1. Townhall.com (USA) – Pot Potency Peril. “According to federal drug czar John Walters, the marijuana available in the United States is better than ever. Well, that’s not quite the way he put it, but it’s closer to the truth. Last week, as part of its ongoing effort to convince baby boomers that today’s “Pot 2.0” is much more dangerous than the stuff they smoked when they were young, Walters’ Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced that “levels of THC — the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — have reached the highest-ever amounts since scientific analysis of the drug began in the late 1970s.”

2. The Vancouver Sun (Canada) – A home for a drug pillar orphan. “Strange as it may sound, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield’s decision concerning Insite could spell the end of harm reduction as a separate modality for addressing substance abuse in Vancouver. Stranger still, that could prove beneficial for both the city and for people struggling with drug addiction. Pitfield held that the possession and trafficking sections of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) are unjustifiable infringements of Insite users’ rights under s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees “the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

3. The Peninsula (Qatar) – Ministry organises anti-drug campaign. “Qatar joined the world in observing World Drugs Prevention Day yesterday with an exhibition organized by the Permanent Committee on Drugs and Alcohol Affairs of the Ministry of Interior. Staff Major-General Saad bin Jassem Al Khulaifi, Director of General Security, formally opened the exhibition at the Villaggio mall.”

4. VietNamNet – Vietnam launches crackdown on drug abuse. “A national campaign was launched in Hanoi on June 17 to encourage the entire community to engage in preventing drug abuse, help drug users quit the habit, and reduce the rate of relapsed addicts. The drive is seen as one of the country’s practical approaches to tackling drug abuse in the country, comes in response to the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which falls on June 26.”

5. About.com – Psychological Trait in Boys Could Be Indicator of Drug Abuse Risks. “A psychological trait known as neurobehavioral disinhibition found in boys aged 10 to 12 could be a screening tool for those who will develop substance abuse disorders by age 19 as well as predict criminal activity, violent behavior and injuries. Neurobehavioral disinhibition symptoms include a decrease in behavior control, modulation of emotion and higher-level thought.
The study examined 278 boys when they were between 10 and 12 years old and again evaluated when they were 16 and 19 years old. For those boys who had the neurobehavioral disinhibition trait at age 10 or 12, were significantly more likely to have substance abuse problems by age 19. The trait was also a strong predictor of a a history of arrests, violent behavior, and concussive injury.”

6. Times of Oman – Seminar discusses steps against drug abuse.”Hussein bin Ali Al Hilali, prosecutor-general, opened the second national seminar on anti-narcotics at Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday. The seminar, organised by the National Committee for Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, was held as part of the Sultanate’s celebration of World Anti-Narcotic Day under the theme ‘Protection against drugs is the responsibility of all’. In a statement to reporters, Al Hilali said the “Sultanate’s joining the world in marking the occasion, which falls on June 26 each year, mirrors the great interest shown by the Sultanate’s government in such issues which affect society, both citizens and expatriates”. The slogan of the celebration for this year adds a new dimension to the international efforts to limit and eradicate the problems of drug abuse. The Sultanate has undertaken strenuous efforts to combat the drug and psychotropic substances issues which have become more common recently.”

7. Science Daily – Popular Stimulant’s Role In Brain Function Deterioration Is Cause For Concern, According To Researchers. “Concerned by the growing numbers of people using stimulant medications such as methylphenidate (MP)–either legally or illegally–to improve attention and focus, researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the radiotracer fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to assess the effects of the drug on brain function in the normal human brain.”

8. News.com.au – ‘Choosing to use’ drug booklet scrapped. “Health service booklet that tells teenagers what to do if they choose to experiment with drugs will be scrapped. The booklet, aimed at high school students in years 9 and 10, was produced by the Sydney West Area Health Service. The Choosing to use … but wanna keep your head together? booklet suggests young people should not experiment until they are over 18, know their family medical history and “use only small amounts and not too often”.

9. Science Daily – ‘Hazardous Drinking’ May Be A New ‘Check Stop’ On The Way To Alcohol Dependence. “Current diagnostic guides divide alcohol-use disorders into two categories: alcohol abuse/harmful use and alcohol dependence. Some researchers and clinicians believe this is insufficient, that there should be a third, preceding diagnosis known as “hazardous drinking,” defined as drinking more than guidelines recommend. A Finnish study has found that hazardous drinking is quite common.”

1. The Scotsman (UK) – Now experts say cannabis should be legal. “CANNABIS should be legalised and taxed, an influential Scottish think tank recommended yesterday, just weeks after the Government hardened its attitude towards the drug, reclassifying it as a class B substance. The Scottish Futures Forum yesterday published a report on drugs and alcohol in Scotland, saying one way to tackle the problem of addiction to harder drugs was to tax and regulate cannabis.”

2. Associated Press (USA) – Can exercise help prevent addiction to drugs or alcohol? “Sure, exercise is good for your waistline, your heart, your bones — but might it also help prevent addiction to drugs or alcohol? There are some tantalizing clues that physical activity might spur changes in the brain to do just that. Now the government is beginning a push for hard research to prove it. This is not about getting average people to achieve the so-called runner’s high, a feat of pretty intense athletics.”

3. Arab News – Youth Problems Need Everyone’s Attention. “The welfare of our youth has been compromised by many factors that should be given more serious attention to protect the future of our next generation. Among them are the increasing rates of divorce, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, terrorism, unemployment, low wages and the high cost of living. To begin with, the alarming rate of divorce is a painful reality that needs to be addressed immediately. Family disputes are a source of pain for our children and have caused enormous difficulties that adversely impact the welfare of our society.”

4. CNN – IBN (India) – J&K: Drug addiction on rise as cops remain aloof. “Jammu and Kashmir has seen prolonged conflict and high levels of stress, but now a new report by the state’s psychiatric hospital has found out that young people in rural areas are increasingly taking to drugs.
“I have been taking drugs since last 10 year. I get it from different people whenever I require it. I am not afraid of police, I fear nobody,” is the brazen confession of a 32-year-old drug addict from south Kashmir, Shabir Ahmad.”

5. The Ottawa Citizen (Canada) – An irrational and stupid drug policy. “The government’s handling of drug policy is so ignorant and foolish it is a challenge to explain why in a newspaper column. To expound on stupidity of this magnitude requires a very long book. But two images from this week do come close to capturing the full absurdity. The first is Tony Clement appearing before a Commons committee to declare his government’s opposition to the current operation of Insite, the Vancouver safe-injection pilot project.”

6. University of Cambridge (UK) – High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine-taking. “Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found impulsivity, a trait often associated with addicts’ behaviour, predicts whether casual drug use will lead to compulsive drug use. Their findings are reported in last week’s edition of ‘Science’.
Many individuals take addictive drugs at some point in their lives – not just illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin, but also legal and commonly available substances such as alcohol and nicotine. But only a sub-group of those who take drugs eventually lose control over their drug use and become ‘addicted’. ”

7. BBC News (UK) – Alcohol craving reduced by drugs. “Twin research projects have offered both present and future hope to people suffering from alcohol addiction. US researchers say that epilepsy drug topiramate boosts general health as well as cutting the craving for drink. A UK specialist said the potential side-effects of topiramate still merited caution. A separate project showed that a single injection of a protein into the brains of rats almost immediately stopped them wanting alcohol.”

8. Adelaide Now (Australia) – Rebadged bong to beat SA drug pipe ban. “AN Adelaide business is rebadging outlawed cannabis bongs to beat tough new laws making the sale of drug implements illegal. Attorney-General Michael Atkinson and a reformed cannabis addict say they saw illegal bongs on sale at Off Ya Tree in Hindley St, but they were labelled water-pourers.”

9. Antigua Sun (West Indies) – Drug abuse concern in Barbuda. “Substance abuse prevention activities will be extended to Barbuda for the first time this year as news of extensive youth drug abuse on the island comes to light. On 26 June, the Substance Abuse Prevention Division will be hosting its annual Walk Against Drugs in honour of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.”

10. New York Times (USA) – Making Light of Drug Abuse, to Make a Point. “VERY spring they crop up, dark and worrisome as nightshade amid the tea roses of prom corsages: High school safety assemblies. Most often they are earnest and sobering “scared straight” campaigns against drug and alcohol use and drunken driving. But this year, Avon High School parents and school administrators tried out a new weapon in the war against bad choices: laughter. Gloriously irreverent laughter.”

1. Canada.com – Society pays a high price for the bad choices of a few. “I’m not much impressed with all the crowing and cackling in the national barnyard over the court judgment relating to Insite. I think it lacks considerable insight. Now before people start cancelling subscriptions to this newspaper I want to remind them that my opinion isn’t shared by its esteemed editorial board. So don’t shoot, please, that messenger.”

2. Etalaat – Drug Abuse in the Valley. “There are day to day changes in the society and so are the norms. Sometimes these changes abolish the past to the extent that the future generations do not believe about its real historical perspective as they cannot remember the past. These changes are going on and our Kashmiri society is turning into big spiral of social evils now and one of such social evils is the drug abuse.”

3. Vladivostok Times (Russia) – Month of Drug Addiction Prophylaxis Started in Primorye. “A month of prophylaxis of drug addiction, dedicated to the international Day of struggle with drug addiction, which is traditionally celebrated on June 26, started in Primorye. As the press-service of the Primorsky Territory Administration reported to RIA PrimaMedia, the whole complex of preventive activities is planned. These are visits of specialists to summer camps, round tables and conferences in children’s hospitals, a series of information activities, anti-drug actions in universities and even a public prayer.”

4. Globe and Mail (Canada) – Shooting up is a Charter right? “Let me get this straight. Last week, a B.C. judge ruled that Vancouver’s safe-injection site – where drug addicts can shoot up under the watchful eye of government health workers – is legal. The federal government, he said, has no right to end the temporary exemption that allows the site to operate. So far, so good, I guess. But Mr. Justice Ian Pitfield did a whole lot more than that. He created a constitutional right for addicts to shoot up. First, he defined the program as health care – on the grounds that addicts have a disease, and need their fix, just as diabetics need theirs. He went on to rule that denial of health care is a violation of Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which says: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

5. ABC Online – Evidence of cannabis damage. “ELEANOR HALL: Drug addiction experts say research on cannabis published today should be taken as a warning to users about the dangers of the drug. The Australian study which is published in a leading psychiatry journal, has found the first evidence of physical brain damage in heavy long-term users. The researchers discovered that the parts of the brain affecting memory and emotion shrank in heavy users and that smoking cannabis can be as bad for your brain as a head injury. ”

6. Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt) – Opium of the masses. “While the current occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq look to be part of an ambitious plan of American domination of the Muslim world, both are proving to be a much greater problem than their shadowy planners supposed. And whatever conspiracy jigsaw puzzle Afghanistan forms a key piece in, it is certainly not one made in Russia, despite current attempts by the United States to paint Russia, formerly enemy number one, as enemy number two, after the current enemy du jour — Islam.”

7. The Telegraph (UK) – Amy Winehouse denies Israel drug rehab plans. “The artist, who was recently photographed apparently smoking crack cocaine, was allegedly planning to undergo a £6,400 operation to kick her well-documented habit. According to the Jewish Chronicle, the treatment was to take place at the Barzilai Medical Centre following a request from the 24-year-old singer’s representatives.”

8. The Daily Mail (UK) – While we revere rock stars, models and comedians who glamorise drug addiction, people like Ben will continue to die. “A father-of-two is murdered when he tries to stop a pair of drug addicts stealing his car radio; a boy is stabbed to death in a London street by a gang calling themselves MDP (which stands for ‘Money, Drugs, Power’); a popular, talented television presenter kills himself when his actress girlfriend dies after a drug-fuelled twosome; and we watch bemused as both Amy Winehouse and Peaches Geldof are questioned (although not charged) by police about possible drug offences.”

9. The Washington Post – Genes May Play Role in Quitting Smoking. “Your ability to kick the smoking habit may have a lot to do with your genetic make-up, a new study finds. Researchers have found gene patterns that influence a smoker’s response to specific smoking-cessation treatments. The researchers identified several genetic variations that appear to indicate the likelihood of success or failure with nicotine replacement therapy and the smoking-cessation drug bupropion (Zyban).”

1. Jamaica Gleaner – ‘Use churches for counselling’. “Churches in Jamaica and, in particular, the Adventist denomination, were called upon to use their facilities to counsel individuals who are in need of someone to relate to as the nation faces tougher economic and social problems. The call came last Sunday from Dr Wendel Abel, head of the department of psychiatry at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).”

2. Independent Online (South Africa) – Can rehabs cure sex addiction? “A recovering drug and sex addict in Cape Town says fancy rehabilitation centres, like the one British Lord Irwin Laidlaw has booked into, cost a fortune and are a waste of money. Laidlaw is at Montrose Place in Bishopscourt, one of the most exclusive facilities in the country, run by the wealthy Graaff family. Part of his treatment includes attending a sex and love addicts anonymous programme.”

3. Globe and Mail (Canada) – Military drug tests find one in 20 using. “More than one in 20 Canadian soldiers and sailors in non-combat roles tested positive for illicit drug use in random tests conducted on more than 3,000 military personnel from coast to coast. The results provided to The Canadian Press show that over a four-month period, 1,392 sailors in the navy’s Atlantic and Pacific fleets and 1,673 soldiers in the army’s four regions and training branch were subjected to blind drug testing.”

4. Merinews (India) – Teenage drug addiction. “MEET MRINAL from Kanpur. He is 16 years old and has already been to a rehabilitation centre. He started drinking and smoking since he was 13. Meet Manoj and Vijay from Delhi, aged 17. They are famous among their group for throwing big parties with unlimited flow of alcohol and marijuana.”

5. AOL Canada – Feds pony up $10M to battle addiction in Vancouver. “The federal government is putting up $10 million to fund new programs to battle drug addiction in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. However, none of the cash will go to Insite, the controversial supervised safe-injection site that has won praise from Premier Gordon Campbell but drawn fire from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has called it a “second-best strategy at best.”

6. ScienceAlert (Australia) – Receptor may control heroin addiction. “Researchers from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne have identified a factor that may contribute towards the development of heroin addiction by manipulating the adenosine A2A receptor, which plays a major role in the brain’s ‘reward pathway’. Using mice specifically bred without the adenosine A2A receptor, Prof Andrew Lawrence and his team showed that these mice had a reduced desire to self-administer morphine; heroin is converted to morphine in the body. The mice also self-administered less morphine compared to control littermates, but did not develop tolerance to specific behavioural effects of morphine.”

7. news.com.au – Ice addicts clog our hospitals. “DOCTORS are warning the health system is not coping with violent ice users. In the publication Australian Medicine, released today, the Australian Medical Association says medical staff are increasingly at risk from psychotic and aggressive methamphetamine (ice) users. AMA national president Rosanna Capolingua said emergency departments were being strained by ice users who were often drunk as well.”

8. United Press International – Prescription drug abuse surging. “Healthcare workers and dishonest patients are filling U.S. streets with potentially addictive prescription medications, officials say. Also contributing to the problem are pharmacy thefts, robberies and burglaries, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.”

9. Thaiindian News – A new poppy variety to check drug abuse. “A poppy plant that is difficult to extract morphine from? That is what scientists at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, have developed in order to combat abuse of drugs produced from poppy. The new poppy variety is the first of its kind in the world, claim scientists who have been working on it for the past seven years. “Unlike the original poppy plants, easy extraction of morphine is not possible from the new variety developed at our institute,” Ashutosh K. Shukla, a senior scientist at the institute, told IANS.”

10. TheHeart.org – Marijuana users have increased apoC3, triglycerides. “Heavy, chronic use of marijuana causes increased levels of apolipoprotein C3 (apoC3), which in turn results in a major increase in triglyceride levels, a small study shows [1]. The findings may explain some of the vascular effects of marijuana that have been observed, say Dr Subramaniam Jayanthi (National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD) and colleagues in their paper published online May 13, 2008 in Molecular Psychiatry. Senior author Dr Jean Luc Cadet (National Institute on Drug Abuse) told heartwire: “A lot of people in cardiology have probably not been following the literature on marijuana, as most of it comes from the perspective of the neurologist or neuropsychiatrist. But in researching this topic, we came across a lot of papers suggesting that marijuana has acute cardiovascular effects, and we ourselves published a paper in 2005 showing that heavy marijuana users had increased resistance to brachial flow.”

1. KGMB9.com (USA) – Drug Addiction: A Click Away? “Morphine, vicodin, oxycontin… It used to be the only way to buy these powerful drugs was at a pharmacy, with a valid prescription from a doctor.
Today more people are ordering narcotics on the Internet. Many online pharmaceutical sites are legal, meaning they require a signed prescription from a physician and proof of a legitimate medical problem.”

2. Ireland Online – Downey blames movie for addiction. “Former troubled actor Robert Downey Jr blames his role in 1980s cult film ‘Less Than Zero’ for fuelling his drug addiction.
The 43-year-old insists he only took drugs recreationally before he was cast as a cocaine addict in the 1987 film based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.”

3. MovieWeb – Paramount to Develop Two Drug Memoirs as One. “Paramount is venturing into the world of drug addiction in a very unique way. According to Variety, the studio has acquired the memoirs Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, by his son, Nick Sheff. Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company will also develop the project.”

4. The New Nation (Bangladesh) – ‘Drug addiction a silent killer’. “The two World Wars did not claim so many lives, as did drug addiction, the Adviser for Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and Culture, Women and Children Affairs Rasheda K Chowdhury said. She was speaking as Chief Guest a discussion meeting on “Misuse of Drugs and Addiction to It” at Viqarunnessa Noon School and College auditorium yesterday in the city.”

5. Today’s Zaman (Turkey) – Drug addiction in spotlight, threat more serious than imagined. “Though drug addiction is considered a relatively minor problem in Turkey, figures indicate that heroin and cocaine addictions are on the rise, with experts cautioning the dangerous trend may continue. “Studies and statistical data indicate Turkey is one of many countries that have suffered from problems related to drugs and drug addiction. Indeed, this problem is greater and more serious than one might imagine,” said Green Crescent Fight against Alcohol and Cigarette Abuse Chairman Mustafa Necati Özfatura.”

6. Globe and Mail (Canada) – Picking at the scab of meth addiction. “As Cranked opens, Stan, a young hip-hop MC, is comparing the slow, lumbering zombies of old movies to the speedier ones of today’s horror flicks. To him, the modern running undead seem more realistic: “When you crave flesh … When it is the sole thing in the universe that you can focus on and you want it as bad as your next breath of air? Oh yeah, you will run.”

7. The Independent (UK) – Sex addiction: The facts from the fruity fiction. “Ah, sex. Our compulsion to reproduce, or to go through the motions of doing so, has a habit of getting people into trouble, especially if they are wealthy or powerful. The readiness with which men – it is usually men – with money or influence will turn aside from their business affairs to engage in extra-curricular dalliances is all too familiar. What we didn’t know, until recently, is that it may qualify as a medical disorder.”

8. The Canadian Press – Health crisis brewing in Vancouver before safe injection site opened: lawyer. ” A lawyer for a group that wants the federal government to keep a safe-injection site open in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside says a public health crisis was brewing in the area for more than a decade before the facility opened. Monique Pongracic-Speier told B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday that injection drug use had become an epidemic in Canada’s poorest postal code and the site now provides an important health service.”

1. Stuff.co.nz – Drugs ruined my relationships, Downey says. “Robert Downey Jr admits his drug addiction ruined his relationship with Sarah Jessica Parker. The actor started dating the Sex and the City star in 1984 after meeting on the set of movie Firstborn but split in 1991 because of Downey’s self-centred, wild lifestyle.”

2. The Times (South Africa) – The big problem – drugs and alcohol. “I started needing alcohol in the morning to function. Generally, people don’t have a clear concept of what the treatment for drug addiction is … they come either with no expectations or with various expectations,” said Dan Wolf, psychologist and managing director of The Gap and First Step, two drug rehabilitation centres in Johannesburg.
“People stumble into the culture of recovery as an opportunity to address the chaos in their lives.”

3. The Daily Star (Lebanon) – Doctors, lawyers join forces to fight drug addiction. “In an attempt to change the treatment and perception of people who are addicted to drugs in Lebanon, the Lebanese Addiction Center “Skoun” and the Tripoli Bar Association on Tuesday launched a project for the “Greater Respect for Drug Addicts’ Rights.” The initiative aims to promote dialogue and cooperation among judges, police, investigators, and medical workers when dealing with drug addicts.”

4. Etalaat (India) – `Broken social ties, media hoax lead to drug addiction’. “Dwindling social ties, decrease in community based activities and lack of proper knowledge is pushing valley youth into drug addiction, says a de-addiction expert, Dr Majid.
Dr Majid who has an experience of several years in de-addiction said: ” During these years of dealing with drug and chemical addicts, I have found that peer group pressure and foolish curiosity are main causes of youth falling into the drug trap.”

5. The Times of India – Drug abuse lands cops in deadly mess. “Rampant drug abuse and unsafe sex is pricking hard the Punjab Police, jeopardizing the lives of as many as 178 police personnel in the district of Tarn Taran alone. What has only compounded their case is the indifferent attitude of government, which is yet to wake up to the ticking bomb within its ranks.”

6. Goal.com (Switzerland) – Pele: Drug-Cheat Maradona Should Have Medals Stripped. “A favourite debate among football fans has always been who was greater out of Pele and Maradona. This topic has had extra spice due to the fact that the pair do not get on, and indeed have been at loggerheads for many years. Both have attacked each other in the press in the past, with Pele often criticising Maradona on moral grounds, while the Argentine has hit out at the Brazilian for being part of FIFA’s “political” family.”

7. IPP Media (Tanzania) – Drug abuse: Parents should closely follow up children`s movements. “Last week I was at a bus stop waiting for a commuter bus to take me to work when I noticed a 23-year-old youth behaving rather strangely. He was walking forward and back as if he was in a parade. He was untidy and carried all features of a mental case. I didn`t notice his problem until he went to a nearby garbage heap, picked a piece of an orange refuse and started eating it.”

8. The Retriever Weekly (USA) – The latest marijuana propaganda campaign. “Flipping through the channels, a man in a pith helmet and a white mustache flashes onto the screen, asking you to join him in his hunt for the “mature stoner.” It is yet another anti-drug commercial in the government-sponsored ad campaign “Above the Influence.” Filled with propaganda and falsified information, the series of four commercials chronicles the adventures of “Dr. Puck” and his assistant, Baldric. They watch “stoners” in their natural habitat: relaxing, going to school, and even driving. This series of ads perpetuates many of the myths associated with marijuana use.”

9. Minneapolis Star Tribune (USA) – ocaine in Spain: Party perennial and rehab regular. “Around dawn on a Sunday, packs of young people are huddled at stoplights or ambling down Paseo del Prado. Despite the hour, the day isn’t just beginning for them. Like thousands of young Spaniards, they are ending a long night of hard-core partying that probably included the unbridled snorting of cocaine.”

1. Sydney Morning Herald – Nurofen script-only plan. “Popular painkillers containing codeine could be reclassified prescription-only to stop abuse of the powerful over-the-counter drugs.
A government committee has flagged the possibility of classifying the codeine combination medicines such as Nurofen Plus, a schedule 8, a restricted category for drugs at high risk of being abused.”

2. The News International (Pakistan) – 628,000 drug abusers in Pakistan, says report. “here are more or less 628,000 opioid users (heroin, morphine, opium, codine, pentazocine, buprenorphine etc) in the country, National Drug Abuse Assessment 2006/07 report revealed. The report is prepared by the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Narcotics Control and Anti Narcotics Force (ANF). Drug Abuse has become global phenomena, affecting the very fabric of the socio-economic structure of the families and country.”

3. The Student Operated Press (USA) – When Drug Abuse Starts at Home — Painkiller Addiction. “After several years of battling back pain and undergoing regular surgeries, John Simons became addicted to painkillers. After a two-week stay in the hospital where he was prescribed the powerful painkiller OxyContin, Simons continued to use the drug against his doctors’ orders, secretly obtaining a steady supply.”

4. etala’at (India) – KU campus safe haven for drug addicts, says survey. “Given the vastness and hugeness of its campus, University of Kashmir has turned to be a safe haven for the drug addicts and more so for the female drug addicts, according to a survey carried out by HNSS, De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre, Khanyar here.
Talking to etala’at, Dr Ghulam Nabi Wani, founder HNSS said that the girls receiving their education at the university hide themselves behind the bushes and shrubs and take drugs being supplied to them.”

5. Kyiv Post (Ukraine) – Cheap drug addiction rising. “Addiction to a cheap, widely available prescription pain killer is on the rise, and the government has no plan to stop it, experts said. Teenagers and young adults are the primary users of a prescription drug called Tramadol, an opiate analgesic considered to be 10 percent as potent as morphine, and is used to treat mild to severe pain. Ukraine produces 90 million packages of Tramadol annually, said Vitaliy Kravchenko, a former officer at the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), with 20 five centigram capsules per package costing a few US dollars.”

6. Fox News (USA) – ‘Faces of Meth’ Uses Portraits of Addiction to Warn Against Drug Use. “With just a click of a mouse, the image of a healthy, shiny face transforms into a skeletal portrait — a toothless grin surrounded by scabbed skin and a gray complexion. This is FacesofMeth.us, a Web site that shows the brutal effects of what methamphetamine does to people. Its goal is simple: Use real life images to educate kids about the dangers of methamphetamine.”

7. Science Daily – Methamphetamine Addiction Mechanism Discovered, Explains Why Cravings Last So Long. “Repeatedly stimulating the mouse brain with methamphetamine depresses important areas of the brain, and those changes can only be undone by re-introducing the drug, according to research at the University of Washington and other institutions. The study, which appears in the April 10 issue of the journal Neuron, provides one of the most in-depth views of the mechanisms of methamphetamine addiction, and suggests that withdrawal from the drug may not undo the changes the stimulant can cause in the brain.”

8. AllAfrica.com – Tanzania: Slowly, a More Enlightened Approach to Drug Addiction. “If the first step to overcoming drug addiction is admitting you have a problem, then Tanzania may be on the road to recovery. Medical officials in this East African country say the government has in the past been reluctant to accept substance dependence as a serious health problem, seeing it rather as a matter of law and order.”

9. The Washington Post – Afghans Battle Drug Addiction. “The first days were so painful that Mina Gul could barely sit upright. Thin and lanky with wide brown eyes, she rubbed the back of her neck ceaselessly with fingers stained reddish black by an opium pipe. She couldn’t shake the nausea. The light was almost blinding in the clean, white-walled medical clinic, where she lay crumpled in bed for days.”

10. Science Daily – Doctor’s Offices Can Help Stem Abuse Of Oxycontin, Other Narcotic Painkillers. “Every day, thousands of doctors around the United States walk a tightrope stretched between their duty to help patients in pain — and the risk of abetting illegal and life-destroying drug addiction and dependence, and losing their medical license for doing so. They walk this tightrope every time a patient asks for a prescription for a powerful opioid narcotic painkiller, such as Oxycontin or Vicodin. These drugs have eased the pain of millions, but have also become lucrative street drugs that are used by millions of people not for pain control, but to get high.”

10.

1. AllAfrica.com – Rwanda: Controlling Drug Abuse in Country. “Many sources including the media, police reports, etc, have revealed that drug and alcohol abuse have affected every area of society in Rwanda. The levels are of course still very low compared to other countries in the region. An addiction is a compulsion to use a substance or persist with certain behaviour in order to feel good or to avoid feeling bad. It can dominate your mind, and keep you coming back for more, while some habits can also create a constant craving in your body. An addiction is different for everyone, depending on your vice and the kind of person you are.”

2. The York Press – Pub defends toilet cameras as a means of tackling drug use. “It is believed to be the first pub in York to introduce CCTV inside its toilet cubicles to combat drug use, but the decision has provoked privacy concerns. The Rose & Crown, in Lawrence Street, installed cameras inside the cubicles in the ladies’ toilets about a month ago following problems with women – and men – using surfaces in the stalls to prepare lines of cocaine to snort.”

3. TechRepublic – Are IT pros prone to drug abuse? “Because of several items I’ve seen in the news lately, I’m starting to develop a complex for IT pros the world over. Last week, I talked about the connection between Asperger’s Syndrome and IT pros. Now there’s a piece in Computerworld by blogger Don Tennant that asks, “How rampant is substance abuse among IT pros?”

4. The Daily Californian – Study Finds Drug Culture Has Grown in Rap. “Although many modern listeners may not realize it, rap has not always promoted drug use as much as it currently does, according to a new campus study.
The study, led by Denise Herd, associate dean for student affairs at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, found that drug references in rap music have multiplied six-fold and have increasingly glamorized drug culture since 1979, when Herd said rap music first gained popularity.”

5. The Scotsman – Laid-back approach is best for cannabis. “ALMOST as if it was imitating the effects of the drug itself, the debate surrounding the reclassification of cannabis has become increasingly hazy of late. The Government’s drug advisory body is expected to recommend it keeps its current class C status, ranking it alongside painkillers and stress medication, rather than return it to class B with the likes of amphetamines. That would once again require police to arrest anyone found in possession of the drug rather than simply caution them. Gordon Brown, though, wants to upgrade it – a move he believes would send out a clear message that smoking dope is damaging to health and socially unacceptable.”

6. ABC News (Australia) – Drug use among construction workers rising: union. “Long hours and big paypackets have been blamed for an increase in methamphetamine use amongst construction workers in Western Australia. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) estimates the number of union representatives called out to work sites to deal with young drug-affected workers has doubled in the last year.”

7. Globe and Mail (Canada) – A tip to get that monkey off your back. “Monkeys with a low social standing are more likely to use cocaine when they are stressed than high-status animals, a study has found. The results, reported at a conference yesterday in San Diego, offer clues to the social context of drug use and addiction in humans, said Michael Nader, a professor in the department of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.”

8. The Australian – Ritalin ‘not linked to later drug use’. “USING stimulants like Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, particularly younger ones, does not seem to boost the risk of later substance abuse, researchers said today. There has been a debate over whether such medications are the best way to treat ADHD, a condition marked by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour that appears more often in boys than girls.”

9. The Independent – Like Viagra for your brain. “Do you face a mid-afternoon lull that even a double espresso cannot break? Is jet lag the bane of your life, or does that pile of revision seem insurmountable? Or perhaps you’re just fed up yawning your way out of the pub at 9.30pm. Whether modern life leaves you struggling to keep up or just totally exhausted, the answer could be as simple as popping a pill.”

10. Stars and Stripes – Official: Air Force drug testing seems to deter use. “A few years ago, Senior Airman Heather Brewster’s recreational use of painkillers would have gone undetected by the Air Force’s random drug testing program.

Brewster, who formerly worked at a regional drug testing site at RAF Upwood in England, was convicted last week of illegally using the prescription drug oxycodone, falsifying documents and dereliction of her duties in the Air Force’s drug testing program.”

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.”