Dec 18 Drug Headlines

ALCOHOL - UK
Britain's booziest Christmas ever - The Independent
Price wars in supermarkets and drink promotions in pubs are making alcohol cheaper than ever. And we're lapping it up, as this exclusive survey for the 'IoS' reveals. Which is why police are calling for a ban on advertising aimed at young drinkers and doctors are warning of record levels of liver disease. Sophie Goodchild and Marie Woolf report

GENERAL - BRAZIL
Brazil's teenagers - gangs and drugs - The Star
For teenagers in Rio de Janeiro's mean slums, working in the drug trade is a lucrative way to make a living. It's also a fast way to dying. Youths as young as 11 start off as messengers and look-outs for the drug gangs that control the packed shantytowns known as favelas, then earn promotion to soldiers or sellers.

ALCOHOL - AUSTRALIA
Baby labels on alcohol - The Daily Telegraph
Warning labels telling pregnant mothers they risk doing irreversible harm to their unborn children by drinking could be put on alcoholic products after the number of damaged babies has soared.

ECSTASY - UK
The Ecstasy and the agony - UK Times
As the first wave of Ecstasy users reach their forties, research suggests that the drug can cause long-term brain damage

COCAINE - COLOMBIA & ECUADOR
Ecuador just says no to Colombia coca fumigation - CNN
Ecuador will not back down from its demand that Colombia halt aerial fumigation of coca plantations along their shared border, President Alfredo Palacio said.

CANNABIS - US
Pot is called biggest cash crop - LA Times
The $35-billion market value of U.S.-grown cannabis tops that of such heartland staples as corn and hay, a marijuana activist says.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Sleep Medicine Ambien Abused by Teens - Join Together
Some adolescents are misusing the prescription sleep medication Ambien, which they say causes hallucinations and blackouts.

MARIJUANA - MEXICO
Mexican Officials Find Nearly 1,800 Marijuana Fields - Fox News
Mexican soldiers and federal police sent to restore order in Michoacan state have discovered 1,795 marijuana fields in the past week and seized or destroyed marijuana worth about $8.2 million, security officials said Monday.

MARIJUANA - US
OPD: 381 percent more marijuana confiscated this year
The Street Crimes Division of the Owensboro Police Department increased their arrests by 37 percent and cash recovery to 43 percent. But the biggest change, they confiscated 381 percent more marijuana than in 2005.

GENERAL - US
In jail study, most inmates used marijuana, cocaine - The Herald
More men and women are being booked into the Snohomish County Jail with marijuana and cocaine in their systems than any other drug, including methamphetamine, according to a new study.

CANNABIS - NEW ZEALAND
Police to target cannabis growing
Cannabis growing season is under way in the Taupo district and so is a police crackdown into the operations.

GENERAL - SCOTLAND
Cold turkey plan for Scots addicts - The Scotsman
The biggest shake-up of drugs policy for 20 years is to be pushed through by Labour in a bid to get Scotland's 50,000 addicts off heroin and other deadly substances.

HEROIN - AFGHAN
Governor of Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing province replaced; 5 killed in violence - International Herald Tribune
The Afghan government has fired the governor of its biggest drug-producing province, while clashes and a suicide bombing killed six militants and wounded six U.S.-led coalition troops, officials said Monday.

Nov 30 Drug Headlines

METH - US
National Methamphetamine Awareness Day - November 30, 2006
In an effort to generate awareness about the damaging effects of methamphetamine abuse on individuals, families and American communities, the Federal Government has designated Thursday, November 30 as National Methamphetamine Awareness Day.

METH - US
Meth epidemic spreading along East Coast - MSNBC
Methamphetamine use is increasing along the East Coast after years of largely being confined to rural areas west of the Mississippi River, a government report shows.

ECSTASY - US
Ecstasy Can Harm The Brains Of First-Time Users - Medical News
Researchers have discovered that even a small amount of MDMA, better known as ecstasy, can be harmful to the brain, according to the first study to look at the neurotoxic effects of low doses of the recreational drug in new ecstasy users. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

METH - US
National Methamphetamine Awareness Day
As we mentioned a little while back, "the meth epidemic," which only a few short months ago seemed to be on magazine and newspaper covers across the country, has all but disappeared from the national news cycle. Well, thankfully, the federal government hasn't forgotten the seriousness of the situation that we face when talking about methamphetamine. The US Department of Justice and The White House have made today National Methamphetamine Awareness Day.

METH - US
DVD warning to teenagers as P gets cheaper - New Zealand Herald
An educational reality-type docudrama showing a young man's descent into full-blown P abuse is about to hit secondary schools. Told through the eyes of a teenage girl,Sophie's Story is a harrowing account of the effects P has on families and youth, who a drug education group warns are trying it earlier.

ALCOHOL - SCOTLAND
Scots' alcohol habits cause alarm - BBC
Many young Scots regularly wake up unable to remember how much they drank the night before, a survey has claimed.

GENERAL - UK
Call for new way to fight addiction as crime up 93%
Tory MSP Bill Aitken demanded action after it was revealed that while funding for Drug and Alcohol Action Teams in the city had nearly trebled since 1999, drug crimes had increased by 93%.

METH - US
Today is National Methamphetamine Day
The Methamphetamine problem in southern Illinois has been well documented, however the trend locally seems to suggest a decline. Thursday is National Methamphetamine Day and Marion County Sheriff Brad Wolenhaupt says there are many factors leading to the decline.

METH - US
Penthouse lab busted in methamphetamine crackdown - Newsday
A Manhattan corporate executive accused of cooking up methamphetamine in his penthouse apartment was one of 10 people busted in a crackdown on clandestine drug labs in the city and Long Island, Drug Enforcement Administration officials announced Thursday.

METH - US
Methamphetamine abuse affects us all - Orlando Sentinel
It has become a familiar scene on the evening news across the country: Neighbors watch in stunned silence as police raid the house next door and the nice couple, who for the most part kept to themselves, is hauled away for running a methamphetamine lab in their basement.

METH - US
Study finds methamphetamine use on rise on U.S. East Coast
Methamphetamine use is increasing along the U.S. East Coast after years of largely being confined to rural areas west of the Mississippi River, a government report shows.

METH - NEW ZEALAND
Police find 1000th methamphetamine lab in 10 years
New Zealand police have located 1000 clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratories in the past 10 years.

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.

Nov 27 Drug Headlines

ALCOHOL - AUSTRALIA
Schoolies' dangerous drinking - Herald Sun
Alcohol is clearly the drug of choice among school leavers celebrating on the Gold Coast, with almost a quarter drinking to the point where they are physically sick. More than 85 per cent of schoolies surveyed by drug education centre DRUG ARM said they had consumed alcohol within the past 24 hours.

ALCOHOL - US
Alcohol Involved in One-Third of Suicides - Join Together
A third of suicide victims in a recent study had alcohol in their system, and about 10 percent tested positive for other drugs, such as opiates, cocaine, marijuana, or amphetamines, according to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

OPIUM - AFGHANISTAN
War on drugs strengthens Afghan mafia
Afghanistan’s war on drugs has been marred by corruption that has strengthened the grip of an increasingly powerful mafia on the country’s narcotics trade, a report by the World Bank and United Nations said. Over the past five years, the British-led counter-narcotics strategy had penalised the country’s poorest farmers and strengthened networks of organised crime, consolidating the trade among a tiny elite of traffickers, the damning report said.

ECSTASY - AUSTRALIA
Ecstasy study turns dance floor into lab - ABC Australia
The idea of being followed around a nightclub by a researcher bent on taking a blood sample and measuring your temperature may not be your idea of a good time.

COCAINE - US
Test Strips For The Rapid Detection Of Cocaine
Saving the life of a poisoning victim is often a matter of minutes. It is best when the emergency doctor can perform a reliable diagnosis on the spot to determine which poison or what type of drug overdose a patient is suffering from.

PAINKILLER - US
Methadone Use for Pain Control May Result in Death and Life-Threatening Changes in Breathing and Heart Beat - FDA Public Health Advisory
FDA has received reports of death and life-threatening side effects in patients taking methadone. These deaths and life-threatening side effects have occurred in patients newly starting methadone for pain control and in patients who have switched to methadone after being treated for pain with other strong narcotic pain relievers.

PAINKILLER - US
Deaths, side effects prompt new methadone warning - CNN
People starting treatment with methadone have died and suffered life-threatening side effects, health officials said Monday in warning of the dangers of overdosing on the painkiller.

PAINKILLER - US
Warning issued on dangers of methadone - Seatle PI
People starting treatment with methadone have died and suffered life-threatening side effects, health officials said Monday in warning of the dangers of overdosing on the painkiller.

PAINKILLER - US
FDA Issues New Methadone Warning - CBN News
It's a drug that's been used to treat heroin addiction -- and, increasingly, as a pain-reliever. And now, the government is warning of the dangers of using too much methadone.

HEROIN - US
Police: Heroin cases rise sharply in state - Chicago Tribune
Authorities say heroin has become increasingly easy to find in Indianapolis and other parts of the state. The Indiana State Police estimate they will investigate nearly 700 heroin cases this year -- twice as many as last year and triple the number of cases in 2004.

GENERAL - BANGKOK
Asean aims to be drug-free by 2015 - Bangkok Post
Representatives of Asean member countries and local, regional and international NGOs are meeting now in Bangkok to seek concrete solutions to the drug problem in the region, with a goal of making Asean a drug-free region in 2015.

MARIJUANA - US
Marijuana petition drive for 2008 ballot is under way - Wood TV
Michigan residents could legally use marijuana on private property for recreational or medical purposes under a measure proposed for the 2008 statewide ballot.

MARIJUANA - US
Petition drive seeks to legalize marijuana use in Michigan - WZZM 13
Michigan residents could legally use marijuana on private property under a measure proposed for the 2008 ballot.

Nov 22 Drug Headlines

ALCOHOL - US
Britons 'in denial' over alcohol - BBC
Britons are in denial about the effect of drinking excess alcohol on their health, according to a survey. Only 12% of adults questioned worried about the effect of drinking too much alcohol on their health, according to insurer Legal & General.

OPIUM - UK
Smoking opium could make a comeback in Britain - Times Online
Opium smoking much beloved by Victorian intellectuals could be making a comeback in Britain a national drugs conference was warned yesterday. International drugs experts believe that traffickers faced with off-loading a record crop of opium poppies in Afghanistan are not bothering to refine opium into heroin but smuggling it direct for sale.

ECSTASY - UK
Call for ecstasy to be downgraded - BBC
Ecstasy and LSD should be downgraded from Class A to Class B, a government adviser on drugs law has proposed. Professor David Nutt, who chairs a committee of a drugs advisory council, said grouping the drugs with others in Class A, like heroin, was an "anomaly".

GENERAL - NEW ZEALAND
Cultural Differences Blamed For Maori Drug Addiction - Newswire
A new study reveals that Maori are twice as likely as non-Maori to become addicted to drugs.

OPIUM - UK
Smoking opium could make a comeback in Britain - Times Online
Opium smoking much beloved by Victorian intellectuals could be making a comeback in Britain a national drugs conference was warned yesterday. International drugs experts believe that traffickers faced with off-loading a record crop of opium poppies in Afghanistan are not bothering to refine opium into heroin but smuggling it direct for sale.

GENERAL - IRAN
One person dies every two hours from drug addiction in Iran - Iran Focus
One person dies every two hours from drug addiction-related illnesses in Iran, according to new statistics released by the government.

PAINKILLER - SWEDEN
Painkiller addiction kills two youngsters - The Local, Swedens News in English
Police are concerned about the use of highly addictive painkiller Tradolan among young people in Tierp, north of Stockholm. The deaths of two 17-year old boys have been linked to the drug Expressen reports. Police say both boys hade high amounts of Tradolan in their bodies at the time of death.

GENERAL - US
Changing Your Diet Can Improve Your Mood - NBC 11
Kim Goldman's despair was so bad she couldn't work. Even prescription anti-depressants failed to pull her out of a deep depression.

COCAINE - US
Love Your Heart: Just Say 'No' to Cocaine - The Crimson
Sinners, take note. Sex won’t increase your risk of a heart attack—but cocaine could up your chances nearly 24 times over, according to two Harvard researchers.

Nov 15 Drug Headlines

GENERAL - UK
Drug abuse: Children of 10 and 11 are involved - Telegraph
Heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis blight huge swaths of Britain's inner cities and sink housing estates. Drug abuse has become a crucial driver of the family breakdown and under-achievement of a generation of young working-class white boys.

COCAINE - US
Research Report: Cocaine Comeback - University of Florida News
A new study shows cocaine is making a major comeback as a killer of college-age students and people with a lot of disposable income. New data from the University of Florida and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows that cocaine is increasingly cited as the cause of death in coroner’s reports.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Deadly Drug Grows in Popularity - WJAC News
Officials say fentanyl is known as the new oxycontin. It's 80 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

GENERAL - US
Pot, Meth a Growing Problem in SCV - Santa Clarify Valley The Signal
Since Sgt. Phil Morris arrived at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station narcotics unit in June, he has helped seize five marijuana crops. Marijuana is not the only problem in the Santa Clarita Valley. Methamphetamine use has got narcotics investigators scrambling to deal with a drug that is still not considered a narcotic, Morris said.

MARIJUANA - US
San Francisco Supervisors Vote to Deprioritize Adult Marijuana Offenses - Drug Policy Alliance
Pending the formality of a second reading next Tuesday, San Francisco has joined several cities, most recently Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, and Santa Barbara, all in California, as well as Missoula, Montana, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in making marijuana the lowest local law enforcement priority. The ordinance was approved 8-3, with only one neighborhood group in opposition.

HEROIN - US
Heroin bust proves drug's use is growing in SWFL - NBC
After a 17 month investigation, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 11 suspected heroin dealers. Some say it is proof the drug’s use is growing in our area.

GENERAL - US
Meth, Ecstacy, heroin readily available
Larger amounts of drugs are coming into the United States from Mexico, Columbia and Asia, the National Drug Intelligence Center said. In its 2007 drug threat assessment, the center said organizations producing ice methamphetamine in Mexico have expanded their presence throughout the United States. The center, which is part of the Department of Justice, said the presence of Mexican traffickers in U.S. drug markets has allowed the introduction of Mexican black tar and brown powder heroin into Southeastern and Midwestern states.