There isn’t much attention paid to prescription drug abuse, except perhaps when a Hollywood star dies from an overdose. However, it is estimated that nearly one in five Americans has used prescription drugs for nonmedicinal reasons, and 15 percent may be abusing prescription drugs. This silent epidemic has become the leading cause of addiction. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-prescription-drug-abuse-20100421,0,6657110.story
It’s been 10 years since Colorado voted to allow the use and sale of marijuana for medical reasons. But in the past six months, the number of patients and dispensaries has skyrocketed. ……Dispensaries, however, are far more than smoking dens. Marijuana is bought and sold in an array of edible forms, such as caramel corn…
In a scene reminiscent of the old TV show 21 Jump Street, police on Friday arrested 16 students accused of delivering drugs on Brazoria County’s Columbia High School campus after an undercover officer posing as a student named “Victor” allegedly bought the goods from them. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6962267.html
The proposed bill would make selling synthetic urine illegal and is an effort to help drug testing companies combat the problem of falsified drug tests. “I’ve always said out of thirty people who walk into my office, at least 5 people have someone else’s urine, and I think that number varies but increases daily,” said…
Data released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine show that hospital visits caused by accidental and unintentional prescription drug overdoses went up 37 percent from 1999 to 2006. That amounted to 741,425 people needing emergency care. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/6958326.html
Two school bus drivers tested positive for drugs recently, after a random drug test at the Department of Public Works.According to Cecilia Martinez from the Human Resources Department of Administration, “the common one is methamphetamine which is known as ice and the other one is marijuana.” That’s what two seasoned customs officers got busted for…
More than 22,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the nation’s narcotrafficking cartels in December 2006, a government report said Tuesday. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/14/government-more-than-22000-dead-in-mexico-drug-war/
After a two-year battle that has killed more than 5,000 people, Mexico’s most powerful kingpin now controls the coveted trafficking routes through Ciudad Juarez. That conclusion by U.S. intelligence adds to evidence that Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel is winning Mexico’s drug war. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMi5B2USfJStXxfqgWWr2xjRYpOgD9EVPTA01
A new drug trend is hitting Missouri. Law enforcement agents say the rise in heroin use could spread from the St. Louis area to Springfield. http://www.ky3.com/news/local/90598589.html
Many Americans support legalization and many states already permit medical use. An end to prohibition would generate billions in tax revenue and relieve the criminal justice system. But is it the right thing to do? http://www.cnbc.com/id/36022433?__source=vtymarijuana&par=vty
