Dec 11 Drug Headlines

ALCOHOL & GENERAL DRUGS - US
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, 2006 - White House
Each year, thousands of Americans lose their lives in accidents involving drunk and drugged driving. During National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, we continue our efforts to promote awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and encourage fellow citizens to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

GENERAL - US
Drugs contract will put children’s rights first - The Herald
Whereas the focus of policy had been on the rights of addicts – to state support, treatment services etc – there is now a recognition of the rights of children, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to be free from abuse, neglect and maltreatment.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Drugs factor in car crashes, study finds
The focus on the dangers of drinking and driving may have overshadowed a similarly serious problem: the effect of drugs, including prescription medication, on drivers.

OPIUM - US
Opiate Addicts Find Fewer Hospital-Run Detox Beds Available - Red Orbit
Addicts who overdose on heroin or other opiates are likely to land first in a hospital emergency room, where doctors can often save them from brain damage or death.

OTC - US
Teen Use of Over-the-Counter Cold Medicines Rising - Join Together
Use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines has become one of the fastest-growing drug abuse problems for youths in California and elsewhere, and much of the increase is being seen in the pre-teen population, the Los Angeles Times reported Dec. 5.

OPIUM - AFGHAN
Afghanistan's opium poppies will be sprayed, says US drugs tsar - The Guardian
Afghanistan has agreed to poppy-spraying measures in a desperate bid to deflate the soaring drugs trade, America's anti-narcotics tsar announced at the weekend.

MARIJUANA - US
Laws Don't Curb Teen Marijuana Use - Marijuana Policy Project
A new report from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C., challenges the key assumption underlying present U.S. marijuana laws: that marijuana must be prohibited for adults in order to deter teens from using it.

METH - US
Stetson student busts meth myths
William Collum knew methamphetamine ruined addicts' lives but was surprised to read the drug also hurt innocent victims -- such as a family that moved into a house where meth was once cooked. The report showed how failure to clean the house properly left the air toxic and sickened the family. A financial crisis, breakup and divorce followed, said Collum, a Stetson University political science major.

Dec 7 Drug Headlines

METH - US
Click here for drug offenders in your area - MSNBC
Internet registries of rapists or pedophiles are available in every state, but a new breed of criminal now is experiencing the notoriety of being outed online — people convicted of making or selling methamphetamine.

GENERAL - US
New Poll Shows Parents Afraid Of Talking To Their Teens; Avoid Tough Topics, Especially Drug Use
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is urging parents to sharpen their conversation skills and monitor their teen's activities, after a new poll shows that most parents have difficulty getting through to their teens about important subjects, especially drug use. According to a new survey by VitalSmarts, most parents of teens indicate that they are even afraid to talk to their teens about everyday issues.

OTC - US
OTC Drug Abuse Soaring, New Study Says. History May Provide Another Lesson
Information published in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine shows that teens in California have been abusing over-the-counter cough medications in increasingly larger numbers.

OTC - US
Calif. Reports Rising DXM Abuse Among Adolescents - Join Together
Dextromethorphan, a cough medicine ingredient known colloquially as DXM, is landing an increasing number of California youths in hospitals, according to a report from the state's poison-control center.

PRESCRIPTION - SCOTLAND
There’s a depressing trend we must address - The Herald
It's 40 years since Mick Jagger satirised the plight of Valium-addicted housewives, predominant victims of the first chemical generation. Forty years. Half a lifetime. Long enough, you might hope, for everyone to grow wise to the fallacy that swallowing pills can make you happy, but apparently not long enough for Scotland, where prescriptions of anti-depressants have trebled in the past decade.

GENERAL - US
CPL To Drug Test Pro Gamers In 2007
While no one has ever been caught using illicit drugs in a pro gaming tournament, there have been suspicions that players may be using crystal meth and prescription drugs such as Ritalin to increase alertness levels, reflex times and physical and mental stamina.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Pro Gamers to be drug tested
According the Director of The Cyberathlete Professional League, Angel Munoz, the gaming league has has begun the necessary preparations to drug test professional gamers at next year's CPL tournaments.

HEROIN - US
Heroin Use Increases For Oakland County Teens
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office told Local 4 there is a new trend of heroin use among high school students. One city that is seeing a rise in teenage heroin cases is Royal Oak, with three teenagers overdosing in the last few weeks, police said.

Dec 4 Drug Headlines

GENERAL - US
Law enforcement divided about decriminalizing drugs
Vermont's top law enforcement official disagrees with a county prosecutor's call for decriminalizing illegal drugs.

OTC - US
Cough medicine drug a hallucinogen for some - CNN
Young people are increasingly abusing a drug found in nonprescription cough medicines that can produce hallucinogenic effects, but at a risk to their well-being, researchers said Monday.

GENERAL - UK
Campaign launched to reduce festive season drug deaths in Glasgow
A pre-Christmas information campaign to prevent drug-related deaths among users during the high-risk festive holiday period in Glasgow is being launched today in conjunction with Scottish Drugs Forum.

HEROIN - UK
U.K. to Give Free Heroin to Addicts - Join Together
A pilot program in Brighton and Hove, England will distribute free heroin to addicts in a bid to cut crime and addiction, The Argus reported Nov. 25.

HEROIN - US
Injection Drug Use Up Among Younger Heroin Treatment Clients - Join Together
Injection is increasingly becoming the prevalent route of administration among younger heroin users admitted to treatment, according to data from the national Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).

PAINKILLER - AUSTRALIA
Lawyers called in to fight methadone move - Mercury
A group of Wollongong business owners have joined forces to fight the possible relocation of Wollongong's controversial methadone clinic to their backyard.

ALCOHOL - AUSTRALIA
Ross Fitzgerald: Turning a blind eye to alcohol addiction - The Australian Opinion
A hard-hitting American study from the Rand Corporation - hardly a soft and fuzzy organisation - found that every dollar spent on treating drug and alcohol addiction saved seven dollars in law enforcement. But this research has had little impact on policy directions in any country, let alone the US.

GENERAL - AUSTRALIA
Prisons director denies rise in inmate drug use - ABC News
Tasmania's director of prisons has rejected union claims of a marked increase in drug use by inmates at the old Risdon Prison site.

GENERAL - US
Council to weigh bouncer law - Boston.com
The City Council is expected to hold a hearing this afternoon to discuss a proposal that would require background checks on bouncers and other security staff members at bars and clubs.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Parents Worry About Prescription Drugs, Too - Human Events
Methamphetamine and marijuana aren't the only drugs parents worry about. The problems caused by prescription combinations called "drug cocktails" have finally broken into the national news stream.

OPIUM - AFGHAN
60% leap in opium production in 2006 - Asia News
This was denounced by the United Nations and the US government. Drug cartels have their own armies that fight operations by Kabul and NATO. One-third of the national GDP comes from opium.

COCAINE - CANADA
Cocaine use on the rise in northern Manitoba - CBC
RCMP and addictions officials in northern Manitoba say they're dealing with a rapid rise in cocaine use and trafficking this year, but also an increase in the number of people seeking help for their addiction.

METH - US
Meth gets big part of blame surge in prisoners - Sioux City Journal
Methamphetamine is being blamed for much of the increase in South Dakota's prison population in 2005. South Dakota's 11.9 percent growth in inmate numbers last year was the largest in the nation.

METH - US
Methamphetamine spreads eastward from West - Arbiter Online
Scientists know methamphetamine as one of the most dangerous psycho stimulant drugs created. Broken down, ‘meth’ has a longer acting morphine-like effect in which people use in replacement of a morphine or heroin addiction.

HEROIN - IRELAND
Heroin deaths cause concern - Emigrant
Following the unexplained deaths of six heroin addicts in the previous 10 days, the National Disease Surveillance Centre on Saturday warned other addicts to seek medical advice if they became ill. There is concern that a contaminated batch of the drug is being sold on the streets of Dublin. Post-mortem examinations have been conducted on the five men and one woman but it will be some time before toxicology tests are complete.

Dec 2 Drug Headlines

HEROIN - AFGHAN
Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record - Washington Post
Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.

HEROIN - PORTUGAL
Heroin use on the rise in Portugal - The Portugal News
The findings of a report issued last week reveal that heroin use is on the increase in Portugal as well as Spain and Greece.

OPIUM - PORTUGAL
Lisbon on red alert over Afghan bumper opium crop - The Portugal News
The mayor of Lisbon was last week warned by the United Nations to expect a sharp increase in heroin overdoses among the citys drug users as Afghanistans record opium poppy crop begins flooding on to the European market.

ALCOHOL - UK
Do you drink much more than you think? - The UK Times
Know your limit. As wines get stronger and glasses larger, many of us are knocking back more than we should.

METH - MEXICO
Meth Labs Proliferate in Mexico - Join Together
A crackdown on U.S. methamphetamine labs has sparked a proliferation of meth production in Mexico, from ranches in Baja California to industrial parks in Guadalajara, the Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 26.

OTC - US
Officials seeing a new drug abuse
It may not have been what police were looking for in Bedford North Lawrence High School’s drug search Friday, but an over-the-counter substance recently has put the school on alert.

PRESCRIPTION - US
Thieves snatch pharmacy narcotics - The Birmingham News
Three men smashed out the window of a Mount Olive pharmacy Thursday night and stole $3,000 worth of pain pills, authorities said Friday. The thieves were in and out of the store in less than two minutes, making off with a haul of hydrocodone and oxycodone stuffed into a pillowcase, said Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Randy Christian.

PRESCRIPTION - UK
Inside story: swapping prescription drugs - UK Times Online
There’s a dangerous new practice in Britain: swapping prescription drugs. The people who are doing it won’t talk about it on the record. Health authorities won’t acknowledge it. The only way to broach the subject was to ask someone who trades painkillers for sleeping pills to write about his experiences (under a pseudonym). He explains why people are ignoring what the doctor ordered — for health and, sometimes, just for kicks.

HEROIN - UK
Warning over rogue heroin in city - BBC
Police in Bristol have warned drug users to steer clear of a batch of rogue heroin they believe has claimed the lives of three men.

METH - US
Mothers Against Meth, other groups work to combat epidemic - TribStar
Susan Gehring is joining with mothers of methamphetamine users in an attempt to help combat the meth epidemic in the Wabash Valley.

COCAINE - US
Cocaine users at risk of contracting Hepatitis C - Magic Statistics
And they may not know it until twenty or thirty years after their drug-using days are over. The risk is so high that a US study recommended that everyone who has ever snorted cocaine or other drugs should be tested.