Nov 24 Drug Headlines

New Articles

GENERAL - AFGHAN
Afghan Drug Boom Fuels Child Addiction Rates
Doctors estimate that there are more than 2,000 drug-addicted children in the western city of Herat alone.

GENERAL - UK
Addicted to Failure - The Times
The most optimistic reading of the remarks by Europe’s top anti-drugs official yesterday was that the war against drugs is in a quagmire. In Britain, new government statistics suggest that there is a serious and growing drug problem. Although the illicit nature of drug use means that no calculation can ever be wholly accurate, the Home Office estimates are probably more robust, and more alarming, than anything previously published.

METH - MEXICO
Mexico Produces Most of Methamphetamine Coming into US
As methamphetamine abuse continues its scourge of the country, state and federal elected officials have worked over the last two years to pass laws restricting sales of over-the-counter products containing pseudoephedrine.

Original Articles

ALCOHOL - US
CDC Says Alcohol a Factor in One of Three Suicides - Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that post-mortem toxicology screenings found alcohol present in 33% of suicides across 13 states. Opiates were involved in 16%. Maybe most worrisome is that, as Reuters reports, the number of suicide deaths that involved drugs and alcohol didn't change even when drugs were the suspected method of suicide.

CANNABIS - UK
Cannabis is linked to rising child crime and harder drugs - Times Online
Magistrates are calling for tougher laws on cannabis to halt a crime wave among children who are stealing to buy drugs and graduating to more dangerous drugs. The demand for the Government to move the drug back to Class B from Class C for young offenders came yesterday as two reports showed that Britain’s drug problems continue unabated.

GENERAL - UK
Britain's £5.9bn a year drug habit - THe Guardian
The UK has 327,466 hardcore "problem drug users" who are regularly using either heroin, crack or cocaine, research revealed yesterday. The figure is far higher than a previous estimate of 270,000.

HEROIN - UK
Killer heroin on our streets - Get Reading UK
Police fear a batch of killer heroin is in circulation following the deaths of two men in two days. They have issued an urgent warning to heroin users to beware shooting up a deadly dose of the drug.

HEROIN - UK
BAD HABIT TO GIVE ADDICTS HEROIN - Daily Record UK
TRYING awfully hard to understand the logic behind prescribing heroin for druggies on the NHS. It would, according to the police, cut burglaries, muggings and shop-lifting by half because the junkies wouldn't have to steal to feed their habits. Except some might think, at a time when medication is being denied to those suffering from early stage Alzheimer's, that shelling out £15,000 a year for each addict is not maybe the best use of our resources.

HEROIN - UK
NHS to give addicts free drugs - The Argus
Drug addicts are to be prescribed heroin on the NHS in a controversial plan to cut crime and get users off drugs. Addicts would be allowed to inject themselves under supervision as part of a scheme costing £12,000 to £15,000 a year for every user.

OPIUM - UK & AFGHANISTAN
British troops wary of joining Afghan war on drugs - Daily Times
Despite being urged to do so by Afghan and western counter-narcotics chiefs, British troops are wary of joining the offensive against the drugs trade in Afghanistan, The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday. British commanders reportedly stand accused of taking too soft a line on opium farmers, and forces in the southern Helmand province – where the majority of British soldiers are based – are being asked to bomb or ambush drug smugglers.

COCAINE - UK
Britain leads Europe in cocaine use
A study finds that cocaine use in Europe is highest in England and Wales with Spain ranking second. In England and Wales, cocaine use has tripled among all adults and quadrupled among those aged 15 to 24 in the past 10 years, the BBC reported.

COCAINE - UK
Cancerous substance in cocaine? - Female First
Drug users have been cautioned that the drug is more commonly being cut with a chemical which places them at a 'very high risk of getting cancer'.

COCAINE - UK
Britain leads Europe in cocaine use - Washington Times
A study finds that cocaine use in Europe is highest in England and Wales with Spain ranking second. In England and Wales, cocaine use has tripled among all adults and quadrupled among those aged 15 to 24 in the past 10 years, the BBC reported.

METH - US
‘Meth is Death Week' planned for Jan. 21-27 - Daily Citizen
Plans are coming together for a planned county-wide week-long observance in January to raise the local awareness about the continuing methamphetamine problem in Greene County. Tabbed “Meth is Death Week” - the public awareness campaign is sponsored by Greene United Against Meth (GUAM), a pro-active grassroots organization, that has been involved in educating the public about the perils of meth use in the community for more than three years.

GENERAL - UK
Rising drug addiction costs UK £15 billion annually - Earth Times
The rise of drug abuse in the UK is costing its tax payers £15 billion. This figure has arisen in a Home Office study that was published recently. The amount is made up of drug related crimes, health service usage, drug-related deaths and the socio-economic care of addicts.

MARIJUANA - CANADA
Marijuana more addictive for youth
Young people can easily become dependent on marijuana because their brain is still developing, says an expert on youth substance abuse.