drugs

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Judges Condemn Sentencing Guidelines

High court, Mukasey may give them leeway

(Newser) - Judges across the country are condemning federal sentencing guidelines, 1980s-era anti-drug laws that force them to impose “irrational” sentences, the LA Times reports. “When I have to sentence a midlevel drug dealer to more time than a murderer, something is wrong,” said a judge forced to sentence...

Printer Company Develops Drug-Injection Patch

'Squirting drugs' like 'squirting ink,' says exec

(Newser) - Printer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard is teaming up with an Irish company to develop a skin patch that delivers precisely controlled amounts of drugs with tiny needles. The drug delivery system uses some of the same technology as ink printers, and could inject different drugs at different times. "Squirting ink and...

Painkiller Is Denied to Poor
Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Morphine is cheap and available, but it's withheld because of 'opoid phobia'

(Newser) - Though morphine is cheap, effective, and widely available, most people sufferering extreme pain don't  get it, the New York Times reports. The poorest 80% of the world’s population consumes only 6% of the pain-killer. Why? Because health care workers in poor countries are afraid to prescribe morphine, or not...

Dealers, Killers, and a Nobelist: Guatemala Goes to the Polls

Murders mar run-up to Sunday's election

(Newser) - Der Spiegel travels to Guatemala, where this Sunday's elections present an eye-opening array of candidates, from Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú to a less savory slate of cartel leaders, convicted murders, weapons smugglers, and at least one man accused of genocide. Guatemala's crime rate is sky-high, and now the candidates...

'Herbal' Sex Aids Were Viagra
'Herbal' Sex Aids Were Viagra

'Herbal' Sex Aids Were Viagra

Vigor-25 maker scammed $24 million

(Newser) - Federal officials yesterday arrested the maker of an "herbal," non-prescription sex supplement, Vigor-25, for lacing the pills with the active ingredient in Viagra, reports Newsday. More than 4 million of the surprisingly effective pills have been sold on the internet and at health food stores, with a label...

Only the Good Die Young
Only the Good Die Young

Only the Good Die Young

Musicians who make it big twice as likely to bow out early

(Newser) - The cliché "live fast, die young" now has backing from science. More than 1,000 American and European musicians active from 1956 through 1999 came under British researchers' scrutiny, and the stats are grim: The performers were twice as likely as civilians to die young, with drug and alcohol...

Crime Rocks New Orleans
Crime Rocks New Orleans

Crime Rocks New Orleans

Two years after Katrina, criminals flood city

(Newser) - Only two-thirds of the population of New Orleans has returned since Hurricane Katrina destroyed large parts of the city two years ago—but crime has returned full force. The murder rate in the Big Easy is rocketing, crime is a constant fear among citizens and many are arming themselves for...

Family Pleads: Don't Buy CDs
Family Pleads:
Don't Buy CDs

Family Pleads: Don't Buy CDs

Winehouse drama escalates as in-laws call singer, husband 'drug addicts' on BBC

(Newser) - The continuing drama surrounding "Rehab" singer Amy Winehouse took a bizarre new turn this morning when her in-laws, in an plea broadcast on the BBC, begged fans not to buy her records. Her husband's parents called for a boycott to force the couple into rehab, the Guardian reports. "...

Afghanistan Supplies 93% of World's Opiates

Poppy crop jumps 34% over last year

(Newser) - Afghanistan's opium production has soared over the last year and the country now supplies 93% of the world's opiates. Most of the poppies are grown along the country's southern border with Pakistan, where the insurgency is strong, security is weak, and the Taliban continues to use its drug profits to...

The Life and Times of Crystal Meth
The Life and Times of
Crystal Meth

The Life and Times of Crystal Meth

A new book traces the drug's history, from panacea to pandemic

(Newser) - Even when it has the word "crystal" in front of it, meth is a downmarket drug, which summons up images of makeshift drug labs in run-down trailer parks. But meth, Salon notes in an essay on Frank Owen's new book, "No Speed Limit," has a rich history...

Feds Crack Down on California Pot Operations

Raids stepped up on medicinal marijuana dispensaries considered legal by the state

(Newser) - The federal Drug Enforcement Agency is stepping up raids on California's medicinal marijuana distributors, confiscating drugs and arresting vendors at ten Los Angeles operations last month alone, Reuters reports. California legalized medicinal marijuana use more than ten years ago, but possession of the drug violates federal law. Federal officials argue...

Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs
Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs

Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs

Cheap alternatives to brand-name meds appear as patents expire

(Newser) - Scores of prescription drugs are getting cheaper, as name-brand patents expire and open the door to generic imitators. That's bad news for pharmaceutical companies, the Times reports, but it means that an aging population ever more reliant on drugs will be paying as much as 80 percent less for them.

Lohan Hopes Third Time's a Charm in Rehab

Starlet takes substance-abuse woes to posh Utah lodge

(Newser) - Lindsay Lohan checked into a luxe Utah rehab facility over the weekend, the Insider reports, on the heels of an arrest for drunk driving and drug possession. Boasting a battery of therapies and a price tag of at least $30K, the Cirque Lodge is rumored to have hosted celebs David...

US Nears Deal to Fight Mexican Drug Cartels

Aid package would signal new level of cooperation

(Newser) - The Bush administration will send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Mexico to combat drug cartels in a deal that's on the verge of approval, the Washington Post reports. The package, which would include equipment and training for anti-drug teams, represents a new level of cooperation. "The...

FBI Mellows Out on Drug Standards
FBI Mellows Out on Drug Standards

FBI Mellows Out on Drug Standards

Holistic approach to applicants gives casual users a break

(Newser) - The FBI no longer disqualifies applicants who admit to past drug use, the Washington Post reports. The agency previously turned away wannabes who acknowledged smoking marijuana more than 15 times, but times have changed. Potential employees must still swear they have not partaken in recent years, and the FBI's policy...

Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad
Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad

Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad

But Rolling Stone can’t get cocaine satisfaction

(Newser) - Keith Richards says that—reported denials aside—he did indeed snort his father’s ashes. The Rolling Stones sideman revealed in an interview yesterday that media reports had mixed up the story, and that he’d only meant to deny mixing the remains with a popular opiate. “I said...

US Troops High on Afghan Heroin
US Troops
High on
Afghan Heroin

US Troops High on Afghan Heroin

Boredom, frustration drive soldiers to cheap, ubiquitous drug

(Newser) - Bored US soldiers have easy access to heroin in poppy-rich Afghanistan, and few fear punishment if they're caught using it, Salon reports. Filmmaker Shaun McCanna says he was able to score heroin easily on over a dozen occasions during his two trips to the war-torn country.

MLB Suspends Perez for 80 More Games

Former Gold Glover out for the season after failing his third drug test

(Newser) - Major League Baseball put the brakes on Detroit Tigers infielder Neifi Perez today, saying he couldn’t return from a drug suspension because he had failed his third stimulant test. The penalty, sitting out 80 more games, finishes his season. His second suspension of 25 games was slated to end...

Cocaine Tied to Pitcher's Sudden Death

Police found cocaine in Rod Beck's home; widow confirms habit

(Newser) - Phoenix police found cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the home of former All-Star pitcher Rod Beck following his sudden death in June, they said yesterday. Officials found "large quantities of powder, crack, and rock cocaine,"  the Arizona Republic reports. Though the medical examiner has not released the...

FDA Panel Votes to Keep Avandia on Shelves

Controversial diabetes drug still faces heart-attack link

(Newser) - An FDA panel said today that GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia should remain in drugstores, despite earlier evidence the pill ups heart failure risks. Glaxo has defended its drug, countering that the risks associated with the popular Avandia are the same as those of other diabetes drugs.

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