Nov 29 Drug Headlines

GENERAL - WORLDWIDE
Drugs and the law around the world - The Herald
Information on laws for different countries

PRESCRIPTION - US
Parents blame antidepressant for toddler's heart defect - CNN
* A mom fears the Paxil she took while pregnant caused her son's heart defect. * FDA says two studies suggest paroxetine, or Paxil, increases birth defect risk. * Paxil's labeling was changed last year to warn about the risks of birth defects

ALCOHOL - US
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Appears To Increase An Infant's Stress Response - Medical News
New findings indicate that the days between conception and pregnancy recognition may be critical for the development of stress-response systems among infants whose mothers consume alcohol.

PAINKILLER (METHADONE) - US
One pill to kill say methadone bereaved - Scoop
The FDA yesterday warned health care professionals about the dangers of methadone including cardio-toxicity, saying Prescribers' should read and carefully follow prescribing information. Methadone is a synthetic opiate commonly given to opiate addicts so their lives will be less chaotic.

METH - NEW ZEALAND
Fears drop in price of P attracting more teens - New Zealand Herald
Teenagers as young as 14 are trying methamphetamine or P as the price of the drug has halved in the last year, a drug education group Welltrust says.

ALCOHOL - UK
Britain's binge drinkers begin to sober up - The Guardian
A tide of binge drinking that threatened to engulf Britain has started to recede, according to official figures yesterday.

OPIUM - US
A step towards breaking a dark embrace - UK Times
Efforts to clamp down on the opium trade in Afghanistan have only swelled the power of the drugs barons and have failed to stop the business reaching “unprecedented levels”, according to the World Bank and a United Nations agency.

MARIJUANA - US
Calif. Court Gives More Protection to Medical Marijuana Users - Join Together
People found by police to be carrying even seemingly large amounts of marijuana can defend themselves in court by claiming that they are medical-marijuana users, the California Supreme Court has ruled.

ECSTASY - US
Ecstasy Can Quickly Hurt Brain, Researchers Say - Join Together
Human brain cells can be altered and damaged by low doses of ecstasy, leading to reduced blood flow to the brain, researchers say.

CANNABIS - EUROPE/HUNGARY
Police bust Europe's largest cannabis plantation
Police have busted Europe's largest ever cannabis plantation at an abandoned Slovakian slaughterhouse where top-notch technology was used by Austrian and Hungarian men to grow a copious amount of weed, a Hungarian county police reported on Wednesday.

HEROIN - AFGHAN
Afghans to use herbicide on nation's poppy crop - The Globe and Mail
The United States has persuaded Afghanistan to spray herbicide on poppy fields in an effort to slow the country's opium boom, according to a senior Western diplomat.

OPIUM - AFGHAN
Opium trade flourishing - Indy Star
Afghanistan's criminal underworld has compromised key government officials who protect drug traffickers, allowing a flourishing opium trade that will not be stamped out for a generation, an ominous U.N. report said.