Dec 9 Drug Headlines

HEROIN - AFGHAN
U.S. anti-drug chief: Afghan poppies to be sprayed with herbicide - International Herald Tribune
The top U.S. anti-drug official said Saturday that Afghan poppies would be sprayed with herbicide to combat an opium trade that produced a record heroin haul this year, a measure likely to anger farmers and scare Afghans unfamiliar with weed killers.

GENERAL - TAJIKISTAN
Tajikistan Grapples With Drug Addiction - Washington Post
Central Asia's poorest county is also one of the world's leading transit routes for heroin, opium and other drugs from Afghanistan. Sergei Makhkamov has been caught in the flood.

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS - US
Athletes' unbeatable foe - LA Times
The worldwide sports anti-doping program, created to fight performance enhancing drug use in international athletics, imposes severe punishments for accidental or technical infractions, relies at times on disputed scientific evidence and resists outside scrutiny, a Times investigation has found.

HEROIN - US
Deadly heroin mix plagues region; ‘Drop Dead’ blamed for surge of overdoses - The Patriot Ledger
The Hanover man’s death is among a succession of overdoses recently - some fatal, most not - that have led federal drug agents and local emergency responders to sound the alarm over heroin’s ever increasing death toll.

HEROIN - US
A higher high, a deadly fall
Suburban parents, police and health care officials are alarmed at what they say is a two-fold problem: heroin use on the rise among a younger crowd, and users looking to punch up their high by mixing in prescription drugs such as OxyContin, methadone and other opiates in dangerous combinations.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Sac Fire Toughens Access To Engine Morphine Stash - CBS 13
The first tampered seal was November of 2005 when morphine vials turned up with damaged seals. Nothing seemed suspicious until the trend continued, and officials checked what was actually in the damaged vials. “Some of the vials looked like they still have liquid in it," said Sacramento Fire Captain Jim Doucette.

METH - US
Serious crimes in Boulder down from last year - Your Hub Boulder
Serious crimes in Boulder are down for the first three quarters of 2006, but there has been an increase in daily contacts and arrests involving methamphetamine users, according to a Dec. 7 press release from the City of Boulder.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Addiction to Prescription Fraud - KJCT 8 News
Creating fraudulent and falsifiable prescriptions is unacceptable and unethical behavior, according to most pharmacists. Anyone can be unethical and get arrested. It's supposed to be legal to offer money and the accurate prescription to the pharmacist, but people take advantage and eventually get caught.