Decriminalizing the sale of pot in the United States is definitely a divisive issue. While many addiction treatment professionals work hard to break the stigma of substance abuse and educate the public about the disease of addiction, increased access is worrisome. The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington is a move the DEA’s […]
Cops moved swiftly to make arrests following the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in Manhattan, believed to be caused by a heroin overdose. Four people were The arrests were made following a raid that yielded 350 glassine-type bags of what is believed to be heroin. taken into custody in connection with the drugs found […]
“We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing,” Is the public perception of pot changing? And will a statement from President Obama help to make that shift? Early in 2014, just […]
The pictures tell a gruesome tale: Gangrenous limbs, scaly skin, abscesses and painful lesions. It’s the work of a dangerous new drug called krokodil. It’s pronounced just like the green swamp dwellers found in Florida, but its bite can be even more deadly. Also known as “the flesh-eating drug,” it’s arrived on our shores from […]
Keeping on top of today’s hot new drug can be a bit like playing the arcade game “Whack-a-Mole.” Law enforcement and medical professionals can barely keep up with the designer drugs and synthetic chemicals that hit the streets. As soon as one formula is discovered and banned, creative chemists alter the structure of the molecules […]
As the abuse of legal medications leads to growing addiction rates, law enforcement is continuing with their crackdown on doctors who supply patients with painkillers illegally. The most recent instance has a Pittsburgh-area doctor at its center. In September 2012, Oliver Herndon, 40, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison. The doctor […]
What’s a drug used to de-worm pets doing in much of our nation’s cocaine supply? The experts don’t know, but they are aware of its potentially deadly consequences. A drug approved to treat cancer and used to de-worm animals is being added to the nation’s cocaine supply, and public health officials are puzzled as to […]
Laws that made it harder to obtain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine, were successful in cutting down the number of meth labs nationwide, but now those numbers are on the rise again.