heroin

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Treating Addicts With Heroin Gains Steam

British study finds benefits in giving addicts their fix

(Newser) - Giving heroin to heroin addicts may not sound like a great idea, but it could soon become the preferred treatment for hardcore addicts. Switzerland and a handful of other countries already have clinics that administer small, supervised doses to addicts, and Britain could be next after completing a four-year trial...

Chynna Phillips: I Knew About Incest

Half-sister also thinks mutual heroin addiction could have led to incest

(Newser) - Chynna Phillips’ half-sister Mackenzie told her of the 10-year affair she had with their father in 1997—a claim Chynna believes to be true. “Somebody could have dropped a piano on my head and I probably wouldn't have felt it,”  the former Wilson Phillips singer tells Us....

Ecstasy, Heroin Linked to German Therapy Deaths

Doc aimed to 'expand consciousness'

(Newser) - Ecstasy and heroin were among the substances supplied by a Berlin therapist who said he aimed to "expand consciousness" during a session that killed two patients, German papers are reporting. Another patient remains in a coma. All 12 participants were rushed to a hospital after they fell ill during...

Family Member Tipped Off Cops to Jackson Drugs

Cops suspected murder early on, warrant shows

(Newser) - Police searched Michael Jackson’s rented mansion in Bel Air the day after he died when a family member told them they’d found what looked like heroin there, AP reports. Tests found that the substance was not heroin, but investigators discovered other drugs in Jackson’s home: pot, generic...

New Heroin Addiction Treatment? Heroin

Scientists caution that controversial treatment has its downsides

(Newser) - Medical heroin may be effectively used to treat heroin addiction, Canadian scientists have discovered, but their dramatic findings may be railroaded over political and financial concerns, ABC News reports. Injectable diacetylmorphine, the active ingredient in heroin, resulted in 67% less illegal activity and illicit drug use after one year when...

Mexico Decriminalizes Small-Scale Drug Possession

(Newser) - Mexico has enacted a controversial law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency. The law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer...

Gal Pal Busted for Smuggling Heroin to Cam Douglas

(Newser) - The girlfriend of Michael Douglas' elder son has been busted after trying to smuggle 19 glassine envelopes of heroin to her boyfriend, police told the New York Post. The drugs were hidden in a black bag carrying an electric toothbrush and delivered to Cameron Douglas, 30, at mother Diandra Douglas'...

Opium Addiction Hooks Afghan Families

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s booming opium industry has hooked entire families on drugs, forcing them to sell land, livestock, and daughters to pay for their addiction, the AP reports. Some 200,000 Afghans are strung out on heroin or opium—50,000 more than in the US—as addiction moves from granddads...

Heroin Makes a Comeback
 Heroin Makes a Comeback 
Aug 5, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

Heroin Makes a Comeback

Price falls, availability surges for drug

(Newser) - The last 2 weeks have seen authorities seize huge amounts of heroin across the country—a combined 510 pounds in California, plus 17 more in New York. The drug hasn't been this readily available since the 1970s, reports the Christian Science Monitor, and authorities are worried because today's version is...

Build-a-Bear Toys Stuffed With $33M in Heroin

(Newser) - Bronx cops discovered that cute Build-a-Bears that children are supposed to fill with stuffing were packed instead with some $33 million worth of heroin, reports the New York Daily News. The brown teddy bears held glassine envelopes of brands of heroin with names like "Barack Obama," "Swine...

Let's Lock Up Casual Drug Users
 Let's Lock Up 
 Casual Drug Users 
OPINION
Jun 30, 2009 12:10 PM CDT

Let's Lock Up Casual Drug Users

Addicts need help, but casual users need jail: Monbiot

(Newser) - The head of the UN drug and crime office recommended last week that casual drug use be decriminalized and said users "need medical help, not criminal prosecution." We should certainly help addicts, but casual users of marijuana and cocaine belong in jail, George Monbiot of the Guardian writes....

US-Built Bridge Supports Afghan Drug Trade

$37M project facilitates opium smuggling into Tajikistan

(Newser) - A US-built bridge linking Afghanistan and Tajikistan that cost taxpayers $37 million has greatly benefited exporters of Afghan opium, McClatchy reports. The bridge over the Panj river was supposed to facilitate commerce between the two nations, but the surging flow of opium across Afghanistan’s northern border threatens to turn...

US to Change Tactics in Afghan Drug War

(Newser) - The US is changing tactics in its war against the Afghan opium trade, the AP reports. Rather than targeting crops for eradication, the US will focus on interdiction and alternative crop programs. A top administration official called eradication “a waste of money” that failed to divert “a single...

Pregnant Brit Gets Life Sentence in Laos

Convicted of trafficking 1.5 pounds of heroin

(Newser) - A pregnant British woman convicted of drug trafficking in Laos last year has been handed a life sentence, AFP reports. Samantha Orobator, 20, who was nabbed while trying to board a plane to Thailand, had been found found guilty of trafficking 1.5 pounds of heroin, said a UK embassy...

Mexican Heroin Seeps Into Rural US

Mexican cartels push the drug into the heartland

(Newser) - As the battle between drug cartels and law enforcement rages in Mexico, traffickers are gaining footholds in America's Heartland. Ohio saw heroin-related deaths spread into 18 new counties between 2004 and 2007, just one indication that dealers aren't limited to big cities. "It's like going to pick up beer,...

US, Afghan Forces Kill 60 in Massive Taliban Drug Raid

(Newser) - US and Afghan forces seized a massive drug cache and and killed 60 militants in a four-day operation in Helmand province, Reuters reports. The troops scored more than 17 tons of morphine, opium, and heroin, along with 75 tons of poppy seeds, and caches of weapons and equipment, the military...

Russia Starts to Admit Heroin Problem
Russia Starts
to Admit Heroin Problem
Mar 11, 2009 10:18 AM CDT

Russia Starts to Admit Heroin Problem

Some blame West's failures in Afghanistan; others see bad policy

(Newser) - With an estimated 2 million drug addicts in Russia—about one in 50 adults—the nation is finally admitting it has a problem. One ally of PM Vladimir Putin faults the West’s anti-terror efforts in nearby Afghanistan for allowing poppy cultivation to bloom; others say Russia’s sweep-it-under-the-rug policies...

Cops Bust Dealers Selling 'Obama Heroin'

'It's a disgrace,' cops grumbles.

(Newser) - The inauguration of a new president apparently represents very different opportunities to different people. An upstate New York drug crew has been busted for selling "Obama brand" heroin, reports the New York Daily News. Police seized marijuana and heroin packets, most of them stamped with the name "Obama"...

Partying Brits High on 'Special K' Horse Drug

Cheap ketamine pushing aside cocaine

(Newser) - Horse tranquilizer "Special K" or ketamine has become one of the most popular illegal drugs in Britain, pushing aside cocaine, according to a crime survey. Ketamine—which can be swallowed, snorted, injected and smoked—can cause respiratory failure, but its low cost and reputation for being "safe" and...

Drug Centers Hit by Worker Overdoses

Burnt-out harm reduction volunteers fall prey to addiction

(Newser) - Needle exchange programs have helped drastically cut rates of HIV infection among heroin users but often take a heavy toll on their volunteers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Unpaid or poorly paid staff members work long hours in tough inner-city conditions, often without proper training. All too often they end...

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