Drug News

PAINKILLER – USA
Prescription for addiction: Painkillers only a click away – The Missoulian

Despite recent efforts to regulate Internet pharmacies, the majority of Web sites peddling controlled drugs do not require a prescription. As a result, a vast unregulated online drug bazaar has emerged, according to officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

DRUGS – USA
British Authorities Credit Health Messages for Drop in Youth Drug Use Rates – Join Together

Department of Health leaders in England are attributing decreases in drug experimentation rates among the nation’s young teenagers to a well-financed campaign on drugs’ dangers.

METH – USA
Survey shows misconceptions about meth – Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming teens and young adults believe that methamphetamine is low-risk and easily accessable, according to a new statewide survey by the Wyoming Meth Project.

DRUGS – UK
Crackdown on drugs use in prisons – BBC News
Prisons’ Minister Paul Goggins said a series of robust new measures would be introduced to help stem the flow of drugs within the prison system.

ALCOHOL – UK
Tackling alcohol misuse – Scottish Government
Tackling alcohol misuse is theme of a series of visits the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will make today.

MARIJUANA – USA
‘Marijuana Addiction — The Key to Overcoming the Emotional Component’ Revealed by Hale Dwoskin – PR Web

Hale Dwoskin, featured teacher in the blockbuster book and film “The Secret” and author of The New York Times bestseller The Sedona Method, has revealed a powerful way to help overcome the emotional component of marijuana addiction.

ALCOHOL – USA
Long Fight to Regulate Alcopops Faces Key Hearing in Nebraska – Join Together

A Nebraska youth alcohol-prevention group has been grappling with state lawmakers, regulators and the alcohol industry for years to get alcopops classified as liquor, not beer, and the rollercoaster process will make a key stop on July 31 as the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission holds a hearing on the classification issue.

DRUGS – USA
Psychiatrists Received Biggest Chunk of Pharmaceutical Company Payoffs, Vermont Study Finds – Join Together

With abuse of prescription drugs a growing problem, Vermont is one of a handful of states that require pharmaceutical companies to report how much cash and gifts they give to doctors.

COCAINE – USA
Cocaine Addiction – Trans World News
“Coca leaves have been used for centuries by natives as a stimulant,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director of Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia.

PRESCRIPTION – ROMANIA
Prescription Drug Addiction and Recovery, “The Night is Always Darkest Before the Dawn” – PR Log

SouthCoast Recovery believes it’s imperative for clients to learn how to have fun without drugs and alcohol, often taking their clients to the filming of television shows, on fishing trips, or to other events to help them transition back into a sober way of life.

RITALIN – UK
How smart are ’smart drugs’? – Times Online

There’s a buzz about modafinil, meant to make you brighter and more energized. But does it work, and at what cost?

METHAMPHETAMINES – USA
Amphetamines: Killer Stimulants – Trans World News

Amphetamines, whether prescription drugs, such as Adderall® or Dexedrine®, or illegal methamphetamine, can cause drug addiction that ruins the drug addict’s life.

METH – USA
Prescription for addiction: Abuse of painkillers fastest-growing drug problem in Montana – Missoulian

While gruesome images of meth addicts grab the billboards, the number of people abusing prescription painkillers statewide has skyrocketed, with a startling increase in fatal overdoses.

METH – USA
Meth coalition to hear update on treatments – Rapid City Journal

Trends in treating methamphetamine addiction will be reviewed at a public program Thursday, July 24. Donita Reeves of the Rapid City-Pennington County Alcohol & Drug Programs will be the featured speaker.

METH – USA
War on meth focuses on pseudoephedrine – WFIE TV News

In the war on meth, police have been trying to control access to pseudoephedrine. In the past month, EPD has filed over 70 summons against customers buying illegal amounts of the drug at local pharmacies.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Warning: Recall of Sandoz Timolol Ophthalmic Solution – Market Watch

Health Canada is warning consumers not to use the prescription drug Sandoz Timolol Ophthalmic Solution in 0.25% and 0.5% strengths, because some bottles may contain more of the active ingredient (timolol maleate) than indicated on the label, exposing patients to an increased risk of adverse events.

METH – USA
Meth lab cleanup rules changed – Louisville Courier-Journal

State legislators in the last session beefed up a law that guides the cleanup of methamphetamine labs.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol education scheme launched – BBC News

A campaign to educate the public about alcohol units and responsible drinking has been launched by retailers.

CANNABIS – IRELAND
Cannabis far more toxic to the adolescent brain – The Independent
CANNABIS is far more toxic to the brains of young people who are exposed to the drug, than it is to adults, according to ground-breaking new Irish research.

METH – USA
Prosecutors seek help in anti-meth campaign – Visalia Times Delta

The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office is seeking volunteers to help put on a public awareness campaign about the Central Valley’s problem with crystal methamphetamine.

METH – USA
Crackdown on meth has made cocaine cheaper – Grand Junction Sentinel

Nearly anyone these days can recognize the hollowed-out features, skinny limbs and pockmarked skin that characterize someone hooked on methamphetamine, thanks in part to intensive local education campaigns.

ALCOHOL – USA
Prenatal Drinking, Environmental Enrichment: Effects On Neurotrophins Are Independent Of Each Other – Science Daily

Prenatal alcohol exposure may be particularly destructive for neurotrophins, a family of peptides that influence the growth, development and functional plasticity of the fetal brain.

ALCOHOL – USA
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Endangers Neurotrophin Levels – US News and World Report

Exposure to alcohol prenatally could specifically be harmful to neurotrophins, peptides which are involved in the growth and development of the fetal brain, a new study shows.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol + loud music = more alcohol – Los Angeles Times

Trying to limit your alcohol intake is tougher when you’re drinking in a bar with loud music, according to a new study.

ALCOHOL – UK
Loud music in bars makes customers drink more, say scientists – Telegraph

The study, to be published later this year in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, said the drinks industry already knows that music can have an effect on how long people stay in bars.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin deaths worry health officials – KEX

An increase of 32-percent in heroin deaths this year has Multnomah County health officials worried.

HEROIN – USA
Methadone Use is on the Rise, and the Effects are Deadly – Injury Board

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, overdoses caused by prescription painkillers are increasing, and Methadone abuse is escalating more rapidly than any other drug.

MWTHADONE – USA
FDA addresses Methadone Dangers – Injury Board

Issued back in 2006, this Health Advisory from the FDA warns against the dangers of methadone and includes important prescribing information for its safe use.

MARIJUANA – USA
Marijuana Mouth Spray: The New Pain Reliever? – Fox News

A new marijuana mouth spray aimed at relieving pain is being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in clinical trials, USA Today reported.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller Patch Fentanyl May Have Killed 3,500 People, Warns FDA – Natural News

The popular patch version of the pain killer fentanyl is suspected in more than 3,500 deaths, and the FDA has issued a new warning about its use.

ADDICTION – USA
Addiction helps hide what’s within – Republican Eagle

In the past year I have written several letters about meth addiction and some of the feelings that go along with it. More and more people have come to me commenting on how they substitute the word alcohol in place of meth.

ADDICTION – CANADA
Regular exercise may counter addiction – Calgary Herald

A Davidson College study in drug and alcohol dependence compared self-administered cocaine use between two groups of caged rats — those with an exercise wheel and the rest without.

ADDICTION – USA
STAGES of Recovery program addresses addiction – Lubbock Online

According to a Texas Department of State and Health Services survey of college students conducted in spring 2005, 11 percent of Texas college students were frequent binge drinkers.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol impact area proves power of community – The News Tribune

Neighborliness is a powerful thing. A few years ago, when Whitman area resident Pat McGregor started noticing his neighborhood declining around him, he knew that stopping the degradation would require cutting off the supply of cheap booze that keeps street drunks plastered.

ALCOHOL – UK
Bachelot seeks under-18 alcohol ban – The Press Association
France’s health minister said she is working on a Bill which would prevent under-18s drinking in bars or buying alcohol at supermarkets.

ALCOHOL – UK
Risky Drinking In Over 55s Becomes The Focus Of New Research – Medical News Today

A new study led by Simon Coulton, Professor of Health Services Research at the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent, aims to improve services for over 55s caught up in ‘risky drinking’.

ALCOHOL – USA
U.K. Health Official Wants Zero Tolerance for Alcohol Use by Young Drivers – Join Together

Drivers ages 17 to 20 should not be allowed to legally operate motor vehicles with any detectable level of alcohol in their bodies, according to Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer in England.

DRUGS – UK
Hair tests for drugs wins award – BBC News

Cardiff-based TrichoTech will receive royal recognition for work developing new ways of testing for substance misuse over periods of months.

DRUGS – UK
Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among young people in England 2007 – NHS

This report contains results from an annual survey of secondary school pupils aged in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). Overall, 7,831 pupils in 273 schools in England completed questionnaires in the autumn term of 2007.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescriptions are top drug abused by teens – Cleveland Daily Banner

Nationwide prescription drugs have become the second most abused illegal drug, behind marijuana, among young people ages 12 to 17, but not in Bradley County.

METH – USA
Officials keep an eye out for meth – Morning Sentinel

But while they don’t produce a lot of the drug, Maine meth labs represent a subculture of drug users that officials are watching carefully.

MORPHINE – CANADA
‘Dode’ for a cheap high – South Asian Focus

Poppy powder, a derivative of highly addictive and illegal opium, is openly sold in some meat shops in Brampton and Mississauga. Its use is raising questions about its legality and potentially harmful effects for those seeking an unconventional ‘high’.

DRUGS – CANADA
SouthCoast Recovery, Orange County California’s Foremost Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center – Free Press Release Center

SouthCoast Recovery, a premier California alcohol and drug rehab center, announces the addition of a Adderall Treatment Program to its 30, 60, 90-day and six month residential treatment programs.

ADDICTION – USA
When you decide you can’t stop your addiction on your own, here is the rehab call – Trans World News

Privacy is and must be the bedrock of the drug rehabilitation process. Some drug treatment centers merely pay lip service to that principle. Cliffside Malibu makes it a way of life.

ALCOHOL – UK
No alcohol for young drivers call – BBC News

The legal blood alcohol limit should be cut to zero for drivers aged 17 to 20, England’s chief medical officer says.

ADDICTION – BULGARIA
The Sober Sources Network Offers Thorough Addiction Support – PR-USA

Addiction recovery, no matter the type of addiction, has become the focus of several online sites. The Sober Source Network is the flourishing and leading resource network offering support for alcoholism and addiction.

ALCOHOL – UK
Cops launch drink, drug, driving blitz – Evening Times

A SUMMER crackdown on drink drivers has been launched today with a series of high-visibility police patrols across the west of Scotland.

DRUGS – IRELAND
Illegal drug use - Urgent wake-up call needed – Drugs.ie

For too long people tolerated drink driving, but the carnage on our roads served as a wake-up call. The victims were often young people overcome by the influence of alcohol and a sense of bravado.

DRUGS – USA
Helpful Drugs-Dangerous Abuse – Trans World News

Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia warns that the abuse of these drugs can lead to a deadly drug addiction.

DRUGS – USA
Drug Rehab Warns of Internet Drug Sales – Trans World News
What amazes me is that a supervised 13-year old actually ordered and received Ritalin, a controlled substance, and used her own height, weight and age when filling out the internet order form.

CANNABIS – NEW ZEALAND
New Zealands regional drugs – Undertheradar

Cannabis was still the king of the country’s drugs, with the highest use and availability of any illegal substance.

ADDICTION – USA
Children often innocent victims of adult addiction, drug abuse – Indiana Gazette

For one 12-year-old girl, addiction is a drawing of a green monster with red eyes that has a steel band around her mom, dad and older sister. It carries a bag of alcohol, nicotine and inhalants.

ADDICTION – USA
Chili teen’s painting takes aim at addiction – Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Jonathan Duran Quintela doesn’t have a close friend or family member with substance abuse problems, but he didn’t need that to understand addiction.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
The launch of new prescription monitoring system announced – Norwalk Plus Magazine

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced the launch of a new Internet-based prescription monitoring system to prevent the abuse of controlled substance prescription drugs.

METH – USA
Meth: Destroying countless families – Searcy Daily Citizen

Folks, drugs in and around White County are an epidemic. People from all walks of life, rich and poor, white and black, are all being victimized by meth.

ALCOHOL – USA
Diageo Applauds New Law in California That Increases Penalties on Alcohol-Related Reckless Drivers – Market Watch

Diageo, the world’s leading spirits, wine and beer company applauds California’s Legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger for adopting Assembly Bill No. 2802, increasing the penalties for motorists convicted of alcohol-related reckless driving.

COCAINE – USA
The killing white powder! Its time to address cocaine abuse & addiction – Trans World News

Cocaine rehabs aren’t all alike. Unfortunately, too many prospective patients assume otherwise in their search for a private treatment facility.

METH – CANADA
Meth sold as ecstacy, N.L. police say – CBC News

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said Wednesday that some recent drug seizures of what they thought was ecstasy, was actually methamphetamine.

METH – CANADA
Police issue warning about illegal drugs – The Telegram

Some pills sold as Ecstasy may actually be the more powerful and addictive methamphetamine.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drugs-causing more pain and suffering than comfort and relief – Trans World News

No two addicts are ever exactly alike. Neither are any two types of addiction. That’s why it’s so important that individual drug and alcohol rehab programs be constructed on a case-by-cases basis.

CODEINE – AUSTRALIA
Painkillers linked to kidney failure – News.com.au

Codeine combination medicines such as Nurofen Plus, available over the counter in pharmacies, have again been linked to serious medical complications.

CODEINE – AUSTRALIA
Painkiller link to bleeding ulcers, renal failure – The West Australian

Powerful painkillers containing codeine have been linked to dozens of fresh cases of bleeding stomach ulcers and renal failure, reinvigorating debate about abuse of the popular drugs.

ALCOHOL – USA
Underage Overconsumption of Alcohol Targeted in France – Join Together

French youth are not demurely sipping wine in Paris cafes: rather, experts say, they are drinking more like their U.S. counterparts and bingeing with the intention of getting drunk.

ALCOHOL – USA
Study Says Bingeing Worse at Colleges with Big Drinking Culture, Lax Rules – Join Together

The college environment plays a key role in student binge drinking, researchers say, with bingeing rates higher at schools that have a strong drinking culture, few alcohol-control policies, weak enforcement, and easy access to alcohol.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol: Do you know if you’re safe to drive? – Newsday

So you just had a quick happy hour with your colleagues and are ready to hit the road. You think you are safe to drive after having had just two drinks. But if you’re pulled over, you may be blowing a lot more alcohol into the Breathalyzer than you think.

ALCOHOL – UK
Road safety: Impose total alcohol ban for teenage drivers, says chief medical officer – Guardian

A zero drink-driving limit should be imposed on all drivers under 20, the chief medical officer recommended yesterday, saying that such a ban would save lives.

ALCOHOL – UK
Conditions In The College Environment Encourage Binge Drinking – Medical News Today

Heavy alcohol use, or binge drinking, among college students in the United States is tied to conditions in the college environment.

PAINKILLER – AUSTRALIA
Painkiller linked to bleeding ulcers – Canberra Times

Powerful painkillers containing codeine have been linked to dozens of fresh cases of bleeding stomach ulcers and renal failure, reinvigorating debate about abuse of the popular drugs.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Crack cocaine and heroin costs less than a pint of beer – Courier Mail

DEADLY drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine are being peddled for less than a pint of beer on the streets of England.

DRUGS – UK
Drug addiction: ‘The true cost often ends in tragic loss of life’ – Scotsman

It also demonstrates that addiction knows no bounds and that drug misuse is not confined, as many would choose to believe, to areas of deprivation.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Medical Mixups; Hospital Prescription Drug Error Can Lead to Deaths – Injury Board

We have been aware of the shocking reality that 98,000 hospitalized patients die each year in the United States due to error for nearly a decade. What has been done?

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Drugstore slipups a prescription for death – New York Daily News

New York pharmacists filled an estimated 210,000 prescriptions with the wrong drug or dose in 2006, putting patients at risk of illness and even death, a new analysis shows.

ALCOHOL – USA
U.K. Docs Want Graphic Warnings on Alcohol Packages – Join Together

Alcoholic beverages should feature the same kind of graphic images and warnings found on tobacco products.

ALCOHOL – UK
Teachers to be given power to search for drugs, alcohol and cigarettes – Times Online

Teachers will be allowed by law to search children for drugs, alcohol and cigarettes in school under proposals today which will be accepted by the Schools Secretary.

ALCOHOL – UK
Teachers to get powers to search pupils for drugs and alcohol – Telegraph
Teachers will be given powers to search pupils for drugs and alcohol as part of a new drive to restore discipline in schools.

ALCOHOL – UK
France gets tough on alcohol – Scotsman

FRANCE is to ban drinking in public near schools and the sale of alcohol to minors as part of a crackdown on binge-drinking among youths.

METH – USA
Ads help teens see dangers of meth – The Arizona Republic

Over the last year, the Arizona Meth Project has delivered riveting depictions of the dangers of meth use to young Arizonans.

ALCOHOL – USA
FTC Supports Self-Regulation of Alcohol Industry Ads – Join Together

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that 92 percent of alcohol advertising meets the industry’s self-imposed threshold on limiting underage exposure to beer, wine and liquor ads and urged the industry to expand the self-regulatory standards to event sponsorships as well as TV and Internet ads.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Many Buying Prescriptions Online Without Authorization – WLNS TV News

Just about anything can be purchased from the convenience of your home with just the click of a mouse, but now a new report says people are using this easy method to buy drugs online that are not supposed to be available over the counter.

ALCOHOL – USA
Milford official proposes student alcohol testing – Newsday

Milford’s superintendent of schools is proposing that students be subjected to breath testing for alcohol at school functions.

DRUGS – USA
What Happens When Entire Cities Become “Drug-Free School Zones”? – Drug Law Blog

What happens when laws that enhance drug sentences in “drug-free school zones” end up covering almost the entire geographical area of a city because of the density of school concentration in the area?

METHADONE – USA
N.C. methadone overdoses rise – Myrtle Beach Sun News

Methadone, long prescribed as an alternative to heroin, is proving to be a hazard of its own.

METHADONE – USA
Killer or cure – Altoona Mirror

A drug commended years ago for helping to loosen heroin’s deadly grip in Pennsylvania and beyond may now be the region’s No. 1 killer.

METH – USA
Pharmacy logs already helping meth prosecutions – Press-Register

Records of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine purchases already have begun to help authorities put away people who provide methamphetamine cooks with the vital raw ingredients they need to churn out the drug, according to prosecutors and a review of court records.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription For Addiction - And Death – The Chattanoogan

We are on course to see a 450% increase in prescription drug abuse/addiction by children ages 10 - 17, from 2002 through 2008. When are we going to wake up?

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription painkiller deaths spike in Nevada – Monterey County Herald

A newspaper investigation found skyrocketing abuse of prescription narcotics in southern Nevada, accompanied by a startling increase in the number of fatal overdoses.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse growing, seen as safe high among teens, experts say – My West Texas
http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2008/07/13/news/top_stories/prescription_drugs_sunday.txt
When an adolescent was rushed to Midland Memorial’s Emergency Room within the last year because of a prescription drug overdose, it looked like everything was under control. Such overdoses aren’t uncommon, officials said, and like others, this patient showed all the signs of being in stable condition and was released. But, soon after going home, the young adult died.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Web sites linked to rise in prescription-drug abuse – Omaha World-Herald

A large majority of 365 Internet sites that advertise or sell controlled medications by mail are offering to supply the drugs without a proper prescription, according to a new study.

COCAINE – UK
Cocaine used in 95% of clubs in London borough – CRP News

Council officials in Kensington & Chelsea found more than 95 per cent of bars and clubs they tested showed cocaine had been used on their premises.

DRUGS – UK
Olympics: All 1,500 British athletes to be drug tested before leaving for Beijing – Guardian

From pistol shooters to shot putters, every British athlete competing in this summer’s Beijing Olympics is being tested for performance-enhancing drugs in the most extensive anti-doping campaign in this country’s Olympic history.

ALCOHOL – NEW ZEALAND
Minister studies booze problems in Scotland – National Business Review
Associate Justice Minister Lianne Dalziel is learning first hand how a country with a reputation for heavy drinking is handling its alcohol problems.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcohol involved in 100 young deaths – The Sydney Morning Herald

At least 100 young people die each year with a blood alcohol level at or above .05, figures show.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Rogue Internet Pharmacies Sell Controlled Drugs Without Prescriptions – Med Headlines

A new report issued by the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) warns consumers against the vast array of drugs sold by unregulated online pharmacies. These pharmacies not only sell controlled drugs without an accompanying prescription, they do so without verification of age.

DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse, deaths grow in Vegas area – Las Vegas Sun

A newspaper investigation found skyrocketing abuse of prescription narcotics in southern Nevada, accompanied by a startling increase in the number of fatal overdoses.

DRUGS – USA
Time To Take Overdoses Seriously - And Response – The Chattanoogan

Our teenagers and young adults do not have an understanding of the tragedy that will unfold while they experiment with these drugs. Pills are getting into the wrong hands.

ADDICTION – USA
E-Addiction: Your teen and the World Wide Web of drugs – New York Daily News

It’s about a brand new report from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction, trumpeting that “the Internet is a pharmaceutical candy store.”

HEROIN – USA
Heroin Addict Hopes for Rehab - but Addiction Hard to Overcome – Voice of America

The international heroin trade affects the lives of millions of people worldwide. It is destructive for producer and user countries, if in different ways.