Addiction World

Recession causes 2,000 heart attack deaths

2012-01-28T15:44:00.001Z

Since 2002 the number of people dying from heart attacks in England has dropped by half, the study conducted by Oxford University found. But within that, regional data revealed there was a 'blip' in London that corresponded to the financial crash in 2008 and continued through 2009. Heart attack deaths have dropped due to better prevention of heart attacks in the first place with fewer people smoking and improvements in diet through lower consumption of saturated fat. The treatment of people who do suffer a heart attack has also improved leading to fewer deaths with faster ambulance response times, new procedures to clear blocked arteries and wider use of drugs such as statins and aspirin. The research published in the British Medical Journal showed around 80,000 lives have been saved between 2002 and 2008 as deaths from heart attacks declined.

Venezuela on Tuesday deported three suspected drug smugglers wanted in the United States, Canada and Colombia

2012-01-25T12:00:00.001Z

Venezuela on Tuesday deported three suspected drug smugglers wanted in the United States, Canada and Colombia, touting the moves as proof the government of President Hugo Chavez is making strides in fighting trafficking. Those deported include Luc Letourneau, a Canadian wanted in his homeland on drug trafficking charges, Oscar Martinez Hernandez, an American wanted in Puerto Rico on charges including cocaine and heroin smuggling, and Colombian Adalberto Bernal Arboleda.Arboleda, known by his nickname “El Cali,” faces drug smuggling charges in Colombia and the United States. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami trumpeted the deportations as evidence Venezuela is cracking down on drug trafficking. Venezuela is a major hub for gangs that smuggle Colombian cocaine to the United States and Europe, and U.S. officials have accused Chavez’s government of being lax in anti-drug efforts. Last year, President Barack Obama’s administration classified Venezuela as a country that has “failed demonstrably” to effectively fight drug trafficking. El Aissami dismissed that accusation, accusing U.S. officials of “defaming” Venezuela’s counter-drug efforts. Letourneau, 53, was captured in May on Margarita Island, a popular tourist destination. At the time of his arrest, Letourneau was planning to smuggle 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of cocaine into Canada, El Aissami said. Hernandez, a 44-year-old man who was nabbed by police on Jan. 4 in the western city of Maracaibo, faces numerous criminal charges ranging from drug trafficking to illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Arboleda was captured in the town of Mariara, in central Carabobo state, on Jan. 11. U.S.-Venezuelan counter-drug cooperation has been sharply scaled back since 2005, when Chavez suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and accused it of being a front for espionage.

The New Face of Drug Abuse

2012-01-23T13:12:00.001Z

It never ceases to amaze me how much suffering can stem from things that were actually intended to be helpful. Case in point would be the latest drug epidemic that has seized our country, and more so our state. Surprisingly, it doesn’t involve heroin, crystal meth or any of the many other illicit, designer drugs out there, although each certainly brings plenty of heartache and loss. Rather, the crisis that now challenges us involves the abuse of prescription painkillers. What many of us have had in our medicine cabinets at one time or another is now responsible for tearing apart the lives of thousands of individuals and families. Let’s begin by wrapping our heads around some astonishing numbers. New York has seen a rapid escalation for these painkiller prescriptions, more than 22 million of them written in 2010, a 36 percent increase since 2007. Worse still, scripts for oxycodone, a widely-used narcotic, rose by a whopping 82 percent. As a Newsday editorial so deftly pointed out, “Life hasn't gotten 82 percent more painful in three years.” Nationally, the number of overdose deaths from these drugs is now greater than those of heroin and cocaine combined and before we mistakenly characterize this as a young people problem, middle-aged adults have the highest rates of painkiller overdose. The non-medical use costs insurers about $72.5 billion per year and those costs inevitably work their way down to each of us. What these numbers clearly indicate is addiction, lots of it, and the result has been a nationwide crime wave of pharmacy robberies with addicts going after pills, not money. Unfortunately, Long Island is at the center of this storm with two robberies that ended in the shooting deaths of six people. So how do we fairly combat drugs that must also be available to those who legitimately need them? There are numerous ideas, everything from bulletproof pharmacy counters to long-term, mandatory addiction training for doctors and pharmacists. Many are potential tools that must be considered. I happen to support the much discussed statewide “real time” system for tracking the dispensation of narcotic painkillers. The participation of both doctors and pharmacists looks to be the best way to prevent addicts from "doctor shopping" to get multiple prescriptions. In my office I’ve focused on the startling reality that these opioids are often crushed so they can be snorted or injected for a high. However, there are “tamper-resistant” formulas that are impossible to break down or whose effect is negated when crushed. I believe they offer a sensible way of removing the lure of the drug while keeping its medicinal value intact for those who need it. Currently, if a doctor prescribes this tamper-resistant version, pharmacies must substitute it with the cheaper, crushable, generic with no questions asked. The bill I have introduced (S6062) prevents the substitution without the prior, written consent of the prescribing physician unless the generic is also “tamper-resistant.” While I was originally concerned that this might give an unfair advantage to some pharmaceuticals, the fact is these formulas are clearly necessary and will inevitably spur development of cheaper tamper resistant generics. Patients can of course still request a generic from their doctors, but that would hopefully prompt a discussion about the doctor’s decision to write a “tamper-resistant” prescription. In that light, this legislation promotes the exchange between patient, pharmacist and doctor, possibly making it the first-step to addiction recognition and recovery. It prevents an addict from skirting a doctor’s decision and gives the discretion to a professional who can recognize signs of addiction– the doctor. This bill has the support of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York Osteopathic Medical Society, and the Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence.

Facebook, Twitter addict? Too much Internet may alter your brain

2012-01-17T07:05:00.001Z

This is your brain. This is your brain on Facebook, Twitter, or Match.com. A recent Chinese study found that the brains of people addicted to the Internet may see similar changes to the brains of those addicted to alcohol or drugs. Yahoo News reported that brain scans were conducted of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21, and 17 of them were identified with Internet addiction disorder. Brain scans of those classified as addicted showed disruptions in the part of the brain that contains nerve fibers, and changes in the brain areas that are used in emotions, decision-making, and self-control. Some of the questions people needed to ask themselves to determine whether they were addicted were, according to the BBC: Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction? Do you use the Internet as an escape from feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety and depression? Have you put a relationship, job, or career opportunity at risk because of the Internet? Have you lied to people to hide the amount of time you spend on the Internet? According to safetyweb.com, an Internet monitoring service for parents, teenagers and young adults are the age groups that are more likely to be addicted to the Internet, and they are more likely to neglect work or school than older addicted adults. The Executive director of an Internet addiction recovery center known as restart says overexposure to the Internet can cause these symptoms in anyone’s brain. Hilarie Cash said to technewsworld.com, "We do a combination of psychotherapy and helping these people figure out the skills they need to function in the world. The road to recovery could include plenty of hiking and backpacking to get them both physically fit and reconnected to the world."

Thousands of children are being "needlessly dumped in prison" because of Britain's failing youth justice system

2012-01-15T16:36:00.001Z

Thousands of children are being "needlessly dumped in prison" because of Britain's failing youth justice system, a think-tank has warned. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) said courts and prisons were being used to "parent children" and were expected to sweep up problem youngsters inadequately dealt with by other departments, such as social services. In a new report, the group called for a radical overhaul in the way the Government deals with young offenders. It said there needed to be a drastic cut in the 5,000 children a year currently given custodial sentences, arguing the imprisonment of youths between the age of 10 and 17 should be limited to the "critical few" guilty of the most serious or violent crimes. The CSJ said too many children are being taken before the youth courts for trivial reasons. The report cited one example where a child who had thrown a bowl of Sugar Puffs at his care worker, jumped out of the window, then climbed back in, was held in a police cell over a weekend on suspicion of assault and attempted burglary. The independent think-tank, set up in 2004 by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, urged a return to a "common-sense" approach to minor incidents with parents and teachers using their judgment to deal with them at a home or school level. It also criticised the widespread use of short sentences for young offenders, arguing they undermine justice and disrupt attempts to educate and rehabilitate them. Gavin Poole, executive director of the CSJ, said: "Many young people fall into the system unnecessarily and do not receive the help they need to free themselves from it. Custody is sometimes neither a protective nor a productive place for children, and community orders can be equally ineffective. Moreover, despite years of good intentions, many young people leaving custody are still not being provided with the basic support they need for rehabilitation." Among a series of recommendations, the CSJ said there should be no sentences shorter than six months and an emphasis should be placed on non-custodial punishments where underlying behavioural problems can be tackled more effectively. The group also said measures to prevent lawbreaking by young people should be the primary responsibility of child welfare services rather than the youth justice system. It added local services needed to work together to ensure that young people and their families receive the help they need early.

Paul Simon's music takes meandering spiritual journey

2012-01-14T10:32:00.001Z

Paul Simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his music. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, So Beautiful or So What, surprised even him. There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife. . Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Enlarge By Todd Plitt, for USA TODAY Paul Simon performs at Ground Zero during a 10th anniversary ceremony of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Ads by Google 1st Dual Core Mini-ITX VIA EPIA-M900 wi Nano X2 CPU, DDR3 up to 8GB, 2 SATA, 8 USB2.0, 4 www.viaembedded.com Simon says the religious themes were not intentional — he does not describe himself as religious. But in an interview with the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, he said the spiritual realm fascinates him. "I think it's a part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis," he said. "I think of it more as spiritual feeling. It's something that I recognize in myself and that I enjoy, and I don't quite understand it." BLOG: Is heaven Simon's stunning infinity? REVIEW: 'So Beautiful' sums up Simon's latest STORY: 'So Beautiful' is beautifully familiar Simon may not understand it, but he's been writing and singing a lot about it, and that has generated attention. One Irish blogger suggested So Beautiful or So What could be the best Christian album of 2011. Sojourners' Cathleen Falsani, an evangelical who writes frequently about religion and pop culture, called it "one of the most memorable collections of spiritual musical musings" in recent memory. "It's a stunningly beautiful … album, and he's a great surprise to me and frankly a huge blessing," Falsani said. During a career that has spanned half a century, Simon has received numerous awards, including 12 Grammys. His first Grammy came in 1968 for best contemporary vocal duo, along with his musical partner Art Garfunkel. Their 1970 Grammy-winning song Bridge Over Troubled Water was influenced by gospel music. Simon comes from a Jewish background. "I was raised to a degree enough to be bar mitzvahed and have that much Jewish education, although I had no interest. None," he said. Now at 70, he said he has many questions about God. In his song, The Afterlife, he speculates about what happens after death. He imagines waiting in line, like at the Department of Motor Vehicles. As the chorus goes: "You got to fill out a form first and then you wait in the line." But there's a serious aspect as well, as the song continues: "Face-to-face in the vastness of space/ Your words disappear/And you feel like you're swimming in an ocean of love/ And the current is strong." "By the time you get up to speak to God, and you actually get there, there's no question that you could possibly have that could have any relevance," Simon explained. One of the most unusual songs on the album, Getting Ready for Christmas Day, includes excerpts of a sermon preached in 1941 by prominent African-American pastor J.M. Gates. Simon heard the sermon on a set of old recordings and said he was drawn to the rhythms of Gates' "call and response" style of preaching. The song Love and Hard Times begins with the line: "God and His only son paid a courtesy call on Earth one Sunday morning." According to Simon, "To begin with a sentence that is the foundation of Christianity, I said: This is going to be interesting. Now what am I going to say about a subject that I certainly didn't study?" The song ends with a love story, which he says is really about his wife, and a repetition of the line, "Thank God I found you." "When you're looking to be thankful at the highest level, you need a specific and that specific is God. And that's what that song is about," he said. Simon said the beauty of life and of the earth often leads him to thoughts about God. "How was all of this created? If the answer to that question is God created everything, there was a creator, than I say, Great! What a great job," he said. But he said he won't be troubled if it turns out there is no God. "Oh fine, so there's another answer. I don't know the answer," he said. Either way, he added, "I'm just a speck of dust here for a nanosecond, and I'm very grateful." Simon has sought input on his questions from some religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. He once spent hours talking with British evangelical theologian John Stott, who died last year. Simon said Stott made a big impression on him. "I left there feeling that I had a greater understanding of where belief comes from when it doesn't have an agenda," he said. Many of Simon's songs raise universal questions about things like destiny and the meaning of life. "Quite often, people read or hear things in my songs that I think are more true than what I wrote," he said. Falsani calls Simon a "God-chronicler by accident." "He looks at the world and kind of wonders what the heck is going on, like many of us do. He asks good questions and seems to have his finger on the heartbeat spiritually of a culture," she said. Simon said he's gratified — and somewhat mystified — that some people have told him they believe God has spoken to them through his music. "Is it a profound truth? I don't know," he said. "I feel I'm like a vessel, and it passed through me, and I was the editor, and I'm glad."

DRUGS lord who enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle was last night starting an 11-and-a-half-year jail sentence.

2012-01-13T22:34:00.001Z

Darlington man Paul Brett was at the head of a well organised empire that tried to flood the area with more than £1m of cocaine. The gang was disrupted after an 18-month undercover operation – the biggest in Durham Police history – culminated in raids last year. Brett, 25, was jailed along with five others from Darlington, Teesside and Merseyside. Detective Chief Superintendent Jane Spraggon said afterwards: “This operation proves no one is untouchable.” Brett’s right-hand man, Mark Dee, 25, was jailed for seven years, while fellow Darlington organiser David Pierce, 41, was jailed for five years. Teesside Crown Court heard that they fixed up deals in Liverpool and arranged for couriers to travel across the Pennines and bring back drugs. In Ronald Bennett’s house in Liverpool, police found an industrial blender, cocaine and a 20-tonne hydraulic press. Market trader Bennett, 57, was the “packager” who Judge Tony Briggs said was crucial to the success of the gang. He was jailed for eight years. Lance Kennedy, 24, from Birkenhead, and Craig Costello, 29, from Middlesbrough, were each jailed for 15 months for money laundering. The pair were caught with nearly £20,000 after police watched Brett hand over a holdall at a McDonald’s car park in Darlington. Brett, a one-time fitness instructor who had never worked during the surveillance and had no bank accounts in the UK, made regular trips abroad. He was pictured in a newspaper flanked by two glamour girls at the opening of a Dubai nightclub and stayed at £800-a-night hotels in Thailand. Dee, a joiner, was said to have been paid only £1,500 for arranging deals. Bennett’s barrister said his client was the one who got his hands the dirtiest. Lawyers for charity fundraiser Kennedy and offshore worker Costello said they were unaware the money was from drug-dealing. Brett, of Yiewsley Drive, Darlington, admitted a fraud charge and converting criminal property and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Richard Littler, in mitigation, said he deserved credit for being the first to plead guilty, forcing the others to do so. Bennett, of Fairfax Road, Liverpool, and Dee, of Honeywood Gardens, Darlington, also pleaded guilty to being part of the conspiracy. Pierce, a former amateur boxer and shop-fitter, of Kilmarnock Road, Darlington, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Tom Mitchell, in mitigation, said: “He falls to the bottom of whatever he finds himself involved with.” Kennedy, of Livingstone Street, Birkenhead, and father-of-three Costello, of St Cuthbert Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough, admitted conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

Bacon, deli meat may raise pancreatic cancer risk

2012-01-13T22:28:00.001Z

Bacon or sausage? You might want to rethink that decision. Consuming processed meat regularly may increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer, though the risk is still low, says a new study. A meta-analysis of 11 studies involving 6,643 people with pancreatic cancer suggests an elevated risk of the disease when consuming processed meat such as bacon, cold cuts and sausages. In the study, men who ate red meat also showed an elevated risk of the disease, while women did not. The authors believe this is because men generally consume more red meat than women. For every 50 grams a person adds of processed meat to their diet, the risk of pancreatic cancer increased by 19 per cent, according to the study. "When results from all studies were combined, an increase of 50 grams per day of processed meat consumption was associated with a statistically significant 19 per cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer," the authors wrote. For the study, 120 grams was deemed a serving of red meat per day, while 50 grams represented a serving of processed meat. A typical hot dog is about 45 grams. "Processed meats are usually preserved with nitrite and may also contain N-nitroso compounds," write the authors. They say these compounds can also be formed in the stomach from nitrites and from compounds found in animal products and are potent carcinogens that have been shown to induce pancreatic cancer in animals. The study was conducted by Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and published Thursday online in the British Journal of Cancer.

Thornton Heath man in South American jail after being caught with £20k of coke

2012-01-12T00:17:00.001Z

A young man has been jailed in South America for attempting to traffic drugs just three weeks after sneaking out of his Thornton Heath home without telling his mother. Former Stanley Technical School pupil, Nishit Patel, 21, left his home in Attlee Close, in secret on Christmas Day before flying 4,500 miles to Guyana. The next time his mum, part-time Tesco worker Amita, heard from him was on January 3 phoning from a Guyanese jail after being caught boarding a plane with 29 pellets of cocaine worth more than £20,000 inside him. On Monday, January 9, he was sentenced to four years in jail after he admitted drug trafficking. He was also fined $30,000 Guyanese dollars, about £95. Mrs Patel, 46, said she last saw her son, who changed his name to Nikesh after being teased at school, after lunch on Christmas Day. She said: “I came home and he had bags packed. I asked if he was leaving and he said no. I never know where he is going, he tells me nothing. “I didn’t even know where Guyana was. I asked why did you do it, and he said for the money.” On December 31 Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) at Cheddi Jagan International Airport saw Patel acting suspiciously and arrested him. Dennis Mahase a senior supervisor with CANU said Patel, who has spent his whole life in Croydon, missed his earlier flight home and was picked up by officials while he waited. He said: “When the officials began questioning him he complained about feeling unwell. After further question he admitted swallowing the pellets.” Taken to Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown, the country’s capital, Patel, was x-rayed and the pellets, containing 352 grams of the drug with a street value of around £20,000, were found. Mr Mahase added: “He admitted to us he had done this before in November and got away with it.” Mrs Patel said Nishit went off the rails after his grandparents and father died in quick succession four years ago. She said: “He was such a good boy. Very caring. It changed him. A son listens to his father but to his mother, not so much. It was very hard.” The family will now fight to have him extradited to the UK. She said: “I want to be able to see him. I know he has done wrong but he is my son. I have no idea what a jail out there is like.” A foreign office spokesman said: “We can confirm the arrest of a British national on December 31 in Guyana. “We are providing consular assistance.”

Breast implant scandal: taxpayers face £100 million bill

2012-01-11T17:16:00.001Z

Harley Medical Group (HMG), responsible for one in three operations using the French-made implants, said it would go out of business if made to meet the full cost of removal. HMG's position makes it more likely the other two main players, Transform Cosmetic Surgery and The Hospital Group, will also ignore pleas for private clinics to pay for surgery. Should they follow HMG's lead, the bill to taxpayers could feasibly top £100 million as the NHS will be forced to perform the corrective surgery.The big three firms are likely to have performed around two thirds of enlargement operations using faulty implants in Britain. There are around 40,000 women in the UK who have been fitted with the controversial implants and operations to remove them cost around £3,000. Mel Braham, chairman of HMG, claimed the Government had the "moral responsibility" to pay for removal operations, as the regulator meant to ensure the safety of medical devices had failed in its duty.

Two-thirds of smokers try to quit in new year

2012-01-11T16:32:00.001Z

Two-thirds of smokers in the UK, approximately six million people, will try and quit the habit in January, but half of them will fail within a week, new research suggests. According to the study, commissioned by Pfizer Limited in support of its Don't Go Cold Turkey disease awareness campaign, one in ten of these attempts will not last beyond 24 hours. Typically, smokers admit to having unsuccessfully attempted to quit three times before, with 51 per cent confident they can kick the habit in the next six months. Some 45 per cent say they attempt to quit by 'going cold turkey' or giving up the immediately and relying on willpower, however only three per cent of these people are found to be smoke free after a year. Nearly a quarter of former smokers recommend that people trying to quit consult a healthcare professional. Dr Sarah Jarvis, BBC medical correspondent and practising GP, said: "Even a brief conversation with their healthcare professional or local stop smoking service can increase [a smoker's] chances of success by up to four times, compared to going 'cold turkey'. "People should consider how they can positively influence their chances of quitting." According to Cancer Research UK, 86 per cent of lung cancer deaths are caused by tobacco smoking.

there is an area in your brain where you may hold a reservation and that could, in all likelihood, cause you to return to your drinking. I wish that I might reach this place in your consciousness, but alas, I do not have the skill."

2012-01-11T07:49:00.001Z

Twelve Step people who study A.A.'s Big Book are, of course, familiar with Bill Wilson's medical mentor, Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. Bill called him the benign "little doctor who loved drunks." Silkworth, a psychiatrist, had treated thousands of alcoholics and was director of Towns Hospital in New York where Bill had several times sought help. Though Silkworth had explained the disease of alcoholism to Bill, Bill continued to drink until he met his "sponsor" Ebby Thacher, who had recovered through the spiritual program of the Oxford Group. Ebby had also gone to Calvary Rescue Mission, run by Dr. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church in New York; and Ebby had there made a decision for Christ. Wilson went there for the same purpose and, according to a conversation the author had with Dr. Shoemaker's widow (Helen Smith Shoemaker), Bill Wilson made a decision for Christ at the Rescue Mission. Bill stayed drunk for a few days and then checked into Towns Hospital and again sought help from Dr. Silkworth. And it was during this stay, that Bill took the life-changing steps of the Oxford Group, had his "hot flash experience," reported it to Dr. Silkworth, and was told by Silkworth that he (Bill) had better hang on to what had happened to him. Silkworth later was asked to write the "Doctor's Opinion" that opens the basic text of the Big Book. Silkworth's picture appears in A.A.'s Pass It On, the biography of Bill's life.

Shortly before his death, the author spent an hour with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, friend of A.A., the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, and Bill Wilson. Dr. Peale told me of the conversations he had with Bill Wilson about Bill's conversion. However, until 1997, I had never heard the following account by Peale about Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. It can be found in Norman Vincent Peale, The Positive Power of Jesus Christ (New York: Foundation for Christian Living, 1980), pp. 60-61. It appears under the title "The Wonderful Story of Charles K.":

Charles, a businessman in Virginia, had become a full-fledged alcoholic; so much so that he had to have help, and fast, for his life was cracking up. He made an appointment with the late Dr. William Duncan Silkworth, one of the nation's greatest experts on alcoholism, who worked in a New York City hospital [the Charles Towns Hospital]. Receiving Charles into his clinic as a patient, the doctor gave him treatment for some days, then called him into his office. "Charles," he said, "I have done everything I can for you. At this moment you are free of your trouble. But there is an area in your brain where you may hold a reservation and that could, in all likelihood, cause you to return to your drinking. I wish that I might reach this place in your consciousness, but alas, I do not have the skill."

"But, doctor," exclaimed Charles, "you are the most skilled physician in this field. When I came to you it was to the greatest. If you cannot heal me, then who can possibly do so?" The doctor hesitated, then said thoughtfully, "There is another Doctor who can complete this healing, but He is very expensive."

"That's all right," cried Charles, "I can get the money. I can pay his fees. I cannot go home until I am healed. Who is this doctor and where is he?"

"Oh, but this Physician is not at all moderate as to expense," persisted Dr. Silkworth. "He wants everything you've got. He wants you, all of you. Then He gives the healing. His price is your entire self." Then he added slowly and impressively, "His name is Jesus Christ and He keeps office in the New Testament and is available whenever you need Him."

Dr. Peale then describes the healing of Charles through the power of Jesus Christ.

Recovering alcoholic Matt Maden: I began drinking at 10 and now I'm facing death at 26

2012-01-11T07:19:00.001Z

Matt Maden, now 26, has been living on borrowed time since he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis five years ago. Despite his desperate need he has only a 20 per cent chance of getting an organ because of the growing demand. ‘It’s really scary living with the knowledge that the odds are so heavily against you,’ he said. His condition was detected when he spent two weeks in hospital in an alcohol-induced coma – but even then he refused to believe he had a problem. ‘My immediate thought was, “It’s not the drink”,’ he said. The first time Mr Maden got drunk was at 15. ‘I remember waking up the next morning and my first thought was, “When can I do that again”,’ he said. Within a year he went from drinking eight cans of lager in a session to 16 in order to get a buzz. ‘After a couple of years I’d have to have maybe a bottle of spirits to go along with that,’ he added. ‘For a lot of years alcohol gave me confidence. Little did I know it would actually turn on me and it would start to control me.’ After his health scare Mr Maden left his home in Oxford to check into a rehab clinic in Bournemouth and has not touched a drop since 2007. His physician, Dr Varuna Aluvihare, from King’s College London, believes the binge-drinking culture is behind the increasing number of young people needing liver transplants. ‘Tragically, every year we fail to keep someone like Matt alive,’ he said.

Money spent on nicotine patches 'goes up in smoke', says survey

2012-01-11T07:14:00.001Z

Those who go cold turkey have just as much chance of quitting the habit long-term, the study published on Monday added. A total of 787 adult smokers trying to quit were followed over five years by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health. One in three relapsed with the numbers spread equally between those going ‘cold turkey’, those using nicotine patches, gums or sprays, and those combining nicotine replacement with counselling. Heavy smokers who used nicotine replacement products without any professional therapy were twice as likely to relapse. Lead author Hillel Alpert said: ‘Some heavily-dependent smokers perceive nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as a sort of “magic” pill. ‘Upon realising it is not, they find themselves without support in their quitting efforts, doomed to failure.’ But the findings sparked a backlash from the NRT industry, which is worth £150million in Britain and £520million in the US. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Nicorette gum, said studies show NRT products, combined with support, ‘can double’ smokers’ chances of quitting

Are you addicted to your smartphone?

2012-01-08T17:11:00.001Z

When Adrian Weldon has a few minutes to spare, he's probably going to use them to text. "I came here to kill time and text," he said, sitting at Lakebottom Park Thursday afternoon. "At least it's not driving and texting." Weldon said he uses his phone mostly for texting, sending quick messages while he's at work and can't call people on the phone, and when he's bored. If you ask him if he's addicted, he says he's not sure. "My girlfriend says I am," he said. If Weldon is addicted to his phone, he's not alone. While addiction to apps or text-ing is not a recognized medical condition, there have been numerous studies produced on whether the technology causes more harm than good. A study by Case Western Reserve School of Medicine found that teens who spend a lot of time on texting or on social media are also more like to use drugs or alcohol and get into fights. Using a smartphone or computer just before bed can lead to sleep loss, according to a study from the National Sleep Foundation. But ignoring your phone can be difficult. A recent article in the New York Times by author and brand consultant Martin Lindstorm claimed the top three most powerful affecting sounds in the world are baby giggles, the Intel chime and a vibrating phone. Weldon confesses to feeling lost without his phone. He never turns it off. "Even when it's charging, it's on," he said. "I left it once Advertisement and went home on my lunch break just to get it." Smartphones also can be habit-forming, according to a study by Helsinki Institute for Information Technology and Intel Labs. Researchers found that smartphone users in the U.S. and in Finland checked their phone repeatedly throughout the day, usually for less than 30 seconds. They observed that the checks are usually triggered by the same things -- a person may always check email while commuting or always check the news when bored. "It's a boredom buster," said Mary Virginia Wehrenberg. She said she typically uses her smartphone truly as a phone, but the apps and texting also poses a great distraction when you're stuck waiting for something. Sharlene Brown said she tries to ration the time she spends on her smartphone. She's a fan of Words with Friends -- a popular Scrabble-like game -- and frequently plays using a dictionary app so she can check to make sure she's using real words. "I don't win as often but I love it." She said it's easy to waste time on her phone, especially on rainy or lazy days. Her kids -- ages 8 and 4 -- like playing games on her phone, too, but she only lets them use it for 15 to 30 minutes a day. "I do limit the time," she said. "Children shouldn't have it all the time." But there are benefits to the apps and texting a smartphone offers. Brown said there are math and word games available for her kids, like Quizard, an app that lets you create your own educational flashcards. "It's interactive. They get an immediate response." Texting also gives her more time with her kids, because she's not always on the phone. "It's an easier way to communicate. You send them a quick text," she said. "You don't want to take away from time with kids."

Cellphones replace smokes as the addiction of choice

2012-01-08T17:08:00.001Z

I was in a movie theatre last week when that new warning cartoon came on urging us not to talk or text. Suddenly I remembered those old no-smoking signs they had outside theatres decades ago - and I realized the transformation is complete. The cellphone has become the cigarette. Everywhere you look, people hold phones instead of cigarettes up to their mouths - exhaling words instead of smoke. Meanwhile, the anti-cell lobby is becoming as visible as the anti-smoking one. How else does the cellphone resemble the cigarette? - First, cigarettes were an ideal way for fidgety people to do something with their hands, whether they were rolling, lighting, twirling, tapping or dragging on them. But the cellphone has just as many rituals to keep fidgeters busy. You check your messages, organize your mail, then reorganize it - along with texting, Skyping, surfing, checking the weather for the 42nd time, or just fondling the keys. Instead of making smoke rings, the cellphone just rings - and while you light up a cigarette, your phone lights up itself. - Physically, phones have shrunk from the size of a brick to the size of - a cigarette pack. Men often carry them in their shirt pockets like they do their smokes. Women dump them in their purse like cigarette packs and spend just as much time looking for them. But at least you can phone your phone in your purse, while you couldn't phone your cigarettes. It won't be long before men start slipping their phones up their T-shirt sleeves, like they did cigarette packs decades ago. - In restaurants you lay your phone right on the table for instant access just like you did your cigarette pack when you were still allowed to smoke in restaurants. Cells are addictive like cigarettes, too - we clutch them needily while walking, driving, eating and even talking to others. I suspect that after sex, many people now reach over to check their messages, or text, instead of grabbing a smoke. - Just like cigarettes, the Big Phone Industry grows by targeting the young with cheap plans aimed at hooking them for life. A three-pack-a-day smoker smoked 60 cigarettes daily. Today's average teenager sends over 100 texts a day, according to recent figures - that's probably as much time texting as smoking. - For decades, cigarettes were an omnipresent movie prop that filled the screen with swirls of smoke - and film characters often smoked as they spilled their intimate secrets to the camera. Today, cigarette smoke is largely gone from the screen but cellphones ring constantly behind many scenes and are often used as props for characters to spill their intimate secrets. If Hamlet were written today, his anguished words spoken to Yorick's skull would probably be replaced by a cellphone soliloquy. - Cigarette pollution aggravates us - but cells create noise pollution that's just as annoying. Instead of second-hand smoke, you get second-hand conversation. In fact, a phone can pollute a room quicker than a cigarette, as in a supermarket line when you hear someone hollering: "They're out of salmon steaks, honey, so I'm getting tilapia, okay? But we need a side dish - look in the pantry to see if we have potatoes!! WHAT? - Honey - I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Meanwhile, in the next aisle a teenager is anxiously saying: "Like I called him like an hour ago, but like, I don't like think he likes me anymore like I like him, like." - One big difference is that smok-ing definitely causes cancer while studies are inconclusive on cellphones. The science isn't there, though the fear is growing fast. Many people wear headsets for protection just like smokers used cigarette filters. But you don't see as many headsets in Montreal as in Toronto. Quebecers always liked strong, unfiltered cigarettes like Gitanes - and they don't like to filter their phones either. We give babies fake cellphones for their cribs like we used to give them chocolate cigarettes. - Now that cells are more common than cigarettes, anti-cell advocates are as zealous as anti-smokers. There are no-cell sections in many trains, hotels and restaurants, instead of no-cigarette sections. Most flights have banned cells just like they did cigarettes. We will probably live to see cells banned in bars too, so you'll have to phone outside in the cold. How long before we see class actions against Big Phone companies for deliberately addicting our kids to the nicotine of words, with cheap all-you-can-speak plans? How long before the first cellphone noise pollution settlement? How long before there's a cigarette app on your phone that lets you flick a video flame and safely inhale a tobacco-flavoured scent? You will virtually be smoking your cellphone.

Addiction doesn’t excuse disgraced Bishop Raymond Lahey

2012-01-08T17:01:00.001Z

It was a big win for addicts everywhere. Disgraced Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey Wednesday talked a court into letting him off with time served for storing 155,000 pornographic images of young boys on his computer and handheld. He just couldn’t help himself. “I have come to recognize that I became addicted to Internet pornography on a very indiscriminate basis,” Lahey, 71, told the nice judge. “This was an addiction powerful enough that, despite my own distaste for it and my own internal convulsions, I could not break it.” Convulsions indeed. Lahey’s massive stash included 63 videos of bondage and torture, replete with rosary beads, crucifixes and monks beating naked boys with paddles. Lahey, whose computer was examined at Ottawa airport after officials noted his repeated trips to Southeast Asia and other countries rife with industrial child porn, was in the grip of the demon “addiction.” But so is everyone now. Addiction is a casual word used to excuse the pleasure forced in this ample age on helpless people by food, sex, work, coffee, gambling, rye and ginger, shopping, cosmetic surgery, Satanism, wheat flour, love, arson, notoriety, paint thinners, exercise, work, cheap thrills, etc. As if these things stood in doorways with a glint in their eye and offered you free samples. Addiction is a profitable, rehab-financing word for “habit.” And, if men like Lahey didn’t have this habit, it wouldn’t be profitable for children to be sodomized on film. This is the prosecutor’s motivation here (hopelessly addicted to protecting children), in case you’re puzzled that Lahey was convicted despite not appearing in the porn himself. No one knows what created Lahey’s attraction to pedophilia, but his “addiction” is his excuse for pure fun. People like this sort of thing, if this is the sort of thing they like. I am always puzzled by the conservative clamour for more consumer choice. We are spoiled for choice. I choose puce-toned nail polish and a mordant view; Lahey chooses Argyle sweater vests and Catholic-themed child torture. Are we both victims of the free market? Blaming the thing itself is not helpful, unless you’re an old bishop in Ottawa — who has been told to stay away from playgrounds, but strangely, not computers — in which case, it’s a brilliant move. I’m addicted, too. Pity me. On Boxing Day, I began watching The Killing, (Forbrydelsen), a Danish TV murder drama that I bought in a DVD box set for my husband (to whom I am addicted, although the addiction literature presumes I have resented him from the start) for Christmas. I spent 20 hours hunched in front of the TV shouting at a certain Det.-Insp. Lund, “Watch out, he’s behind you!” until I became ill from tension and eyestrain. But I didn’t go to the doctor, because what are doctors but addiction enablers? The release of discovering the true killer was addictive. I have now ordered Forbrydelsen from Europe and a backup all-regions DVD player at great expense, but I am hooked on Scandinavian detectives in their unfortunate fisherman’s knits. I blame the producers, Danmarks Radio. It’s not my fault. And it’s not the baby-faced bishop’s fault either. “Disgraced bishop Lahey may face Vatican discipline,” CBC.ca’s inadvertently amusing headline read. The church is famous for its “addiction” to laxity in this field. They have had years since his arrest to deal with an employee who, by chance, oversaw a church sex abuse settlement in his own Antigonish diocese. Lahey’s defence lawyer said the poor man, now being sued , is wearing a scarlet letter, but one of the prosecutors, David Elhadad, said acidly that the victims of child pornography bear “marks that are invisible to the naked eye but are of psychological harm, knowing that their photographed and videotaped sexual encounters are out there for eternity. They are the true victims.” And addicted to it now, no doubt.

Drug companies are working to develop a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse.

2011-12-28T13:38:00.001Z

The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as Vicodin. Four companies have begun patient testing, and one of them — Zogenix of San Diego — plans to apply early next year to begin marketing its product, Zohydro.

If approved, it would mark the first time patients could legally buy pure hydrocodone. Existing products combine the drug with nonaddictive painkillers such as acetaminophen.

Critics say they are especially worried about Zohydro, a timed-release drug meant for managing moderate to severe pain, because abusers could crush it to release an intense, immediate high.

“I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin,” said April Rovero, president of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse. “We just don’t need this on the market.”

LIST: The Prescription Drug Overdose Epidemic, Plus 7 Other Health Stories to Watch in 2012

OxyContin, introduced in 1995 by Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., was designed to manage pain with a formula that dribbled one dose of oxycodone over many hours.

Abusers quickly discovered they could defeat the timed-release feature by crushing the pills. Purdue Pharma changed the formula to make OxyContin more tamper-resistant, but addicts have moved onto generic oxycodone and other drugs that do not have a timed-release feature.

Oxycodone is now the most-abused medicine in the United States, with hydrocodone second, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s annual count of drug seizures sent to police drug labs for analysis.

The latest drug tests come as more pharmaceutical companies are getting into the $10 billion-a-year legal market for powerful — and addictive — opiate narcotics.

“It’s like the wild west,” said Peter Jackson, co-founder of Advocates for the Reform of Prescription Opioids. “The whole supply-side system is set up to perpetuate this massive unloading of opioid narcotics on the American public.”

The pharmaceutical firms say the new hydrocodone drugs give doctors another tool to try on patients in legitimate pain, part of a constant search for better painkillers to treat the aging U.S. population.

“Sometimes you circulate a patient between various opioids, and some may have a better effect than others,” said Karsten Lindhardt, chief executive of Denmark-based Egalet, which is testing its own pure hydrocodone product.

The companies say a pure hydrocodone pill would avoid liver problems linked to high doses of acetaminophen, an ingredient in products like Vicodin. They also say patients will be more closely supervised because, by law, they will have to return to their doctors each time they need more pills. Prescriptions for the weaker, hydrocodone-acetaminophen products now on the market can be refilled up to five times.

MORE: Could Medical Marijuana Reduce Patients’ Need for Painkillers?

Zogenix has completed three rounds of patient testing, and last week it announced it had held a final meeting with Food and Drug Administration officials to talk about its upcoming drug application. It plans to file the application in early 2012 and have Zohydro on the market by early 2013.

Purdue Pharma and Cephalon, a Frazer, Pa.-based unit of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals, are conducting late-stage trials of their own hydrocodone drugs, according to documents filed with federal regulators. In May, Purdue Pharma received a patent applying extended-release technology to hydrocodone. Neither company would comment on its plans.

Meanwhile, Egalet has finished the most preliminary stages of testing aimed at determining the basic safety of a drug. The firm could have a product on the market as early as 2015 but wants to see how the other companies fare with the FDA before deciding whether to move forward, Lindhardt said.

Critics say they are troubled because of the dark side that has accompanied the boom in sales of narcotic painkillers: Murders, pharmacy robberies and millions of dollars lost by hospitals that must treat overdose victims.

Thousands of legitimate pain patients are becoming addicted to powerful prescription painkillers, they say, in addition to the thousands more who abuse the drugs.

Prescription painkillers led to the deaths of almost 15,000 people in 2008, more than triple the 4,000 deaths in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month.

Emergency room visits related to hydrocodone abuse have shot from 19,221 in 2000 to 86,258 in 2009, according to data compiled by the Drug Enforcement Administration. In Florida alone, hydrocodone caused 910 deaths and contributed to 1,803 others between 2003 and 2007.

MORE: Are Doctors Really to Blame for the Overdose Epidemic?

Hydrocodone belongs to family of drugs known as opiates or opioids because they are chemically similar to opium. They include morphine, heroin, oxycodone, codeine, methadone and hydromorphone.

Opiates block pain but also unleash intense feelings of well-being and can create physical dependence. The withdrawal symptoms are also intense, with users complaining of cramps, diarrhea, muddled thinking, nausea and vomiting.

After a while, opiates stop working, forcing users to take stronger doses or to try slightly different chemicals.

“You’ve got a person on your product for life, and a doctor’s got a patient who’s never going to miss an appointment, because if they did and they didn’t get their prescription, they would feel very sick,” said Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing. “It’s a terrific business model, and that’s what these companies want to get in on.”

Under pressure from the government, Purdue Pharma last year debuted a new OxyContin pill formula that “squishes” instead of crumbling when someone tries to crush it.

But Zogenix, whose drug is time-released but crushable, says there is not enough evidence to show that such tamper-resistant reformulations thwart abuse.

“Provided sufficient effort, all formulations currently available can be overcome,” Zogenix said in a written response to questions by The Associated Press.

MORE: A Brief History of OD’ing in America

At a conference for investors New York on Nov. 29, Zogenix chief executive Roger Hawley said the FDA was not pressuring Zogenix to put an abuse deterrent in Zohydro.

“We would certainly consider later launching an abuse-deterrent form, but right now we believe the priority of safer hydrocodone — that is, without acetaminophen — is a key priority for the FDA,” Hawley said.

FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said the agency would not comment on its discussions with drug companies, citing the need to protect trade secrets.

Drug control advocates say they’re worried the U.S. government is too lax about controlling addictive pain medications. The United States consumes 99 percent of the world’s hydrocodone and 83 percent of its oxycodone, according to a 2008 study by the International Narcotics Control Board.

One 41-year-old loophole in particular has fed the current problem with hydrocodone abuse, critics say. The federal Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970, puts fewer controls on combination pills containing hydrocodone and another painkiller than it does on the equivalent oxycodone products.

A Vicodin prescription can be refilled five times, for example, while a Percocet prescription can only be filled once.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Food and Drug Administration have been studying whether to close this loophole since 1999 but have made no decision. Congress is now considering a bill that would force the agencies to tighten the controls.

“This is a problem that is fundamentally an oversupply problem,” said Jackson, the drug-control advocate. “The FDA has kind of opened the floodgates, and they refuse to recognize the mistakes made in the past.”

MORE: Taking Just a Little Too Much Tylenol Each Time Can Be Deadly

Pure hydrocodone falls into the stricter drug-control category than hydrocodone-acetaminophen medications, meaning patients would have to go to their doctors for a new prescription each time they needed more pills. But Jackson said that’s no guarantee against abuse, noting that dozens of unscrupulous doctors have been caught churning out prescriptions in so-called “pill mills.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration, which enforces controls on medicines along with the FDA, said it could not comment on drugs that have not yet been approved for sale.

However, Zogenix has acknowledged the abuse issue could become a liability.

“Illicit use and abuse of hydrocodone is well documented,” it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in September. “Thus, the regulatory approval process and the marketing of Zohydro may generate public controversy that may adversely affect regulatory approval and market acceptance of Zohydro.”

14-year-old Alaska girl was in critical condition days after a 26-year-old man injected her with heroin at his Anchorage home

2011-12-28T13:34:00.001Z

14-year-old Alaska girl was in critical condition days after a 26-year-old man injected her with heroin at his Anchorage home, authorities said Tuesday.

Sean Warner is charged with a drug-related felony and other counts. Court documents say he tried to revive the girl himself and didn’t immediately call police.

“Her condition is dire,” Assistant District Attorney Regan Williams said Tuesday, adding the girl was on an artificial respirator. “The real sadness is that there’s not that much brain activity.”

The girl was taken to an Anchorage hospital Friday with a drug overdose, police said. Charging documents say the girl, identified only as J.D., was found to have heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in her system. Medics told authorities she had sustained damage to her brain and heart.

Charging documents say the type of heroin used is known on the street at “China White.”

Police said the drug tends to be more potent than the more common tar heroin. It is sold in powder form and can be cut with varying ingredients in varying amounts, said Sgt. Kathy Lacey, who heads the Anchorage Police Department’s vice unit.

“The problem is you don’t know what it’s cut with,” Lacey said. “You have no idea what you’re getting.”

When asked where the girl’s parents were that night, Williams indicated she was not living at home and doesn’t come from a “typical family environment.” He declined to elaborate.

Warner’s bail was set at $90,000. A booking official said Warner remained in custody.

Warner is being represented by the Public Defender Agency, but it was unclear if he has been assigned to a specific attorney yet.

KTUU reported that Warner’s father and a friend dispute the allegations and they say Warner is a Navy veteran who saved lives as a medic in Afghanistan. The two said Warner had struggled since returning from the war.

According to the court papers, two others went with Warner to pick the girl up Thursday night and take her back to Warner’s home to hang out. Williams said both of the witnesses are men.

Warner was sharing a gram of heroin with the men, and the girl said she was willing to try something “new” but didn’t want to inject herself, according to the documents. Warner tried to inject the girl, but failed, so he had her lie down on his bed and hold out an arm, then used his belt as a tourniquet and shot 25 to 30 units of heroin, taking several times to find a vein, the papers say.

The two witnesses told authorities they left the girl on the bed and found her the next morning, face down in her vomit, according to the papers.

“They felt for her pulse, sat her up, and grew concerned at her condition and upset at Warner’s ambivalence,” the documents state.

Warner did not want to call 911 because he didn’t want authorities to find drugs, so instead he placed a tablet of Suboxone — a prescription drug that’s used to treat opiate addiction — under the unconscious girl’s tongue, according to the court papers. A couple hours later, the girl began convulsing and Warner called 911, the papers say.

The girl was rushed to Providence Alaska Medical Center.

Responding officers did not find drugs because Warner had locked his bedroom door and told police it belonged to a roommate, the court documents state. After police left, Warner and one of the witnesses put needles and other “related evidence” into a box then dumped it behind a trash bin at a nearby business, according to the papers, which say police later recovered paraphernalia including syringes.

Warner is charged with delivering a controlled substance to a minor who is at least three years younger than the accused, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and evidence tampering. He also is charged with theft, accused of stealing a $900 surveillance system from Costco on the same day he took the girl to his home, according to the documents

Infants become addicted to salt at an early age

2011-12-27T13:48:00.001Z

Babies as young as six months develop a taste for salty food, say researchers.

A new study shows infants who have been introduced to foods such as bread and breakfast cereals have a greater preference for salty tastimeals than those not yet eating them.

Babies who were used to salt in their food consumed 55 per cent more during a preference test than those who were not.

Infants become addicted to salt at an early age, research has revealed

By the age of four, the same youngsters were more likely to eat plain salt, says a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Lead author Leslie Stein, a physiological psychologist at the Monell Centre in the United States, said 'More and more evidence is showing us that the first months of life constitute a sensitive period for shaping flavour preferences.

In the study, the salt preference of 61 babies was tested at both two and six months of age. At each age, the infant was allowed to drink from three bottles for two minutes each.

One bottle contained water, another contained a moderate concentration of salt (one per cent, about the saltiness of commercial chicken noodle soup) and the third bottle had a higher concentration of salt of around two per cent, which tastes extremely salty to adults.

Preference for salty taste was calculated at each age by comparing the amount the baby drank of a given salt solution to the amount of water it consumed.

If the infant drank more of the one per cent salt solution than water, it was considered to have a preference for the one per cent solution and at two months infants were either indifferent to or rejected the salt solutions.

Research has shown by the age of four children who were given salt at six months were more likely to want more on their meals

But by the age of six months, there was a link between the preference of babies for salty food and their previous exposure to starchy meals containing salt, including processed foods.

Altogether 26 infants already eating starchy foods preferred both salt solutions to water, while 35 babies who had not yet been introduced to these foods remained indifferent to or continued to reject the salt solutions.

The researchers focused on starchy table foods because they include processed foods, such as breakfast cereals, bread and crackers, frequently are used to wean children.

Dr Stein said 'Our findings suggest that early dietary experience influences the preference for salty taste.'

The same children were checked at pre-school age when mothers completed questionnaires about the children's dietary behaviour.

These showed that 12 children who were introduced to starchy table foods before six months of age were more likely to lick salt from foods and also were likely to eat plain salt.

Infants become addicted to salt at an early age

2011-12-27T13:46:00.001Z

Babies as young as six months develop a taste for salty food, say researchers.

A new study shows infants who have been introduced to foods such as bread and breakfast cereals have a greater preference for salty tasting meals than those not yet eating them.

Babies who were used to salt in their food consumed 55 per cent more during a preference test than those who were not.

Infants become addicted to salt at an early age, research has revealed

By the age of four, the same youngsters were more likely to eat plain salt, says a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Lead author Leslie Stein, a physiological psychologist at the Monell Centre in the United States, said 'More and more evidence is showing us that the first months of life constitute a sensitive period for shaping flavour preferences.

In the study, the salt preference of 61 babies was tested at both two and six months of age. At each age, the infant was allowed to drink from three bottles for two minutes each.

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One bottle contained water, another contained a moderate concentration of salt (one per cent, about the saltiness of commercial chicken noodle soup) and the third bottle had a higher concentration of salt of around two per cent, which tastes extremely salty to adults.

Preference for salty taste was calculated at each age by comparing the amount the baby drank of a given salt solution to the amount of water it consumed.

If the infant drank more of the one per cent salt solution than water, it was considered to have a preference for the one per cent solution and at two months infants were either indifferent to or rejected the salt solutions.

Research has shown by the age of four children who were given salt at six months were more likely to want more on their meals

But by the age of six months, there was a link between the preference of babies for salty food and their previous exposure to starchy meals containing salt, including processed foods.

Altogether 26 infants already eating starchy foods preferred both salt solutions to water, while 35 babies who had not yet been introduced to these foods remained indifferent to or continued to reject the salt solutions.

The researchers focused on starchy table foods because they include processed foods, such as breakfast cereals, bread and crackers, frequently are used to wean children.

Dr Stein said 'Our findings suggest that early dietary experience influences the preference for salty taste.'

The same children were checked at pre-school age when mothers completed questionnaires about the children's dietary behaviour.

These showed that 12 children who were introduced to starchy table foods before six months of age were more likely to lick salt from foods and also were likely to eat plain salt.

Estell "Hump" Hobbs ran a Houston record label with up-and-coming hip-hop artist, Lil' Flip, and had a deal with Sony potentially worth millions of dollars.

2011-12-26T13:27:00.001Z

Estell "Hump" Hobbs ran a Houston record label with up-and-coming hip-hop artist, Lil' Flip, and had a deal with Sony potentially worth millions of dollars.

The agreement quickly crumbled under the weight of legal disputes and the two parted ways.

Hobbs has since worked in remodeling and construction as he seeks to resurrect the label, and now keep his freedom.

The 52-year-old father of four with no criminal record was recently charged with being part of a cocaine-distribution network that over 15 years reached from Mexico, through Houston and on to Chicago, Mississippi and elsewhere.

"It is stressful, it is painful to see my family worried for me after so many years of hard work and dedication to the label, the city and the family," Hobbs told the Houston Chronicle Friday. "It is crazy. They are trying to take my house."

Reflecting on his life and passion, he said he's been influential in helping performers from hip hop's "Dirty South" to beat the streets, and notes that his label, Suckafree Records, is looking for its next gospel singer.

On the advice of his lawyer, he said he would not discuss the charges or the criminals making accusations against him.

"It is always when you do the work of God that the devil tries to stay busy," he said.

Hobbs is described by those who have known him as hard-working and active in his community as well as religious rap.

"I hate to see him in that type of trouble," Lil' Flip's father, Wesley Weston Sr. said. "The person I know him to be is a very good person," said Weston, who is no longer in touch with Hobbs.

Alleged trafficking ties

The alleged conspiracy cuts a unique path as it connects what prosecutors said was a predominantly African-American distribution group directly with Mexican traffickers.

Defense lawyer Robert Pelton notes Hobbs has never before been prosecuted for a crime.

He points to back to when Suckafree donated 150 bicycles to children for Christmas, and when Hobbs was recognized by the Hip Hop Summit, which has mobilized thousands of youth to vote.

"Mr. Hobbs has done a lot to help his family and people not only in the music industry, but the entirety of Harris County community," Pelton said.

The man, who also goes by Duane and got the nickname "Humpty Hump" as a child, has not been known to flash cash, and has lived in the same modest house for years.

He is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and launder money, and if convicted faces 10 years to life in federal prison without parole.

His supposed role is unclear, but nobody contends he was a kingpin or a killer.

Authorities announced they intend to seize his house, a Hummer and other property on the grounds they are tied to illegal activity.

A judicial buzz saw has already convicted 38 people in the investigation, including one who allegedly told the Drug Enforcement Administration he delivered more than 100 kilograms of cocaine on multiple occasions to Hobbs.

All pleaded guilty as part of agreements to cooperate with authorities for leniency.

Hobbs, who is free on bail, is scheduled to be back in court at the end of January for a hearing that may reveal whether he and nine remaining defendants are taking deals rather than risking trial.

A hidden past?

Prosecutors contend that Hobbs has a past hidden in a conspiracy that lasted from 1995 to 2010.

Eric Davis, a Harris County sheriff's deputy assigned to a DEA task force testified that informants have said Hobbs was at the scene of numerous deals.

David also said Hobbs was recorded in "several" phone conversations talking to an associate, Abraham Woods, who shortly after being released from custody following a drug bust in 2009 was found dead in a Houston apartment.

Woods, who was the group's primary link to Mexican traffickers, was tied up and shot execution style, with two bullets to the back of the head. A pillow case had been pulled over his eyes.

The attack remains unsolved.

The drug investigation has also drawn links to Jaime Zamora, who is serving life in prison after being convicted earlier this year for ordering a Houston drug hit that killed an innocent man in a case of mistaken identity. That bloodshed was part of a back-and-forth feud between Zamora and a rival that claimed lives in Houston and Mexico.

Ron Wilson, a former state representative who served for 29 years, and has been Suckafree's lawyer, said he was "very close" to the Hobbs family. Hobbs said he considers him a big brother.

Wilson testified he knows Hobbs, his wife and his children, and he's never known him to carry wads of cash or keep company with drug dealers or other criminals.

"No, I have not seen that," Wilson said.

Pelton said Hobbs is being framed by desperate criminals willing to lie: "A bunch of guys in the drug business, not any normal citizens, but a bunch of dope fiends."

Hobbs said he's taking things day by day and staying close to his family.

It is not easy. I am human. I worry about it, but I know God will not let anything come to me that I couldn't deal with," he said. "I am surrounded by praying warriors."

People who haven’t experienced living with an addict just don’t have any idea what it’s like

2011-12-17T00:08:00.001Z

His son was supposed to meet him and his wife for dinner but never showed up. Joe Klein got a call from police the next night instead.

Most parents would be surprised to receive a phone call regarding their son’s death, but as parents of a heroin addict, Klein and his wife knew it could come at any time.

“Obviously I was sad, but it wasn’t something that was entirely unexpected.” Klein, whose son died of a heroin overdose after eight years of battling addiction, said. “He was always kind of a risk-taker, he was always the kind of kid who would stand on his tiptoes to get on a roller coaster.”

Timothy Klein, 31, died at a friend’s apartment on the corner of Wilson and Broom Street in June of 2008. His was one of 21 overdoses in Dane County in 2008 that have contributed to the rising trend in heroin use and overdoses in Madison and throughout Dane County in recent years.

According to the Madison Police Department, the number of heroin overdoses in Dane County so far in 2011 is 131, over six times higher than in 2008.

“As much as I hated to see it happen, I can tell you one thing: Since that day [he died], my life’s been a lot better,” Klein said. “It really has because it was a constant, constant either aggravation or worry.”

Madison’s heroin problem has increased substantially over the last 10 years, with a spike around five years ago, according to Skye Tikkanen, a counselor at Connections Counseling in Madison and a former heroin addict.

Mayor Paul Soglin has called the city’s heroin problem “an epidemic,” because of “the loss of life of productive people … the costs related to the expense of the drug” and major traffic problems.

Police have reported 12 traffic accidents in 2011 in the Madison area in which drivers operated vehicles under the influence of heroin.

Lt. Brian Ackeret of the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force said although he is unsure whether many of these users attend college, he said police would be “naïve to think that there are not heroin users on the UW campus.”

The increase in overdoses has most affected the 18 to 24-year-old age bracket, Ackeret said.

Heroin users often finance their addictions through burglarizing and reselling valuable items to pawn shops for quick money, which places students in a highly vulnerable position, Soglin said.

“Students are trusting with roommates and dozens of people coming and going every day,” he said. “And students have what’s marketable: electronics.”

Klein was forced to put a lock on his bedroom door after Timothy repeatedly stole his debit card and his wife’s expensive guitar. He sold them at pawn shops for easy money to fuel his addiction.

“It just turns a good person into a monster,” Klein said. “He got caught stealing copper and embezzling from his job, writing bad checks, just a litany of things, one after another.”

The drug, which is circulating through Madison from bigger cities like Chicago and Milwaukee, “puts everyone at risk,” Soglin said.

“It puts anybody who is active who might have say a sports-related injury,” he said. “That would tend to be younger people, students.”

But the heroin problem in Madison, Dane County and throughout the U.S. did not spring up out of nowhere. Rather, it surfaced from increased addictions to painkillers prescribed by doctors nationwide.

“The first place [painkiller addicts] look is to get the same medicine on the street,” Soglin said. “That’s very expensive. So then, as the addiction [and] the dependency increases, heroin becomes a cheaper substitute.”

Soglin said the U.S. Conference of Mayors has pushed the medical community to reformulate painkiller drugs to be less addictive or to find alternative therapies for pain.

Breaking a heroin addiction can be nearly impossible, and an addict can suffer multiple relapses before a full recovery is possible, according to Tikkanen.

Klein sent his son to rehab three or four times. With the money he spent hoping he would recover, Klein said he probably could have sent Timothy to Harvard.

“When someone has a relapse, our stance at Connections is that it’s not a failure of them, it’s not a failure of treatment; it’s just part of the process of recovering,” Tikkanen said. “So we really try to take the relapse as a learning opportunity.”

But addicts often fall victim to an overdose before the recovery process is complete.

Klein’s son would often be clean for a year or more after rehab until old friends would reappear in his life and expose him to the drug once again.

“[Timothy] told me, ‘Dad you just can’t … never having taken heroin, you can’t imagine what it feels like, it is the most amazing feeling there is in the world,” Klein said.

Reality hit Klein and his wife when they noticed teaspoons missing from their kitchen cupboard and discovered needle syringes among their youngest son’s belongings.

Shallow breathing and “slowed down” behavior are also major indicators someone may be using heroin, Tikkanen said.

When he was addicted, Timothy’s parents often considered throwing him out of their house and turned him in to police more than once to limit his access to the drug.

“People who haven’t experienced living with an addict just don’t have any idea what it’s like,” Klein said.

The epidemic in Madison has gotten to the point that Soglin and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi put forth an initiative to combat the issue.

They announced the plan Oct. 19.

The plan will cost $60,000, money that will be split between city and county budgets. The initiative outlines six steps to hinder the use and spread of heroin in Madison and Dane County.

But Soglin said it is too early to tell its progress.

Life will “never be a bed of roses” for addicts’ families once an addiction begins, Klein said.

“The best I can [tell anyone to do] is pray,” he said. “Because the light’s got to go on in the addict’s head.”

Sydney police boss Mark Standen jailed for drug plot

2011-12-10T00:02:00.001Z

former senior police officer has been jailed for 22 years for his part in an international drug-smuggling ring. Mark Standen, a former assistant director of New South Wales Crime Commission, was convicted of trying to import 300kg of psuedoephedrine. The drug is mixed with other substances to make crystal methamphetamine. He conspired with an informant to import the drug from Pakistan. Judges said he was given the maximum term because he had shown no remorse. Justice Bruce James said he had used his inside information on law enforcement built up over 30 years to commit his crimes. "A matter seriously aggravating the prisoner's criminality was his misuse of knowledge and contacts he had acquired in his career as a law enforcement officer, and the abuse of his position with the NSW Crime Commission," said the judge at the New South Wales Supreme Court. Before his role with the crime commission 54-year-old Standen had worked for the police and customs. Standen, who has been in jail since 2008, will be eligible for parole after 16 years of his sentence.

Students warned of drug-smuggling recruiters, drugs, drug, students

2011-12-10T00:00:00.001Z

It is a common misconception that people under the age of 18 will be tried as minors if they are caught smuggling drugs into the United States, especially in Yuma County, said U.S. Border Patrol officials. From Jan. 1 through the end of September, 74 percent of juveniles arrested for drug smuggling were tried as adults, said Yuma Sector Agent Spencer Tippets. “It's not just going to be a slap on the wrist, it will stay with you for the rest of your life,” he warned, noting that drug smuggling is a felony that can ruin job opportunities. “The more good choices you make, the more choices you will have in the future. If you make a lot of poor choices, it limits the options you have.” Tippets and fellow agents Robert Lowry and Kyle Estes have been traveling to high schools in Yuma to speak with freshmen about the dangers and consequences associated with drug trafficking through a presentation called “Operation Detour.” During a presentation at Harvest Preparatory Academy on Tuesday, the agents asked students whether they think these types of situations happen in Yuma. Most teens in the audience were not convinced. He then shared a story of a Yuma-area high school student found on the other side of the border fence who had barbed wire wrapped around her neck and had been shot. “This happens,” he said. Tippets said drug-trafficking organizations have recently stepped up their efforts to recruit juveniles to smuggle drugs into the U.S. To further verify that statement, when students were asked how many of them had been approached to take drugs across the border, some raised their hands. Tippets explained that once someone gets involved with drug cartels, there are only two ways to get out: jail or the grave. There is a detour, though, he said: talking with parents, teachers, school counselors, principals, law enforcement officers or an adult they trust about the situation. Students asked, “What if you're just walking down the street and they threaten to kill you if you don't do it?” Tippets responded, “It's not very common for someone you don't know to approach you to try and get you to smuggle drugs. If that did happen, there are officers all around you when you cross the border. Let someone know what's going on and ask for help.” Most of the time, Lowry interjected, students are approached by people they know. Good decision-making is key, he added, and if someone you know approaches you at a party to smuggle drugs, you probably shouldn't be at that party or hanging around with those people in the first place. “If you're in a place where there's drugs and there's alcohol and gangsters — why would you be there? Avoid those types of situations.” Smuggling drugs won't just impact the person involved, but also their friends and family, said Lowry. Chances are, he said, if you're working with a cartel, they know where you live and where you work. “If somebody is that interested to have you drive something through the checkpoint, tell them to do it themselves. You have to think about why they're wanting you to do it. It's because they don't want to be the fall guy. Cartels are willing to do whatever they need to do to make sure they're not the ones that end up in jail.”

Confessions of a Big Book Sponsor | Big BookStudies,The Steps in 4 hours

2011-12-09T23:57:00.001Z

Confessions of a Big Book Sponsor | Big BookStudies,The Steps in 4 hours

Related Categories: Big Book Sponsorship I remember asking someone in the fellowship a few years ago, "Are you working your program?" He replied, "Yes I went to a meeting today." I responded, "No, that's not what I'm talking about. Are you working with someone?" He said, "Yes, I have a sponsor." I replied, "No, that's not what I'm talking about. Are you working with a newcomer?" He said, "I'm just a few months sober. I'm only a newcomer. This is selfish program, I need to work on myself first." I never saw him again. Who Am I? I am a Big Book Sponsor. I practice the 12 Step Program as outlined in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, the original recipe for recovery as practiced by the original 100 who recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. By working the Twelve Step program as described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have had a spiritual awakening. The obsession to drink and use has been removed. My progressive alcoholic/addiction illness has been arrested. My disease has been placed into remission. I have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. As a result, I am able to remain, almost effortlessly, abstinent from alcohol and all mind-altering substances. I have ceased fighting anything or anyone, even alcohol and drugs. My sanity has been returned. I am not fighting temptation, nor am I avoiding people, places and things on a trigger list. I feel as though I had been placed in a position of neutrality safe and protected. I have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for me. I am neither cocky nor am I afraid. This is how I react so long as I keep in fit spiritual condition. Furthermore, by living in the disciplines of Steps 10, 11 and 12 everyday, I have a daily program of action that really works in rough going. I have way of living without alcohol or drugs. You can recognize me at 12 Step meetings because I am the one who brings my own Big Book. To show other alcoholics/addicts precisely how I recovered is the main purpose of this book. I carry a common solution--a way out on which we can absolutely agree and upon which we can join together as brothers and sisters in harmonious action. My deportment shouts that I am a person with a real answer. I carry no attitude of Holier Than Thou. I do not talk down to the alcoholic/addict from any moral or spiritual hilltop. I ask for no payment. I have no axes to grind nor people to please. You can expect to endure no lectures from me. My only desire is to be helpful. I offer friendship and fellowship. What I do You will find me at 12 Step meetings armed with the facts about myself. As an ex-problem drinker/user, you will see me making an approach to the newcomer--looking for someone who needs and wants hear about our common solution--someone with an honest desire to stop drinking or using--someone who wants what I have and is willing to follow the instructions as outlined in the Big Book--someone who wants to be joyous and free of active alcoholism and or addiction. When I find someone who really wants to stop drinking or using, we go to a coffee shop and, together we read and study the first 164 pages of the Big Book. When we come to a Step instruction, we take the Step together as instructed in the Big Book. I practice co-sponsorship--two addicts, working one-on-one, seeking a Higher Power. Because lack of power is our dilemma, we meet three to four times a week, working quickly, all 12 Steps in 30 days or less. My purpose for sponsorship is to teach others how to teach others how to work the 12 Step program as outlined in the Big Book of A.A. Therefore, once the new person has learned and worked all 12 Steps and is living in the disciplines of Steps 10 and 11 on a daily basis, I help my sponsee find a qualified addict who wants to stop and get them working together on their 12 Step journey. Thus, I conclude my formal sponsorship with my sponsee, knowing that they have a dependence, not on me, but upon their Higher Power. Moreover, I rest easy, knowing that the fellowship has one more teacher amongst its members, freeing me to commence looking for another willing, honest and open-minded addict to instruct and repeat the process. Working with other alcoholics/addicts I have carried the message of the Big Book to many alcoholics and addicts and rarely have I seen a person fail who thoroughly follows our path. Untreated alcoholic/addicts are unlovely people. My struggles with them are strenuous, comic and tragic. Those who could not or would not see our way of life are often consumed by their temptations which leads them to the gates of insanity or death. Helping other addicts is the foundation stone of my recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn't enough for me. I have shared time, energy and money. My business and personal life has been interrupted by the telephone ringing at any time of the day or night. My spouse sometimes feels neglected. I have made innumerable trips to police courts, detox centers, hospitals, jails and asylums. I have counseled frantic spouses and relatives. Occasionally I have to meet such conditions. I have worked hard with many alcoholics/addicts on the idea that only an addict can help another addict. I have had many failures. I once asked another Big Book Sponsor about their success rates and she replied, "I am 100% successful". Astounded, I asked how is that possible? She replied, "I'm still sober". That to me is one of the best kept secrets in our fellowship today. I often hear that this is a "selfish program", but whenever I put my sobriety first I could never stay sober. When I started showing the newcomer how to stay sober, I have found no trouble staying sober. As Doctor Bob once remarked, "strenuous work one alcoholic with another was vital to permanent recovery". Love and tolerance of others is my code In the 12 Step rooms I have been accused of being a Step Nazi, Big Book Thumper, a Holy Roller, a Zealot, and most recently I was called a "Steptard". I have been thrown out of groups and asked not to come back. I have been asked not to bring my Big Book into some A.A. meetings. I have been physically and verbally threatened by members of the fellowship for teaching that our 12 Step Program can be learned in an afternoon. I have been blamed for killing people with the Big Book. When confronted with such animosity, my program tells me I have to look at my part. Have I been crusading, righteous, or critical? Have I been engaging in frothy debates or windy arguments? Have I been demonstrating an attitude of intolerance? Yes, there have been times when I have been all these things, but I claim spiritual progress not perfection and I am no saint. I confess that I am a Big Book fundamentalist. I work my Big Book like a recipe for recovery. When I follow the 12 Step instructions as outlined in the book, it awakens my mind and I make conscious contact with my Higher Power. I must remember that when I focus my mind on what is wrong with the fellowship and the meetings today, the more I become restless, irritable and discontented. I must remember that the meetings are filled with many suffering and untreated addicts. Therefore, I practice acceptance and focus on what is good about the meetings and the fellowship. I try to see what I can positively add to the meeting--my only desire is to be helpful. Sometimes I have charged the "meeting makers" of killing people with their, "Don't drink and go to meetings" mantra. In return, they, the "Meeting Makers Make It" sect, have accused me of killing people with my Big Book thumping attitude. What I have learned is this: it is not the "Meeting Makers" that are killing people nor is it the "Big Book thumpers", it's the 20 to 30 years of abusive drinking and using that kills the alcoholic/addict. I must remember that I have no monopoly on recovery, but I do know that the Big Book solution works. Why do I continue to work with other alcoholic/addicts? Having had a spiritual experience, I try to practice the 12 Step principles in all my affairs. First, I take care of family, for sobriety is not enough and I am a long way from making good to my spouse, parents and children whom for years I have so shockingly treated. Second, I take care of my business, for there can be no family if I am not self-supporting. And third, in my spare time, I carry this message to other alcoholic addicts. For me, this approach, in this order, is a balanced program. Over the years I have witnessed a fellowship grow up about me. I have watched the spirit grow in the eyes of a suffering individual and seen them recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. I have seen them make a 180 degree turn in life, only to help some other suffering addict do the same. This is the experience I would not miss. I know you will not want to miss it either. Frequent contact with newcomers and other Big Book sponsors is a bright spot in my day. My life has taken on a new meaning and I seem to be of benefit to others. I have found a new freedom and happiness. I know serenity and peace. I continue to lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in the people in my life. My attitude and outlook on life has changed. Fear and economic insecurity is down and I know how to intuitively handle situations which use to baffle me. I realize that my Higher Power does for me what I could not do for myself alone. A Vision For You Thus I grow spiritually and so can you with a Big Book in your hand. It contains all you will need to begin working with the addict who still suffers. I know what you are thinking, "I'm a newcomer myself and I do not have enough sobriety time to be of use to anyone. What could I possibly offer another newcomer? Maybe I should wait a year or two." Rubbish! By working the Big Book solution, you will tap a source of power greater than yourself. To duplicate, with such backing, what I have accomplished is only a matter of willingness, patience and labour. Remember your reliance is always upon your Higher Power. It will show you how to create the fellowship you crave. Ask in morning mediation what you can do for the addict who still suffers. The answers will come if you work your program. But if you are shaky you had better work with another alcoholic/addict instead. Remember you have recovered and have been given the power to help others. You will soon find out that when all other measures fail, work with another alcoholic/addict will save the day. Give freely of what you have been shown and join us on the Broad Highway of the Fellowship of the Spirit. You will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. Trust God, Clean House, Help Others. Cameron F. Toronto, ONDISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder. Posted 1 week ago by Reporters Labels: Confessions of a Big Book Sponsor 0 Add a comment Big BookStudies,The Steps in 4 hours The book that introduced the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to the world has never appeared on any best-seller list. It is not advertised or promoted. And its authors will never appear on talk shows. Yet this book, now in its fourth edition, has sold over 23 million copies in English and is published in 48 languages. That book is "Alcoholics Anonymous"--affectionately known to AA members as the "Big Book." Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide DEC 7 DREAMWARRIOR IN RECOVERY The sea is merging with the sky and clouds obscuring the high mountains of the Morrocan coast.Gazing down the valley the bright sunlight flashes off the surface of the lake below me.The cry of a disgruntled chicken drifts up the valley from below me, making me aware of the gentle twitter of tiny bir Life is not impossible........Life is improving Life is not impossible........Life is improving.Each day,each hour thanks to the new found acceptability to a personal,loving higher power.Your will not have an insane,controlling self-will running your life.The exercise of unburdening myself of self will in my meditation makes me realize I no longe something quiet, calm and hidden is happening and certain people are being called by a higher light. On the surface of the Earth exactly now there is war and violence and everything looks horrible. But, simultaneously, something quiet, calm and hidden is happening and certain people are being called by a higher light. A quiet revolution is settling from the inside out. From bottom to top. Confessions of a Big Book Sponsor Posted At : April 24, 2010 2:21 PM | Posted By : Admin Related Categories: Big Book Sponsorship I remember asking someone in the fellowship a few years ago, "Are you working your program?" He replied, "Yes I went to a meeting today." I responded, "No, that's not what I'm talking about. Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. If Life has no interest in the past, why should you? It doesn't matter what it is--an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant a storm, a mountain, or a galaxy--everything that we know of is changing What we think, we become DREAMWARRIOR teaches how to become fundamentally present and how to arise in mastery of your mind and ego The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of reference As Bill Sees It-Selfish? - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information AA First and the “Selfish” Program « Don't Drink and Don't Die A Selfish Program? the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one. Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates,

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. | Big BookStudies,The Steps in 4 hours

2011-12-09T23:54:00.001Z

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. | Big BookStudies,The Steps in 4 hours

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… that’s what’s not real. For most people, that’s about 99% of their whole experience of life… their whole world.

I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations.

2011-12-08T23:07:00.001Z

I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But then my “rights” try to move in, and they, too, can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations, by asking myself, “How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?” And when I place more value on my serenity and sobriety than on anything else, I can maintain them at a higher level—at least for the time being. -- Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 452 (3rd Ed.) -- Acceptance Was The Answer, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 422 (4th Ed.)

US agents laundered drug money

2011-12-04T21:23:00.001Z

Anti-narcotics agents working for the US government have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds to see how the system works and use the information against Mexican drug cartels, The New York Times reported Sunday. Citing unnamed current and former federal law enforcement officials, the newspaper said the agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders. Some 45,000 people have been killed in Mexico since 2006, when its government launched a major military crackdown against the powerful drug cartels that have terrorized border communities as they battled over lucrative smuggling routes. According to these officials, the operations were aimed at identifying how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are, the report said. The agents had deposited the proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers, or in shell accounts set up by agents, the paper noted. While the DEA conducted such operations in other countries, it began doing so in Mexico only in the past few years, The Times said. As it launders drug money, the agency often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests, the report said. According to The Times, agency officials declined to publicly discuss details of their work, citing concerns about compromising their investigations. But Michael Vigil, a former senior official who is currently working for a private contracting company called Mission Essential Personnel, is quoted by the paper as saying: "We tried to make sure there was always close supervision of these operations so that we were accomplishing our objectives, and agents weren?t laundering money for the sake of laundering money."

At one time the Buddha's attendant Ananda asked if spiritual friendship was not half of the holy life. In response, the Buddha declared, "Spiritual friendship, association with wise and noble firends, and wise and noble deeds are the whole of the holy life,"

2011-12-02T17:24:00.001Z

Understanding how our states of mind are easily prompted by others, we can also see the importance of spiritual friendships. Whether in meditation communities, churches, group psychotherapy, or AA, the help we provide for one another is critical. At one time the Buddha's attendant Ananda asked if spiritual friendship was not half of the holy life. In response, the Buddha declared, "Spiritual friendship, association with wise and noble firends, and wise and noble deeds are the whole of the holy life," No matter what our intentions, we all need help from others around us as mirrors. Sometimes we need prompting in the form of fierce critical support from our AA sponsor or the honest feedback of our friends when we go astray. We also need the prompting of those who can see our goodness and who can speak with wisdom and courage to our good heart.

Big Book Sponsorship has helped hundreds of thousands of people with addiction.

2011-11-26T07:45:00.001Z

Big Book Sponsorship has helped hundreds of thousands of people with addiction. i.e. alcohol addiction, drug addiction, food addiction, crack cocaine addiction, sex addiction, gambling addiction, cocaine addiction, crystal meth addiction, substance addiction, sugar addiction, heroin addiction, oxycontin addiction, methadone addiction, marijuana addiction, nicotine addiction, cigarette addiction, smoking addiction, drinking addiction, alcoholism, crack addiction, self-harm addiction, self-injury addiction, ectasy addiction, benzodiazepines addiction, barbiturates addiction, GHB addiction, Rohypnol addiction, Special K addiction

Fletcher’s suspension from athletics, for the maximum four years, was announced by the anti-doping agency after he was sentenced to nine months’ jail

2011-11-24T11:33:00.001Z

Fletcher’s suspension from athletics, for the maximum four years, was announced by the anti-doping agency after he was sentenced to nine months’ jail at Liverpool Crown Court. He had pleaded guilty to possessing Class C drugs with intent to supply.

He was one of five men who received jail sentences, two of whom were serving Merseyside Police officers. Among the substances involved were anabolic steroids, including testosterone and trenbolone, and human growth hormone, all of which are banned under the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

A UKAD spokeswoman confirmed that information that had come to light during the course of the operation would be followed up to investigate whether fellow athletes were among his intended customers. “When you conduct an investigation like this it brings in other information, so you have other potential leads.”

Fletcher, 28, has never represented Britain and was not Lottery-funded, though he achieved a third-placed finish at the UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield in February. He finished the outdoor season ranked eighth in the UK.

UKAD were alerted to Fletcher’s involvement in drug trafficking by Merseyside Police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), who were able to share intelligence under the terms of a memorandum of understanding that the anti-doping agency signed with law enforcement organisations last year as part of its new investigative remit.
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Andy Parkinson, the UKAD chief executive, said: “This case proves the invaluable role that law enforcement agencies have in the fight against doping in sport and demonstrates that our intelligence system is working effectively.

“I would like to thank the Merseyside Police and SOCA for their vital assistance in helping our intelligence team with this case. By attacking the supply chain and those that supply performance-enhancing substances, we stand a better chance of protecting the right of the clean athletes to compete in doping-free sport.”

Fletcher becomes the fourth British shot putter in less than two years to be punished for a doping violation. Jamie Stevenson and Keiren Kelly were banned for two years after refusing to provide a urine sample in an out-of-competition test in February 2010.

Rachel Wallender received a one-year suspension, later reduced to four months on appeal, for testing positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine in Aug 2010.

Meanwhile, Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings has been given a lifetime ban from athletics following his conviction for a second doping offence.

Mullings, 28, a training partner of American record-holder Tyson Gay, was found guilty last week of taking the banned masking agent furosemide at Jamaica’s World Championships trials in June.

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission announced his punishment yesterday after studying details of his previous doping history. He was banned for two years in 2004 after testing positive for testosterone.
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Mexico army seizes Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman drug lord's $15 million

2011-11-23T23:49:00.001Z

Mexico's army seized nearly $15.4 million from the organization of the country's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, officials said Tuesday, marking a rare financial blow to cartels. The seizure was revealed the same day U.S. border police revealed the third discovery in a week of drug-smuggling tunnel under the border with Mexico. In Mexico, the military said it found the cash was found in a vehicle on Nov. 18 in the northern border city of Tijuana and that it was linked to Guzman's operations. The haul marked the second-largest cash seizure by the military since President Felipe Calderon sent the country's armed forces out to battle drug cartels in 2006, the statement said. Some $26 million was captured in September 2008 in Culiacan, the capital of Guzman's home state of Sinaloa. Only on msnbc.com 'Grateful to be alive': Teen rescues woman from fire Mexicans cross US border to sell their plasma Chinese consumers say: Fix this fridge or sledgehammers coming Black Friday 'flash mobs,' sit-ins urged Look out kids, here comes the 'Wolf Daddy' Move to ban alleged insider trading faces pitfalls Will Gingrich's comments haunt him? About 45,000 people have died in the conflict in the last five years and the government has captured or killed dozens of top level drug smugglers.

Alcohol ban urged for young drivers

2011-11-22T10:59:00.001Z

Young novice motorists should not be allowed to drink any alcohol while driving, and should be restricted in the hours when they can take to the road, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said today. Drivers under the age of 25 should have a minimum one-year learning period before taking their driving test, the ABI also said. Newly-qualified drivers aged under 25 should hold a graduated driving licence for two years and then have to take a second test. This graduated licence would contain restrictions on the number of passengers that can be carried, while there should also be restrictions on driving between 11pm and 4am unless driving was necessary for work purposes. The proposals were set out by the ABI today in an effort to cut the high level of deaths and serious injuries involving young drivers. Motorists aged under 25 are twice as likely to fail a breathalyser test and are more at risk when driving late at night and early in the morning. They also account for a high proportion of death and serious injury accidents on the roads. Nick Starling, ABI's director of general insurance and health, said: "Our proposals are not designed to drive young drivers off the road, but to ensure that they become safer drivers. We must act to reduce the tragic loss of young lives on our roads. "While recent years may have seen a reduction in road accident fatalities and serious injuries, the figures are still too high. "Every young driver statistic is a tragedy. Whether it is inexperience, youthful bravado or sheer recklessness we need tough action to better equip young drivers to handle the dangers of driving."

Police on the Costa del Sol were yesterday hunting a gang who stole £1million of cocaine from a warehouse where authorities held seized drugs before destroying them.

2011-11-22T04:11:00.001Z

Police on the Costa del Sol were yesterday hunting a gang who stole £1million of cocaine from a warehouse where authorities held seized drugs before destroying them.

The thieves used laser equipment to cut through the metal doors of the store in the docks at Malaga, the capital of the southern Spanish holiday coast.

They struck when there were no security guards on duty and it had been left to the paramilitary Civil Guard to watch the building.

The drugs were being stored in a warehouse in Malaga when the thieves struck

Drugs seized by police and customs are stored there for tests to be carried-out before the courts issue orders to destroy them.

Ecstasy, the drug of choice for the clubbers of the early 1990s, is making a comeback.

2011-11-21T14:11:00.001Z

Once synonymous with the rave scene, its popularity declined as the diminishing amount of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, the potent chemical once found in ecstasy tablets, saw a new generation of clubbers seek alternative substances.

At the peak of its popularity, ecstasy was rarely out of the news with the designer drug blamed for a spate of deaths, often wrongly.

Just under 7% of 16 to 24-year-olds reported using ecstasy, according to the British crime survey of 2000-01, with more recent figures suggesting that the proportion had fallen to less than 4%.

Now, according to Drugscope, the organisation that monitors street prices of illicit substances, ecstasy is back in demand as producers reintroduce it as a "premium" product. The Drugscope survey found that, after an absence of more than a decade, high MDMA-content ecstasy was on sale in half of the 20 towns and cities featured in its annual survey of the UK drugs scene.

In some parts of the country, pills are selling for up to £15 each, pushing the average price of ecstasy up to £4 from last year's average of £2.65. At the millennium, some very low strength pills were selling for as little as £1 each.

The increase in potency has reduced the number of pills people are taking, with one or two pills sufficing instead of five or more, according to Drugscope, whose findings correspond with a growing body of research produced by a team at Lancaster University that suggests the market in ecstasy is fragmenting.

The team, led by Fiona Measham, a senior lecturer in criminology, observed that a two-tier market in ecstasy had opened up. "Generic" ecstasy pills, which have a minor stimulative effect but which do not necessarily contain an active dose of MDMA, sell for about £3 each, as compared with those ecstasy pills that contain an active dose of MDMA, which sell for about £10 each.

The team also noted that in the summer of 2011 there emerged "exceptionally high strength ecstasy" that contained a "much higher dose of MDMA than seen in recent years".

Earlier work by the team identified a burgeoning market in MDMA powder or "crystal". Its survey of 109 clubbers found evidence that the popularity of MDMA in powder form was usurping that of ecstasy tablets. In terms of recent usage, 31% of respondents reported having had MDMA powder or crystal within the last month, whereas 28% reported having taken ecstasy pills.

The powder is also popular on the post-club scene. The Lancaster survey found that 21% of respondents reported that their favourite drug, or combination of drugs, to take at "chill out" parties after clubbing included MDMA powder, compared with 15% who preferred ecstasy pills.

"People who do ecstasy really love ecstasy," Measham said. "There's a real fondness for it, and so when good quality MDMA has come on the scene people have started using it again. People say they become more the person they want to be when doing it. If you want to be more loving or affectionate, there is a belief that ecstasy will help you. If you want to be the best dancer on the dancefloor, the same goes."

A belief that mephedrone would usurp ecstasy has not been realised, according to the Lancaster study, which found evidence that the former "legal high", also called "meow", has supplemented, "rather than displaced, ecstasy use among ecstasy users".

Ecstasy is traditionally manufactured in the Netherlands, but there is emerging evidence that Chinese chemists are stepping up their production of the high-strength version of the drug and are exporting it direct to the UK.

Some of the ecstasy now being sold in the UK contains the same amount of MDMA as the premium strength pills sold at the height of the rave scene 20 years ago.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the powder form of ecstasy is becoming increasingly popular on campuses. There are suggestions that younger users enjoy the ritual of taking a drug in powder form, associating it with cocaine. "There's a social element to it now," Measham said. "People will buy a bag and share it round, 'redosing' throughout the night. In the past, when it was just tablets, people would take it in the toilet and off they would go. It's now like cocaine in the 90s. People chop up lines and do it together. It's become a shared experience."

The increased MDMA levels found in ecstasy, a class A narcotic that, according to the drug advice service Frank, produces "an energy buzz that makes people feel alert, alive, in tune with their surroundings, and with sounds and colours often experienced as more intense" offers only one explanation for its resurgence in popularity.

Measham believes that, as ecstasy was the drug of choice on the club scene for 10 to 15 years, the emergence of the powder version has given it new cachet, as "each generation of young people want to make its own mark on the world".

But the emergence of ecstasy in powder form has also seen the drug attract new types of user. Measham and her team noted: "MDMA powder/crystal potentially offers increased profit margins for suppliers, as well as – for adult users of recreational drugs – an apparently 'premium' product with which to distinguish themselves from teenage 'pillheads'."

According to Frank, short-term risks associated with ecstasy can include a feeling of anxiety, paranoia or even psychosis. Its effects take about half an hour to kick in and tend to last between three and six hours, followed by a gradual comedown.

"The interesting issue is how this will affect the night-time economy," Measham said. "How will it change the atmosphere in clubs where currently it's all about cocaine and drinking?

"When ecstasy first came on to the rave scene there was a lot of hugging and affection, but that's not cool now in clubs. Are we going to see another summer of love?"

Drug users have welcomed a massive Ecstasy bust, saying the pills on the streets were dangerous.

2011-11-21T11:06:00.001Z

In a press conference this week, police displayed bags of thousands of pills which are known on the street as red rockets, yellow rockets, blue choppers, green rolling stones and pink lips.

Officer in charge of the 12-month Operation Ark, Detective Inspector Bruce Good, said the "sophisticated" syndicate was producing red rockets that caused users to suffer seizures and hallucinations.

Good said some of the pills were being produced at a factory which also manufactured rat poison.

It was estimated the syndicate was responsible for producing between 80 and 90 per cent of the country's Ecstasy over several years.

Users on the forum tripme.co.nz said the pills did not appear to contain MDMA - the main ingredient in Ecstasy - but chemicals from a family of hallucinogenics called 2C.

"Them b******s pressing 2CX into street pills is what doomed everything.

"We were living a pill-friendly, take-it-or-leave-it type of country for quite a while before people ended up in hospitals, tripping balls, wondering why they aren't feeling strimmed or chatty," one wrote.

University of Otago student Andy told the Herald on Sunday the seized pills were a hallucinogenic or "trippy" type, different from traditional Ecstasy.

He said they cost $60 each in Dunedin. "I started uni in 2009 and they were around then, but seem to have become more available over the three years spent here," he said.

The new pills were more similar to LSD. "They start by altering your visual perceptions, making things look strange, such as patterns starting to move," he said.

"However, other effects start in which can be very intense. Social situations can suddenly become scary and the user may start talking gibberish, situations become confusing and they may become scared because they cannot control themselves tripping out."

He found the experience terrifying. "Things slowly come back to being manageable about four or five hours after tripping, and sleep is difficult until the next night," he said.

Drug experts warn the bust could spark a price rise and more-toxic pills flooding the streets.

Ross Bell, executive director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, said there could be "a lot of opportunists trying to cash in on what they might see as a big gap in the market". Massey University drug researcher Dr Chris Wilkins said Ecstasy users might pay more for their pills in the future.

"When supply becomes tight there are usually two ways in which dealers respond. The price goes up and they start cutting their products with other stuff, so the potency and quality goes down," he said.

"But the recent arrests could prove to be a circuit-breaker in the supply of Ecstasy and some users may take the opportunity to give it up."

Four police officers were stabbed as they dealt with a disturbance today in Kingsbury, north London.

2011-11-19T14:34:00.001Z

The incident is believed to have happened at the Kingsbury Halal Butchers just 100 yards from Kingsbury Tube station and in a busy shopping street.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Police were called at approximately 8.40am to a disturbance in Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury.

Crime scene: The multiple stabbing is believed to have taken place at Kingsbury Halal Butchers

Cordoned off: Metropolitan Police officers at the scene of the attack, with a paramedic's kit visible in the foreground

‘Officers attended and attempted to speak with a man, who subsequently attacked them.

More...

Child rapist used 'human rights' to fight deportation - then struck again

‘Four officers were injured during the incident and have been taken to hospital.

‘A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at a north London police station.’

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed to MailOnline that all four officers are in a stable condition.

One sustained a stab wound to the stomach, another sustained head injuries and a stab wound to the arm, a third was wounded in the leg while a fourth suffered a broken hand.

Further down from Kingsbury Halal Butchers on the other side of the roundabout Ketan Vyas, the manager of the VB and Sons cash-and-carry store, described how a man aged 30 to 40 had burst into his shop chased by police.

Shock: The attack happened in broad daylight on a busy shopping street

Stabbing: The area has been sealed off by police, with one man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder

He went on: 'He picked up some cans of beans and threw them at the police and then carried on running out of the store and down the road.

'There were a lot of police after him. He was only in here for a few seconds. Fortunately no staff were harmed.'

Shopkeeper Girish Modha said: 'A man was shouting at police in a small alleyway next to a hairdresser's shop which neighbours mine.

'He grabbed a piece of fluorescent tubing and brandished it at police. He then ran down Kingsbury Road, going into a cash-and-carry shop. At one point I think he threw a brick and smashed a police car window.

'He then ran round the roundabout and carried on towards the Tube station. He went into a butcher's, got a knife and that's when the stabbing took place.'

A worker at a Carphone Warehouse store opposite the butcher's said: 'After the incident I saw about eight police officers on top of a man. Ambulances arrived to take away the injured policemen and the man was also taken away.'

Sky's Martin Brunt tweeted that one of the officers was stabbed in the stomach and that the attacker went 'berserk'.

Eyewitnesses told Bottr that police were called after a man began to attack people 'randomly' .

Brunt added that the suspect had been shouting in the street in 'quite a disturbed way', which led to 999 calls being made.

The Kingsbury Roundabout in north London where the incident happened

Injured: Four police officers have been taken to hospital to be treated for knife wounds, according to Scotland Yard, after being attacked at Kingsbury roundabout

Olympia Logofagul, 24, who works at the Kings Coffee shop on Kingsbury Road, said: 'I was working and I saw some police officers standing outside.

'There were a lot of officers, more than five but no more than 10.'

A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Service said they took five patients to hospital, all conscious and breathing.

She said: 'We were called at 8.50 this morning to an incident in Kingsbury Road.

'We sent two single responders in cars, four ambulance crews and a duty officer.

'We treated five patients, they were all conscious and breathing, and they were taken to hospital.'

Kingsbury Road - a busy thoroughfare in north-west London and normally jammed with shoppers on a Saturday morning - was deserted either side of the roundabout, with police having blocked off the road in both directions.

The hairdressers, Mr Modha's sweet shop and a chemist were cordoned off.

There are 30 police cars and 15 ambulances attended

The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking.

2011-11-16T14:36:00.001Z

The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking. Sitting quietly in silence is so foreign to most of us that the mind quickly starts thinking of its "problems" simply because it feels more "natural." We say we want peace, but because of our conditioning many of us actually feel more comfortable worrying. Worrying about what? Anything, the mind is not picky. -Michael Jeffreys

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

2011-11-16T13:36:00.001Z

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… that’s what’s not real. For most people, that’s about 99% of their whole experience of life… their whole world.

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

2011-11-16T13:33:00.001Z

Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… that’s what’s not real. For most people, that’s about 99% of their whole experience of life… their whole world.

If Life has no interest in the past, why should you?

2011-11-16T13:30:00.001Z

If Life has no interest in the past, why should you? –Michael Jeffreys

NEW DRINK LIMIT 'JUST FOR BINGERS

2011-11-15T06:36:00.001Z

Experts call for action as statistics show an alarming rise in professionals turning to alcohol to deal with the everyday stress.

Last weekend at an international conference held in Ireland, issues about the rising number of professionals with addiction problems were confronted for the first time.

The stress of city life, the huge demands from work and not enough time spent with loved ones are amongst the reasons behind their behaviour.

Statistics show that up to 24 per cent of lawyers will turn to alcohol abuse during their careers, and one in 15 doctors are likely to develop an addiction. Doctors are also three times more likely to develop liver cirrhosis than the general population.

One of the key issues at stake here is the stigma and shame attached to addiction problems, says Rory O’Conner, the UK co-ordinator of health support programmes for dentists and veterinary surgeons.

'If you ask the man in the street what an alcoholic is, they'll generally say a down and out, but 96 per cent of people with addictions actually function quite well most of the time,' he says. 'We need to tackle this.'

Fear of judgment from their peers has caused an increase in professionals seeking treatment abroad. Alastair Mordey, the programme director of the Cabin, a substance abuse clinic in Chiang Mai, Thailand, admits there has been a recent surge in ‘rehab tourism’ and that many of his patients are London professionals.

'Those professionals have the most to lose,' he says. 'In the UK and other countries like Australia and the US there is that Anglo-Saxon mentality – a work hard, play hard culture.'

The problem is that we have the highest obesity rate in Europe and we drink more alcohol than the European average.

2011-11-15T06:34:00.001Z

UK has the highest rate of oesophageal cancer in Europe while liver cancer deaths have jumped more than 70%, according to two new sets of figures.

Alcohol and obesity are helping fuel both types of disease, with many of these cancer cases preventable if people were healthier.

A league table of European cancer rates of the oesophagus show about 6.4 out of every 100,000 people develop oesophageal cancer in the UK every year.
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This is almost double the European average of 3.3 and higher than Ireland, which came in second place (5.9), and the Netherlands in third (5.8).

France had a figure of just 3.9 while the rate in Spain was 2.8.

Cyprus's rate of 0.5 is the lowest in Europe while Mongolia has the highest rate in the world (18.7).

The oesophagus is part of the body's digestive system and is the tube which links the back of the mouth to the stomach.

The UK's high rate is partly due to high levels of alcohol consumption and obesity - known risk factors for the disease.

The league table was compiled by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) using World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates.

Around 8,000 oesophageal cancer cases are diagnosed in the UK each year and the disease kills more than 7,000.

Just 8% of men and women are still alive five years after diagnosis.

Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science for the WCRF, said: "The fact that the UK has the highest rate of oesophageal cancer in Europe is a real concern because it is a type of cancer that has a particularly low survival rate.

"It is also a particularly preventable type of cancer and most oesophageal cases in the UK could be prevented through a healthy diet, limiting alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking.

"The problem is that we have the highest obesity rate in Europe and we drink more alcohol than the European average.

"This means that thousands of people every year are being diagnosed with an oesophageal cancer that could have been prevented.

"The good news is that not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, cutting down on alcohol and eating more of a variety of fruits and vegetables will not just reduce your risk of oesophageal cancer.

"It will also reduce your risk of other types of cancer, as well as being good for health generally."

The second set of statistics published today, from the British Liver Trust, shows that since 1997 liver cancer deaths have risen by 74% in England and Wales.

Both Scotland and Northern Ireland are also experiencing increasing numbers of deaths from liver cancer.

Andrew Langford, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, said: "Liver disease seems to be the poor relation to the other big killers yet is the only health problem out of the big five showing an increasing trend.

"The situation is now at breaking point and we need to see direct action to prevent the daily death rate from liver cancer increasing."

Liver disease is influenced by obesity and alcohol but can also result from hepatitis.

"At the moment all we are seeing are weak policies or no action at all, however there are so many solutions to the problem," Mr Langford said.

"Almost all liver disease is preventable yet we are met with a sheer resistance to tackle it.

"We are still awaiting the National Liver Disease Strategy, our Government-led alcohol policies are a joke and despite nearly every other developed nation having universal vaccination for hepatitis B we are still debating whether we should. While this debate continues many are being infected and for some this will lead to them dying of liver cancer. "

The figures show that 1,968 men and 1,371 women died from liver cancer in England and Wales in 2010, as did 230 men and 132 women in Scotland.

In 1997 in England and Wales, the figure was 1,133 men and 848 women.

Across the whole of the UK in 2010, an average of 10 people a day died from the disease

illicit drugs market was worth an estimated $320 billion with over 5 per cent of the world's populations aged between 15 and 64 years of age, or nearly 250 million people, consuming illicit drugs.

2011-11-15T06:31:00.001Z

In 2003 the illicit drugs market was worth an estimated $320 billion with over 5 per cent of the world's populations aged between 15 and 64 years of age, or nearly 250 million people, consuming illicit drugs.

East and Southeast Asia is home to about a third of the global population and is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. Economic development in the region is leading to new infrastructure and trade initiatives. However, the accelerated movement of people, trade and goods has given rise to many opportunities for drug traffickers to exploit to make their business prosper. As raised in recent United Nations reports, there is a real challenge facing the region from amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and other synthetic drugs. ATS drugs, particularly methamphetamine, are widely used and it is now estimated that up to 20 million people in the region have used amphetamines in the past year.

Although opium production has plateaued, its production increased by 80 per cent between 1998 and 2009. Afghanistan accounts for almost 90 per cent of the world's opium supply, although recent intelligence suggests that production in Burma is increasing after years of decline. The policy of eradication of poppy crops in many countries has seen an unintended negative and rapid increase in drug injecting as people change from smoking the drug to seek a bigger effect from the drugs they are able to obtain. It has also contributed to a rapid increase in the number of people switching to ATSs which are far cheaper and easier to produce.

In the aid arena, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 for realisation in 2015. They provide a benchmark for tackling extreme poverty and provide a framework for the international community to work together. However, reductions in poverty do not necessarily address gender equality and environmental sustainability, and the expansion of health services does not automatically mean improvement in quality.

The MDG is where the worlds of development aid and illicit drugs collide. The negative impact of illicit drugs on achieving the MDG cannot be overstated. Drug users are not necessarily poor but the poor are disproportionately affected by drugs.

Widespread production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs not only affect health, livelihoods and governance but also impinge on national and regional economies, legislation, basic human rights and life itself.

For too long there has been limited recognition of the relationship between illicit drugs and social and economic development. Lack of development and the lack of education and employment opportunities exacerbate drug use and drug trafficking while rapid development and the accompanying social and economic changes creates problems for some groups that can result in greater involvement with drugs. Countries within Asia, and increasingly the Pacific, provide many examples of the relationship between rapid change, displacement, poverty, migration, violence and involvement in illicit drugs. Many of the reasons for increased drug use in countries like Burma, Pakistan and Afghanistan are very much related to economic development - whether it is truck drivers taking drugs to drive all night or those needing drugs to cope with being forced into commercial sex work - the impact of drugs can be seen. The impact on migrant groups is often particularly severe as they rarely have access to a health system or community support.

Aid programs must address the fact that development is about change and that better and more attractive alternatives to drugs need to be a part of that change. In Asia and the Pacific, programs dealing with illicit drugs are often too narrowly focused on law enforcement, with some occasional focus on prevention, harm reduction or treatment. An approach that is integrated with reducing drug supply, providing attractive livelihood alternatives, reducing drug use and demand, reducing the harms caused by drug use and the provision of treatment for existing drug users is needed as part of the development process.

Adding to these problems is conflict and the resultant instability, which not only helps to facilitate illicit drug economies, but can sustain the conflict. We see this in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, and Myanmar, where rebel and pro-government forces have used illicit drug economies to finance their activities.

Most experts agree that a war on drugs is ineffective in reducing drug production and often has extreme negative long-term impacts on development and human rights. Unfortunately, while drug users are seen as the problem and not as people that need assistance they will continue to be imprisoned, victimised and disenfranchised. This only exacerbates HIV and other health problems.

As a world leader in drug policy and treatment, and the funding increase for AusAID, Australia has a unique opportunity to assist our region.

INTELLIGENCE early on in life among women may be linked to drug-taking as they get older

2011-11-15T06:28:00.001Z

INTELLIGENCE early on in life among women may be linked to drug-taking as they get older, Welsh researchers have discovered.

Academics found that women who had high IQ scores in childhood were more likely to take illegal drugs when they are in their 30s. One of the theories they give for being behind this is that those people with a high IQ are more willing to try new experiences.

Dr James White, who led the research, said: “Although most studies suggest that higher child or adolescent IQ prompts the adoption of a healthy lifestyle as an adult, other studies have linked higher childhood IQ scores to excess alcohol intake and alcohol dependency in adulthood.

“Although it is not yet clear exactly why there should be a link between high IQ and illicit drug use, previous research has shown that people with a high IQ are more open to new experiences and keen on novelty and stimulation.

“There is a clear need for future epidemiological and experimental studies to explore these and other pathways.”

The study, by the university’s Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), examined data from just under 8,000 people in the 1970 British Cohort Study, which is a large ongoing population-based study, looking at drug use and other factors in society.

The IQ scores of the participants were measured at the ages of five and 10 years, using validated scales, and information was gathered on self reported levels of psychological distress and drug use at the age of 16, and again at the age of 30.

Drugs assessed at 16 included cannabis and cocaine; and at 30 years of age included cannabis; cocaine; amphetamines; and ecstasy.

By the age of 30, 35.4% of men and 15.9% of women had used cannabis, while 8.6% of men and 3.6% of women had used cocaine, in the previous 12 months.

A similar pattern of use was found for the other drugs, with overall drug use twice as common among men as among women.

Men with high IQ scores at the age of five were around 50% more likely to have used amphetamines, ecstasy, and several illicit drugs than those with low scores, 25 years later.

The link was even stronger among women, who were more than twice as likely to have used cannabis and cocaine as those with low IQ scores. The same associations emerged between a high IQ score at the age of 10 and subsequent use of cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, and cocaine, although this last was only evident at the age of 30.

Recognised risk factors for drug use, such as, levels of anxiety and depression during adolescence, parental social class, level of education, social class at 30 years and monthly income were all taken into account during analysis of the study’s findings.

Sarah Harding has completed her 2-month stint in rehab

2011-11-13T15:59:00.001Z

Sarah Harding's ex Calum Best is glad she got the help she needed

The Girls Aloud star, 29, was treated for alcohol abuse and depression after calling off her engagement to DJ Tom Crane, 31.

Sarah and Tom were due to marry next summer after getting engaged this New Year.

'They've been in regular contact throughout her time away but only on the phone. They've spoken most days and it seems like they could have a chance of giving it another shot,' a source tells the Sunday Mirror.

Sarah's ex Calum Best, 30, is glad that Sarah got professional help.

'Everyone has their dark times, but Sarah's strong and will come out of this period even stronger, he told us last month

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

2011-11-13T12:34:00.001Z

While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his part in a different operation that brought millions of illicit drugs into Canada. Baljinder Kandola, a former Canadian border guard who was charged with being part of a cocaine-smuggling ring, was at a loss for words during much of his testimony on Tuesday to explain why he risked so much to help a millionaire auto-parts importer for nothing in return. Under cross-examination by Crown counsel James Torrance, Kandola said he agreed to wave his co-accused Shminder Singh Johal and associates in his three automotive companies through the border, helping them avoid inspection, reported the Province newspaper. Kandola — who worked at the Pacific Highway crossing from July 2001 until his arrest on Oct. 25, 2007 — admitted he made unauthorized use of Canadian Border Services Agency databases to come to the conclusion Johal had been subjected to inspections over the years unfairly. “He asked if I was able to wave him through,” Kandola told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly, who is hearing the case without a jury. “It would save him time and money, and he wouldn’t be harassed.” Torrance reminded Kandola of his testimony a day earlier, when he said he was risking his job, his pension and his standing in the Sikh community by breaking his oath to protect Canada’s borders. “What was [Johal] offering you in return?” asked the prosecutor. “He didn’t offer me anything,” replied Kandola. “In my mind he was bringing auto parts into Canada.” Torrance asked, “This [waving Johal through] was definitely something you shouldn’t do?” “Yes,” agreed the witness. “Then why would you want to help a successful millionaire businessman?” Kandola replied: “I don’t know, I’ve asked myself the same question.” Torrance turned to Kandola’s illegal use of the databases to come to the conclusion Johal was unfairly harassed. A “lookout” had been placed on Johal’s border crossings after a tip from the RCMP. “Did you not consider [Johal] was previously suspected of smuggling cocaine?” asked Torrance. “No,” said Kandola. “That was all cleared up by your queries [into the databases]?” “I guess so,” replied the defendant. Torrance then meticulously went through Kandola’s phone, text and CBSA database records to show that he called Johal to let him know when he was in position to wave him through the border and when the “lookout” was on or off during the wee hours of Feb. 10, 2007. Asked if he was paid by Johal when they met at a 7-Eleven store the next day, Kandola denied it. Kandola was arrested on Oct. 25, 2007, shortly after he waved through a car driven by Herman Riar that contained 208 kilograms of cocaine. Riar pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. Kandola and Johal have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug smuggling, illegal firearms, conspiracy and bribing an official. The trial in New Westminster is scheduled to last three more weeks.

Angry Birds” – which is basically a drone that has been specially developed to take down drug-running ultralight airplanes that are utilized by gangs in order to smuggle illegal substances

2011-11-13T10:41:00.001Z

Everyone with a modern smartphone would definitely have heard of Angry Birds before, and hey, even if mobile gaming is not your cup of tea, surely the name Angry Birds has passed by your mind from time to time during a conversation? Well, the US Border Patrol might get the help of “Angry Birds” – which is basically a drone that has been specially developed to take down drug-running ultralight airplanes that are utilized by gangs in order to smuggle illegal substances at the south of US from Mexico.

The drone will fire a net which entangles the propeller of the ultralight airplane, which in return stops the engine. As for another drone, that is slightly more violent in nature – it will perform a kamikaze crash straight into the ultralight in order to break its propeller. I think the kamikaze version has far more anger issues, and it would require less accuracy than firing a net at a propeller – what do you think? One thing’s for sure – there will not be any green pigs aboard the airborne drug mules…

Britain's FBI 'abandoned chasing crime Mr Bigs because it's too difficult'

2011-11-12T23:41:00.001Z

The elite unit set up by Labour to fight major criminals has failed to catch crime bosses because it is ‘too difficult’ and may even have been infiltrated by the underworld, says a whistleblower. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is supposed to be Britain’s answer to the FBI. When it was launched, Tony Blair pledged the organisation would ‘make life hell’ for the country’s ‘Mr Bigs’. It recruited from the cream of the police, immigration, customs and MI5 and had more than 4,000 staff in offices all over the world. But Tim Lee, a former intelligence officer with SOCA, claims the agency has been blighted by corruption and bureaucracy. Mr Lee, 58, who joined SOCA in Nottingham when it was formed in 2006, paints a damning picture of his five years in the organisation. He claims: An investigation into a crime boss was mysteriously dropped when a SOCA officer with alleged links to the suspect took over the running of the case. Allegations of serious sexual misconduct made by a female SOCA worker against a male colleague were covered up. Hostility arose between police, customs and immigration officers when operational units were first formed in 2006.

B.C. skipper linked to cocaine shipment posed beside pile of cash

2011-11-12T23:12:00.001Z

Just weeks before notorious B.C. skipper John Philip Stirling was caught near Colombia on a boat full of cocaine, he sent his neighbour in Chase — a community in B.C.'s Shuswap region — photos of himself lying on the floor beside a giant pile of money.

In the accompanying email, Stirling told Shawn Martin that he wouldn't repay cash he owed him despite being flush after a recent trip to the South American cocaine centre.

Bizarre details of Stirling's feud with his neighbours, Martin and his mother Myrna Beckman, over loans totalling $30,000 are laid out in a suit and counter-suit filed in August and September in Kamloops Supreme Court and obtained the Vancouver Sun.

Stirling was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on Oct. 18 just north of Colombia with 400 kilograms of cocaine secreted aboard his sailboat. He is currently detained in a Miami Detention Centre where he told officials "there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the United States should mind its own business."

"He further remarked that if Canada didn't have such high taxes, (he and his co-accused) could get legitimate jobs."

If allegations in the B.C. court documents are accurate, some in the town of 2,500 were aware of Stirling's plan to import cocaine.

Martin and Beckman, who live down the road from Stirling and his wife Marlene, say in their court claim they heard at a barbecue last March "that the plaintiff John Stirling was in Colombia setting up a massive cocaine deal."

Martin and Beckman said their efforts to get repayment on several loans to the Stirlings were met with threats and harassment.

They also said accusations by the Stirlings that the neighbours were the aggressors in the dispute are ridiculous — Martin has dwarfism and gets around with crutches and a wheelchair; his mother, 63, is his caregiver.

Both Martin and Beckman declined to comment to the Sun because their case is before the courts. Marlene Stirling did not return calls.

The documents show that Stirling, a 60-year-old convicted cocaine trafficker, struck first against his neighbours, filing a suit on Aug. 29 asking for $10 million in damages.

Stirling said in a brief synopsis that over the last two years, his disabled neighbour and mom have threatened the Stirlings "with bodily harm and death."

"The defendants have written the plaintiffs blackmail letters for money," Stirling wrote. "The defendants have caused anxiety, depression, stress, loss of sleep requiring medical care to the petitioners.

"The defendants have caused travel to become necessary from Colombia for John Stirling at great expense and loss from work to protect his family . . . The defendants have or have attempted to hire Hells Angels to cause murder or physical harm to the plaintiffs and have made statements by phone and email of that intent," the Stirling claim said.

The neighbours fired back in a detailed defence filed Sept. 14, denying all the allegations and making a counter-claim.

They said that, unlike Stirling, they have no criminal record and no connection to the notorious biker gang.

"The defendants do not know any Hells Angels or Hells Angels associates and have never had dealings with them or hired them to do anything," Martin and Beckman said, adding the only information they have about the Angels came from the Stirlings themselves.

"The plaintiff Marlene Stirling also told the defendants that two Hells Angels members sat at her kitchen table and had coffee on multiple different times," the documents said.

They said they learned in an Internet search of Stirling's 2001 bust on his fishing boat, the Western Wind, with 2.5 tonnes of cocaine owned by the Hells Angels. He was never charged.

Tensions escalated between the former friends in August, when Stirling "was back from Colombia and was bragging that he had two suitcases full of money containing in excess of $200,000," the mother-son team said.

Martin fired off an email, "asking John to pay the rest of the money the plaintiffs owed the defendants for loans from June 1, 2007, to Feb. 23, 2011."

On Aug. 23, Stirling sent his neighbours "an email with a picture of him laying on the floor of his Adams' Lake residence with a pile of money in front of him, holding a piece of paper with Aug. 19, 2011, written on it," the claim said.

The email said: "I told you if you waited you would have got paid, but since you didn't, you will never receive a dime and everyone else has been paid back for their investment but you."

They said Stirling warned them that he would go to court and ruin them if they didn't back off.

"The defendants have videotape evidence of the plaintiff John Stirling threatening to kill more than one person at gunpoint," the documents said.

"On Sept. 10, 2011, the defendants were informed that the plaintiff John Stirling has been seeking to hire people to burn down the defendants' house and cause physical harm to them."

Martin and Beckman said "a man calling himself Ryan showed up at the defendants' residence wearing a black leather jacket with a Hells Angel patch and was looking for the plaintiff John Stirling because John apparently owed this guy Ryan money."

Martin said in the court statement that he called Stirlings' house and warned Marlene that someone was looking for John "and that he sounded really p—ed off."

John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel

2011-11-10T08:04:00.001Z

Phil Stirling, shown here in 2000, told U.S. authorities there’s nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking, and said the States should mind its own business.

Photograph by: RIC ERNST, PNG

A self-described drug smuggler who walked away unscathed from two high-profile drug busts in B.C. has landed himself in hot water south of the border.

John Philip Stirling, 60, is in a Florida jail after U.S. authorities allegedly seized 400 kilograms of cocaine from his vessel on Oct. 18.

According to U.S. court documents, Stirling, in an unprompted outburst while being transported to a detention centre, said there was nothing wrong with cocaine trafficking and that the U.S. should mind its own business.

“He further remarked that if Canada didn’t have such high taxes, they could get legitimate jobs,” said the affidavit.

Stirling’s defiant comments did not come as a surprise to retired RCMP Sgt. Pat Convey, who spent years chasing the man.

“That sounds like our man, Mr. Stirling,” said Convey, reached at his Vancouver Island home.

Stirling was a “big, flamboyant, boisterous guy who enjoyed taking chances,” said Convey. “That’s what he was about. He was a drug trafficker. I think he’s been that all his life.”

Stirling — who had admitted to The Province in 2002 that he started smuggling dope when he was 16 — was skippering the Atlantis V when it was spotted on a routine patrol by the U.S. Coast Guard about 400 kilometres north of Colombia on Oct. 17.

When inspectors boarded the ship, they allegedly found 358 packages of drugs — mostly cocaine, but also some heroin and methamphetamines.

Stirling and his crew — fellow Canadians Thomas Arthur Henderson and Randy Wilfred Theriault, Colombian Jose Manuel Calvo Herrera and Italian Luigi Barbaro — were arrested and charged.

According to Barbaro’s statement, the ship departed from Santa Marta, Colombia, and was headed to Australia.

Stirling, who was sentenced to five years in jail in the 1980s on cocaine-related charges, had been arrested twice before in similar circumstances.

In a highly publicized case, Stirling was caught by U.S. authorities off Washington’s Cape Alava in 2001 with 2½ tonnes of cocaine, worth more than $250 million, aboard the Western Wind.

He was turned over to the Canadians. Later, he claimed he was an RCMP informant and that he was transporting the cocaine for the Hells Angels. No charges were laid.

Stirling was again arrested in 2006 after authorities found 155 bales of marijuana aboard a vessel near Vancouver Island. The charges were stayed.

Convey believes Stirling might finally get the reckoning he has eluded in Canada.

“The Americans play a different game from us, and quite frankly, our system leaves a hell of a lot to be desired,” he said.

“If they proceed with the case and they got him with the many hundred kilos [of cocaine], he’s going in for a long time.”

‘Slob’ Simmons had sex sickness says Ace

2011-11-07T06:07:00.001Z

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says Gene Simmons is an “epic slob” sex addict – and his sleeping around meant he was contantly suffering attacks of lice. The claims appear in Frehley’s autobiography, No Regrets, in which he discusses his own addiction issues along with memories of his two stints with the glam icons. The guitarist writes: “I believe Gene is a sex addict in much the same way I am an alcoholic. “If you’ve been with only one or two women (and had to beg for whatever you got off them) it must be intoxicating to suddenly have groupies falling all over you. “You go from getting laid once or twice a year to getting laid a hundred times by a hundred different women. “Gene would fuck almost anything. Short, tall, plump, svelte, attractive, merely tolerable. Gene seemed to live in a state of perpetual infestation.” It wasn’t just Simmons’ private parts which were a mess, Frehley continues, calling his former colleague “a fastidious businessman – but an utter mess in his personal life.” The pair recently had lunch together, prompting Simmons to warn fans not to expect a reunion, but saying they were on good terms. Asked what he makes of the comments in Frehley’s book, the bassist tells the New York Post: “Fact: Ace has been a drug addict and an alcoholic for 35 years. Fact: We love Ace and wish him all the best.”

Brain scans may show addiction to soda, sugar, and certain processed fatty foods

2011-11-07T05:58:00.001Z

What changes in your brain may be caused by soda, fatty foods, processed foods, and sugar? You can check out the Bloomberg News article by Robert Langreth and Duane D. Stanford, which appeared today in the November 6, Sacramento Bee, "Soda, fatty foods may spur addiction." In that article, studies are reported that show changes in the human brain. But sometimes the average consumer may not know which foods are addictive and which foods are healthier for the individual. Cupcakes may be addictive just like cocaine, according to the article, "Soda, fatty foods may spur addiction." Basically the medical studies at leading universities mentioned in the article show that processed foods and sugary drinks hijack the brain "in ways that resemble addictions to cocaine, nicotine, and other drugs." You have to examine the data, which the article reports is overwhelming. And the point of the article explains that scientists are finding evidence of overlap between drugs in the brain and food. Why does food, well, certain types of food, hit the brain like a bomb or rather like a drug and change the brain in much the same way as addiction to drugs change the brain? Food is medicine, say some scientists. And other researchers say food is addictive. The Lab tests so far have found that sugary drinks and fatty foods may produce addictive behavior in animals. Then human brain scans were done by the scientists. But the scans looked compulsive eaters and obese participants. What the scientists found were disturbances in brain-reward circuits similar to those experienced by drug addicts or drug abusers. In 2011, there are already 28 published studies on food addiction. You can look up these articles in the National Library of Medicine database. See the site, National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. You have on one hand scientists looking at processed, commercial foods that they are calling addictive. But will industry put it's foot in the door so to speak when the food and beverage businesses generate one trillion dollars, according to the article? The news article doesn't state whether the one trillion dollar food industry figure is annual or not. What both the scientists and the industry are watching for is any real proof that fatty foods and snacks sweetened with sugar or corn syrup are addictive. So far, there's no proof in writing with a definitive statement saying certain foods are addictive drugs or behave like addictive drugs in the human brain. On the other hand, for shoppers, the consumer battle depends on what scientists can find that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Now it's a legal problem. You can check out the website of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. See, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity — Home. The site contains numerous articles. See, On Preventing Nutrition Negligence. There also are the results of seminars you can peruse. See, Excess Intake and Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Potential Implications on Healthcare Costs and Selling Public Health Policy in Derivative Markets: Lessons from the 2009-2010 New York State Sugary Beverage Excise Tax Campaigns. For example in the 2011 newsletter of the Rudd Center, you can read a brief article about why the Rudd Center objects to recent criticism of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose suitability as a potential presidential candidate has been challenged because of his body weight. Another focus is the language that health care providers use when discussing a child's weight with parents can reinforce weight-based stigma and jeopardize discussions about health, according to a study recently published by the Rudd Center. The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics. President Obama Urged to Protect Children from Junk-Food Marketing Food advocates across the country are asking the President to act now to protect children from junk-food marketing. The country’s leading researchers and advocates for healthy eating, coordinated by the Prevention Institute, unveiled “We’re Not Buying It,” a video highlighting deceptive marketing to children and launched a campaign urging the President to stand up for children’s health, according to an article posted at the Rudd Center. The Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (IWG) proposed reasonable, science-based nutrition guidelines to help provide a model for companies that market to kids. However, the food industry and media companies are working to get Congress and the Administration to stop the IWG from finalizing these sensible recommendations. The campaign calls on the President to join parents, doctors, and public health practitioners in standing up for children’s health by supporting the voluntary guidelines, according to the Rudd Center's October 2011 newsletter. Check out the many nutrition-related articles and reports in their current and archived newsletters. Also see the site, EWG Takes a Stand on Food Marketed for Children. Anti-smoking Foods: What foods help motivate people to stop smoking or never start? What area the best foods to motivate you to quit smoking or to never start the habit? First, you avoid some of the most addictive foods, sugar, milk shakes, ice cream, cheese, chocolate, and processed or BBQ'd meats. Instead you eat sweet fruits when you crave sweets, such as an apple or banana. Next, you eat vegetables other than fries. Try a salad of shrimp or salmon, raw spinach, celery, carrots, red bell peppers, yellow squash or zucchini, raw mung bean sprouts, and chopped green onions. What happens to your body when you detox from smoking is a 10-day period of imbalance. The more green and red vegetables and fruits you eat, the quicker you'll get the nicotine toxins out of your body. Also try a little vitamin C, if your health condition permits taking vitamins. Drink lots of filtered, purified water. If milk and cheese causes you to crave suites, avoid dairy products and drink almond milk, hemp milk, or hazelnut milk. Or try a bowl of black rice and raw, organic sauerkraut and a dish of chili beans without meat. By avoiding the four most addictive foods which are sugar, chocolate, cheese, and red meat, especially cheese burgers, you will not stir up cravings for highly addictive foods that most people eat daily without realizing how 'hooked' on sugar, red or cold-cut meat, and cheese they really are. Also, don't load up on bread. Try crackers. Instead eat apples and cinnamon. Spices reduce cravings as do apples. You might cook a pot of boiled brown rice with a handful of raisins or other sweet, dried fruit such as goji berries, blue berries, or cherries and a dash of cinnamon and cloves. When the rice is cooked and fragrant, add a can of coconut milk, and let the cooked rice absorb the coconut milk. Thin the coconut milk with almond milk. Serve chilled. The fragrance of the dried fruit, such as dehydrated nectarines in the brown rice is filling and sweet without addicting you to dairy and table sugar or white rice. If you can't tolerate whole grains, try an egg drop soup made from boiled diced onions, celery and carrots into which you drop by the tablespoonful two beaten eggs. Flavor with cilantro and any spices or seasonings you enjoy. For more bulk, add a cup of cooked chick peas, pinto beans, or black beans to the soup and slices of avocado. Spices cut down on cravings for sweets as well as for other food items familiar to you such as the food that creates cravings which are sugar, cheese, chocolate, and meat. What helps most in food items to help you quit smoking? Apples, ginger, and cinnamon. And adding garlic to any foods also helps you cut the cravings. Think spices and herbs--ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and garlic added to foods. Save the garlic for the savory foods like fish, beans, and grains. Also a dash of curry and turmeric help. The spicier the food as long as you can stand the spices and herbs, the lower the cravings for smoking or for sweets. Sometimes coconut milk because it's medium chain saturated fats also helps you cut the cravings. But go easy on the fats. Olive oil on salads also helps as long as you don't crave lots of cheese with the olive oil. Be aware of your cravings for dairy unless you're lactose intolerant and don't enjoy dairy items such as cheese. Instead, you may prefer organic raw sauerkraut and fermented foods such as tempeh which you could use instead of cheese. For example, try sauerkraut over tempeh, which is fermented soy. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. Numerous fermented foods are made more digestible by the fermentation process with cultures, molds, or bacteria that is said to help digestion.

study of pathological altruism

2011-11-06T10:19:00.001Z

Jenny needed to go to A&E. Now. Martha grabbed her keys and glanced longingly towards the paprika-scented stew. Jenny, her new neighbour from two doors down, had called just as Martha and her husband Jim had begun eating dinner.

Martha chided herself: what was she doing thinking of her own needs in this sort of situation? She remembered Jenny's moans on the phone. With a whisk of her coat and a bye-bye to her husband, Martha slipped out into the chill.

Seven hours later, utterly exhausted, Martha returned from A&E. Jim smiled ruefully as he welcomed her. "Always the do-gooder," he said, kissing her on her forehead. "You've such a good heart. Sometimes too good." Martha felt better at the kind words. Still, she would go about exhausted all day tomorrow. But she loved the children she cared for – that's why she'd chosen nursing as her profession. The thought slipped in unbidden: "All this drama, just because Jenny had a migraine?" Stop that, Martha told herself. Migraines, she knew, could be dangerous. And the medications had reduced Jenny's pain.

A few days later, Jenny called from work. Her older son wasn't answering the phone. He must have slept through his alarm. More than that, he'd just taken a new job; it was important he be there on time. "Martha, could you please check on him? The key is under the doormat..."

Martha was always happy to help. But this? It felt odd. Maybe Jim had a point – maybe she was too kind. But still, Martha hated to disappoint. She'd always been that way; even as a child, she had been a mainstay in caring for her mother, whose depression had ultimately led to alcoholism.

Martha found Jenny's son snoring on his bed. "What are you doing sleeping in?" Martha demanded, her voice shaking with anger. Martha was surprised – she rarely got mad at anyone. Except herself.

Jenny called again the next day. She wasn't feeling well – another migraine coming on. Could Martha pick up her toddler from the nursery and handle him for a few hours? "I know I've been a burden, but really, I so need your help right now. I don't have anyone else."

Martha was beginning to get the sense that, at home, Jenny's little boy didn't get the attention he deserved. He'd begun clinging to Martha every time he saw her. It suddenly struck her that Jenny had never said thank you for any of her help. Martha couldn't help but reprove herself for the thought – a thank-you shouldn't be necessary for helping others. "Yes, I'll be right there," she replied.

Martha's tale shares elements with similar stories that unfold every day across the world. She is an altruist whose generosity of spirit creates more problems than it solves. She finds it difficult to say no to others, even when they impose sorely on her good nature.

Martha's deep-seated desire to help others has grown from a variety of sources. Her early interactions with her mother and other caregivers helped prime her neural system to be able to bond with other people. In Martha, it may have over-primed her system – studies have revealed that sensitive children can be so overly concerned about others, taking little gratification in their own successes, that they mature with a tendency towards guilt, depression – even anorexia. When a child is placed in a position where they must care for a parent while growing up, it can strengthen the predisposition. A seemingly perfect, empathetic, caring child can actually be heading for problems.

People such as Jenny, on the other hand, who thoughtlessly take advantage of others' good nature, may show characteristics of "attachment disorders". Such individuals may not have had adequate nurturing as they matured, so it is difficult for them to bond with others. Or they may not have been able to accept nurturing even if it was present, due to their own personality quirks.

Personality traits and underlying dispositions are also, of course, shaped by subtle genetic differences, often rooted in the evolutionarily ancient affiliative oxytocin and vasopressin systems. These genetic differences can predispose us towards more or less sensitivity to the feelings of others – towards becoming the Marthas or Jennys of the world.

Females, in particular, often receive an early wash of empathy-predisposing hormones while still in the womb. Thus, many girls show a predisposition for empathising – intuiting and being concerned about the thinking of others. As these girls mature, the early influences can be reinforced by societal expectations. (When Martha's husband Jim graces her with a kiss, it is emblematic of how women are more commonly rewarded for their helpful actions.)

Researchers are still homing in on the motivations for altruism – helping others at cost to ourselves – but it seems to arise partly due to our internal reward system. We get pleasurable sensations from helping because it activates, among other regions, our nucleus accumbens – the same part of the brain activated by gambling or drugs. Helpfulness, particularly self-righteous helpfulness, may be a type of addictive behaviour.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, an autism expert at Cambridge University, has posited two primary ways of interacting with and perceiving the world. The first is systemising: looking rationally at the world and how systems within that world operate. The classic systemiser is a coolly rational engineer, such as Martha's husband. Jim may have trouble intuiting when his wife is upset, but he can tell what's wrong with an engine just by listening. Baron-Cohen provides good evidence that Asperger's and autism may be extreme forms of systemising. Strong systemising skills are more often seen in men, although women can also have strengths in this area. The other way of interacting with the world is through empathising – viewing the world from an emotional basis in relation to its impact on others. Empathisers, with their strong concerns for how others feel, tend towards the caring professions. Women often have far stronger empathising skills than men.

But while there has been substantial research on autism and Asperger's – that is, extreme systemising – there has been almost no scientific research on the extreme form of empathising, such as that shown by Martha. Yet, as we've begun to unravel the cultural and biological underpinnings of altruistic behaviour, we're beginning to understand that some people can have a heavier dose of the genetics related to caring for others. This, combined with environmental influences (as with Martha's depressed mother) and cultural influences (compliments from others in relation to caring behaviour), can lead to an overemphasis on helpful behaviour without taking into account the very real problems that can result. This may be related to the amorphous condition of co-dependency – a desire to help others so overpowering that it loses touch with reason, ultimately leading to irrational, unnecessary harm.

Martha was lucky to find a supportive husband. Some hyper-empathising women fall in with an abusive husband, while some highly empathetic men end up with a harridan of a wife. Such individuals can find it virtually impossible to extricate themselves from the situation – their very compassion makes them easier to manipulate and control. (It's your own fault that you made me beat you!) In fact, there is evidence that more altruistic people are victimised more often.

So why have researchers avoided the study of problems of "niceness" for so long? It may simply be that it's hard to admit that a helpful personality might actually be harmful. We all idealise altruism. Without it, human sociality would function like bearings with no oil – soon, everything would seize up. Why study problems related to such a helpful quality? Don't we run the risk of discouraging it? These are important concerns. But we must also look at the very real personal cost of neglecting study of this area.

Physicians who administer painful procedures learn to turn off their empathy when they need to. They have to, or they'd burn out from feeling others' pain. A small altruistic act – empathy for one in pain – is suppressed in favour of the greater altruistic act of therapy. Why don't we teach nurses such as Martha about these types of strategies to assist them in their jobs, as well as their personal lives?

In any case, helpful hyper-empathisers form only one slip-road on to the well-intentioned highway to hell. Another route includes individuals who are self-righteously certain their approach to helping others is correct, refusing to take into account any view that diverges from their own. And yet another involves well-meaning people who simply don't have access to the facts necessary to make a truly informed decision. Who would vote for a politician who touted the importance of ethics even as he made a practice of steering national legislation so as to cheat taxpayers of millions for personal profit? In large part, only those unaware of the depths of that politician's perfidy.

Pathological altruism, an important new area of research, provides a vital framework for understanding these types of behaviours and their consequences. As Hitler noted, it was when he appealed to the Germans' best traits – their sense of caring – that he hooked them aboard the National Socialist juggernaut. To explain: we tend to think of genocide as a horrific event growing solely from hatred. But the reality is that genocide is supported through a yin and yang of hatred and altruism – hatred for those demonised as "the inhuman other", and altruism for those in the in-group. A typical Hutu during the Rwandan genocides, for example, would not have woken in the morning and thought, "I'm going to be evil today and go about killing innocent people!" No; they did as they were told, preemptively slaughtering those "cockroach" Tutsis in the name of self-defence. The genocide occurred, in these terms, to help fellow Hutus. Suicide bombers share similar feelings.

Genocide and suicide bombing may seem a far stretch from someone such as Martha, but the underlying principles are related. Altruism may feel right and altruism may feel good, but not all acts of altruism are right and good. Consider the kindly mother who gives her son candy whenever he asks, and ends up with a morbidly obese teenager.

Once you take altruism off its pedestal and are willing to examine it rationally, you begin to see pathologies of altruism all around: well-meaning actions that result in worsening problems. Let's take the concept of political correctness, which involves sacrificing one's own self-interest and self-expression in the belief that doing so will avoid doing anything that might inadvertently make others feel uncomfortable. This has become a powerful tool to harass and silence people. The American journalist Juan Williams, for example, was fired from his job on US broadcaster National Public Radio for admitting that he feels nervous when he sees a traditionally dressed Muslim boarding a plane. Williams' book, Muzzled: the Assault on Honest Debate, soon hit The New York Times' bestseller list, striking a powerful chord because similar problems hit the headlines every day.

The widespread practice of open-minded tolerance of cultural differences has come to mean that truly intolerant practices, including deeply ingrained second-class treatment of women, are treated as simple alternative lifestyles. Thus, non-judgmental open-mindedness has allowed intolerance to take deeper root in society.

If we can learn about the perils of total acceptance through the filter of pathological altruism, can we gauge more, too, about a contentious area such as live-organ donation – an issue that has long aroused passions in the UK? Such a donation is meant to help another, even while there is an obvious cost to oneself. This is altruism, sure – but is it pathological? The crux of the dispute is whether this act has what a rational outside observer would see as irrational and substantial negative consequences.

Reasonable people would agree that a healthy person donating their heart would be irrational – you've only one to give, after all. But reasonable people could disagree about the donation of a kidney. The drawbacks for the donor, who loses the spare organ and risks surgical complications, must be contrasted with one who would lose a life without that kidney. There is no right answer. Few, save the self-righteous, would mandate that one must give a kidney if it would save a life. Yet few, again save the self-righteous, would outright ban kidney donation. It seems that a reasonable approach as to whether or not to donate a kidney should be an individual choice made after careful examination of the risks and trade-offs. As to whether one should be paid for organ donation, there are valid arguments on both sides. The trick is to look at this emotionally laden area with dispassion – not always easy to do.

A quite different topic which has been much in the news lately is that of wages and benefits for public-service union members. If you look only at a single union, and listen to their arguments, you can't help but see that they have a good point – you might go so far as to actively support their cause, even to the extent of preferring, say, a financial settlement that might perhaps benefit them rather than you. Teachers, police, and nurses, for example, do deserve to be paid well.

The problem is that whatever union leaders might say about their union supporting the public at large, they are focusing only on their members, not on the good of the country as a whole. (In this sense, unions are precisely like corporations, beholden only to their shareholders.) By the time one might add up all the benefits that thousands of unions might feel they deserve – benefits that, taken individually, look deserving – the public coffers are under water. In fact, by focusing on only small, individual beneficial actions – a raise for the police here, for teachers there – we miss the greater pathology. The government can end up printing money it doesn't have and hyperinflation results, as in Argentina. Or rioting strikers who feel entitled to ever-more benefits bring the country to its knees, as in Greece. Or the government can sail along without passing a budget, as in America, and suffer ignominious and ruinous downgrade for its lack of financial stewardship. Trying to help everyone, in other words, means that everyone suffers.

Yet altruism is one of the most important qualities humans possess – and what better time to reflect on how truly to be kind, than in the run-up to World Kindness Day next Sunday? Acknowledging that well-intentioned people can and should sometimes take a corrective course of action so their altruistic efforts are truly helpful – both for others and themselves – is what the study of pathological altruism is all about.

the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.

2011-11-06T07:59:00.001Z

Whether you’re mid-bite, mid-sentence or perhaps mid-sleep, do you react to that ‘bing’ from your smartphone? Or, is it the flashing red light that gets you?

You’ve programmed your phone to alert you to messages, or has it programmed you to respond?

From the constant smartphone companion to the laptop replacing the lapdog, the Internet has many of us on a very short leash – an addictive one.

The consumer research firm Intersperience surveyed more than 1,000 people in Britain and found quitting the Internet is as hard for some as quitting drinking or smoking.

Without the Internet, 40% said they felt lonely. Ironically, it’s fathomable that 40% of those living with Internet addicts probably feel lonely too.

Laurie Tamblyn, an addictions counsellor in special programs at Toronto’s Bellwood Health Services, says there are many types of Internet addiction, including gambling, gaming, pornography and social networking.

“We’re just beginning to treat this. It is a big problem and it is going to become bigger before people start recognizing that they need to do something about it,” Tamblyn says.

“Some of us believe there is a tsunami coming because we haven’t fully recognized the problem yet.”

Part of that problem is the generation gap. Children today are children of technology – dependent on the social web and its tools.

Addiction is a progressive illness that ends up in isolation, Tamblyn says, so Internet use can be a slippery slope, and can have devastating effects on relationships.

“The amount of time people spend lost in their behaviours is comparable to a drinker spending time at the bar instead of with his family or friends,” Tamblyn says.

“The addiction becomes the focus of the addict’s life. The focus is to interact with the addiction before anything else. If this doesn’t happen, it results in mood swings and irritability.”

Internet addiction can be difficult to diagnose, says Dr. Greg Dubord, who teaches in the psychiatry department at the University of Toronto.

“Drawing the line between normal Internet use and Internet addiction is often difficult, because no set criteria for diagnosing the disorder have been established by the American Psychiatric Association.”

What is easy to recognize, however, is the impact of web overuse on our relationships.

Though social networking allows us to communicate with people all over the world, at times it seems to segregate us more than ever. Real-life interaction is often interrupted by bings and beeps. Thoughts become tweets and e-mails. Our fingers do the walking and the talking now.

From neglecting friends and family members to creating severe relationship problems, the Internet and our attachment to it can consume our lives.

One study documents 396 negative effects of the web on social involvement, including significant family problems, Dubord says.

“Reports have shown that excessive use of the Internet resulted in personal and family problems, with 53% of test-takers reporting severe relationship problems,” he says.

“Personal and family concerns extended to marriages, dating relationships, parent-child relationships, and close friendships.”

Dubord notes one case where a New York woman divorced her husband due to Internet overuse, and an extreme case involving a Korean couple so addicted to virtual games they let their three-month-old daughter starve to death.

If you think you may have a problem, Tamblyn says the best thing to do is ask for help.

“You can get an assessment at any treatment centre, or do it online and it’s anonymous. There are a lot of people struggling, and there’s a lot of help.”

Too e-dependent? Greg Dubord points out some general warning signs:

1. Lose track of time online.

2. Failed attempts at moderating Internet behaviour.

3. Neglecting work, sleep, friends and/or family to spend time online.

4. Turning to the Internet in times of stress or sadness to feel better.

How to cut down, according to Laurie Tamblyn:

1. Give yourself short breaks throughout the day when you can’t check your messages. Try going for a walk without your smartphone.

2. Put your iPad to bed. Set a bedtime for your Internet devices.

3. Wi-Fi-free meals. Wash your hands of wireless devices before eating.

4. Put your computer in a high-traffic area to stay accountable to those around you.

Italy government hangs by thread as coalition crumbles

2011-11-04T15:29:00.001Z

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's fate hung by a thread Friday and desertions from his crumbling centre-right coalition may have already robbed him of the parliamentary numbers he needs to survive. Berlusconi, caught in the crossfire from European powers and a party revolt at home, agreed at a G20 summit in France to IMF monitoring of economic reforms which he has long promised but failed to implement. But this may soon be irrelevant for the Italian leader, who will return to Rome later Friday to face what looks increasingly like a deadly rebellion by his own supporters. With financial markets in turmoil over the situation in Greece and Italy viewed as the next domino to fall in the euro zone crisis, calls are mounting for a new government to carry through reforms convincing enough to regain international confidence. Berlusconi has consistently rejected calls to resign and says the only alternative to him is an early election next spring, rather than the technocrat or national unity government urged by many politicians and commentators. Yields on 10-year Italian bonds reached 6.36 percent by early afternoon, creeping closer to 7 percent, a level which could trigger a so-called "buyers' strike" where investors take fright and refuse to buy the paper. Two deputies from Berlusconi's PDL party this week defected to the centrist UDC, taking his support in the 630-seat lower house of parliament to 314 compared with the 316 he needed to win a confidence vote last month. But at least seven other former loyalists have called for a new government and could vote against the 75-year-old media magnate. "The (ruling) majority seems to be dissolving like a snowman in spring," said respected commentator Stefano Folli in the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. Other commentators spoke of an "inexorable" revolt against Berlusconi. Even Defence Ministry undersecretary Guido Crosetto, a Berlusconi loyalist, said on television: "I don't know how many days or weeks the government has left. Certainly a majority relying on a few votes cannot continue for long." PATRONAGE Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, still has significant powers of patronage and he and his closest aides are expected to spend the weekend trying to win back support for a parliamentary showdown Tuesday. Some rebels have already threatened to vote against Berlusconi in the vote to sign off on the 2010 budget. Berlusconi faced concerted calls to resign when he lost a previous vote on this routine measure, which was almost unprecedented. Although it is not a confidence motion, he would come under huge pressure if he suffered a second defeat. "Unpopular prescriptions are necessary and this challenge cannot be faced with a 51 percent government," said UDC leader Pier Ferdinando Casini, in a reference to Berlusconi's weakness and a widespread feeling that the reforms can only be passed with a broad consensus. The premier has promised European leaders that he will call a formal confidence motion within 15 days to pass amendments to a budget bill incorporating new measures to stimulate growth and cut Italy's huge debt. That will be in the Senate where he has a more solid majority but it could still bring him down. Berlusconi, beset by a string of sex scandals and court cases, has consistently resisted pressure from groups ranging from a powerful business lobby to the Catholic Church to stand down.

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail

2011-11-03T14:21:00.001Z

COLOMBIAN lingerie model dubbed "Narco Queen" was handed six years in jail yesterday after trying to ship cocaine to Europe in her suitcases. Stunning Angie Sanclemente Valencia, 31, had denied helping her boyfriend recruit other beautiful young women to work for her international drug smuggling ring. The former beauty queen tried to take drugs from Argentina to Europe in late 2009 via Mexico. She was arrested in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2010 after months on the run from police. Her attorney German Delgado said he would appeal the conviction. He insisted there was no proof, declaring that Sanclemente should be acquitted as she had no criminal record. Nicolas Gualco, her boyfriend, was also sentenced to six years and eight months for his role in the same plot. Sanclemente claimed during the trial in Argentina that she travelled to the country to marry Gualco and was not involved in the drug trade. She told the court: "I did not come here to commit crimes, I am not a narco-trafficker." She said all she had done for her boyfriend was "make a few calls", adding: "God knows I did it for love." Another man, Venezuelan Gustavo Paez Arneses, was sentenced to six years and two months for his role in the smuggling attempt.

Addicts may have glitch in frontal brain

2011-11-03T08:19:00.001Z

“The better we understand our decision-making brain circuitry, the better we can target treatment, whether it’s pharmaceutical, behavioral, or deep brain stimulation,” says Jonathan Wallis, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at University of California, Berkeley. Wallis says he was inspired to study the brain mechanism behind substance abuse after observing the lengths to which an addict will go to fulfill a craving, despite knowing the downside of a habit. He wanted to know what the drug did to the brain that made it so difficult to not make the right choice and what prevented the addict from making a healthier one. Straight from the Source Read the original study DOI: 10.1038/nn.2961 In the new study, published in Nature Neuroscience, Wallis targeted the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex—two areas in the frontal brain—because previous research has shown that patients with damage to these areas of the brain are impaired in the choices they make. While these individuals may appear perfectly normal on the surface, they routinely make decisions that create chaos in their lives. A similar dynamic has been observed in chronic drug addicts, alcoholics, and people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies. “They get divorced, quit their jobs, lose their friends, and lose all their money,” Wallis says. “All the decisions they make are bad ones.” To test the hypothesis that these areas of the brain are the key players in impaired decision-making, researchers measured the neural activity of macaque monkeys as they played games in which they identified the pictures most likely to deliver juice through a spout into their mouths. The animals quickly learned which pictures would most frequently deliver the greatest amount of juice, allowing researchers to see what calculations they were making, and in which part of the brain. The brains of macaques function similarly to those of humans in basic decision making. The exercise was designed to see how the animals weigh costs, benefits, and risks. The results show that the orbitofrontal cortex regulates neural activity, depending on the value or “stakes” of a decision. This part of the brain enables you to switch easily between making important decisions, such as what school to attend or which job to take, and making trivial decisions such as coffee versus tea or burrito versus pizza. But in the case of addicts and people with damage to the orbitofrontal cortex, the neural activity does not change based on the gravity of the decision, presenting trouble when these individuals try to get their brains in gear to make sound choices, the findings suggest. As for the anterior cingulate cortex, the study found that when this part of the brain functions normally, we learn quickly whether a decision we made matched our expectations. If we eat food that makes us sick, we don’t eat it again. But in people with a malfunctioning anterior cingulate cortex, these signals are missing, and so they continue to make poor choices, Wallis says. “This is the first study to pin down the calculations made by these two specific parts of the brain that underlie healthy decision-making,” Wallis says, who believes that a clearer understanding of how people with addictions make decisions may help remove some of the stigma of the condition. However, Wallis warned that the findings should not be used as a rationale for addicts to maintain unhealthy habits. Chronic drug and alcohol use changes the brain circuitry, and that can lead to unhealthy choices, he says. If anything, the findings offer hope that, through understanding the mechanism of addiction, treatment can be targeted at these risk-weighing, decision-making centers of the brain. “We know beyond doubt that addiction is a complex brain disease with significant behavioral characteristics,” says Susan E. Foster, vice president and director of policy research and analysis at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. “This research is an important contribution to understanding how the disease works. The challenge going forward is to sharpen our understanding, translate this knowledge into effective medical treatments and new prevention strategies and ultimately find a cure for this disease.” Researchers from the University of London and the University of Oxford contributed to the study that was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000

2011-11-03T08:12:00.001Z

Photo: PA

Top officers warned of the increasing cost of drug-ravaged society with hundreds of millions is being spent on the increasing number of addicts.

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000.

"You work through all the treatment, all the criminal justice issues that arise - then you see a significant costs involved."

Police in Swansea have launched a £500,00 clampdown in the city known as the "heroin capital of Wales" where officers have seized 1,000 "deals" in the last two weeks.

Superintendent Phil Davies said: "Some of these drug dealers have stated they are untouchable.

"My message to them is there is no hiding place, we will find you, we will catch you and we will put you behind bars."

Addict Amy Protheroe, 20, who has been an addict since she was 13 has just started her fifth treatment programme in Swansea.

She said: "When you're a heroin addict you wake up and you think straight away: "Where am I going to get money from, where am I going to score from?'"

"You get up, you go out, you get the money for the heroin, you buy the heroin, you do the heroin and then it starts all over again.

"To be honest, heroin has wrecked my life."

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

2011-10-31T09:26:00.001Z

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000 into Britain.

Former US gang member Derrick ‘Anthony’ Mitchell was held at Heathrow this month after UK Border Agency officers allegedly discovered 3kg of drugs in his luggage.

Mitchell, 37, is a duty manager at the South London-based Kids Company founded by charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set it up in 1996 to care for abused, neglected or abandoned children in London’s inner-city communities.

She has been described as ‘Britain’s most colourful charity leader’ because of her style, dress sense and selfless approach to charity work.

The award-winning author and campaigner was invited to 10 Downing Street last year.

She also advises former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and is thought to be one of the inspirations behind Mr Cameron’s pledge to ‘hug a hoodie’.
Ms Batmanghelidjh spoke of her shock at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, whom she described as a ‘street-level youth mentor’.

She said: ‘Obviously, because the judicial process needs to take place, we cannot legally comment. The only thing I can say is that the alleged incident took place while he was on holiday in his own time.

‘At this stage I do not know enough to know the full details. But as a worker, he gave exceptional commitment to the kids over a number of years and I can never take that away from him.

Pledge: David Cameron's Big Society aims to 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'

As an organisation, we employ a range of people and a lot of them have had challenging backgrounds as children and we have given them chances. The majority of them go on to do incredibly well.

‘In the situation of this individual, if what is alleged has occurred, he has made an abhorrent choice and I do not agree with it.’

Camila Batmanghelidjh said she was shocked at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, claiming he gave 'exceptional commitment to the kids'

Mitchell, of Camberwell, south London, was arrested at Heathrow on October 6 and remanded in custody by Uxbridge magistrates the next day. He will reappear in court in the next month.

The university undergraduate has previously spoken of deciding to rebuild his life after leaving a violent street gang in Miami.

He claimed he had earlier sold drugs and lost a family member to violence at the age of 19 when his sister bled to death after being stabbed in a leg.

After coming to Britain in his 20s, he began working with the charity about five years ago, attempting to convince youths in gangs to turn their back on crime.

Kids Company operates from three centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden in London, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools.

It employs more than 600 people in full and part-time roles to reach out to 14,000 children from the capital’s most deprived and crime-ridden areas.

Many of the youngsters live with parents who are unable to care for them and have had severely troubled lives.

Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

2011-10-31T09:06:00.001Z

2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young. Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet. For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor. "The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said a 19-year-old female heroin addict whose scar are more than skin deep. She grew up far from the west side's rough and tumble streets, amidst the manicured lawns of the far west suburbs which seems an unlikely breeding ground for a new crop of heroin users. "I always thought of them as homeless and not caring about what they look like and real skinny and everything," the 19-year-old addict said. Heroin has never been cheaper and more pure. Just $100 can buy a two day supply. "I knew. The first time I did it I was like, 'This is bad. I like this way too much. And this is going to be bad," said the 19-year-old addict, whose identity ABC7 has hidden. DEA Agent Jack Riley says powerful Mexican drug cartels have partnered with Chicago street gangs to make heroin easily available. "If I had to liken anything to a weapon of mass destruction, it would be heroin," Riley said. After smuggling the drugs here, Riley says the cartels often operate in Spanish-speaking areas near Midway Airport. "They can assimilate into these hard working neighborhoods. They can appear to be great citizens, take care of their lawn, put Christmas lights up," Riley said. The cartels need the gangs to distribute the drugs but officials say fights between the two groups are increasingly to blame for the near-daily violence plaguing some neighborhoods. "What we consider to be senseless violent acts, many of them may be actually connected to the cartel's operations in Chicago," Riley said. It seems the danger is of little deterrent to users. "Within two weeks I was getting sick physically without it, and I needed it," the 19-year-old addict said. It wasn't until an overdose nearly killed her that she began treatment a few weeks ago at New Hope Recovery Center in Geneva. In four years, the facility has seen a seven-fold increase in heroin cases and many involve teens first hooked on prescription painkillers. "They'll run out, and someone will say 'Well, snort some heroin. It'll help you, so you won't go through withdrawals,'" said Jake Epperly, New Hope Recovery Center. That may have been how Billy Roberts began using. The Homer Glen 19-year-old died of an overdose two years ago and his father now warns of heroin's dangers. "I do it for him," said the victim's father John Roberts. "And I'll continue doing it as long as I'm alive. To give my son's life meaning. A former Chicago cop, Roberts says it's time for new solutions. "We need help. The police cannot do this alone. We need a comprehensive, strategic approach to this problem if we're ever going to see these numbers turn downward," Roberts said. To put in perspective how big the problem is here, the Chicago DEA has secured funding for a 90-person strike force to combat the operation run by the cartels and gangs in the city. Officials say it's the only such strike force outside of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 19-year-old woman interviewed by ABC7, who is currently in treatment, says she knows at least 20 other kids her age, from her community, who are current or former users.

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

2011-10-31T06:49:00.001Z

Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles.

PHOTO BY SOURCE: U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects.

Oxy's out. Roxies rule.A tiny blue pill, no bigger than a baby aspirin, overshadows nearly every other illegal drug on the market in East Tennessee. Men and women beg, haggle, threaten, lie, steal and kill — all for a handful of pills.

"It's the new crack," Knox County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Hopkins said. "Most of the addicts we see don't even shop for Oxys now. They've all switched to Roxies, and it's worse than crack ever was."

Doctors, police and emergency workers see the fallout every day. Sometimes it's a pill-sick addict who steals today to buy tonight's fix. Sometimes it's a baby born shaking with seizures from withdrawal.

Commonly abused prescription drugs

Oxycontin: A time-release form of oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, produced by Purdue Pharma and used to treat chronic pain. Strengths range up to 80 mg per pill. Nicknames include Oxys, O's and hillbilly heroin.

Roxicodone: Instant-release form of oxycodone produced by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and used to treat breakthrough pain. Strengths range up to 30 mg per pill. Nicknames include Roxies, blues and stars.

Opana: Time-release form of oxymorphone, a synthetic opioid, produced by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Nicknames include stop signs, biscuits, octagons and Mrs. O.

Methadone: Synthetic opioid, typically prescribed in pill or wafer form, used to treat pain and to ease withdrawal symptoms for opiate addicts.

Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet: Mixtures of oxycodone and acetaminophen.Percodan, Endodan, RoxiprinMixtures of oxycodone and aspirin.

Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet: Mixtures of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Nicknames include Vikes and hydros.

Fentanyl: Synthetic opioid, stronger than morphine, typically prescribed in patch or lollipop form. Nicknames include china white and perc-a-pop.

Xanax: Brand name of alprazolam, a benzodiazepine produced by Pfizer and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg. Nicknames include footballs and totem poles.

Valium: Brand name of diazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 10 mg.

Klonopin: Brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg.

Ambien: Brand name of zolpidem tartrate, a sedative produced by Sanofi-Aventis. Strengths range up to 10 mg.

Suboxone: Combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, used to treat opiate withdrawal.

Pill Sick: The series

Sunday

Tennessee drug task force waging lonely war on Rx diversion

Law enforcement battling to cut off pain drug pipeline

Drug war's new front makes for unlikely targets

Living for the needle: Addict's life a daily, desperate struggle

Prescription pills are East Tennessee's 'new crack'

A year of pills: Drugs leave trail of damage, crime

Summary findings from the News Sentinel investigation into the pill trade

Sometimes it's a corpse — a dealer killed for pills or an addict who chased the last high off the edge of oblivion.

Oxycodone hydrochloride tablets sell at the pharmacy counter under the brand name Roxicodone and offer quick relief from chronic pain for the old, the aching, the crippled and the dying.

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth — all without the pesky time-release formula that coats Oxycontin, the drug's sister medication.

"It's the epidemic of the day," Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said. "Everything is attached to it now. Our investigators will tell you that 90 percent of the folks we see who've committed a crime say it's to get their medicine. That's what they call it — medicine.

"The days of the crack dealer on the corner are slowly waning. It's become the medicine dealer on the street."

Drugs of choice

Three people died last year in South Knox County when two men broke into a former police officer's house to steal legally prescribed painkillers. Police say a North Knoxville man's stepson beat him and his wife to death in August to steal pain pills, then burned down the house to cover up the crime.

A rash of drugstore robberies last fall and winter set a local record. Semiannual drug roundups keep rural jails packed and court dockets clogged.

Officers on the beat report dealing with addicts desperate to avoid jail and the agonies of withdrawal. Sometimes they run. Sometimes they fight.

"We're out here beating the bushes today, and in a few months we'll be out here again doing the same thing," said Capt. David Honeycutt, chief investigator for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, as he headed out with a stack of indictments in another drug roundup. "Pills have changed the face of law enforcement. It used to be pot, maybe Valium. Now it's pain pills, and they're crazy as hell on them. You'd be hard-pressed to find a family that's not been hurt by these drugs."

Tennessee topped the nation last year in busts of methamphetamine labs, where addicts churn out toxic waste breaking down cold and sinus pills to produce a homemade stimulant. Meth hasn't gone away, but police say they spend more time and money now fighting to keep the cap on the prescription bottle.

"People are afraid of meth, because everybody doesn't do meth," Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults said. "Everybody doesn't do crack. But everybody's on pills of some kind. Pills come from a doctor. People see that as safe. A doctor gives them out, so they've got to be good."

From Oxy to Roxies

Purdue Pharma's Oxycontin tablets once stood as the gold standard for opiate abusers, with concentrated doses of up to 80 mg of oxycodone locked inside a time-release formula easy to crack. Addicts crushed the pills to powder, then snorted or injected them to turn 12 hours of pain relief into an instant high.

That golden egg gained an extra shell when Purdue introduced a new formula last year meant to cut down on abuse. The second-generation Oxys come wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that burns nostrils and resists the needle.

Some addicts claim to have found ways to beat the coating. Most don't bother.

Roxicodone and its generic equivalents deliver smaller doses of the same drug to treat the short, sharp bursts of breakthrough pain that plague cancer patients and others between round-the-clock doses of painkillers like Oxy. The pills come in 15 mg and 30 mg strength with no gelcap and no time-release coating, ready to deliver instant relief — or an instant high.

"There's no preparation," said Officer Phil Jinks of the Knoxville Police Department's Repeat Offender Squad. "It's straight out of the bottle."

The easy access and potential for profit have caught on among young and old.

"We're dealing with kids in high school, and we've got people retirement age selling," KCSO Sgt. Chris Bryant said. "Pills are easy to get for kids. We've given several drug education classes to teachers, and the first question is always, 'What are those little blue pills we keep seeing?' Those are Roxies."

Some officials expect the problem will only get worse. Opana, a time-release form of oxymorphone introduced five years ago, and fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine, offer a stronger high than the old Oxycontin with an even greater potential for overdosing.

Meanwhile, addicts keep working on ways to crack the new Oxys.

"Any time there's a chemical change, there's somebody out there who can alter the effects of that change," Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin said. "I don't think you can stop these people from doing what they're doing. The only thing you can do is try to slow them down."

Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

2011-10-31T06:37:00.001Z

Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress). But even more remarkable, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse all the abnormalities (including the addictive behavior) by giving the animals dopamine (a neurotransmitter/ brain chemical). The study has several implications – for a start it alerts for the dangers of high levels of stress during pregnancy, but - since GC are often prescribed as an anti-inflammatory or to help organ maturation during pregnancy - it also calls for an urgent investigation on the effects of this drug in pregnant women. But it is what we learn about addiction that is most interesting - the work not only unveils stress as a new susceptibility factor for the disease, but also a very simple treatment that, if translated into humans, could one day mean an effective treatment, and maybe even the prevention of human addiction. Drug addiction was for a long time a character flaw, a moral problem. Now, instead, is accepted as the complex brain disease that is with the addict a patient in need of treatment. After all many people try drugs, but only a few become addicts And it is in these few that lays the key to the disease and its treatment. So what do we know about these patients and the disease? First although the psychological and social contexts in which the drug is taken are important, as much as 50% of the compulsion is in the individual’s genetic makeup. We know that addiction is linked to the mesolimbic system - the brain area that evolved to provide feelings of pleasure to actions that increase our survival chances, such as eat, sex and social stimulation. In fact, drugs activate the mesolimbic circuit too, only far stronger than any physiologic stimulus. This leads to the production of very high quantities of dopamine – the brain chemical linked to pleasure – creating the euphoria that brings users back. After while, though, the brain no longer can cope with the constant ” high” and adapts by becoming desensitised to dopamine (produced by any type of stimulus) what leads users to consume more in order to “feel” again and trapping those more susceptible in addiction. And with the brain changes induced by drugs being apparently long-lasting - since both cravings and relapses don’t disappear with time – it is not easy to escape once trapped. Adding another piece to the puzzle, recently the disease was also linked to stress during crucial developmental periods, such as feotal life. In fact, high levels of prenatal stress increase propensity to mental problems and now have been suggested also to substance abuse, with the effects being mediated by glucocorticoids (GC). Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Rodrigues and Sousa’s group have a long history of interest in stress and have seen before that rats from mothers injected with GC while pregnant (mimicking pre-natal stress) show changes in their mesolimbic area and in the dopamine response. So in the study now published, following these results and the addiction-stress link, the researchers investigated the responses to drugs in rats exposed to GC while in the uterus. These rats were found to have a susceptibility to addiction not present in control (non-exposed) rats. When their mesolimbic system was examined they also showed several structural and molecular abnormalities, including less dopamine. The levels of their dopamine receptor Drd2, despite initially being very high, once they experimented drugs, went to abnormally low levels . So why is this important? Because reduced dopamine and Drd2 levels are typical of addicts suggesting that stress and long-term exposure to drugs affect the brain in very similar ways what could explain why the first could lead to the second. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The good news is that low levels of dopamine can be treated so Rodrigues and colleagues restored the rats’ dopamine levels to normal just to find,much to their surprise, that all the structural and molecular abnormalities induced by prenatal GC were reversed. Even more surprising, the addictive behavior also disappeared. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As Ana João Rodrigues explains, “This is a remarkable result because it suggests that with a relatively simple pharmacological approach- restoration of dopamine levels- we can eventually treat, and even more importantly, potentially prevent drug abuse in vulnerable individuals. Of course that we still have a long way to go but our results are quite promising. In fact, if we know where susceptibility to substance abuse lies – and low dopamine and altered Drd2 response seems to be it - then maybe we can find better ways to prevent/treat this disorder. “ Restoring dopamine levels has been used to treat cocaine cravings but the few trials looking at its effect on addiction were never very clear. One possible reason might be the length or the dosages used – in Rodrigues’ study, rats treated for 3 days reverted back to an addictive behavior 3 weeks after the end of the treatment, but this no longer occurs if the treatment continues for 3 weeks Now it will be necessary to test this new theory in humans what could be problematic with addicts as they are notoriously not the most cooperative or reliable research subjects. Large human studies on the effect of prenatal stress are also difficult to mount but there are a couple of them being run at the moment that could be tagged into such as “Project Ice Storm” in Canada.This study is following women pregnant n January 98 in southern Québec during an extreme ice storm that led to electrical power failures affecting more than 3 million people for as much as 6 weeks during the coldest month of the year(when temperatures can go to -18 C). It is still early for any studies on addiction(the children are only 13 years old after all) but it will be an interesting place to look, especially since abnormal levels of behavioral and cognitive problems have already been detected by scientists. Drug abuse and addiction carry enormous social and financial costs to society, families and individuals.Only in the US, the National Institute for Drug Abuse calculates that more than600 billion dollars are being spent, annually, to combat the disease. Despite this,a steady increase of drug use among teenagers and in prescription drugs continues with treatments remaining as inefficient as ever. Rodrigues and Sousa’s work might be the first step towards a solution if their remarkable results can be translated into humans.

UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

2011-10-31T06:29:00.001Z

Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to new treatments for individuals who struggle with addiction. By measuring the neural activity of macaque monkeys, researchers were able to pinpoint the two specific ways the brain makes decisions, which they explained in a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They now understand that neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex determines the value of decisions, while neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex evaluates the difference between expectations and results, which is responsible for future behavior. “The brain is basically a computer, and the neuron is taking information and then giving information that they’ve calculated,” said Jonathan Wallis, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the principal investigator of the study. “This is the first time we’ve been able to show the specific computation to decision-making in specific areas of the brain. That was really the novelty.” While previous research has determined that these sections of the brain are dysfunctional in addicts, the new research explains how the damage leads to addiction. If these parts of the frontal cortex are impaired, addicts lack the signals that provide them with accurate information about how valuable a choice is, making it less likely that they will learn the consequences of their actions, according to Wallis. “If you’re an addict and this area is impaired, you may not realize your goals, and you potentially are not going to learn from unhealthy decisions,” Wallis said. Wallis and his team conducted the research by testing the neural activity of macaque monkeys as they played games that gauged their ability to make decisions. Researchers could measure the calculations that the monkeys were making in the different areas of the brain, which mimicked the way that humans make decisions. The researchers completed the experiment in 2006 and have spent the last five years analyzing the data. Although still a few steps in the future, the ultimate goal of the study is to use the results to treat for individuals with addictions. “Besides therapy, there is nothing we can do for someone that is severely addicted,” Wallis said. “So far no surgical or pharmaceutical treatments exist. By figuring out what is going on when healthy people are making decisions, we can figure out what is going wrong when addicts make bad decisions and find some ways to target these specific areas of the brain.” While the study has led to a greater understanding of how the brain values decisions, researchers will still need to further investigate how addictive drugs are valued in order to develop more effective treatments, according to Howard Fields, professor of neurology and director of the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UC San Francisco. “This is a new and important scientific advance,” Fields said. “It is likely that addiction involves dysfunction of the relation between valuation of outcomes and subsequent decision making. In other words, drugs become overvalued compared to other action outcomes. Only by understanding the relation of valuation to action selection will we fully understand how drugs become addictive. After we do that, we’ll be able to develop more effective treatments.”

Drug That Killed Michael Jackson "Was Self-Injected"

2011-10-30T11:02:00.001Z

The jury hear evidence that MJ had also taken a large number of sleeping pills… 08:42, Sunday, 30 October 2011 The last defence witness in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, has told the courtroom that he believed the star was responsible for his own death. Dr Paul White told jurors that the most likely cause of death was self-injection of a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol, after Murray had already administered a small amount. "With the administration of the additional 25 milligrams that we're speculating was self-injected by Mr Jackson, the level increases rapidly and at the time of death would be almost identical to the level found in the urine at autopsy," Dr White said. He revealed that the superstar also appeared to have taken a large dose of sedatives – eight Lorazepam tablets – earlier in the night without Murray’s knowledge. White said that mixing the two drugs would be deadly. "The combination effect is potentially profound." Earlier this week a specialist testified that Michael may have also been addicted to the painkiller Demerol, and was also a regular user of Botox. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter into the star’s untimely death in June 2009. The prosecution has already presented four weeks of evidence so it won’t be long before the jurors retire to decide the verdict. Michael’s sister Janet Jackson recently postponed tour dates in Australia in order to be in LA when the verdict is announced. She explained her decision in a statement: "When I planned these shows, the schedule in California was completely different. After talking with my family last night, I decided we must be together right now.”

resumption of heavy drinking killed the singer, who was best-known for her tall beehive hairdo and Grammy-winning album "Back to Black."

2011-10-29T00:01:00.001+01:00

Amy Winehouse

(Credit: Ian Gavan)

(CBS/AP) "Death by misadventure." That was an English coroner's curiously quaint way of saying Amy Winehouse drank herself to death. The troubled singer was found with empty vodka bottles in her room and more than five times the legal limit for drinking in England, coroner Suzanne Grennaway said on Wednesday.

Winehouse was 27 when she was found dead in her London home on July 23. She had fought a long and public battle with drug and alcohol abuse, and some speculated she died from a drug overdose. But a pathologist said the small amount of a drug prescribed to curb symptoms of alcohol withdrawal had nothing to do with her death.

Instead, a resumption of heavy drinking killed the singer, who was best-known for her tall beehive hairdo and Grammy-winning album "Back to Black."

Winehous's blood contained 416 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters at the time of her death, pathologist Suhail Baithun said. That equals a a blood alcohol level of 0.4 percent. The British and U.S. legal drunk-driving limit is 0.08 percent.

"Many people don't realize that alcohol can kill you if taken in large enough doses," substance abuse expert Dr. Scott T. Walters, professor of behavioral and community health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, told CBS News in an email. A depressant, alcohol can slow vital functions like breathing and heart rate to the point they stop.

There is no minimum dose for acute alcohol poisoning and the condition varies depending on a person's age, gender, and weight. In recent years, the 5-foot-3-inch Winehouse had appeared extremely thin.

Walters wouldn't speculate on the particulars of Winehouse's death but said a 110-pound woman could reach a potentially lethal blood-alcohol level by downing about 15 ounces of vodka within an hour's time.

Winehouse joins a long list of celebrities who died after fighting alcohol problems, including jazz great Billie Holiday, AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott, film legend Richard Burton, writers Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac, and country music pioneer Hank Williams.

Gang ringleaders: Mehmet Sirin Baybasin (left) and Paul Taylor (Pic: PA)

2011-10-27T23:46:00.001+01:00

A GANG of drug dealers planned to flood Britain with £4 billion of cocaine - arranging the plot from a phone box.

The Liverpool and London-based gangsters were planning to smuggle 40 tonnes of cocaine from South America by sea, hidden inside tins of fish and wooden pallets.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the drug would be bought at a "wholesale price" and then sold to other dealers who would dilute it and sell it on.

If all the cocaine had made it to the streets of the UK and it was cut before being sold, the court heard it could have been worth around £4 billion.

The head of the Liverpool operation used a phone box in Old Hall Street, in Liverpool city centre, to arrange the deal with his London counterpart.

But the gang were being watched by undercover officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

The phone box on Old Hall Street used by one of the drug dealers

The group was led by Mehmet Sirin Baybasin, 48, of Fairfield Crescent, Edgware, north-west London, who was jailed for 30 years at a hearing last week after he was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine.

The court heard that Baybasin was one of a total of 24 defendants brought to justice as part of the Soca investigation and that he was "at the top of the pyramid".

Judge David Aubrey QC said the offences had "at their core the evil and pernicious trade of drug dealing" and were indicative of the gang's "desire for the good life".

He said he was satisfied that the amounts they were talking about were not "pie in the sky" and that the wholesale value of 1,102lb (500kg) of uncut cocaine alone was worth a potential £17 million

Conrad Murray, the doctor charged with causing Michael Jackson's death, broke down in tears today

2011-10-27T02:36:00.001+01:00

Conrad Murray, the doctor charged with causing Michael Jackson's death, broke down in tears today as a procession of patients painted him as a caring physician who helped save lives and offered his services for free to the poor.

The doctor has shown little emotion during the three weeks of damning testimony in which prosecutors blasted him as inept and greedy.

But he broke down as jurors at Los Angeles Superior Court finally heard about a different side of the doctor accused of mishandling the singer's care.

Shedding tears: Dr Conrad Murray lost his composure at the LA trial for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson after jurors heard from the defence's character witnesses

Two character witnesses were scolded by Judge Michael Pastor for going over to shake Murray's hand after giving evidence.

Andrew Guest, 48, from Las Vegas, told jurors: 'I believe that Dr Murray is not getting a fair shake. I believe he needs support. I am alive today because of that man.'

The Tolerance Effect: How Drinking May Have Really Killed Amy Winehouse

2011-10-27T02:31:00.001+01:00

Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning, according to a British coroner's inquest released Wednesday. The singer had a blood level of alcohol five times the legal limit for driving at the time of her "death by misadventure," the report said. But the ultimate cause of her death may have been ignorance: Winehouse was likely unaware of the potentially fatal change in alcohol tolerance that follows a period of sobriety. By all accounts, the soulful singer had been sober for about a month, before relapsing in the days leading up to her death. Police recovered three empty vodka bottles in the London apartment where her body was found. Winehouse had been prescribed a sedative to mitigate withdrawal symptoms, but no other drugs were found in her body when she died, and the coroner ruled that drugs did not contribute to her death. Given Winehouse's well-known history of excess, it's probably safe to assume that she had in the past consumed the same amount of alcohol that killed her, likely without experiencing much more than passing out and waking up with a hangover. So why was it different this time? It may have been due to Winehouse's recent abstinence. Winehouse had almost certainly built up tolerance to alcohol while she was drinking, then lost it during her few weeks of sobriety. Tolerance develops in part because the brain is a very conservative organ. When drugs push certain brain systems in one direction, other systems try to balance out the effect by pulling them back the opposite way. That means that the same dose of a drug will over time produce a smaller effect. And this increasingly unsatisfying experience prompts addicts to take more and more. Eventually, users need extreme doses to get the same high. MORE: Amy Winehouse and the Pain of Addiction This is precisely why doctors can't always determine whether any given dose of a drug is "lethal," and coroners may not be able to establish whether it was the cause of death. Heroin addicts often take doses that would kill 10 non-addicted people, and they can do it without even feeling high or suffering any impairment. (Indeed, methadone maintenance treatment is based on the fact that a steady, regular dose of a substance produces such predictable tolerance that it does not impair cognitive functioning or skills like driving.) Significant periods of abstinence, however, can eliminate or dramatically reduce tolerance. If you needed 10 drinks to get drunk before you quit alcohol, then you might slug them down before you realize how much stronger the effects are now. It's possible that in Winehouse's case, such a mistake was deadly. Research shows that one of the highest risk periods for overdose is in the first days of relapse, immediately following a period of abstinence. That's true whether the substance involved is alcohol, opioids like heroin or — as is often the case — a mixture of multiple drugs. This aspect of shifting tolerance is an important cause of overdose death. Obviously, it's safest to avoid becoming an addict or alcoholic in the first place — and if you do become addicted, it's certainly best to avoid relapsing. But relapse doesn't have to be deadly. Awareness of the problem of tolerance can at least give people a chance to reduce the risk of overdose, so that they can hopefully return to recovery. If you do relapse, be mindful that the dose you took the day before you quit may now be deadly.

The singer was found five times over the drink-drive limit, with three empty vodka bottles next to her.

2011-10-27T00:27:00.001+01:00

Troubled: Amy Winehouse on stage in Serbia a month before she died

TRAGIC Amy Winehouse died after a killer booze bender following weeks on the wagon, her inquest was told yesterday.

She suffered alcohol poisoning but had told her doctor the night before: “I don’t want to die.”

The Back to Black star, 27, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was discovered lifeless in bed at her North London home on Saturday, July 23.

In June, she had stumbled around the stage during a shambolic concert in Belgrade, Serbia, where she was booed off after slurring through songs.

And as tearful parents Mitch and Janis listened yesterday in the public gallery, the hearing was told Amy did not drink for the first three weeks of July.

Tears: Amy's dad Mitch Winehouse and stepmum Jane arrive at the Coroners' Court (Pic: Getty)

But she then hit the bottle days before her death – and the Mirror reported at the time she was spotted necking shots at the Roundhouse venue near her Camden home after dramatically falling off the wagon.

Giving evidence yesterday, her GP Dr Christina Romete said this fitted a pattern in which Amy would abstain from alcohol for weeks, only to drink again. The doctor revealed she warned the star of the many dangers if she kept drinking.

Dr Romete said: “The advice I had given to Amy over a long period of time was verbal and in written form about all the effects alcohol can have on the system, including respiratory depression and death, heart problems, fertility problems and liver problems.”

Amy, who won five Grammy awards in 2008, was taking medication to cope with alcohol withdrawal and anxiety. She was reviewed last year by a psychologist and psychiatrist about her drinking but “had her own views” about treatment.

The GP, who treated her for several years, said her patient fully understood the risks of continuing to drink. Dr Romete said the night before her death, Amy was “tipsy but coherent” and said she did not know if she was going to stop drinking but “she did not want to die”.

Amy had no illegal drugs in her system when she died but police found three empty vodka bottles in her bedroom – two large and one small.

She was using alcohol withdrawal drug Librium and sleeping tablets but the inquest heard they had not played a part in her death.

At St Pancras Coroner’s Court in London, it emerged she had 416mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in her system, with the legal driving limit being 80mg

Rival gangsters pack Vancouver courts

2011-10-22T07:06:00.001+01:00

Members of the Gang Task Force were used to boost security at the Vancouver Law Courts Thursday as four separate gang cases went ahead with rivals appearing on different floors. Eight members of the uniformed GTF arrived for a bail revocation hearing for accused drug trafficker Sukhveer Dhak. One floor below, a cocaine conspiracy trial continued for Dhak rival Jarrod Bacon. Supt. Doug Kiloh, of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said the GTF officers were on hand because "there is clearly unresolved conflict between gangs." "Do we have concern when we bring them together? Yes, and clearly that poses a public safety risk," Kiloh said. "Even at the Bacon trial, there is going to be conflict internally there." Kiloh said that when any case like that of Bacon and coaccused Wayne Scott has wiretaps being played, things can be tense because of what one party says about the other. Earlier this week, a tape was played in court of Scott saying Bacon's parents were aware of his criminal enterprise, and profited from it. "There are a number of security precautions we are taking," Kiloh said of the Bacon-Scott case. Not only were Dhak and Bacon in separate courtrooms Thursday, but the Greeks gang murder case continued in high-security Courtroom 20 a few floors below. And another case, involving men linked to the United Nations gang, was in pre-trial hearings next door to Dhak. Kiloh said CFSEU has several other big cases and that more charges are expected to be laid in coming weeks. "We know we have been pushing Crown hard. We know they have their hands full," he said. "We hope to have more charges in the coming weeks and months in high-profile cases involving gangs and organized crime." And Kiloh said law enforcement will continue to move forward with major gang prosecutions because "it reduces the threat of public safety issues." Just last month, GTF head officer Supt. Tom McCluskie issued an extraordinary public warning that anyone associating with Dhak or those in the affiliated Duhre group could be at risk because of escalating gang tensions. The Dhaks, Duhres and some members of the UN gang are aligned against an opposing group consisting of some Hells Angels, Red Scorpions and the Independent Soldiers. On Sept. 16, Dhak associate Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun was shot several times in a targeted Surrey shooting that police say may have been in retaliation for the Aug. 14 attack in Kelowna that left Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon dead and Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach wounded. Dhak was originally charged in October 2008 with production of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and conspiracy to commit indictable offence. He is due to go to trial in that case next April. But he was arrested Sept. 18 for allegedly driving while prohibited related to an incident on July 30, 2011. He is also before the courts on another breach allegation related to a Kelowna incident in March 2011 and was charged in December 2010 with one count of counselling to commit the indictable offence of aggravated assault. Justice Brenda Brown reserved her decision on Dhak's bail until next Wednesday. Dhak, dressed in red prison garb, whispered through Plexiglas to his girlfriend at the morning break Thursday. Police sat in the front row, several seats away from Dhak's mother, sister and girlfriend. Details of submissions and arguments at the two-hour hearing are covered by a publication ban. Kiloh said top police officers from around the Lower Mainland met Thursday to discuss the level of gang tensions. He said the situation is very fluid, with unresolved conflicts between some, and others making new associations that police are trying to assess.