1. New Kerala (India) – Sex counselling during drug addiction program may help cut HIV transmission. “A study conducted by experts from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) suggests that sexual behaviour counselling during drug addiction treatment may help cut risky sexual behaviour among people who are at risk of being infected by HIV.”
2. Kentucky.com (USA) – End counties’ addiction to jails. “Kentucky’s local governments have a drug problem. They’re addicted to the money they get for keeping inmates for the state. But the cost of operating county jails that also overflow with local prisoners is breaking them. The futility of locking up addicts and drug abusers is evident in the financial crisis besieging many Kentucky counties, where a drug or alcohol problem is a big reason most prisoners are behind bars. In some counties, half of the general fund goes into operating the jail, diverting money from road repairs, public safety and other county services. It’s so bad that county officials are considering suing the state for more money for jails.”
3. The Aurora (Canada) – Not recommended for children. “Monster, Rock Star, Red Bull. Energy drinks, no matter what the brand, are all the rage these days, but one local mom wants storeowners to stop selling the drinks to kids. Corinne Young, a mother of two boys – one nine year old and one 19 year old, said she knows stores are within their right to sell the caffeinated drinks, but she feels they have a moral obligation to keep the beverages away from children.”
4. Press Information Bureau (India) – Government sets up National Consultative Committee on De-Addiction and Rehabilitation. “The Government has decided to set up a consultative mechanism at the national level by constituting a National Consultative Committee on De-addiction and Rehabilitation (NCCDR). It would advise Central and State Governments on issues connected with drug demand reduction, especially education/awareness building, de-addiction and rehabilitation.”
5. The Bradenton Herald (USA) – Substance abuse isn’t just for addicts. “Whether we like it or not, the reality of today is that alcohol and drugs are everywhere. Whether you or someone you know has a problem with alcohol/drugs, it is safe to say that drugs and alcohol at one time or another have affected us all. Often, in cases of addiction, the pursuit to obtain the substance(s), legal or not, is undeniable and controls an individual’s very existence.”
6. The Huffington Post (USA) – The Failure of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “As an insider in the nation’s war against drugs, I spent almost fifteen years in the executive office of the President. Eleven of these years were in the Office of National Drug Control Policy where I served four of the nation’s so-called drug czars preparing the federal drug control budget, writing many of the national drug control strategies, and conducting performance measurement and analysis of the efficacy of those strategies.”
7. AlterNet (USA) – Jim Hightower on Pot — Sharing His Thoughts on Pot, That Is. “Myth: There is no scientific evidence proving marijuana’s therapeutic qualities. Reality: In a White House-commissioned 1999 report, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine declared that “nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by marijuana.”
8. Chicago Daily Herald (USA) – Genes may play role in nicotine addiction in teens. “Genes may determine which teen smokers get hooked for life, according to a study that could shed new light on treating and preventing tobacco addiction. Young, white smokers with certain gene mutations who pick up the habit before age 17 are up to five times more likely to struggle with a lifelong nicotine addiction than their peers who don’t have the DNA variants, researchers said. The study, by University of Utah and University of Wisconsin scientists, appeared in the journal Public Library of Science.”
9. The Press Democrat (USA) – Meditation as therapy. “The patient sat with his eyes closed, submerged in the rhythm of his own breathing, and after a while noticed that he was thinking about his troubled relationship with his father. “I was able to be there, present for the pain,” he said when the meditation session ended. “To just let it be what it was, without thinking it through.”