September 2011 Archives

Rector settled back against a sofa. She said she wants to be drug free and make a better life for herself. If she has an opportunity to get help to overcome addition, she'll take it, so in recent weeks she has received acupuncture treatments in that quest for a better life.

Rector and four others recently sat as soft music played inside a room inside the Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (SADAC) offices. The lights dimmed and the 45-minute treatment began.

All volunteered to participate in a one-month pilot program offered at SADAC. The agency allowed Cairns, an acupuncturist certified by the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, to lead a study to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of addiction.

Continue Reading:  goupstate.com

Next time you wake up with a bruise from a drunken fall, don't blame your brain. New research is indicating the behavioral effects of alcohol come from your immune system instead.

"It's amazing to think that despite 10,000 years of using alcohol, and several decades of investigation into the way that alcohol affects the nerve cells in our brain, we are still trying to figure out exactly how it works," study researcher Mark Hutchinson of the University of Adelaide in Australia said in a statement.

Sedation and reduced muscle coordination are known to be among the behavioral effects of alcohol, and are the ones that lead to traffic accidents and morning-after bumps and bruises. However, it turns out researchers may have been looking in the wrong cells of the body for the cause of these behaviors. [10 Easy Paths to Self Destruction]

Continue Reading:  foxnews.com

FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the Ridley Park, Pennsylvania plant earlier following a four-year, undercover operation to curtail drug abuse at the plant, which manufactures CH-47 Chinook helicopters and V-22 Osprey helicopter-airplane hybrids used by the military.

Of those charged, 36 were current or former Boeing employees, while another was neither, prosecutors said.

The US Department of Justice said 23 of the accused were indicted on charges of illegally distributing prescription drugs, including painkillers fentanyl (Actiq) and oxycodone (Oxycontin); anti-anxiety medication alprazolam (Xanax); and buprenorphine (Suboxone), an opioid used to treat addiction.

Maximum penalties varied greatly for those workers, depending on the severity of the charges, ranging from 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine to 220 years in prison and an $11 million fine for Joseph Salvato, who charged with nine counts of distributing oxycodone and two counts for fentanyl.

ADRIAN, Mich. -- Six years into sobriety after 13 years of drug and alcohol addiction, Todd Crandell began competing in Ironman Triathlon competitions.

Today Crandell, 44, of Sylvania, Ohio, has completed 19 full-length Ironman Triathlons and is one of only 25 people in the world to have completed both the Hawaiian and Canadian Ultraman Triathlons.

Just as important, in 2001, he founded Racing for Recovery, a program that uses support groups that include family and community as well as fitness and positive alternatives to help people overcome addiction.

Crandell, who now devotes himself full-time to Racing for Recovery along with his athletic pursuits, told his story to an audience of about 100 people Tuesday at Dawson Auditorium at Adrian College.

Crandell explained that his mother, also a drug addict, committed suicide when he was 3 years old. While he recognizes the scar that left, he is adamant that it was his choice to start using alcohol and drugs.

Continue Reading:  lenconnect.com

There are thousands of DUI arrests in Oklahoma each year, and in Tulsa County the number of arrests is up 54% in the past five years.

The latest Department of Justice stats show nearly 19,000 drunken driving arrests statewide.  That's why a national cable channel is shining the spotlight on Tulsa and Oklahoma law enforcement.

The Learning Channel, otherwise known as TLC, is following deputies and troopers for a brand new show called DUI.

The producers want to emphasize the consequences of getting behind the wheel after you've been drinking.  The cost of a DUI can be thousands of dollars with court costs, attorney fees and bond.  You can also have your driver's license suspended and a big insurance increase, not to mention the danger to yourself and other drivers.

TLC crews are in Tulsa shooting a behind-the-scenes look at DUI drivers and what happens next, and they're focusing on Oklahoma's law enforcement.

'"They follow it all the way through the jail and into the incarceration process, and then all the way through the court systems," says Sgt. Shannon Clark.

"We actually set up a patrol and let them go out with some of our deputies, and actually see it from a deputy's perspective," says Clark.

Along with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, the show also followed Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers

Continue Reading: fox23.com

"I keep my feet planted and remember where I have come from - I try not to live in the past, but I don't want to shut the door on it either."

There are echoes of Billy Elliot in the way John Horton describes his move into ballet.

Yet one major difference casts the fiction and fact wide apart; John's journey to the stage started with a battle against severe drug addiction.

He is one of several former addicts performing with Chester's Fallen Angels Dance Theatre.

 The company has given the first public performances, at Liverpool's Black-E arts centre and Salford's Lowry Theatre, of its debut show, Chapter One: Battle For The Soul.

It was created to help vulnerable young people and adults who have experienced drug addiction and alcoholism.

For John, it has done exactly that.

He says he was introduced to cannabis and amphetamines when he was about 14 and quickly moved on to crack cocaine and heroin.

Continue Reading: bbc.co.uk

Dear Straight Talk: I still have the photo. I'm at my best friend's house and her mom and stepdad are serving us whiskey and Coke. I am 15. It was my first alcohol. From that point on, drinking, driving, partying, that's what weekends were for. Typical high school stuff? Not really. My parents didn't drink at all.

Fast forward 30 years. Sick of throwing up, hiding bottles, waking up not knowing where I am, I check into treatment. Alcoholism is sneaky when you can get A's, hold down a career, and stop for periods of time. I am writing to tell you: Drinking too young is the surest way to become an alcoholic -- and it doesn't always happen right away. -- Barbara S., Reno, Nevada

Dear Barbara: Congratulations on your recovery. You are correct on both counts. For those who start drinking before age 21, almost one in ten become alcoholics. For those who start after 21, only three percent do. The younger you are when you start, the more your chances rise.

It is a myth that in Europe, where drinking ages are younger and serving alcohol to minors isn't taboo, that there is less alcohol abuse. Europe has the highest worldwide rates of alcoholism and binge drinking -- both significantly higher than America.

Continue Reading: ocregister.com

By Bill Kaczor

Preliminary figures on a new Florida law requiring drug tests for welfare applicants show that they are less likely than other people to use drugs, not more. One famous Floridian suggests that it's the people who came up with the law who should be submitting specimens.

Columnist and best-selling author Carl Hiaasen offered to pay for drug testing for all 160 members of the Florida Legislature in what he called "a patriotic whiz-fest." Several of the law's supporters say they're on board.

"There is a certain public interest in going after hypocrisy," Hiaasen said Tuesday, two days after he made his proposal in a Miami Herald column.

"Folks that are applying for DCF (Department of Children and Families) money normally wouldn't be standing in that line, and on top of that humiliation they now get to pee in a cup so they can get grocery money for their kids," Hiaasen told The Associated Press in an interview at his Vero Beach home.

By: Mitchel Maddux

The brother of hip hop talent agent James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond secretly ran a "side business" trafficking drugs that competed with his brother's alleged transcontinental narcotics empire, according to new revelations unveiled today by authorities in New York.

Kesner Rosemond, 50, has already pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired to distribute cocaine, but Brooklyn federal prosecutors now say he had been cutting extracurricular narcotics deals with suppliers without his brother's knowledge.

"These were drug orders he placed on his own - sort of a side business, if you will," Assistant US Attorney Todd Kaminsky told a New York federal judge on Thursday.

To move these drugs from the West Coast to New York City, Kesner Rosemond devised an ingenious scheme that put a number of innocent people at risk, officials said.

Continue Reading: nypost.com

Five former Delta Airlines employees were indicted on federal charges today for their alleged roles in a drug smuggling operation that involved sneaking marijuana-stuffed suitcases onto flights between Jamaica and Detroit.

Charged in the indictment are Christopher Bradley, 38, of Inkster; Cordell Coke, 37, of Canton; Kevin Jernigan, 50, of Dearborn Heights, Huram Joseph, 41, of Ypsilanti and Glenford Stephens, 48, of Lathrup Village.

The defendants were originally arrested in April as part of "Operation Excess Baggage," which revealed an inside job by baggage handlers in both countries who used employee codes and insider knowledge to get drugs past security.

by: Nina Mandell

An 63-year-old woman's car went crashing through a neighbor's house on Saturday - killing one man while exposing the large marijuana operation of another, authorities said.

Zachary Isenberg, 28, died after the car went crashing through his house and killed him, the Chicago Sun-times reported.

The cause of the accident was due to mechanical problems in the 1995 Mercury Grand, according to the newspaper. But for Isenberg's roommate, Thomas J. Micucci, 27, his problems were just beginning.

As he was grieving the sudden loss of his friend and roommate, cops went through the house to see if there were more victims - and instead found a large stash of drugs.

Fire crews broke down a locked door and found about 30 marijuana plants, the Chicago Tribune reported. They were being raised with grow lights and a watering system, cops said.

Continue Reading: nydailynews.com

According to a study published on bmj.com, alcohol has become an important cause of death among patients with type-1 diabetes since the 1980s. The study also reveals, that early onset type 1 diabetes survival rates between the ages of 0 to 14 years have improved with time, whilst survival of patients with late onset type1 diabetes between the ages of 15 to 29 years has deteriorated since the 1980s.

Put simply, those who developed type 1 diabetes early on in life are living longer today than thirty years ago, while those who developed the condition later are not.

Type1 diabetes is still linked to premature death caused by acute and chronic complications, despite significant advances in diabetes care. The authors explained that not many studies have looked at mortality trends comparing early and late onset diabetes.

Researchers in Finland decided to compare short and long-term time trends in mortality by evaluating 17,306 patients who have been diagnosed with type1 diabetes. All participants were no more than thirty years of age between 1970 and 1999. They also examined the causes of death over time. The follow up period for participants was for an average of 21 years.

Continue Reading: medicalnewstoday.com

By: Join Together Staff

Limiting the number of liquor stores in neighborhoods could reduce the rate of youth homicides in those areas, a new study suggests. A second study found higher rates of violent crimes in neighborhoods where liquor stores allot more than 10 percent of cooler space to single-serve alcohol containers, ScienceDaily reports.

"These results suggest that alcohol control can be an important tool in violence prevention," Robert N. Parker, of the University of California, Riverside, lead researcher in both studies, said in a nes release. "Policies designed to reduce outlet density can provide relief from violence in and around these neighborhood outlets. And banning or reducing the sales of single-serve, ready-to-consume containers of alcohol can have an additional impact on preventing violence."

Both studies are published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review. In the first study, researchers looked at federal crime data for offenders ages 13 to 24, and determined the density of stores that sold wine, beer and liquor in 91 cities in 36 states. They took into account other factors known to contribute to youth homicide rates, such as drugs, poverty, gangs and availability of guns. They found higher densities of liquor stores were associated with higher youth homicide rates.

Continue Reading: drugfree.org

by: LAWRENCE MESSINA

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia already allows for the sort of drug testing of teachers called for by gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney, but the testing of welfare recipients that he also advocated has been a thornier issue both for this state and others.

The Morgantown Republican says his daughter was tested for her new teaching job in North Carolina. Speaking at a Wednesday debate in Wheeling, Maloney said West Virginia needs to drug-test teachers. Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the Democratic nominee, said after the debate that he's not philosophically opposed to the idea.

The state's county school systems can test teachers for drugs before they're hired, according to groups that represent educators. Teachers can also face testing under other circumstances, such as when an administrator has a reasonable suspicion of drug abuse.

Both the West Virginia Education Association and the state's chapter of the American Federation of Teacherssupport such policies.

"We agree with pre-employment testing," said Judy Hale president of AFT-WV. "We don't want people in the classroom who are abusing drugs."

Kanawha County, the state's largest school district, adopted a drug use prevention policy in 2007 that provided for testing in six situations, including pre-employment and for reasonable cause. But it revised that policy the following year to include random drug testing. Hale's group sued, and the WVEA later joined that legal challenge.

Continue Reading: chron.com

Quebec provincial police, RCMP and Montreal police have made a series of drug arrests in and around Montreal.

Sergeant Benoît Richard with the Sûreté du Québec said it is the second phase of Operation Matamore, which targets people smuggling and trafficking cocaine.

He said police expected to arrest 28 people Wednesday, most of whom are connected to street gangs or the mafia.

Continue reading: cbcnews.com

The occupants of the boat fled before authorities arrived.

The boat, split in two on rocks south of Point Mugu State Park, came to the attention of state parks rangers who were patrolling a coastline that had become especially treacherous due to unusually high surf.

Rescuers who arrived first came upon debris: floating gasoline containers and marijuana packaged neatly in burlap bags. Farther south, marooned among rocks, was what remained of a splintered 20-foot fishing boat.

"We did not find injured people along the beach or in the water," said Bill Nash, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. "We turned the matter over to law enforcement."

Documents inside or near the boat were in Spanish, suggesting that the smugglers may have sailed from Mexico, said Capt. Mike Aranda of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. There's been an increase in smuggling in recent months by traffickers attempting landfall in remote areas along the Ventura County shoreline and adjoining counties, he said.

Continue Reading: latimes.com