Jackson’s Doctor Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter
Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star’s death last summer.
Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star’s death last summer.
Youth and healthy individuals are increasingly dying from ecstasy use. A new release in Science Daily highlights a paper by a University of Hertfordshire academic which reports that ecstasy-related death rates in young users is cause for concern.
Lead author on this paper is Professor Fabrizio Schifano at the University’s School of Pharmacy. Schifano and his colleagues reviewed stimulant-related deaths from the np-SAD database and from the British Crime Survey 2001-2007 results. In this review, the researchers found 832 amphetamine and methylamphetamine-related deaths and 605 ecstasy-related deaths.
The element of higher concern identified the fact that the fatalities from ecstasy during that period
"Cocaine torches" (also known as flashlights) are to be issued to pub and club stewards in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in an attempt to tackle drug abuse. They work by illuminating the hairs on the inside of the nose and around the nose area. If cocaine has been taken, it shows up bright green.
Cough syrup, antacid, decongestants, pain relievers and topical creams for stiff muscles and joints are sold as over-the-counter (OTC) medicines at thousands of drug and grocery stores in the United States. They’re easily accessible, inexpensive (compared to prescription drugs), and totally safe, right? Not always. In fact, there are some instances when an over-the-counter drug is really not a good idea.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the governmental agency in the United States that decides whether a medicine is safe enough to be sold over the counter. The FDA has a handy checklist that’s downloadable for choosing OTC medications for adults. But taking OTC medications, warns the FDA, still has risks.
According to Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, a publication from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “some medicines that you might never have suspected can react with alcohol, including many medications which can be purchased over the counter.” … Continue Reading
The naturally occurring brain chemical 4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB), also called gamma hydroxybutyrate or GHB, can be abused or used as a date-rape drug when taken by mouth. A team of Ohio and Michigan scientists have determined new routes by which 4-HB is metabolized by the body.
Marijuana is commonly referred to as a gateway drug. Some research has been used to support marijuana as a type of stepping stone to more dangerous drug choices (Morral, McCaffrey & Paddock, 2002). This information supports the “gateway hypothesis,” which argues that substance abuse is triggered by a progression of events that begins with use of an illegal substance such as alcohol or tobacco and then moves on to marijuana and then cocaine or another illicit drug.
A new study in rats has found that N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a commonly available and generally nontoxic amino acid derivative, reverses changes in the brain’s circuitry associated with cocaine addiction. The reversal appears to lessen the cravings associated with cocaine, thus helping to prevent relapse.
In the first episode of the late DJ AM’s intervention program “Gone Too Far,” we learn that from age 19 until his mid-20s, the celebrity DJ was addicted to heroin. When he met 23-year-old Amy on the first episode of the show, he knew exactly what she was going through.
Michael Jackson’s death has made the drug propofol—a powerful anesthesia usually only used in hospital settings—a household name, but it has also raised awareness of the growing problem of propofol abuse among doctors and nurses.
By Laura Sack
It’s finals week. But somehow that week extends itself into the prior week’s weekend, probably farther. It’s Saturday morning. Waking up early to ensure a table with coveted plug access on my favorite floor of the library is already losing its allure. Good news is my backpack is already packed from last night’s studying…but it needs to be restocked for today’s studying agenda. Textbooks? Check. Laptop? Check. Pens, pencils, notebooks, calculator, wallet, computer charger? Check. Adderall? Swallow. … Continue Reading
