.

DRUGS – USA
Anti-Drug Campaigns Shift Focus from Marijuana to Prescription Drugs – Join Together

After years of focusing primarily on marijuana use, antidrug campaigns from both the private and public sector have turned their attention to what’s seen as a more urgent problem: prescription-drug misuse.

METH – USA
Testing at 96 Oregon sewage plants shows meth, cocaine and ecstasy – Oregon Live

Last year, researchers at Oregon State University, the University of Washington and McGill University took one-day samples from 96 Oregon sewage treatment plants that volunteered to participate.

METH – USA
Drug Rehab in Connecticut Sees increased Methamphetamine – Trans World News

Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center has noticed a trend in articles published showing that many Mexican drug cartels are now using the same routes that they use to smuggle cocaine and heroin to smuggle meth as well as the ingredients to make meth to the east coast.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol and Trauma: Blood Test Gets to the Truth – Atlanta Journal Constitution

Testing the blood-alcohol level of trauma patients could help medical personnel identify those at risk for further complications from drinking issues.

ALCOHOL – USA
Blood Alcohol Level May Help Predict Complications After Trauma – MedPage Today

Testing blood alcohol levels could also identify high-risk patients who may need counseling in addition to medical treatment, they said.

ADDICTION – USA
Alcoholism And Drug Addiction On The Rise – PR Web

Addiction to prescription pain medication amongst adults is also on the rise. People underestimate the addictive qualities of prescription medication such as benzodiazepines and opiates.

DRUGS – UK
Rise in Class A drug use – survey – BBC News

The British Crime Survey found almost four in every 100 people used a Class A drug in 2008-09 despite the overall use of illicit drugs remaining stable.

COCAINE – UK
Cocaine Britain: 25 per cent rise in the last year – The Independent

The number of cocaine users in Britain has risen by 25 per cent in a year to almost one million, official figures revealed yesterday, prompting calls for the Government to rethink its anti-drugs strategy.

ALCOHOL – UK
Social norms interventions to reduce alcohol misuse in University or College students – The Cochrane Library

Drinking is influenced by youth (mis)perceptions of how their peers drink. If misperceptions can be corrected, young people may drink less. To determine whether social norms feedback reduces alcohol misuse in university or college students.

ALCOHOL – IRELAND
None for the road: limit for drink-driving to be slashed – Independent

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has vowed to introduce a new lower limit for drink driving before the end of the year despite opposition from publicans.