"There are addicts who will spend the rest of their lives on the drug, and distributing it to them is a vital treatment," one specialist said.

12:45 Tel Aviv 0 Comments

"There are addicts who will spend the rest of their lives on the drug, and distributing it to them is a vital treatment," one specialist said. Tel Aviv has come up with a controversial new plan to give free heroin to addicts who have failed rehabilitation attempts, reports the Hebrew weekly Yediot Tel Aviv. City health and welfare officials are putting together the revolutionary plan, which is aimed at preventing the social damage caused by addicts trying to obtain money to buy the illicit drugs. According to the report, four out of every five heroin addicts who complete rehabilitation programs eventually end up back on the drug, and three out of every four property crimes are committed by drug addicts. The city's welfare service has decided to follow the example of some European countries and has come up with a plan to provide controlled quantities of heroin free to adult addicts who have failed several rehabilitation attempts. The distribution would be done at a specific medical clinic under the supervision of doctors. The plan will need to come before the Health Ministry for approval before it can go ahead.
The report said the city's welfare service is currently dealing with 1,707 households for drug-related problems, and workers in the field have long recognized that major problems arise from addicts' attempts to get money for drugs. Police statistics show that 75 percent of property crimes and many of the recent attacks on elderly people have been committed by addicts trying to get money. The figures also show that only 20% of addicts succeed in rehabilitation programs in the long term. The report said there are currently some 15,000 drug addicts in Israel, most of them addicted to heroin. No response was reported from the Health Ministry.

Jordan denied that she took cocaine during a drug binge

12:38 Jordan 0 Comments

“I seriously thought, ‘Shall I end it now?’” Jordan revealed of her feelings. (ANI)Jordan denied that she took cocaine during a drug binge that left her feeling suicidal.Jordan, who is a 29-year-old mother of three, had taken the substance behind her husband Peter Andre’s back, but she has refused to reveal what it was she had used.On Feb 17 a spokeswoman for Jordan denied that it was cocaine that the model had used.“Katie did not take an illegal substance. It was a prescription drug,” the Sun quoted the spokeswoman as saying.“She did turn to drugs in the lowest ebb of her life. She knows it was a stupid thing to do,” the spokeswoman stated."Katie did not have to talk about this but has decided to do so as a warning. She wants to stop other people turning to drugs as a way of dealing with their problems,” the spokeswoman added.The model has confessed to the ordeal in her book ‘Jordan: Pushed To The Limit’, where she admitted that she had taken the drug in a bid to beat postnatal depression but feared she had overdosed.Jordan’s doctor had given her the all clear, but there was huge fight between her and 34-year-old Andre, making her run away from their home.

Stephen Crump Pickwicks and Bar Bed in Whitechapel dealing coke.

17:23 London 1 Comments

Stephen Crump, 41, who once earned £250,000 a year, was arrested by an undercover policewoman in a pub on the edge of the Square Mile. He was seized in a Met operation that uncovered a number of cocaine dealers selling drugs to City workers. Three dealers who sold between £20,000 and £30,000 worth of the drug a week to office workers in their lunch breaks have already been jailed.
Crump blamed the stress of his job after being caught plying the woman officer with cocaine on three separate occasions at the Mr Pickwicks bar. He was held in a 20-month investigation codenamed Operation Telon - the biggest of its kind ever carried out by Scotland Yard's Clubs and Vice Unit - which uncovered drug dealing at Mr Pickwicks and Bar Bed in Whitechapel. The former stockbroker was given a suspended sentence and ordered to do 250 hours of community service after his lawyer told the court he had turned to drugs to cope with his high-pressure career. Crump, who is now taking an IT course and trying to start up his own business, started work in the City at 17 and said he was offered cocaine almost immediately. At the peak of his addiction the father of two was spending £400 a day on cocaine and drinking two bottles of wine, 10 pints of lager and a bottle of vodka. He said: 'The pressures were immense and everyone was doing it. You would hear sniffing in the toilets. We would start work at 6.30am, take our first line at 11.30am, then be entertaining until 2am. I was very young and impressionable and suddenly I was earning all this money. 'I then became involved in a co-dependent relationship and would get home and carry on doing cocaine and drinking, then have a shower and go back to work. I was working in Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong, flying first class on holiday to Barbados and buying £2,000 Gucci suits. 'Now everything is gone. But I've been clean for 18 months and am pressing on, turning my life around and fighting to see my kids. I'm also engaged to a wonderful woman who has had a big part to play in my recovery.' In court his lawyer, John King, described how his client had only offered the cocaine to the officer in an attempt to woo her. This was about impressing a woman rather than commercial dealing,' he said. 'This sort of thing is rife in City traders and people working in the City as he was.' Venue: Bar Bed in WhitechapelHe added: '(Crump) had essentially been living in a dream world for 15 years, living with cocaine and therefore not taking care of his life or his family. Now he is, and he has changed dramatically.' Crump, of Basildon, Essex, admitted three counts of supplying a class-A drug and one of facilitating the supply of a class-A drug and was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for two years. In November, Phillip James, 38, who lived in a Docklands apartment off The Highway, and Lee Ingram, 40, of Harwood Hall Lane, who had a £1.5m Upminster home, were each jailed for 10 years by Southwark crown court.They ran a highly lucrative cocaine and Viagra racket based at the Bar Bed in Leman Street. They spent their profits on holidays in Dubai and southern Spain and expensive jewellery. Anthony Best, 37, of Firbank Road, Romford, a crack addict who worked for the pair, was jailed for seven years. A spokesman for charity DrugScope said that many City workers turned to drugs. 'The problem is so bad that many City employers now have drug and alcohol policies and run random drug tests,' he said. 'Cocaine makes people more energetic and confident, which they might see as a benefit. When taken with alcohol it can also mean people are able to drink more.'

Mel Gibson has attended Alcoholics Anonymous

00:31 Mel Gibson 0 Comments

Mel Gibson was today given the thumbs up by a judge to finally put his DUI shame behind him. was praised for meeting all the demands of his probation and told he will not have to come back to court.Judge Lawrence J. Mira saluted Gibson for sticking to the rules of his rehabilitation at the half-way stage and wished him good luck for the future. But the judge warned: “Now you’re on you’re your own.“This will be the most difficult time for you.”Gibson, smartly dressed in a suit, only spoke when the judge told him: “I believe you are committed to this rehabilitation.”
He replied: “Yes.”The actor, who infamously made ant-Semitic comments when he was arrested, stood alongside his attorney with his hands behind his back throughout the probation progress hearing in Malibu. He looked visibly relieved as he realised his DUI nightmare in the courts was finally over.Judge Mira, who had insisted Gibson appear in person, told him: “I am pleased with the efforts you have put in on this round of probation.
“This hasn’t been easy for you.”But the judge stressed Gibson is still only half-way through his probation. He said: “This probation has to run 36 months. There is no early termination.”The court heard how Gibson has attended Alcoholics Anonymous and court-ordered DUI meetings. Judge Mira said: “I don’t see in this particular case any need for future progress reports.”
He told Gibson he can continue to count on the support of the court and added: “Good luck to you.”The judge refused to let the hearing be recorded by reporters as he agreed it could encourage crazed fans who Gibson has been forced to take out a restraining order against.Oscar-winner Gibson pleaded no contest to the DUI charge in August 2006 and was given three years’ probation. He was also ordered to pay $1,400 in fines and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which he now does voluntarily.Gibson was driving his Lexus in Malibu when he was arrested in the early hours of the morning in July 2006. He issued a statement a day later apologizing for his “belligerent behaviour” when he was arrested. And he admtitted he had “battled the disease of alcoholism for all my adult life”.

alcohol related deaths in Suffolk has soared by nearly 50 per cent in the space of just four years

09:02 Suffolk 0 Comments

new figures show the number of alcohol related deaths in Suffolk has soared by nearly 50 per cent in the space of just four years.The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, show that in 2002 there were 48 alcohol related deaths in Suffolk - but this increased by 45.8pc to 70 in 2006.The increase is more than twice the regional average.Deaths across the East of England increased by 21.9pc in the same period from 456 alcohol related deaths in 2002 to 556 in 2006.The statistics came to light following a parliamentary question from Richard Spring MP.Mr Spring, Conservative MP for West Suffolk, has called on government to take action to stem the problem.He said: “The tragic cost of excessive drinking is putting a huge burden on our NHS.“It is causing massive additional pressure on our local hospitals and emergency services.“The government needs to stop thinking in the short term, make public health a priority and produce some serious solutions to tackle this growing problem.”The new data coincides with figures published last month showing 157 people were admitted to Ipswich Hospital for alcoholic liver disease in 2005/06 compared with 102 in 2001/02 - a rise of 53.9pc.

Meanwhile 98 people were admitted for cirrhosis of the liver in 2005/06 compared with 63 in 2001/02 - a rise of 55.6pc.

we found kids as young as 14 who were knocking back adult-sized quantities of booze - and boasting of doing it every week

08:59 nation's underage drinkers 0 Comments

Are our youngsters really spending their pocket money on super-strength cider and hard spirits? The government certainly thinks so.Home Secretary Jacqui Smith plans to crack down on the nation's underage drinkers. Police will get the power to seize alcohol from under-18s, and Smith is also considering bringing in fines and parental contracts.But is this an over-reaction? Are things really that bad? To find out, Mirror investigators talked to youngsters in nine typical towns across the UK at 9pm on Friday night.We met them on the streets, in parks, playgrounds and even outside an under-18s alcohol-free disco - and quizzed them about their drinking habits.Horrified, we found kids as young as 14 who were knocking back adult-sized quantities of booze - and boasting of doing it every week.Many admitted to us that they'd ended up brawling and having under-age sex after getting tanked up on cheap supermarket booze.Frank Soodeen of the charity Alcohol Concern says: "Your investigation shows that more children than ever are getting access to alcohol and many of them are turning into hardened drinkers at a very young age."There's a clear link between early alcohol use and hard drug use, crime, poor performance in school and unwanted teen pregnancies... It's a bit much for adults to say how terrible underage drinking is when we haven't

Drugs and alcohol remain key drivers of crime and are of significant public concern.

08:53 Government review 0 Comments

Binge-drinking and alcohol-related violence will affect Britain's streets for years to come, an internal Government review warns.The Cabinet Office strategy document paints a depressing picture of a nation which will face "persisting" problems with yob crime - as well as huge pressures caused by immigration.It will be seized on by critics as proof that, despite ten years of initiatives, the Government has failed to get a grip on anti-social behaviour or migration.The 180-page study - entitled Realising Britain's Potential: Future Strategic Challenges for Britain - says: "Drugs and alcohol remain key drivers of crime and are of significant public concern."Social trends mean the challenges of drugs and alcohol are likely to remain, with the consumption of Class A drugs and binge-drinking persisting.""Particular future challenges surround high-visibility offending (such as underage binge-drinking in public and anti-social behaviour) and high harm/profile offending (such as gang-related violence)."The review, slipped out on Friday after MPs left for the half-term recess, also warns that gun crime has yet to be brought under control.The strategy document - which has a foreword by Gordon Brown - says: "Particular attention needs to be paid to certain offences such as some forms of violent crime (e.g. gun and knife crime) that have remained persistent. There are particular challenges in relation to gun crime."It also warns that only one in five people believe Government claims that crime is falling. Fewer than half - 43 per cent - believe police numbers have been increased.Confidence in the criminal justice system is also falling, the document says, as well as faith in the prison service and the police.Cabinet Office officials, who have prepared the strategy for use across Whitehall, concede the huge influx of migrants to Britain will continue.It follows predictions by the Office of National Statistics that migration will increase the population by up to 190,000 a year.The paper says: "Net migration to the UK is projected to continue. High levels of immigration may increase demand on some public services."For example, in some areas migration has added to school rolls and required schools to make extra provision for English as a second language."It warns of migrants settling in "clusters", which could lead to a negative reaction from locals.The quiet release of the document was spotted by Tory Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, who published his own alarming study on Britain's teenage binge- drinking culture.Last week, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith threatened once again to come down hard on under-18s caught drinking alcohol.But the Tories said that, based on past enforcement action, youngsters had less than a one in 250,000 chance of being punished.According to a survey conducted by members of the British Beer and Pub Association, more than a million people a month are being turned away from pubs for being under-age or not having the right proof of age.The figures for shops and supermarkets, based on returns from one national offlicence chain, suggest a further million attempts a month to buy alcohol, the Tories say.But in 2006 only ten people between ten and 17 were taken to magistrates' courts for buying alcohol illegally.A further 13 were cautioned, and 62 received on-the-spot fines. The Tories said this means the chance of receiving any form of sanction for trying to buy alcohol under-age is just one in 282,000.Mr Davis said: "Under-age drinking damages young people and fuels youth crime. Ministers talk endlessly about cracking down on alcohol-related violence, but these figures show the Government's staggering complacency when it comes to taking the action required.
"The Government's basic failure to enforce the law sends totally the wrong message about under-age drinking and puts the public at risk from the spiralling violence it generates."
A police chief is urging the Government to ban cheap alcohol to help curb binge-drinking.Northumbria Chief Constable Mike Craik wants to see an end to special promotions by pubs, such as two or three shots of spirits for the price of one.Mr Craik also called for alcopops to be taken off the shelves and tougher controls imposed on alcohol advertising.He says legislation is needed - "the Government should take the bull by the horns on this issue".

Brad Renfro,died January 15 from an accidental overdose of heroin

08:19 Los Angles 0 Comments

Actor Brad Renfro,died January 15 from an accidental overdose of heroin, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said today.
The actor had been found dead at his home with injection marks on his hands, and the cause of death was "acute heroin/morphine intoxication" via injected drugs.
Renfro was on probation at the time, dating to a December 22, 2005 arrest during a police sting (during which 14 people bought fake balloons of heroin from undercover officers) in the city's skid row.
At an August court hearing he told a judge he was trying to stay clean; Coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey told the Los Angles Times
Harvey said Renfro's friends told coroner's officials that the 25-year old actor had been clean in the weeks leading up to his fatal overdose. If true, Harvey said it was possible that Renfro had injected a dose of heroin typical for his days of heavier drug use

Drug dealers are preying on patients in mental health units

11:17 mental health units 0 Comments

Drug dealers are preying on patients in mental health units by pretending that they are friends and selling them cannabis, a government health chief revealed last night.
Louis Appleby, national director for mental health at the Department of Health, told The Times it was “well known” that dealers found their way into mental health units and exploited patients who were seriously ill. Some hospitals have brought in sniffer dog patrols to scare dealers off but staff say that they have no rights to stop patients and friends coming in or out, or to search anyone who may be carrying drugs.
Professor Appleby’s comments came as it was revealed that the potent “skunk” form of the drug now accounts for up to 80 per cent of cannabis sold on the street — up from 15 per cent six years ago. The latest figures were revealed yesterday at a meeting of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, a government body that is considering whether cannabis should be returned to Class B status with tougher penalties for those caught in possession.
The Government has indicated its support for reclassification, as revealed by The Times last month, amid growing concerns about the health effects of cannabis. It has been linked to an increased risk of psychotic illness and other associated mental health problems.

Ecstasy mixed with methamphetamine.

18:25 Vermont 0 Comments

The clover leaf is more than a good luck symbol for some these days.
That image, along with others like kittens and the Adidas logo, have been misappropriated by illicit drug manufacturers in Canada. The colored branding images are used to popularize a new drug being exported into the United States: Ecstasy mixed with methamphetamine.
The powders of the two drugs are pressed into pill form and smuggled across the U.S. border, according to law enforcement officials. Approximately 2 million tablets a week are manufactured in Canada, federal authorities say.
Vermont State Police say they are seeing the drug crop up in pockets around the state.
"It's started now, so it doesn't look like it's leaving," said Vermont State Police Lieutenant Leo Bachand, the commander of the Northern Drug Task Force.
Bachand said his team has made two controlled "hand-to-hand" buys of the drug from a man in St. Johnsbury. The orange pills, about the size of aspirin, came from Massachusetts, but Bachand said his team has arrested several people at the Canadian border attempting to cross with quantities of the drug that were manufactured in Canada.
According to Ted Woo, chief public affairs officer for the New England area for U.S. Customs and Border protection, there have been no major seizures of the drug in New England border states.
But local officials said they are starting to see it arrive in Vermont.
"We've made other arrests of small amounts that (were) manufactured up there in Canada," Bachand said. "Those pill presses put out in huge amounts."

Investigators said they purchased 10 pills one time and four pills another time from 27-year-old Christopher Laberge, of St. Johnsbury, who reportedly obtained the drugs from Massachusetts. Investigators paid $20 a pill for the Ecstasy mixed with methamphetamine.

Laberge will face charges of possession and sale of a controlled substance and aiding in the commission of a felony in Vermont District Court in St. Johnsbury on March 24.

The Blue Atlantic

14:18 Monrovia 0 Comments

Officials recovered 2.4 tonnes of cocaine hidden in barrels after intercepting a ship off the Liberian coast in the country's largest ever drug seizure, maritime authorities said Friday.
The crew of a French naval vessel saw people on board the ship, the Blue Atlantic, throwing barrels overboard when they went to intercept it late Thursday, said Monrovia Port Security Chief Ashford Pearl. The ship was towed to port and authorities eventually recovered 92 barrels from the ship and the sea containing a total of 2.4 tonnes of cocaine, said Pearl. "It's huge. If this had hit the Liberian market, it would have destroyed the entire country," Pearl said. With cocaine prices in Europe now double those in the United States, drug smugglers in South America are increasingly ferrying cocaine to West Africa, from where it is parceled out to hundreds of individual traffickers who carry it north, especially via Spain. Pearl said the nine members of the crew of the Blue Atlantic were Ghanaian. They have been turned over to Liberian police. "It wasn't in Liberian waters, but they towed it to Liberia because the ship was flying the flag of Liberia," said Pearl. Authorities in Liberia are not sure what to do with the drugs seized. Pearl said officials were debating burning or dumping the drugs in the water "but we are leaning closer to burning because it will have some environmental effects if we put it into the water".

Anil Tangotra G.P

10:53 Snaresbrook 0 Comments

Anil Tangotra, 53, portrayed himself as an eligible young bachelor and used chat-up lines and poetry to seduce two women on Shaadi.com.
The "sexual predator" told a string of lies to persuade the women, both in their early 30s, back to his home in Ilford, Essex, where he spiked their food and drink before subjecting them to brutal attacks.
advertisementA mature student from India told Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London that she was treated "like a call girl" during a night of "pain and devastation".
The other woman, a teacher, wept as she described waking from a drug-induced coma to find the married GP trying to have sex with her.
A sedative found in her bloodstream matched one found at Tangotra's home after his arrest.
Tangotra, who had a GP practice in Plaistow, east London, insisted that any sexual contact had been instigated by the women.
He was convicted of raping the student in April 2006, attempted rape and causing her to engage in sexual activity.
He was found guilty of attempting to rape the second woman in May last year, sexual assault and "assaulting her by penetration".
The court heard that in between the attacks another jury had acquitted the father of two for the first assault but could not reach verdicts on a string of other offences.
While on bail awaiting a retrial Tangotra used the same online marriage bureau to strike again.
The GP, who is going through a divorce, showed no reaction as Judge William Kennedy told him: "You were engaged in caring for the public in general practice.
"You were also a sexual predator determined to have sexual intercourse with young Indian women by whatever seduction, trickery or force became necessary.
"Had the jury not been sure of your guilt upon the evidence, the reputation of each woman within her community would have been utterly and irrevocably destroyed."
Det Sgt Adam Lowe said outside court that he was "delighted" by the sentence but believed more victims had been prevented from coming forward by fear of social stigma.
The General Medical Council has barred Tangotra from practising and he could be struck off the register.

Eva Mendes

10:48 Hollywood 0 Comments

Eva Mendes has entered a rehabilitation center to tackle substance-abuse problems, celebrity magazine People reported on its website Friday.
The 33-year-old star of "Hitch" and "We Own the Night," has been undergoing treatment at Utah's Cirque Lodge center for several weeks, the report said.
"Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support," a representative for Mendes told People. "Out of respect for Eva's privacy, we do not wish to discuss further details."
Cirque Lodge was in the headlines last year after actress Lindsay Lohan checked into the facility following dual arrests for drink-driving.
Mendes, who is of Cuban-American background, is one of the best known Latino actresses in Hollywood, having risen to prominence after landing a role with Denzel Washington in 2001 hit "Training Day."
She has starred alongside Will Smith in the romantic comedy "Hitch" and Nicolas Cage in last year's "Ghost Rider."
Later this year she will appear in a remake of "The Women," starring alongside Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Bette Midler.