Figures for 2009 to 2010 show a 12 per cent year on year increase.

Admissions include patients with liver disease, mental disorders caused by too much drinking, some cancers as well as accidents and injuries.

Are binge drinkers out in town over the weekend to blame or are we in denial about how much we drink?

Radio 5 live's Stephen Nolan hears from two listeners who have been battling with their alcohol addictions.

The first of three new episodes of the BBC's hit fly-on-the-wall documentary is being screened on Monday.
And many will be appalled to watch one of the "stars", James McMurray, visiting a dealer then returning to his kitchen to shoot up.
As he pushes a syringe full of heroin into his arm, his mum Libby weeps uncontrollably just feet away.
James boasts of having already taken 30 diazepam tablets and is seen falling into a stupor.
The BBC Scotland show had to be suspended last June after two episodes, when some of the featured addicts, hard drinkers and petty criminals were involved in court cases.
But these have now been resolved, allowing the show, set in Kilmarnock's Onthank estate, to return.
Repeats of the two previously seen episodes were shown last week and attracted over half a million viewers.
The series was originally to have four episodes, but another has been added after it proved a ratings success.
The third episode continues the stories of some characters from the first two instalments.
While some families have been torn apart by addiction and poverty, others battle to save their community. Despite suffering a bereavement, the Cree family are featured fighting to reopen a local community centre.
And green-fingered Harry also features in his quest to win an Ayrshire gardening competition.
But community leaders on the estate are furious that the show is back.
They say the BBC are wrongly portraying their home as crimeridden and hopeless.
The Sceme has been slammed as "poverty porn" and a cheap way of winning high viewing figures by exploiting vulnerable people.
Others argue it is an important social documentary that could open the eyes of decision-makers out of touch with the scale of social depravation in hundreds of Scottish towns.
A bbc Scotland spokesman said: "The Scheme is meant to reflect the lives of the people in the programme and their hopes and challenges."
The show has turned Marvin Baird and Dayna McLaughlin and their dog Bullet into household names.
The final two episodes will be aired on BBC1 on May 23 and 24 at 10.35pm.
An update show looking at what the residents have been doing since filming ended will be shown on May 30.

Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard Conor McVeigh, 30, had smuggled cannabis into a drug addiction unit for Gareth Dallas a week earlier.

McVeigh, from Knockmoyle, Cookstown, admitted manslaughter supplying cannabis and heroin in December 2009.

Mr Dallas was found dead the morning after he had allowed McVeigh to inject him with a heroin solution.

During an earlier hearing the trial judge heard that Mr Dallas, who was himself a heavy drug user, had been in Holywell Hospital receiving treatment when he contacted McVeigh asking him to being him some cannabis.

Mr Dallas, the court was told, shared the "grass" with Jade Harrison, a girl who was also receiving treatment in November 2009 and who had began a relationship with Mr Dallas.

A week later, on 2 December, the pair left the hospital and Mr Dallas went back to Cookstown where he shared a house with McVeigh who went to buy heroin after he came home from work.

The three, McVeigh, Mr Dallas and Ms Harrison smoked the heroin together but afterwards, Mr Dallas said he wanted more so he and his girlfriend went to buy some.

Heroin solution
Mr Justice Hart recounted that from then "occurred the tragic events culminating in Dallas' death".

He said while there was some confusion, it was clear that McVeigh prepared a heroin solution and that two syringes were filled before "Dallas then held out his arm to McVeigh, thereby inviting McVeigh to inject the liquid heroin into Dallas' arm".

Ms Harrison was also injected by McVeigh and they went to the living room, lay down on the sofas where Mr Dallas was found dead the next morning.

McVeigh initially pleaded not guilty to his friend's manslaughter but a week before his trial was due to start, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to supplying cannabis and heroin.

Mr Justice Hart said that McVeigh's criminal record was also an aggravating factor in the case as it contained six convictions for drug possession, indicating that he "has been a dedicated drug user and offender over an extended period of time".

However in mitigation, the judge said it was clear from the evidence that Mr Dallas himself was a heavy drug user and that it was his own drugs which killed him.

From reports compiled on McVeigh, he said there was evidence of genuine remorse but that McVeigh "claims he is not fully responsible for what happened as he was asked to do it by the deceased".

"It may be," said Mr Justice Hart, "that death was neither foreseen nor inevitable but nevertheless, McVeigh bears a heavy share of responsibility for the tragic events that night, even though it is clear that he was not solely responsible because he gave Dallas these drugs at Dallas' request."

Mr Justice Hart imposed a four-year term for the manslaughter and one year for supplying the cannabis to Mr Dallas while he was in hospital, the sentences to run consecutively.

Heroin is not only responsible for a spike in overdose deaths, but also for other tragedies and crimes in the St. Louis region. As Mexican drug cartels continue flooding the area with cheap and potent heroin, police and prosecutors are trying new tactics to get it off the streets.
Plus other experts say part of the war on this drug needs to be fought by word-of-mouth — telling schools, children and parents what’s out there.

Australia's binge-drinking culture has been starkly highlighted with 1,600 "boozed-up idiots" arrested by police in a hardline weekend crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence and crime.
The trans-Tasman "Operation Unite", a two-day blitz on public alcohol abuse and related crime that ended Sunday, was the latest attempt to hammer home the message that drunken thugs will not be tolerated.
Almost two-thirds of the arrests were made in New South Wales state, followed by Western Australia, and included numerous assaults on police officers.
Other offences included drink-driving, urinating in public, failing to quit a licensed premises when asked and resisting arrest.
The Police Association of NSW slammed the "chaos and mayhem" that it says prevails in Australian cities every weekend and called for new strategies to attack the root causes of alcohol-related violence.
"Operation Unite has proved that our culture of alcohol and violence is out of control, with boozed-up idiots running wild all over the country," the association's acting president Pat Gooley said in a statement.
"We need a comprehensive strategy for tackling alcohol-fuelled violence -- one that addresses the causes of the problem, not just the symptoms."
Operation Unite's commander, Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford, said that despite the cold weather there were still many people out drinking to excess.
"Until people start getting the message, we'll continue to target licensed premises, we'll continue to target excessive alcohol consumption and we'll continue to put people before the courts," he said.
In New Zealand, where Operation Unite was also conducted, 338 alcohol-related arrests were made and 467 motorists returned positive breath tests.
New Zealand police spokesman, acting Detective Superintendent Ross Grantham, said it would take more than a weekend of action to change the drinking culture.
"Shifting away from the drink-to-get-drunk culture needs parents, retailers, community and other interested groups to be actively involved," he said.
"All we're asking is that people, no matter what their age, make safe and sensible choices when and where they decide to have a drink."

The first night of a trans-Tasman crackdown on alcohol-fuelled crime has seen 251 people arrested in NSW.

An extra 1200 police officers were deployed across the state for the first leg of Operation Unite - the latest hardline blitz on boozy bust-ups and other alcohol-related crime.

The operation is being run over the weekend in Australia and New Zealand.


From the 251 arrests made overnight in NSW there were more than 400 charges laid for offences including robbery, drink-driving, and drug supply and possession.

Two police officers were assaulted while arresting a man and a woman at a licensed premises on the far south coast, with a senior constable suffering a broken nose.

"The purpose of this operation is to ram home the message that police and the wider community have had enough of alcohol-related violence," operation commander Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said in a statement on Saturday.

But he warned that police cannot simply arrest their way out of the problem and urged people to drink responsibly.

Operation Unite continues on Saturday.

It has been held three times over the past two years and police expect another will be conducted in December.

During the most recent Operation Unite, held over two days in December 2010, NSW police arrested 723 people and laid more than 1300 charges.

Across Australia and New Zealand, there were about 2617 arrests during the December 2010 operation.

record 41 new unregulated drugs were found in Europe last year and 16 were first spotted in the UK, the agency report said.
It is another sign of the popularity of legal highs in Britain, which has long been seen as a strong market for the substances.
The Daily Telegraph disclosed last year that the UK had become the European centre for mephedrone, amid fears it could be fatal. The drug, also known as miaow miaow, has since been banned but concerns emerged that dealers may have stockpiled it while it was still legal.
Yesterday’s report, by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol, warned that the introduction of Europe-wide controls on mephedrone brought “both positive and negative consequences”.
While it may be harder to find and use, the control measures could also create an illegal market “with the associated risk of criminal activity”, the report said.

Tiger Woods says he was one. Lindsay Lohan was accused of being one. Charlie Sheen may be one.
We're talking about sex addicts. It's a term that's received a lot of attention lately. Some say it's real; others say it's a real good excuse.
These days, Brent McNamara works on the computer a lot. But, he always has to keep himself in check. Brent is a recovering porn addict. For 10 years, he spent almost every waking moment looking at Internet porn.

"My nickname was very well-known in porn circles. This addiction completely took over my life, and I'm not kidding when I say 24/7," McNamara said.
The addiction started shortly after McNamara enrolled in school to be a pastor. First, it was the occasional magazine or movie, but when the Internet became popular, McNamara got hooked.
"Before those days, you had considerable risk if you wanted to go into an adult bookstore. You had considerable risk of being seen by somebody you didn't want to see," he said.
It became more than just looking at porn. McNamara took part in live strip shows and even hired prostitutes. It tore his family apart. After 24 years of marriage, his wife divorced him.
"I wasted a lot of years…really threw them away, messed up my life and hurt a lot of people," McNamara said.
Bill Larson knows that feeling. He's a recovering sex addict.
"I couldn’t control it worth a damn, and I absolutely wanted to," Larson said.
Sex consumed his life. At one point, Larson had more than 10 partners at the same time. His breaking point came when they all found out about each other.
"If you can imagine just a pyramid being taken out at the bottom and the whole thing coming crashing down, and it did," Larson said.
He says the toughest part is convincing people it's a real addiction.
"I think people want to make a joke out of it, but it's no joke. It truly is a crippling disease," Larson said.
Expert Mary Ann Layden agrees. She believes sex can be an addiction -- similar to drug addiction.
"It's not the putting it in your body through the mouth or through a vein that produces the addiction. It's the getting hooked on, the brain reaction, knowing it hurts you and doing it anyway," said Layden, director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Two new studies are offering evidence suggesting that sex may indeed be an addiction.
The first found differences in DNA were linked to sexual behavior in young adults. Those with a variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to have one-night stands and affairs.
The second study found that non-addicted people who looked at porn images had similar brain responses to cocaine addicts who looked at images of people taking the drug.
"We know that the sex drive is probably one of the most powerful things we have on the face of the earth," Layden said.
Previous editions of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual haven't recognized sex addiction as a mental disorder. The next edition -- which comes out in 2013 -- will classify both porn and sex addiction as "hypersexual disorder."
Some wonder if this official label will justify cheating among so-called "addicts."
"It's not an excuse that says you get a pass on it," Layden said.
So how would researchers define sex addiction?
Some of the proposed wording states that patients are "repetitively engaging" in sexual behaviors when they are anxious, depressed or stressed.
Signs of a porn addict? They've tried to quit but can't, they go through a denial process, they hide their behavior, and they experience anxiety if they can't see the material.
"I don't know any other area where we have such damaging material readily available to every level of society," Layden said.
Then, there's the dilemma of treating sex addiction. Should doctors tell addicts to say no to all sex like they do with drugs?
When treating porn addiction, Layden recommends patients set up an Internet server that blocks porn at the server level and install accountability software that generates a list of all web sites visited. This information should then be forwarded to an accountability coach.
McNamara is now an assistant pastor at his church. He leads an addiction recovery group and even wrote a book about his experience.
"Addiction is not who we are. It's what we did," McNamara said.
Larson is in the recovery process. He attends group therapy and says starting over feels good.
"For the first real time, I'm just open and honest about my life," Larson said.
Whether it's bad behavior or a true addiction, these men are happy they were able to end it and move on with their lives.
Dr. Layden's research shows the earlier a boy is exposed to porn, the more likely he is to engage in non-consensual sex.
On the flip side, the more pornography young women use, the more likely they are to be victims of non-consensual sex. She says it's very difficult to get approval to conduct studies showing pornography to subjects because of the known damaging effects on the viewers.

According to The Mirror, the 33-year-old spent 10 days at a London hospital last month being treated for alcohol addiction.

The paper reports that he has since left to fulfil work commitments.

The hell-raising star of The Tudors has long had issues with alcohol - it is thought he first entered the Promises rehab facility in California back in 2005 and returned for further treatment in 2007.

But later that year, Rhys Meyers was arrested and charged at Dublin Airport for being drunk and disorderly.

Early in 2009 he was back in rehab again and just last year, it was rumoured that the actor had received a lifetime ban from United Airlines after "pounding drinks" and becoming increasingly "disruptive".

In the past, Jonathan has said of his issues with booze: "When I do drink I'm like Bambi. I'm all over the place like a 16-year-old kid."

Let's hope after a fourth stint in rehab he has finally beaten his addiction.

Australian Michael Sacatides has reacted with shock after being hit with a heavier jail term than expected, with judges sentencing him to 18 years for smuggling almost two kilograms of methamphetamine into Bali.

The kickboxing trainer from Sydney's west, found carrying 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment in his suitcase when he arrived on a flight from Thailand last year, was convicted of drug trafficking in the Denpasar District Court today.

However, before Monday's appearance, Sacatides had been expecting a sentence of no more than 16 years, as requested by prosecutors earlier this month after they decided not to ask for the death penalty.

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The 43-year-old, who has always maintained his innocence, claiming he borrowed the suitcase from an associate in Thailand, appeared stunned when the judges read out their decision and instead announced a sentence of 18 years.

Crucially, it appears it was his decision to not plead guilty that weighed heavily against him, and cost him another two years in Bali's Kerobokan Prison. Defendants who do not admit guilt are often treated more harshly by courts in Indonesia.

Chief judge Sigit Sutanto said it was a key factor in the sentence decision.

"The defendant did not admit his guilt and the defendant did not admit to possession of (drugs)," he said when announcing the sentence.

Sigit said Sacatides, who kept his head bowed as he was led away, had undermined efforts by the Indonesian government to combat drug use, but added that the sentence "is not revenge".

"This sentence is to help the defendant become a much better (person)," he said.

Sacatides' lawyer, Erwin Siregar, said it was likely his client would appeal the decision.

"I am shocked," Mr Sireger said outside the court.

"I was predicting that he could be free or at least get less than what the prosecutor has asked."

Sacatides was arrested at Bali's international airport on October 1 last year when customs officers found the methamphetamine, also known as ice, concealed in a hidden compartment in the suitcase he was carrying when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.

He told investigators at the time of his arrest that he had borrowed the luggage from a man known as Akaleshi Tripathi, whom he knew from Bangkok, where he had been living and working for almost two years.

Tripathi, alias Peter, has never been found.

Sacatides will now join a host of other Australians serving time in Kerobokan Prison for drug smuggling, including the Bali Nine, three of whom are facing death penalties, as well as the Gold Coast's Schapelle Corby

A court in Ho Chi Minh City Friday sentenced Nigerian Nnaji David Ete death for trafficking more than 11 kilograms of heroin from Vietnam to China.
 
The HCMC People’s Court also sentenced Ete’s Vietnamese wife, 31-year-old Phan Thi Thanh Le, and Doan Nguyen Minh Chau, 32, to life imprisonment on the same charges.
 
Three Nigerians and a Zimbabwean, all members of Ete’s ring, were sentenced to jail terms of between 15-20 years.
 
According to the indictment, Ete, 33, came to Vietnam in 2004 as a tourist and got married to Le.
 
He later asked Le and some of his compatriots to join him in smuggling heroin from Thailand to HCMC and then to China’s Guangzhou province.
 
The ring was busted in June, 2006 when Chau was found in the northern province of Lang Son, transporting heroin to China.
 
Ete said he had earned $7,350 from the trade, according to the hearing.

Michael Sacatides, 43, was arrested in October as he passed through customs after landing on an AirAsia flight from Bangkok with 1.7 kilograms (3.7 pounds) of methamphetamine in his luggage at Bali International Airport.

"The defendant was proven guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to 18 years," chief judge Sigit Sutanto told Denpasar district court.

"He never admitted that the drug belonged to him," the judge said referring to the reason why he was given two years higher than the prosecutors' recommendation of 16 years.

"He committed a crime which could harm our young generation and it's against the government's campaign to eliminate drug use," Sutanto added.




The boxing trainer from Sydney will join almost a dozen compatriots who are behind bars in Bali's Kerobokan jail on drug-related convictions.

Three Australians are currently on death row for a 2005 attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilogrammes of heroin into Australia from the tourist island.

Six other members of the so-called Bali Nine gang are serving long jail sentences.

Another Australian, Schapelle Corby, is serving a 20-year sentence in Bali for trafficking 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia in 2005.

A third person, also from the area, suffered a near fatal overdose.

Police investigating the cases believe all three were linked to the use of heroin.

The tragedies follow a warning, highlighted only days earlier in the 'Banffshire Journal', of the dangers of overdosing on a synthetic drug being passed off as heroin in the Aberdeen area and which claimed the life of a city drug user.

It remains uncertain whether the synthetic drug was involved in the latest deaths which happened between Friday and Saturday.

Inspector Andy Imray, Grampian Police substance misuse coordinator, said: "We would remind those in our communities who use heroin of the inherent dangers associated with taking any form of controlled drug. This has sadly become all too evident given the tragic loss of life in the Banff area over the past few days."

Anyone with information about the incidents or the misuse of drugs generally, has been urged to contact Grampian Police on 0845 600 5 700 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

In the warning to heroin users last week, it was revealed that a 40-year-old Torry man had died after taking the Class A drug Fentanyl, a white powder sometimes called 'White China'.

Inspector Imray said last week that he suspected users taking the drug believed they were taking heroin, of which there was currently a shortage. NHS Grampian also issued a warning.

Dr Maria Rossi, consultant in public health medicine, said: "Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used in medical and surgical settings and by prescription only.

"It can act very quickly and in small doses. Heroin users run a serious risk of overdose and death in using it illicitly."

California authorities say a man dubbed the “King of Heroin” who smuggled large quantities of the drug into the U.S. from Mexico has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The Ventura County Star says Jose Antonio Medina Arreguin was sentenced Wednesday in Ventura. He pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to possess heroin for sale.
The 36-year-old Mexican resident, also known as Don Pepe, was dubbed the King of Heroin by the Mexican media. Authorities claimed he arranged for drugs to be moved across the border into California in vehicles with secret compartments, pocketing up to $260,000 a week.
He was extradited to the U.S. last October.
An attorney for Arreguin says he was a farmer who got involved in the heroin trade and is remorseful.

There is no arguing that singer Bobby Brown has led a high-profile life. From his early years with New Edition and his solo music career to his marriage and subsequent divorce from Whitney Houston, he's experienced a wealth of ups and downs that include arrests, drug abuse and reality TV stardom. But these days, however, Brown -- who is engaged to fiancée and manager Alicia Etheridge -- is showing a mellower side and admits to experiencing a happy time in his life.

"I'm definitely in a better place in my life," the singer tells the BoomBox. "Six years sober from drugs. I'm just really grateful that I can get off the heroin, the crack, the coke. I'm glad I just have a beautiful woman in my life who's always there for me. At times when it gets really hard, she's right there, you know, to hold me and let me know, you know, 'Look at where you come from and look at where you are right now.' I'm just grateful."

As far as how domestic life has been for him so far, Brown, who also has a son, Cassius, with Etheridge, says he loves being in love. "I'm definitely in love right now and I'm happy and my little boy is just, like, he's a little me," he explains. "Alicia is just a gem to be around. But we also do business together, so it's just like, you know, she's my lady, man, and when you're happy, you're happy."

As for his music career, the singer is reemerging with a new album, 'The Masterpiece,' which comes out in May. "I've been basically trying to live and grow with myself and find what I wanted to write about," says Brown. "Unfortunately my mom passed [away] and I had to do something quick, so 'The Masterpiece' is just 13 years of my ups and downs and everything that I've been through. I'm just grateful to be able to put this album out because I really feel it is a masterpiece."

Brown is also getting back in touch with his musical past as he and the other members of New Edition are in talks about a reunion to coincide with their 30th anniversary next year. "I'm just, I'm at awe with being able to come together as brothers," he continues. "Business can tear friends apart but we've been working with our friendship and talking every week. It's just a good thing that, you know, I still got five brothers."

The singer also says he and Etheridge are thinking about producing a new reality TV show that would involve themselves and their kids. "I just like being open," Brown says. "I like people to see exactly what I'm about and exactly what kind of person I am and not judge me for, you know, other people's words or what other people think about me."

On how he copes with the tabloid stories about him, Brown recalls what his mother once said -- that "if they're not talking about you, you're not successful." "I'm only human," he says. "I'm going to go through rough patches in my life but it's how I pick myself up from it. And thank God I've been able to pick myself up from everything that has hurt me in the past. You have to know yourself and you have to learn to love yourself and I love myself now. I know how my kids feel about me. I know how I feel about them. And we just try to stay strong for each other."

Brown's life continues to be in the spotlight. Most recently there were media reports about Bobbi Kristina -- his daughter with Whitney Houston -- allegedly using drugs. "I did talk to her," Brown says. "I have all faith in my daughter that she's going to stay strong for herself. My daughter is doing great. I love her dearly."

Besides Bobbi Kristina, he's also the father of three other children: sons Landon and Bobby, Jr., and daughter LaPrincia. He offers these words of wisdom to his kids: "Don't do what I do. Period. Be yourself and always, always know that daddy is gonna be there no matter what."

The parents and brother of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, one of three executed Filipino drug mules in China, came face to face for the first time with Sally’s alleged recruiter Tita Cacayan at the Department of Justice (DoJ).

During Monday’s preliminary investigation, Cacayan submitted her counter-affidavit in response to the complaint filed against her for large-scale illegal recruitment and violation of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008.

In Sally’s affidavit, she alleged that Cacayan was the source of drugs she carried to China. She said it was Cacayan who recruited her for a job in Xiamen and provided her an empty suitcase she used for her travel. She said she was not aware that the suitcase contained more than 4,000 grams of illegal drugs.

Jason Ordinario read a handwritten letter which her sister Sally sent to the Philippine Consulate in China where she said Cacayan, whom she called “auntie” was the one who gave her the briefcase.

“I blame her for not telling me the truth. I trusted her so much then, the thing happened…I did everything as she said…my purpose is so [that] my family will get a better life by doing some work for a friend. I don’t have any choice…that was unfair to me,” Villanueva’s hand written letter stated which was read during the preliminary investigation.

Cacayan said the letter was fake.

“When did she write that? It was not even [a] registered [mail]. Do not pin the blame on me. We were all working in Macao,” Cacayan said in a slightly raised voice prompting Assistant Senior State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo to interfere and said that it would be better if the letter could be attached to the reply that Villanueva’s family will submit on April 25 and will be asked to produce during the clarificatory hearing.

“We must not all be combative here. This should be better addressed during the clarificatory hearing,” Alejo said.

Glenview police arrested Ronald Allen, 39, of 47 W. Division St. in Chicago,for delivery of marijuana, in connection with the 497 grams of marijuana, with a street value of $5,300, that was uncovered. Also found were 0.9 grams of cocaine and five Adderal tablets, which is used to control symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, after pulling him over for an expired registration.


The vehicle was stopped on the 3700 block of East Lake Avenue in Glenview.

The vehicle, police learned, was one of three stolen in October 2009 from a dealership in Hiawatha, Iowa.

Allen was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance, failure to transfer title and failure to surrender registration.

The passenger, Rosalia Cefalu, 24, of 4422 Lainie Circle in Glenview, was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.

Allen’s bond was set at $300,000, and Cefalu’s at $10,000. Both are scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Prof Peter Donkor, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), on Thursday expressed worry at the rate at which nurse anaesthetists are getting addicted to drugs.
           
He said it was alarming that most nurse anaesthetists are continually getting addicted to drugs, which is not only bad for their health but posed great danger to their patients whiles disturbing the work of the surgeons they work with at the hospital theater.
           
The situation has arisen partly due to their free access to anaesthesia drugs some of which can cause serious addiction.
           
Professor Donkor was speaking at the opening of the 11th annual update in anaesthesia conference in Kumasi on Thursday.
           
The conference, which is organized annually by the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in collaboration with the University of Utah in the US, aims at refreshing and updating the knowledge and skills of anaesthesia.
           
Professor Donkor, himself a Surgeon and Anaesthetist, said  the Nurses and Dental Council had initiated a programme to regulate anaesthesia practice.
   
He said drug addiction would be one of the issues which would be critically looked into before accreditation is conferred on practitioners.
           
He said anaesthesia is the "oxygen for the surgeon" and this puts a huge responsibility on practitioners to ensure that their skills and knowledge are updated regularly to enable them provide efficient service to their patients.
           
Dr Gabriel Boakye, Head of Directorate of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at KATH, said feedback on the performance of participants in previous conferences have been very encouraging and appealed to health managers to continuously sponsor their anaesthesia practitioners to attend future conferences to improve their knowledge and skills.
           
Professor Gladys Amponsah, Head of Anaesthesia at the University of Cape Coast Medical School, advised the participants not to lose focus but use the knowledge and skills they will acquire to provide better services to their patients.
GNA

Sex, drugs, booze. We're all familiar with the obvious addictions. But, here is a list of America's Top 5 Addictions according to best selling author of Addict Nation, Jane Velez-Mitchell:

1. Prescription Pill Addiction: There's a growing trend in America to try and solve all manner of discomfort, real or imagined, physical or emotional, with a pill. Pharmaceutical drugs like Vicodin, Oxycodone, Ambien, Xanax, Klonopin, and Valium fill our medicine cabinets and it's killing us. Nationwide, deaths from prescription drug overdoses are the second-leading cause of accidental death behind car accidents. In some states, prescription O.D.'s are the leading cause of accidental death.

2. Food Addiction: Millions of Americans have been self-medicating ourselves with fat and sugar for so long it has become a standard of living. As a result, our country is suffering from a mind-blowing obesity crisis. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. It would be safe to say obesity is our nation's biggest health issue and reports show this epidemic impacts every facet of our lives from health care to global warming. We're fat! Our kids are fat! And, it's making us miserable, sick, unattractive and costing us a fortune.

3. Addiction to Crime and Punishment: What's surpassed baseball as our #1 national pastime? Crime. America's extreme fixation on violence and murder has reached epidemic proportions and it is hurting us emotionally and financially. Our justice system prefers to spend untold millions of tax dollars: sealing off the crime scene, forensics testing, offering rewards, arresting the suspect, holding news conferences, going to trial, and then locking up, feeding, clothing and guarding the convicted criminal... rather than spend a tiny sliver of that cost preventing his crime in the first place. This addictive mindset is a crime in itself.

4. Addiction to Shopping: While buying something that you actually need is not addictive shopping, American culture has played a shell game with us, creating all manner of artificial needs that are really not needs at all. New cars, tech gadgets, baby showers, and the ever-growing number of holidays are opportunities to enforce the rules of the cult. You need buy more. Shockingly, the United States accounts for about 5-percent of the world's population and almost one third of global consumption. As we shop our way into massive debt as a nation, the freight train of overconsumption is only accelerating.

5. Addiction to Technology: The book Addict Nation suggests Cyber addiction is perhaps the most complex societal contagion America is facing today because the nature of the Internet is all encompassing. There is email, texting, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Skype, Google, Yahoo, iTunes, and innumerable chat rooms. The Internet also acts as a porthole for other addictions like online gambling and porn, making it easy to score with a simple "click."

Will the American people "hit bottom" on these cultural addictions and change? Do we really want a nation filled with citizens who are overwhelmingly obese, drug addicted, hooked on sex, criminally minded or drowning in debt?

The choice is ours. Addict Nation tackles the issue of cultural addictions, and promises to shine a light on those who would profit off of our misery. The book promises a blueprint for change, but first we must see what is really going on. Addict Nation is an intervention!

About the bestselling author: Jane Velez-Mitchell is an award winning television journalist and author. She currently has her own show on HLN, "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell." She is often seen commenting on high-profile cases for CNN, TruTV, E! and other national cable TV shows. Velez-Mitchell is an environmentalist, "out" lesbian, animal protection advocate, vegan, and recovering alcoholic with over 15 years of sobriety.

Sandra Mohr is the co-author of "Addict Nation-An Intervention for America" by Jane Velez-Mitchell. She also assisted Velez-Mitchell with her books "Secrets Can Be Murder" and "iWant" (New York Times Best Seller).

Understanding and treating a variety of addictions will be the topic of two days worth of workshops sponsored by the Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism and Addictions next month in Grand Island.

The workshops, which serve as the council’s annual fundraiser, will be on April 7 and 8 at the Evangelical Free Church, 2609 S. Blaine St.

Dennis Daley will speak on “Treatment of Addiction: Evidenced-based Individual and Group Approaches” from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 7.


A number of evidence-based psychosocial clinical practices are available for both alcoholism and drug dependence. Research on these practices has led to the development of principles of treatment that help clinicians in their work with clients who have substance use disorders.

Daley has worked on many research studies funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism related to treatment of individuals with alcoholism, cocaine addiction, other substance disorders, depression, bipolar illness or other psychiatric disorders. He has written numerous workbooks, including “Depression Recovery,” “Recovery From Co-occurring Disorders” and “Adolescent Recovery.”

Daley also will speak about “Recovery 101” during a “Celebration of Recovery” the evening of April 7. It will begin at 5:30 with a buffet dinner.

The workshops will continue at the Evangelical Free Church from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 8, when Patrick Carnes will speak on the topic of “Addiction Interaction Disorder: Understanding Multiple Addictions.”

Only about 17 percent of alcohol/drug addicts have only one addiction, according to information from the Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism and Addictions. Usually, addicts have a mix of addictions, compulsions and deprivations, and that creates a complex problem called addiction interaction disorder. Failure to recognize this in patients is one of the top three factors in relapse and inhibited recovery, according to the council.

Carnes is executive director of the Gentle Path Program at Pine Grove Behavioral Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. He is the primary architect of Gentle Path programs for the treatment of sexual and addictive disorders. He also pioneered the founding of the certified sex addiction therapist program.

Carnes is a nationally known speaker on addiction and recovery issues. He is author of “A Gentle Path Through the 12 Steps,” “Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction,” “Contrary to Love: Helping the Sexual Addict,” “The Betrayal Bond: Breaking Free of Exploitive Relationships,” “Open Hearts,” “Facing the Shadow,” “In the Shadows of the Net” and “The Clinical Management of Sex Addiction.”

Each daylong workshop has been approved for 6.0 continuing education credits for licensed alcohol and drug counselors, licensed mental health practitioners, social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors and psychologists, and 6.0 criminogenic continuing education units. The daylong workshops cost $130 each or $225 for both.

Authorities in Mali have arrested four people after an aircraft loaded with 10 tonnes of cocaine crashed in the country in 2009, a source close to the probe said Thursday.

Malian authorities suspect the aircraft was part of a larger drugs trafficking network linked to Colombia.

French pilot Eric Vernay, whose company chartered the Boeing plane, was arrested last week. A CEO of a local company "Go Voyage," and two other people have been arrested since, also in connection with the so-called "Air Cocaine" probe.

"The investigation is progressing, due to good cooperation between security services of other countries, including Morocco. Four people are now under arrest, and are under investigation," the source told Reuters.

Authorities suspect a growing fleet of rogue aircraft are regularly crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean with drugs from the cocaine-producing areas of South America, transiting through some of West Africa's most unstable countries into Europe.

Bruno Mars arrives for the Echo 2011 Awards at Palais am Funkturm on Thursday (March 24) in Berlin, Germany.

The 25-year-old singer and Paris Hilton were both prosecuted for cocaine possession by David Schubert, a deputy Clark County district attorney who was arrested on Friday for cocaine possession. The 47-year-old lawyer was pulled over around 5 p.m. and swallowed a crack rock as an undercover cop approached him.

Bruno plead guilty to felony drug possession in February after cops busted him with 2.6 grams at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in September. He recently told GQ magazine, “I’m not gonna preach that I’m a role model. I’m a f—— musician!”

But that doesn’t mean the responsibility to try to help youth goes away, particularly when it comes to potentially harmful and even life-threatening behavior.

With the “spring party season’’ upon us — like it or not, that’s the reality — youths in this region would be well advised to heed health and safety warnings about a product called “bath salts,’’ an assortment of synthetic cocaine that is for sale at several downtown State College stores. Because it’s marked “not for human consumption,’’ it can be legally sold, as reported last Sunday in the Centre Daily Times.

Paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations are among the symptoms of users who have been showing up in the emergency room of Mount Nittany Medical Center. So far, those have been the most serious cases reported by Centre County authorities since bath salts, which go by such names as White Rush, White Girl and Blizzard, first began appearing locally last fall.

That is not the case in neighboring Blair County, where at least one death has been attributed to a bath salts overdose. In another case in Blair, two friends high on the product reportedly fought and stabbed each other during a dispute over a container of bath salts.

This clearly is a ticking time bomb. And so as not to paint with a broad brush, retailers selling bath salts note that some customers are middle-aged and sales cut across all demographics.

Incidentally, retailers defend the sales, saying the product is popular, and that any individual store that decides to remove bath salts from its shelves risks losing significant business to competitors.

While we would hope appeals to individual abstention and retailers’ consciences would make a major dent in curtailing, if not eliminating, the product, experience with other legally synthetic knock-offs of common street drugs shows that is unlikely to happen.

So we support the recent move by state Rep. Jerry Stern, R-Blair, to add the chemicals in bath salts to the Schedule I list of controlled substance: Methylone, MDPV and mephedrone.

Stern’s bill has been merged with two other bills aimed at banning chemicals in synthetic marijuana and salvia, a psychoactive plant. We also support congressional efforts led by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y., for a federal ban on bath salts chemicals.

But as these efforts work through the legislative pipeline, the existing availability of bath salts and other legally synthetic products on stores shelves in downtown business districts raises concerns that the problem will worsen before it gets solved. This is one of those matters that should get fast-tracked by the General Assembly.

In the meantime, anyone tempted to try bath salts — perhaps under peer pressure — should stop and think. A trip to the emergency room may not only await, it might be a best-case scenario.

Montebello Police investigators discovered nearly 70 pounds of cocaine, about $100,000 and a shotgun when they served a search warrant at a home in Hesperia on Tuesday.

Sgt. Boris Zeissig of the Montebello police narcotics unit said investigators also arrested four men, whose identities were not released.

Zeissig could not provide any further details of the investigation, which he said is ongoing.

 officials say, leaving a trail of broken lives, broken dreams and tragedy.

The highly addictive drug is frequently associated with the 1960s, with hippies and yippies and ending the lives of such rock stars as Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin.

But this drug has been making inroads into the area, into middle class families.

A serious problem
"We do have a crisis, it seems," said Claudia Roska of the Addiction Resource Council in the City of Pewaukee.

"We have an ongoing, very serious problem with alcohol and drug use," she said. "Alcohol is the No. 1 problem."

Abuse of alcohol cannot be understated. The dangers of heroin, though, cannot be overstated.

"Heroin is the scourge of our society," said Village of Pewaukee Police Chief Ed Baumann, whose department played a role in a major 2008 drug bust involving heroin trafficking. Baumann, who was also a member of the county's drug unit in the 1990s, said village police have been seeing numerous incidents involving heroin.

Heroin use on rise
Capt. Charles Wood of the Waukesha County Metro Drug Unit said there has been a "meteoric rise" in the amount of heroin seized by the department.

From 1985 to 2004 the unit did not seize any heroin, Wood said. In 2005, the unit seized 1.7 grams; in 2008, 6 grams; in 2007, 7 grams and in 2010, 115 grams.

For those not into the metric system, roughly 29 grams equals 1 ounce. Thus last year about 4 ounces were seized, he said. While an ounce might not seem like much to the layperson, Wood said "an ounce of heroin is a like a U-Haul truck full of pot. It's the economy of scale in reverse."

Wood said a typical "hit" would be three-tenths to one-half a gram, so 1 gram of heroin equals multiple doses, Wood said. The drug also offers a huge profit margin for dealers. Wood said a dealer could pay about $10,000 for an ounce; when it is broken down into smaller portions and sold on the street, the net worth of that ounce could be $40,000, he said.

Another signal of the rise in use of the drug comes from the AIDS Resource Council, which distributes syringes. This worldwide organization provides clean needles and supplies to users to combat the spread of blood borne disease."They have seen a growing customer base," Woods said.

Deaths from heroin overdoses have remained stable, except for one year. According to the Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office, heroin was listed as cause of death in two cases in 2005, three in 2006, one in 2007, seven in 2008, three in 2009 and three in 2010. Last year's number might grow, as a few cases are still pending test results, a spokesperson said.

The disturbing trend of heroin use in the county truly came to light in July 2008, when 27 people were arrested in a major drug bust called Operation Lake Effect.

In federal documents, those involved were responsible for 11 overdoses, five of them fatal. Eleven of those arrested had ties to the Village of Pewaukee.

In January and February 2009, nine people, most from the Oconomowoc and Hartland areas, were arrested and subsequently convicted of either possessing or selling heroin.

"Heroin cases are perpetually on the uptick," said Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel.

Pills are gateway
Getting hooked on heroin is generally a journey. While alcohol and marijuana are gateway drugs, prescription drugs open the door to heroin.

Prescription drugs appear safe, and teens at parties are "quick to exchange these pills," Wood said. Reaction to the pills varies. Some, he said, will simply fall asleep while others "will go on a trip."

Those who fall asleep are likely not interested in experimenting anymore. But those who get high might want to try it again, he said.

The prescription drugs that lead to heroin use are the opiates, such as oxycodone (brand name OxyContin) and hydrocodone.

While the pills are time released, drug users will crush and then snort the powder or heat it with a fluid and then inject it, Baumann said. "That's the easiest way to get high," he said.

However, those drugs are expensive, with one pill going for as much as $100, Wood said. Baumann said a 60mg pill will go for $60, an 80mg pill for $80.

"Compare that with a dime bag ($10) or a $20 bag of heroin. And get the same high," Baumann said.

Wood said the increased use of pharmaceuticals has led "to an uptick in heroin."

A 2009 study by the Wisconsin Department of Health shows the "misuse and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs appears to be a growing problem nationally and in Wisconsin."

The extent is not known, as "there is a lack of data concerning the prevalence and burden associated with their misuse and abuse," said the study.

In 2009, 34 percent of high school teens said they used marijuana and 2 percent said they used heroin. For those age 12 to 17, though, 15 percent said they used pain relievers, according to the study.

The State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse established a subcommittee that is examining drug use and is expected to issue a report in June highlighting Wisconsin's prevalence in the abuse and misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. The report will include recommendations on how to reduce its use and prevention.

Chasing the high
"The first high is the best, and then it becomes chasing the high," Baumann said. "But they never achieve it. They never get that first big high."

According to the State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, heroin works on the central nervous system and lowers the heartbeat and breathing, which may cause users to lose consciousness.

"Any of these effects can be fatal if the dose is too high," according to the report.

"With street heroin, there is no absolutely safe dosage. It depends on the abuser's tolerance, the amount taken and purity taken," the report said.

"It's never safe to use heroin," Roska said. The addiction leads to a change in lifestyle, she said. Suburban teens drive to dangerous neighborhoods in the inner city to buy the drug.

"We still have a good grip on drug trafficking in Waukesha County," Schimel said, noting users still go to Milwaukee to purchase the drug.

Addiction leads to crime
However, those addictions are being felt in Waukesha County through such criminal activity as thefts, burglaries and prostitution.

In recent weeks, numerous criminal complaints have been filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court for crimes related to drug use. A sampling of those complaints include:

• Richard Sulla, 23, of Ashippun, charged with a rash of burglaries in Lake Country. Sulla told police he committed the burglaries to pay for his drug addiction to "oxy."

• Leon Thomas, 49, of Waukesha, charged with first-degree reckless homicide, for allegedly supplying drugs to Holly Reidy, 20, who died Feb. 18, 2010. An autopsy showed the cause of death was opiate and ethanol intoxication due to ingesting hydrocodone, fentanyl and ethanol. The woman was also a reported heroin user.

• Michael D. Howell, 27, of the Town of Genesee, charged with 19 counts, including burglary and forgery, all in an apparent attempt to support his drug habit.

• Alexander J. Katrichis, 25, of Mukwonago, was recently sentenced to six months in jail for dealing heroin.

• Richard P. DeBack, 64, of West Allis, charge with stealing eight vehicles from Waukesha dealerships in order to support his heroin habit, which he has had for years. DeBack sold brand-new cars at extremely low prices to buy heroin, according to the criminal complaint.

Is it in your neighborhood?

dramatic seizure of the heroin haul valued at Sh500 million and arrest of suspects at an apartment in Shanzu area, Mombasa came as a result of a two-week wait by police who had been tipped the 196 kilogrammes narcotics were on the high seas.

The arrival of the suspects in Nairobi’s Wilson Airport yesterday by police helicopter was also dramatic as a vehicle full of heavily armed General Service Unit sped to the runway before the officers from the elite unit took strategic positions on the runway.

Police revealed the traffickers had arrived with the narcotics on the high seas of Mtwapa area in Mombasa and were waiting for the ground to clear.

The officers who conducted the sting operation trailed two vehicles to a jetty in Shanzu area on Thursday at around 8 pm. The team that was laying in wait had been dispatched from Nairobi two weeks ago.

The Commissioner of Police Matthew Iteere said the traffickers were using a GPRS phone to communicate with their contacts on the high seas for direction before they could deliver their cargo.

And come Thursday night, the narcotics that had been packaged and labeled as dog food were removed from a speedboat and loaded onto two cars before they headed to an apartment in Shanzu.

Drugs camouflaged

The drug was camouflaged as dog food under the brand name Science Plan: Veterinary formulated Canine Senior for older dogs, New improved taste. The drug was concealed in nylon papers.

The consignment was found in a secluded apartment on the third row lane from the pristine beach in the North Coast. It was labeled Canine food for senior dogs.

The well-packaged wrappings clearly branded would easily pass for ordinary dog food.

"It was a long wait that has borne fruits and we hope to get to the bottom of this issue and arrest and prosecute the real owners," said Iteere.

Police recovered pistols

Police also recovered two cars — a Nissan saloon car and a Toyota Rav4, two pistols that had 59 bullets and a GPRS phone. Other tenants at the apartments were shocked to learn that such a huge haul had been recovered in the compound.

A tenant, who did not want to be identified, said she had never seen any of the suspects.

One of the suspects identified as Joash Omondi had according to Iteere rented the posh apartment two days before the arrival of the "dog food" (drug). Omondi introduced his other accomplices as investors who wanted to rent the house, the police boss said.

Iteere said police know the owner of the apartment and they are trying to establish if he has any link to the narcotics. He termed as speculation, reports that the house belongs to a Nairobi political activist.

"You can see the kind of investors they are for now," said Iteere

The six suspects linked to the heroin were flown to Nairobi amid tight security by paramilitary police. They were paraded before the media where some of them confessed they had been to the city on several occasions.

Apart from Omondi the other Kenyans were Hassan Ibrahim and Yusuf Hassan and the Iranians were identified as Ali Mohamed and Abduk Baseet while there was also Khan Mohamed, a Pakistani national.

They disembarked the police chopper while handcuffed in pairs before they were driven in a Land Rover to the High Court under armed escort.

The six were driven to the Nairobi Law Courts at precisely 4.28pm under tight security. With sirens blaring and guns cocked, their arrival immediately attracted the attention of curious onlookers.

Originated in Afghanistan

However, they did not plead to the charges because two of them do not understand English and need an interpreter.

It is believed the heroin had originated Afghanistan and was to be repackaged in the house before being redistributed.

The seizure is the biggest since the 2004 find of cocaine that was valued at Sh2.6 billion days after it had arrived from South America.

Kenya is increasingly being used as a transit point for the drugs but no major arrest has been made over the same.

Ironically, the seizure was made hours after Iteere told Parliament the current Penal Code, court procedures, and fines are not adequate to sustain war on drug trafficking.

When he testified to parliamentary Committee on Administration of National Security on Thursday, Iteere praised the Anti-Narcotics Police Unit and disclosed that that a probe on MPs who were mentioned in connection to drug trafficking was not yet complete.

Preliminary investigation

Last month, a preliminary investigation by the unit indicated that no actionable evidence had been found on Mr William Kabogo (Juja), Mr Gidion Mbuvi (Makadara), Mr Harun Mwau (Kilome) and Mr Hassan Joho (Kisauni) and a coast businessman Ali Punjani.

"The investigation is still going on. Let no one tell you that we have absolved anybody. The investigation will also involve the Drug Enforcement Agency of the US," said Iteere after testifying to House committee."

Police found his body Thursday inside his apartment on Ransom Road. Investigators believe he died of a drug overdose that may be linked to a dangerous form of heroin that appears to be making its way through the area.

Capt. Gregory Savage of the Erie County Sheriff's office said, "Some of the unused heroin that we covered from the scene is going to be tested at the central police services laboratory. They may be able to make a determination as to why this is happening, whether it's because the heroin itself isn't cut enough, it's too strong, or whether there is some cutting agent involved that may be poisoning these people."

Police are investigating at least two other deaths in the area linked to a dangerous form of heroin.