Tag Archives: news

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

1. Ottawa Citizen – Recognize Internet addiction as a mental illness, MD urges. “Compulsive e-mailing and text messaging could soon become classified as an official brain illness.
An editorial in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry says Internet addiction — including “excessive gaming, sexual pre-occupations and e-mail/text messaging” — is a common compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry’s official guidebook of mental disorders.”

2. The Scotsman – Methadone: ‘Too many use it as part of their drugs routine’. “THE Conservative’s Holyrood justice spokesman Bill Aitken is no stranger to controversy and his plain-spoken attack on the methadone programme has re-ignited the debate about how best to tackle Scotland’s appalling epidemic of drug addiction.
The debate about the effectiveness of the methadone programme has raged since its inception and there has always been opposition to the principle of handing out free opium-based drugs like methadone to addicts. But there is much in the basis of the scheme to commend it, not least that it has the potential to place those on the programme outwith the reach of criminals.”

3. Idaho Press-Tribune – Overcoming addiction behind bars. “A “professional dope fiend” for years, Daniel Brown says he got out of that life to help people who are in the same situation he faced. Now a drug and alcohol rehabilitation specialist, he’s part of what he calls an “innovative” treatment model at the South Idaho Correctional Institution.”

4. The Sunday Herald (UK) – Valium Nation. “It gained notoriety in the 1960s as mother’s little helper” … but now Valium is Scotland’s hidden drugs scourge, affecting thousands from all sectors of society. An investigation by the Sunday Herald has revealed a shocking picture of the scale of use of powerful tranquillisers known as benzodiazepines. Those abusing the drug range from heroin addicts to middle-class cocaine users, while others have unwittingly become hooked for decades after being prescribed the medication by doctors.”

5. Thaindian News – Police up in arms against drugs menace: Punjab Information Minister. “Expressing his concern over the drug addiction among youth, Punjab Information and Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Sunday said that the State Police is doing everything to make Punjab a drug-free state.
Though people talk about the menace, but no one seems to be prepared to come forward and check it, said Majithia while addressing a gathering after watching the play called “Armaan” at the Guru Nanak Dev University here.”

6. Science Daily – Emotional ‘Bummer’ Of Cocaine Addiction Mimicked In Animals. “Cocaine addicts often suffer a downward emotional spiral that is a key to their craving and chronic relapse. While researchers have developed animal models of the reward of cocaine, they have not been able to model this emotional impact, until now.”

7. The Herald Sun – Kevin Rudd’s plan to break gambling addiction. “Automatic teller machines will be banned in pokie venues in Victoria from 2012 in a war on problem gambling, Premier John Brumby has announced. Victoria will become the first Australian state to ban the ATMs from the floor of pokies venues.”

8. Bloomberg – Binge Drinking by Australia’s Youth Sparks Rudd Reform Campaign. “With 48 cans of beer in the back and a bumper sticker that says “Rum — So Much More Than a Breakfast Food,” Tom Dalfer headed to a remote Australian town last month with one purpose: to get as drunk as possible. The mechanic made the 750-mile trip to Trundle (population 370), to attend a Bachelors-and-Spinsters ball — a black-tie rite of passage for Australia’s rural youth.”

9. TV NZ – Alarm over binge drinking. “Drinking problems are rife on both sides of the Tasman and Australia is tackling the issue by targeting teens while NZ authorities insist it’s not just about the youngsters. One in 10 under-age drinkers binge every week in Australia, figures that mirror New Zealand’s binge drinking culture.”

10. The Irish Independent – Is Amy really the poster girl for drug abuse? “As if Amy Winehouse didn’t have enough problems, she has now been condemned by the United Nations. Speaking out against “coke-snorting fashionistas”, UN drug tsar Antonio Maria Costa described Winehouse as “the poster girl for drug abuse”.”

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

1. CNN – Anti-drugs chief hits out at Winehouse, Moss. “The United Nations’ anti-drugs chief has denounced celebrities such as pop star Amy Winehouse and supermodel Kate Moss, saying that their alleged drug use was helping devastate West Africa.”

2. National Review of Medicine (Canada) – Addiction doc struggles with his demons. “The war on drugs has been an abject failure, concludes Dr Gabor Maté brusquely. For almost a decade he has witnessed the consequences of the government’s battle against illicit substances in his work with hardcore addicts in Canada’s most notorious skid row, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.”

3. The Australian – Crackdown on NT drug dealers. “DRUG dealers who prey on remote communities will face tough new sentences under Northern Territory government plans to stop the “devastating” impact of illegal drugs on Aborigines. Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson said the tougher drug laws were aimed at making communities safer.”

4. Jamaica Gleaner – First-formers most vulnerable to getting hooked on drugs. “WHILE THE gender gap between drug abusers in the nation’s schools is narrowing, another worrying trend has emerged. The National Council for Drug Abuse (NCDA) reported in the National School Survey 2006 that the age for drug-use initiation is falling, with more than 39 per cent of children reporting that they consumed illegal drugs before they were 11 years old. There were also reports, although infrequently, of initiation starting at age five.”

5. CNN – Prescription drugs found in drinking water across U.S.. “A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.”

6. The Tampa Tribune – Drug Treatment Costs Far Less Than Prison. “There are now almost 7 million adults in our country’s criminal justice system, including over 2 million persons incarcerated in jails and prisons. Well over half of these individuals have significant substance abuse problems. The costs associated with building new jails and prisons to house those with drug addiction are enormous – $20,000 to $23,000 per year for each person incarcerated.”

7. Times Online – Drug dealers blamed for rising death toll in India’s hippy paradise
. “Since the 1960s, when the first hippies arrived with their tie-dye and LSD, Goa has been renowned for its pristine beaches, cosmopolitan atmosphere and plentiful supply of narcotics. But the suspected rape and murder of Scarlett Keeling, a 15-year-old British girl found dead last month on the famous Anjuna beach, has now shattered the Indian state’s reputation as a “hippy paradise”, free of worldly evils.”

8. ABC News (Australia) – Opium production surge ends ‘heroin drought’. “A joint investigation by PM and the Lateline program on ABC TV, has been given evidence that the purity of heroin is rising and prices are dropping. The so-called heroin drought of the early part of the decade, when it seemed as if amphetamine-based drugs had taken over, has ended. One reason is booming opium production in Afghanistan and the emergence of so-called ‘Afghan Brown’ heroin on Australian streets. Michael Edwards begins his report at the Emergency Room at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.”

9. Sydney Morning Herald – Heroin overdoses on the rise. “HEROIN is making a comeback on Australian streets, with health workers reporting more overdoses, methamphetamine users moving back to narcotics and an increasing presence of drugs from Afghanistan.”

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

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.”

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

1. The Wall Street Journal – Boost for Off-Label Drug Use. “The Food and Drug Administration wants to allow drug companies to give doctors information about unapproved uses of prescription drugs, a controversial move that is already drawing objections from Capitol Hill”.

2. reporterherald.com – Residents start coalition to educate, protect community from meth use. “In a seventh-grade health class, among handmade pinwheels and colorful posters, a group of 12- and 13-year-olds learned about the realities of methamphetamine”.

3. Phillipine Daily Inquirer – Drug use in schools not that bad — DepEd. “Less than one percent — not 10 percent as earlier reported — of the more than 8,600 public and private high school students tested positive for illegal drug use, according to the Department of Education. The random drug tests were conducted during school year 2005-2006 by the Department of Health and the Dangerous Drugs Board in coordination with the DepEd”.

4. CBS News – Obama’s Drug Use Debated. “Decades before Sen. Barack Obama was a leading candidate for the presidency, he was a lot like many University of Florida students: young, intelligent and curious. That college-aged curiosity led him to use alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, decisions that have now become points of contention in his campaign”.

5. The Age – Behind The Wire. “WHEN Karen took a job at Victoria’s largest female prison, she was stepping into the unknown. She had never even been to a jail when, in September 2005, she was appointed a senior manager at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum security prison with 260 women. Their crimes ranged from child murder to drug dealing”.

6. The Dallas Morning News – Man who hands out clean needles in San Antonio threatened with jail time. “Bill Day doesn’t fancy himself an outlaw – and with his Mr. Rogers demeanor, he definitely doesn’t look the part. But soon the 73-year-old could spend up to a year in jail for breaking a law that he considers immoral. Mr. Day hands out clean needles to drug addicts on some of the seediest streets, because he’s convinced that it reduces human suffering by slowing the spread of HIV”.

7. The Guardian – UK pharma fears for investment as govt acts tough. “Britain’s drugs industry, which has already shed hundreds of jobs in the past year, could lose more investment if the government fails to ensure a fair pricing environment, according to the head of its trade association. Richard Barker, director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), said the Department of Health and the industry needed to agree a realistic new long-term pact as quickly as possible”.

8. ABC News (USA) – Popping Pills Latest Trend in Teen Drug Abuse. “Popping Pills Latest Trend in Teen Drug Abuse”.

9. Jamaica Gleaner – Former drug addict on a new high – Anthony Richards hooked on rescuing off-track males. “Anthony Richards’ father died when Anthony was very young; his mother migrated to England soon after. As a result, he and his siblings went to live with different relatives; he and a sister with an aunt. It was a stable Christian upbringing with a high school education. Upon graduation, he felt the need to work instead of continuing his education. He joined the police force, which he served for nine years, eventually becoming a detective”.

10. Arab Times – United effort needed to prevent drug addiction. “KUWAIT (KUNA): Psychological, social, and religious efforts must unite to achieve the prevention and treatment of drugs above, an official said Thursday. Head of the Juvenile Care Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Abdullateef Sinan told KUNA called on families not to isolate their drug-addicted children for the sake of protecting their reputations, but to take them to specialists as soon as possible to solve their problems”.

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

I thought I’d start a new weekly roundup of drug news hitting the mainstream media. Daily Dose does a brilliant daily roundup but my one will cast a wider net and will also include some video links where possible. As always, feedback welcome!

1. Science Daily – HIV Drugs, Abacavir And Didanosine Increase The Risk Of Heart Attack, Study Suggests. “A study to assess the adverse effects of anti-retroviral drugs shows that two of the widely used HIV drugs are associated with an increased risk of heart attack/the formation of blood clots in the heart. With the use of Didanosine; the risk of developing a heart attack increases by 49%, with Abacavir; the increased risk is 90%. The effect is most pronounced in patients with a high underlying cardiovascular risk. The research findings also show that the adverse effect is reversible, if patients discontinue use of these particular drugs”.

2. The Economic Times, India – Fake drugs market growing at alarming rate: ASSOCHAM. “NEW DELHI: With sale of fake and spurious drugs continuing unabated in the country, industry body ASSOCHAM said the market is growing at an alarming rate of 20-25 per cent, which has already exceeded the Rs 15,000-crore per annum mark nationally”.

3. The Telegraph, UK – GPs ‘increasing’ prescription drug addicts. “Doctors are fuelling the number of people hooked on prescription drugs by giving patients highly addictive medicines for longer than they should, a parliamentary inquiry is expected to conclude. GPs are ignoring official guidelines that state patients should not take powerful tranquilisers such as Valium for longer than four weeks, the all-party group on drugs misuse will claim later this year”.

4. Science Daily – Sex, Drugs And Alcohol: Parents Still Influence College Kids’ Risky Behavior, Study Shows. “New research shows that parents influence their child’s likelihood of involvement with drugs, alcohol and risky sexual activity even after their child leaves for college”.

5. The Press Association, UK – Drug treatment spending examined. “The scale and effectiveness of spending on drug treatment is to be the subject of a wide-ranging report in Scotland. And ministers admitted that a “rethink” is needed on the national approach to the drugs problem”.

6. Times Online, UK – ‘Suicide rating’ could be given to every new drug licensed in UK. “Every new drug licensed in Britain will be given a “suicide rating” under proposals for a big shake-up in the rules governing pharmaceutical development. European regulators are also to require pharmaceutical companies to include a comprehensive suicide assessment into trials of new medicines”.

7. Manila Times – Education key to effective
illicit-drug policy–envoy. “Making drug use a crime is no guarantee that there will be fewer drug users, an envoy said. “By making something taboo, you make it more attractive,” said Dutch ambassador to the Philippines, Richard Brinks, in an exclusive roundtable interview with The Manila Times recently. “Repressive policies just make people more curious””.

8. Nigerian Tribune – Meet Victoria Kokobi, Indian hemp dealer who disguised as garri merchant. “For Victoria, a 62-year-old grandmother, garri business is hard and not lucrative when compared with sales of marijuana. For several years, she has been involved in the trade, using garri as a cover up, but recently, the eagle eyes of the officials of the NDLEA got her”.

9. news.com.au – ‘Just Say No’ to drugs approach has failed. “ALL sport stars have one thing in common. Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, David Beckham: they all have the rare gift of perfect timing. So it came as no surprise that AFL superstar Ben Cousins held a press conference on Wednesday in Sydney to discuss his drug problem at exactly the same time that news came through that Maharishi Yogi, the Indian guru to the Beatles, had died. Meanwhile, the medical report into the death of Heath Ledger was being handed down”.

10. The Observer, UK – Legal drug craze is new killer. “Alex is a man who prides himself on sticking to routine. He likes to start the day with a large cappuccino from Starbucks and to end it with a handful of anti-depressants washed down with vodka. ‘It’s my treat after coming home from work,’ he says. ‘I guess it just chills me out a little'”.

11. YouTube.com – Spiders on drugs: