1. IRIN – AFGHANISTAN: Tackling rising drug addiction in Parwan Province. “Sitting on his bed in a room with four others at a drug rehabilitation centre in Charikar, capital of Parwan Province, northern Afghanistan, 18-year-old Kharun tells how he got addicted to drugs”.

2. Punjab Newsline (India) – Amritsar is the main hub for drug smuggling in Punjab. “Punjab and Haryana High court Justice and Chairman Punjab Legal Services Authority Mehtab Singh Gill Sunday expressed deep concern over the drug addiction among the youth and described Punjab as main hub of drug smuggling.”

3. Huliq.com – A Heroin Economy Of Tajikistan: Luscious Smell Of The Heroin Money. “About 30 % of production and smuggling of drugs in the territory of Central Asia and Russia consists of narcotics of Tajikistan origin. If an annual turnover of the Afghani heroin in 2006 made 4.5-5 billion US dollar, the volume of the narcotic market in Tajikistan has reached around $1.5 billion. Today it has already made equal 60-70 % of the volume of Gross National Product of Tajikistan.”

4. Los Angeles Times – Farm life raises addicts’ hopes. “ust before dawn, shoveling cow manure in the milking barn, Ryan Medlin feels a world away from his wild life back in San Francisco. For the onetime homeless addict, that’s a good thing. Last fall, Medlin was living out of his car, blowing his entire six-figure salary as a software engineer on crack and bourbon binges. At 33, he was so gaunt he was nearly skeletal. He walked slouched over, the nights scrunched up in his Suzuki hatchback playing havoc with the nerves in his right leg.”

5. Granma (Cuba) – Successful use of natural medicine for drug addicts. “Health experts at the El Quinqué International Clinic in this eastern Cuban city are using, with notable results, the techniques of natural and traditional medicine in patients being treated for drug addiction. The use of these procedures made it possible last year to reduce by more than 3,500 the quantity of pharmaceuticals utilized in the detoxification process, close to 80% less that what was previously used.”

6. Daily Press (USA) – Combat trauma can fuel addictions, experts say. “Combat trauma and addiction to drugs or alcohol go hand and hand and must be treated together, an addiction specialist from Nevada told a group of Virginia counselors gathered in Williamsburg. Self-medicating or numbing the stress that follows a traumatic event is especially prevalent in combat veterans who don’t reach out for mental health help because of the stigma or out of fear that admitting a problem will hurt their career, said Larry Ashley, a veteran of the Vietnam War.”

7. The Vancouver Sun (Canada) – Drug rehab centre at a crossroad. “t’s not clear exactly when Jeremy Ward hit bottom. It could have been last October when the 20-year-old cocaine addict crammed a handful of pills down his throat, hoping the massive combination of anti-psychotics and Valium would ease the pain of being dumped. Or, it might have been after getting out of hospital after the overdose, as he knelt on the corner of Granville and Helmcken begging his pregnant, crack-addicted girlfriend to take him back.”

8. AllAfrica.com – Nigeria: Why Banditry Thrives, By Expert. “Drug abuse is becoming a pervasive problem and is directly responsible for the increase in robbery, violence and youth restiveness being experienced today in Nigeria, President of Association of Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, (AISSON) Dr. Ona Ekhomu has said. Drug abuse, according to him, is also responsible for a large percentage of the mass casualty accidents involving commuter vehicles on our roads in recent times. Speaking at a security seminar for intending Certified Protection Officers in Lagos recently, Ekhomu indicated that drug abuse decreases productivity, increases work place accident and safety incidents and also results in greater absenteeism. “Drug abuse leads to an increase in workmen compensation costs and greater healthcare cost for companies. In fact, it is a loss-loss situation for the firm” he said.”

9. International Herald Tribune (France) – Man who sold Nixon White House on youth drug study has new public enemy. “President Richard Nixon may not have dented the nation’s drug epidemic when he named Elvis Presley a “federal agent at large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in 1970. But a $120 million (€77 million) research program born in the Nixon administration continues to shape America’s drug policies. And it all started with a 33-year-old psychology graduate student’s bold plan to poll thousands of teens nationwide each year about their drug habits and beliefs at a time when reefer madness had them in its grip.”

10. Sydney Morning Herald – Zero tolerance for drug-friendly baby boomers. “WHEN the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) released a report last week condemning the idea of drug tests in schools, ABC 702 host Deb Cameron told a little anecdote. Walking down the street, she had once passed a boy of about 16 in school uniform hiding under some stairs smoking a bong. She asked him: “Does your mother know you’re not at school?” He responded that he had a late start.”

1. The Malay Mail (Malaysia) – Use sports to combat drugs . “Sports should be recognised as an agent of positive change in the fight against drugs as they develop healthy bodies and minds to combat dadah.”

2. Vanguard (Nigeria) – Expert blames robbery and youth restiveness on drug abuse. “DRUG abuse is becoming a pervasive problem and is directly responsible for the increase in robbery, violence and youth restiveness being experienced today in Nigeria, the President of Association of Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, (AISSON) Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has said.”

3. CBS News (USA) – Kids Flaunt Cough-Syrup Abuse Online. “It’s legal, easy to get and probably in your home right now. But kids are getting high off of it – and plenty of videos online show that. On YouTube, video after video shows kids flaunting their highs, CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports. Kids saying: “My brain is like whoo,” “I’m like flying right now,” and “I’m tripping so hard,” are all on the same drug: DXM. DXM is dextromethorphan, the cough-suppressant found in more than 100 over-the-counter cough medicines.”

4. News.com.au – Drug use rife in Australian workforce. “ONE in eight Australians are testing positive to drugs at work – a rate that has more than doubled over the past decade. More than 5 per cent of employees are also abusing illicit drugs in high-risk jobs, according to new statistics obtained by The Daily Telegraph.”

5. MTV.com – Steve-O Writes ‘Goodbye Letter’ To Drugs, Details Past Substance Abuse In E-mail From Rehab. “Steve-O is calling it quits. On Sunday, the “Jackass” star transferred himself from Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to an undisclosed rehab facility. He has sworn off drugs and on Thursday (March 20), he wrote a “goodbye letter” to alcohol, marijuana, nitrous oxide, amphetamines, LSD, ketamine and cocaine, just one week before his arraignment for a charge of cocaine possession.”

6. Science Daily – Many Moms Use Cigarettes, Marijuana, Alcohol During Pregnancy; Dads Don’t Help, Study Suggests. “Despite public health campaigns, a surprising number of women continue to use substances such as tobacco, marijuana and alcohol during pregnancy and their usage rebounds to pre-pregnancy levels within two years of having a baby, according to a new University of Washington study.”

7. Miami Herald – Lifelines on the line. “Proposed cuts threaten Fla. drug treatment programs. A year ago, Esther Guzman wanted her crack pipe more than her kids. In her heart, she hoped to come clean for her children’s sake, but her cocaine addiction lured her to the rock.”

8. AlterNet – Overdose Death Rate Surges, Legal Drugs Are Mostly to Blame. “Oxycontin, Lorcet, and other pain control drugs are the leading cause of the tens of thousands of annual drug overdoses — why the silence? According to a little noticed January report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), drug overdoses killed more than 33,000 people in 2005, the last year for which firm data are available. That makes drug overdose the second leading cause of accidental death, behind only motor vehicle accidents (43,667) and ahead of firearms deaths (30,694).”

9. Daily Egyptian Suide – Suicide and substance abuse policies mimic each other “A new policy allowing students to receive help for substance abuse problems stemmed from a similar policy for potentially suicidal students, a health representative said.”

10. Joy Online (Ghana) – Use of cocaine as aphrodisiac on the increase. “An increasing number of Ghanaians are now using hard drugs as aphrodisiacs, a narcotic expert, Dr J. B. Asare, has said. He said some Ghanaians, particularly the youth, even resort to the use of cocaine as aphrodisiac to enhance their sexual performance and ability to socialise.”

This week you’ll see that a recently released report by the United Nations has been picked up extensively by the mainstream media:

1. ABC News (Australia) – Qld Australia’s speed capital: UN drugs report. “A report from the International Narcotics Control Board has found Queensland is the main supplier of amphetamines to the rest of Australia.”

2. CNN – U.N. blasts celebrity drug abuse. “Cocaine-abusing celebrities are glamorizing the use of narcotics and encouraging more young people to use illegal substances, the United Nations drug control agency has warned. Model Kate Moss faced allegations of cocaine use in 2005 but was never charged for over the claims. The annual report from the International Narcotics Control Board warns that treating stars “leniently” by allowing them to get away with drug crimes undermines faith in the criminal justice system and has a damaging effect on adolescents.”

3. The Washington Post – Deficit in Brain Function Puts Teens at Risk of Drug Abuse. “Teens at risk of developing a substance abuse disorder have deficits in frontal brain activation, a U.S. study concludes. The researchers used functional MRI to study brain activity in 25 participants, ages 12 to 19, as they did an eye movement test. The scientists found a link between increased risk for a substance abuse disorder and shortfalls in executive cognitive function (ECF).”

4. Science Daily – Non-medical Use Of Prescription Medications Associated With Drug Abuse Among College Students. “College students who take frequently abused medications without a prescription appear to have a higher risk for drug abuse than those who use such therapies for medical reasons, according to a new report.”

5. ABC Radio (Australia) – Booze bans push up NT community drug use. “The Commonwealth intervention in remote Northern Territory communities is having some disturbing side effects. A medical report out today says alcohol bans and restrictions are fuelling the use of illegal drugs. Researchers say that marijuana use in one Arnhem Land community has jumped since the intervention began, and alcohol supplies dried up.”

6. All Africa – Ghana: More Laws Needed to Tackle Drug Abuse. “The Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, has called on Parliament and other stakeholders to pass more stringent laws to curb the drug menace in the country. According to him most of the laws on drugs in the country mainly deal with hard drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroine even though there are equally dangerous substances being used by people in the country.”

7. U.S. News – Ritalin and the Risk of Substance Abuse. “A new report in this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry adds to the ongoing debate about the risks and rewards of using stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to treat kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Previous research has suggested that the stimulant medications offer a protective effect against drug abuse during adolescence.”

8. Sunshine Coast Daily – Bikie gangs behind our drug trade. “Outlaw motorcycle gangs are choosing to set up camp on the Sunshine Coast with the specific intention of manufacturing and distributing drugs. The information from Coast police comes on the same day as a new UN report naming Queensland as the drug capital of Australia.”

9. San Francisco Chronicle – Addiction – a father-son story. “One of the unsettling themes in David Sheff’s memoir, “Beautiful Boy,” a wrenching tale about his son’s drug addiction, is that even though Sheff was among what he calls the “first wave” of self-conscious parents who were hip enough to forge honest relationships with their kids, he was woefully unprepared for the vagaries of methamphetamine.”

10. WMUR New Hampshire – Is Ritalin A Gateway Drug?. “Children who use stimulants such as Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hypeactivity disorder are no more likely than others to abuse drugs or alcohol later, a new study found. The study from Massachusetts General Hospital followed more than 100 men for 10 years after they were diagnosed with ADHD.”

11. Vladisvostok News – Drug addiction on decline, officials report. “Since 2003, the number of drug users registered in Primorye has declined by 19 percent, the head of Primorye’s Department of Federal Drug Control Service Alexander Rolik revealed at a press conference on Tuesday. Reporting the Department’s activities for the past five years, Rolik boasted that over 250 drug use locations have been eliminated and some 1,500 hot spots for drug sales have been detected in the region. Narcotics police have prevented the activity of 93 organized criminal groups and eliminated over 200 regional and international routes of trafficking drugs and psychoactive substances.”

12. News Locale (India) – Harry Potter May Induce Drug Addiction Symptoms. “All you Harry Potter fans out there, take note. Reading about your favorite boy wizard’s exploits may induce drug addiction symptoms like depression, loss of appetite and sleeplessness, a new study has suggested. Researchers at the Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania surveyed 4,000 Potter fans for this study and found at least 10 percent of them to be hampered by symptoms akin to drug addiction. Some of these symptoms included sleeplessness and loss of appetite.”