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 Health & Beauty
Canada Scraps Plan to Decriminalize Marijuana Use
 Reuters
Canada's new Conservative government will scrap draft legislation which would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.more »»»
Texas Busting Drunks ... In Bars
 Reuters
Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said Wednesday. The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication.more »»»
Reduction of Demand is Key to Victory
 Wire services
The United States should make a "bigger and more integrated effort" in the fight against drugs, according to the government´s highest-ranking law official. "There has to be a direct fight [against drugs] in the United States, too, just like the one we are fighting."more »»»
Cigarette Sales Hit 55-Year Low in 2005
 Associated Press
Cigarette sales hit a 55-year low in 2005 and have fallen by more than 21 percent since state attorneys general negotiated a landmark settlement with the industry eight years ago, newly released figures show.more »»»
Drug Shows Promise in Curbing Compulsive Gambling, Study Says
 Robert Lee Hotz
For the estimated 6 million compulsive gamblers in the U.S., the long odds are on a pill. In the largest clinical study of its kind, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that daily doses of an experimental drug called nalmefene, often used to treat alcoholism, appeared to curb the craving to gamble.more »»»
Homegrown Meth Replaced by Potent Mexican Drug
 jointogether.org
States that have passed laws restricting access to medication that can be used to make methamphetamine have had success wiping out neighborhood meth labs, but are now faced with an influx of cheap, potent methamphetamine from Mexico.more »»»
Police Fight Traffickers In Battle of Wits
 Jorge Alejandro Medellín
While drug traffickers look for new and inventive ways to disguise their shipments, police use their own creativity to detect illicit substances, documents, and money slipping in or out of the country.more »»»
Study Toasts Free Drinks For Homeless Alcoholics
 AFP
Free drinks may improve the health and lives of homeless alcoholics and reduce their run-ins with police, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.more »»»
Huffing and Puffing
 Marc Siegel
My patient Neal Johnston, 66 followed my clinical advice and regularly ran on his treadmill. At the same time, he ignored my advice to stop smoking. Though he had a history of heart disease and emphysema, he would run almost every day with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. more »»»
Ensnared: Internet Creates New Group of Sexual Addicts
 Marianne Szegedy-Maszak
For many people, a peek at an "adult" site offers merely a titillating glimpse into an illicit world. For others, a peek becomes a moment of respite, a brief vacation from the demands of the real world. Then it becomes a habit. Soon, it is a compulsion that occupies hours and hours every day, shattering careers, marriages and lives.more »»»
Sobriety Under the Sun
 Bob Cohen
From January 13-15, 2006 the Puerto Vallarta English speaking Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Group will be hosting their 4th annual "Sobriety Under the Sun" AA convention at the Canto Del Sol Resort and Convention Center in Puerto Vallarta.more »»»
Tough? Try Not Drinking for a Month
 Jeannine Stein
For moderate social drinkers, hopping on the wagon for a month shouldn't have been that daunting of a task. Not just any moderate social drinkers, but a handful of men and women who are exceptionally fit, as in training-for-a-marathon fit.more »»»
Mexican Labs Set to Pour Meth Into Arizona
 Michael Marizco
The meth lab by the seminary was exceptional, even by narco-trafficker standards. Equipped with cylinders of acetone, ethanol and oxygen tanks, principal ingredients of meth production, the superlab was capable of producing at least 12 pounds of crystal methamphetamine — nearly 18,000 quarter-gram doses — a day.more »»»
Improve Your Odds of Kicking the Smoking Habit
 John McKenzie
Studies show that when trying to quit smoking without help, the chance of success is only 5 percent. Researchers say what smokers need most is a comprehensive quit plan, which should start with counseling.more »»»
Cuba Spends A Lot to Fight Drugs
 Prensa Latina
Cuban Anti-Drug Commission head Jose Luis Galvan, at the first EU-Latin America and Caribbean Drug Observatory meeting in Caracas, noted that Cuba dedicates important resources to prevent drugs from contaminating the Island.more »»»
Mexico Limiting Access to Meth Ingredients
 Will Weissert
The cardboard boxes were stacked neatly from floor to ceiling, many with white importation stickers still attached. Federal agents found more than 13,000 anti-flu tablets inside them and arrested a teenager arriving in a pickup with nearly 1,000 more.more »»»
After an Epic Meltdown, an Argentine Soccer Star Is Remade on TV
 Larry Rohter
In his prime, Diego Maradona was the greatest soccer player of his generation. Now, after a lost decade in which the Argentine star generated headlines mainly for his drug abuse and misbehavior off the field, he is reinventing himself as a television showman.more »»»
Alcoholics Getting Help From New Drugs
 Mark Jewell
John Bauhs credits a drug for helping him stop drinking - a story line some alcoholics, doctors and drug companies hope will become more common as new treatment options emerge. Bauhs tried practically everything he could think of to stop during 25 years of drinking but he couldn't stay sober until a year ago, when he began taking naltrexone.more »»»
Canada's Top Court Ruling Paves Way for Provinces to Sue Tobacco Firms
 AFP
A Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for Canadian provinces to sue tobacco companies to recover tobacco-related health costs, a decision that may eventually cost Canadian and foreign firms billions of dollars.more »»»
As Laws Dry Up Home Meth Labs, Mexican Cartels Flood U.S. Market
 Steve Suo
As members of Congress consider restrictions on the sale of cold pills used to make methamphetamine, they might want to look at what's happened in Oklahoma, which has slashed the number of home meth labs yet failed to curb meth use.more »»»
Binge Drinking Entrenched in College Culture
 Jonann Brady
It's been nearly a year since 19-year-old Samantha Spady was found dead of alcohol poisoning in a fraternity house at Colorado State University. Spady's blood alcohol content was 0.436 - five times the legal limit. As school starts up again this year, colleges and universities across the country are bracing for more booze-fueled chaos.more »»»
Meth Sweep Nets 427 Suspects
 Terry Frieden
More than 400 suspected producers and distributors of methamphetamine are in custody after DEA-led task forces fanned out in about 200 U.S. towns and cities in an operation aimed at denting the growing scourge of meth abuse, officials announced Tuesday.more »»»
Mexico Runs Drug Trade to U.S.
 Danna Harman
In the largest reorganization since the 1980s, senior U.S. officials say, Mexican cartels have leveraged the profits from their delivery routes to wrest control from the Colombian producers. The shift is also because of the success authorities have had in cracking down on Colombia's kingpins.more »»»
CDC: US Heroin Users Exposed to Dangerous Additive
 Paul Simao
A drug that promotes lean muscle growth in cattle may be turning up in heroin on the U.S. East Coast, sickening users and stoking fears of a wave of such poisonings, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.more »»»
War On Drugs Pushing Meth Labs South Of The Border
 Sergio Chapa
The shutdown of thousands of methamphetamines labs in the United States along with stricter laws regulating household items that can be used to make the narcotic have pushed production south of the border.more »»»
Quarter of Prop. 36 Drug Offenders Complete Treatment
 Don Thompson
Nearly five years ago, California voters approved a ballot measure that gave judges the discretion to send some nonviolent drug offenders to a drug treatment program instead of prison. About a quarter of those who entered the alternative treatment completed the program and had similar outcomes to traditional treatment methods.more »»»
Debunking the Drug War
 John Tierney
America has a serious drug problem, but it's not the "meth epidemic" getting so much publicity. Amphetamines can certainly do harm and are a fad in some places. But there's little evidence of a new national epidemic from patterns of drug arrests or drug use.more »»»
Colombia Gov't Offers to Buy Illegal Coca
 Dan Molinski
The Colombian government is offering to buy farmers' illegal crops of coca — the plant used to make cocaine — in the latest effort to stem illegal drug production in this South American nation.more »»»
Oregon Lawmakers Step Up Fight Vs. Meth
 Charles E. Beggs
Oregon would become the first state to require a prescription for many types of cold medicines under a bill overwhelmingly passed Wednesday by the House as part of an attack on methamphetamine.more »»»
Kids Suffer From Parents' Meth Addiction
 David Crary
Jittery babies, mistreated toddlers, strung-out mothers: Cheryll Jones' pediatric nursing practice is far from what it was when she started out 30 years ago long before methamphetamine invaded this riverside Corn Belt town.more »»»
1 in 5 Teens Abused Prescription Drugs
 Larry Mcshane
About one in five teenagers have tried prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin to get high, with the pill-popping members of "Generation Rx" often raiding their parents' medicine cabinets, according to a study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.more »»»
Officials Across U.S. Describe Drug Woes
 Kate Zernike
Local officials from across the country yesterday declared methamphetamine the nation's leading law enforcement scourge - a more insidious drug problem than cocaine - and blamed it for crowding jails and fueling increases in theft and violence, as well as for a host of social welfare problems.more »»»
Study: Doctors Limited in Rx Training
 Associated Press
With abuse of prescription drugs growing rapidly, many doctors and pharmacists say they have received limited training in dealing with pain-relievers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other controlled prescription drugs. One factor behind the growth is that people easily can get these drugs from doctors, friends, relatives and through the Internet.more »»»
Special K: NOT the Breakast of Champions
 Sueanne Lineberger
He is 25 years old, with dyed blond hair, earrings and striking blue eyes. But those eyes look away now, embarrassed, as he talks about sticking a straw into a bag of "Special K" and snorting a spoonful up his nose. But he's not talking about a spoonful of half-inch wheat flakes fortified with iron.more »»»
Grisly Effect of One Drug: 'Meth Mouth'
 Monica Davey
Quite distinct from the oral damage done by other drugs, sugar and smoking, methamphetamine seems to be taking a unique, and horrific, toll inside its users' mouths. In short stretches of time a perfectly healthy set of teeth can turn a grayish-brown, twist and begin to fall out.more »»»
US Supreme Court Allows Prosecution of Medical Marijuana
 Bill Mears
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled doctors can be blocked from prescribing marijuana for patients suffering from pain caused by cancer or other serious illnesses. In a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled the Bush administration can block the backyard cultivation of pot for personal use.more »»»
The Mexican Connection
 Steve Suo
America's methamphetamine crisis is now rooted in Mexico, where drug cartels are illicitly obtaining tons of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient needed to make the potent stimulant. Mexico's imports of the cold medicine have vaulted from 66 tons to 224 tons in the past five years, roughly double what the country needs to meet the legitimate demands of cold and allergy sufferers.more »»»
Iraq: The New Heroin Route
 Arnaud Aubron
Opiates - and cannabis - produced in Afghanistan transit through Iraq before being distributed in Europe. Their consumption is growing in Baghdad and elsewhere, where narcotics seem to stubbornly want to surge through the wake of the American Army.more »»»
Crack Cocaine Sweeps Across Mexico
 Jeremy Schwartz
Officials say Mexico is facing its own homegrown drug epidemic, spearheaded by an alarming increase in crack use throughout the country. Some worry that Mexico may be headed for the type of violence the introduction of crack visited upon U.S. cities in the 1980s.more »»»
Drug Culture Eulogized By Musicians From The North
 Wire services
This is the world of the so called narcocorridos, a mix of gangster rap lyrics and traditional polka and waltz rhythms. They are the soundtrack to the booming and violent drug trade in northern Mexico. And Culiacan, a bustling city of 800,000 people, is the heart of the narcocorridos scene.more »»»
Mexico Drug Use Soars As U.S. Meth Labs Shift South
 Aline Corpus
Cheaper than cocaine or heroin and with a longer-lasting high, methamphetamine has been widely snorted, smoked and injected by blue-collar drug users in towns and cities over the border in California for decades.more »»»
An Annual Plea For A Sober Cheer For Cinco De Mayo
 Mary Sanchez
Here's a plea for Cinco de Mayo: Save it from going the way of St. Patrick's Day - a day of commercially driven binge drinking by people claiming to be "Irish for a day." I suspect some of the "Mexican-for-a-day" drinkers envision themselves downing tequila shots, thinking they are being one with their brethren in Mexico. Sorry, but no.more »»»
Want To Quit Smoking? Here's Some Help
 Kelly Arthur Garrett
A global anti-smoking treaty went into effect last February, committing member nations to take measures to reduce tobacco use and discourage youngsters from starting to smoke.more »»»
Cocaine Policy: American Impasse
 Alain Délétroz
Among the wars America is conducting, one in particular seems doomed to fail: that against coca production in the Andes, in spite of spending more than 3 billion dollars by Washington on its Columbia policy.more »»»
State Requiring Ignition Locks for DWI
 CNN
Chris Romero hops into his blue-and-white Ford pickup, clicks the ignition on and then off again, and reaches for what looks like a black cell phone hanging from his dashboard. "Ready for test. Please blow," reads the display screen on the device.more »»»
Weighing the Difference Between Treating Pain and Dealing Drugs
 Tina Rosenberg
Federal prosecutors in Virginia want Dr. William Hurwitz, recently convicted on 50 counts of distributing narcotics, to go to prison for life without parole when he is sentenced in mid-April.more »»»
Report Examines Afghan Drug Production
 George Gedda
More than three years after a pro-U.S. government was installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy production and is "on the verge of becoming a narcotics state."more »»»
Their Drugs of Choice
 Daniel Costello
Ryan Smith remembers the night, during his junior year of high school, when a friend gave him his first Vicodin. "It felt so incredible. I remember thinking, 'I am going to do this for the rest of my life,' " he says.more »»»
The New Social Etiquette: Friends Don't Let Friends Dial Drunk
 Carol E. Lee - NY Times
This late-night cellular faux pas joins such exalted company as the "mistaken dial" and the annoying ring tone that can interrupt big job interviews or Communion service.more »»»
Alcohol Increases Co-eds' Risk of Sexual Assault
 HealthDayNews
Most women college students are well aware of the dangers of drinking and driving. But there's an equally threatening risk tied to alcohol consumption that may not leap to mind — sexual assault.more »»»
Addictions: Your Questions Answered
 excerpts from The Element Guide by Deirdre Boyd
We are an addictive society. Everyone will feel some of the symptoms described in this to some degree. It does not necessarily mean that you are addicted: it is to what degree it affects your life that is importantmore »»»
In US, States May Restrict Cold Pills With Ingredient in Meth
 Fox Butterfield
Faced with a growing crisis of methamphetamine addiction and toxic spills from homemade drug laboratories, 20 US states are considering legislation that would impose tight restrictions on common cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine.more »»»
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Needle
 Seth Mnookin - Slade
Before Seth Mnookin was a feature writer for 'The New Yorker' and 'Newsweek', he was an intravenous heroin addict. Here, he recounts how journalism gave him a 'bridge to normal living.'more »»»
Webaholics Anonymous
 Center for Online Addiction
Along with the announcement that Internet Addiction is now a real problem effecting an estimated six percent of the online population, news immediately broke that a 12-step program had been formed for those who suffer from this dangerous affliction.more »»»
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