Drug Roar

A man charged with cocaine offenses was exonerated in Los Angeles after his lawyer produced a video...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:22:00 -0400

A man charged with cocaine offenses was exonerated in Los Angeles after his lawyer produced a video showing two police officers lied in sworn testimony.

Modern Mechanix has a vintage ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes....

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:18:47 -0400

Modern Mechanix has a vintage ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes. Excellent tagline.

Liz Spikol, one of my bosses at PW, writes on Huffington Post about the overmedication of the...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:33:06 -0400

Liz Spikol, one of my bosses at PW, writes on Huffington Post about the overmedication of the elderly. The New York Times wrote about this earlier this week.

This week's column

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:24:00 -0400

It’s about potent pot, and how the government lies to you.

The FDA has approved a 4-in-1 vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline that innoculates people against...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:54:00 -0400

The FDA has approved a 4-in-1 vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline that innoculates people against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.

NORML’s Paul Armentano writes on Huffington Post about how cannabis is a promising treatment...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:55:50 -0400

NORML’s Paul Armentano writes on Huffington Post about how cannabis is a promising treatment for cancer, even though the U.S. government essentially forbids clinical trials.

Here’s a nice piece from Health Beat about addiction and the social view of drug addicts.

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:00:08 -0400

Here’s a nice piece from Health Beat about addiction and the social view of drug addicts.

Smokers in Scotland could be paid to quit smoking.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:25:11 -0400

Smokers in Scotland could be paid to quit smoking.

The DEA is about to let doctors write prescriptions for controlled substances online. Many scheduled...

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:55:00 -0400

The DEA is about to let doctors write prescriptions for controlled substances online. Many scheduled substances — Ritalin, for example — are widely used; prescribing drugs online would cut costs. Alex Coolman wonders if online prescriptions would lead to more recreational use.

Time has a very interesting article titled Should You Drink with Your Kids? It details the results...

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:05:00 -0400

Time has a very interesting article titled Should You Drink with Your Kids? It details the results of a study about children who drink with their parents:

A few years ago, a team of North Carolina researchers, led by public-health professor Kristie Long Foley, examined whether adults’ approval or disapproval mattered when adolescents were deciding whether and how much to drink. Foley’s team analyzed surveys of more than 6,000 people ages 16 to 20 in 242 U.S. communities. One predictable finding: kids whose parents gave them alcohol for parties were more likely to binge-drink. That discovery underscored years of research showing that the earlier people start to drink, the more likely they are to become alcoholics.
But another result was surprising: if kids actually drank with their parents, they were about half as likely to say they had drunk alcohol in the past month and about one-third as likely to say they had had five or more drinks in a row in the previous two weeks. As Foley and her colleagues wrote in a 2004 Journal of Adolescent Health paper, “Drinking with parents appears to have a protective effect on general drinking trends.”

A father received life in prison for felony murder after a jury ruled he let his teething son suck...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:05:17 -0400

A father received life in prison for felony murder after a jury ruled he let his teething son suck his “cocaine fingers,” causing the child’s death.

The national drug intelligence threat released a survey of local law enforcement agencies asking...

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:44:37 -0400

The national drug intelligence threat released a survey of local law enforcement agencies asking them what drug posed the greatest threat to their community.

Philadelphia is exempt from key aspects of Pennsylvania’s new smoking ban.

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:22:24 -0400

Philadelphia is exempt from key aspects of Pennsylvania’s new smoking ban.

According to autopsies, the rate of death in Florida from prescription drugs is three times that of...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:44:58 -0400

According to autopsies, the rate of death in Florida from prescription drugs is three times that of illegal drugs.

A report from Harvard psychiatry professor Joseph Glenmullen on suicides during trials of...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:27:40 -0400

A report from Harvard psychiatry professor Joseph Glenmullen on suicides during trials of anti-depressant Paxil says GlaxoSmithKline manipulated data. More from the WSJ.

Six men were caught with 52 pounds of marijuana in Upper Darby; authorities valued the pot at...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:33:11 -0400

Six men were caught with 52 pounds of marijuana in Upper Darby; authorities valued the pot at $90,000.

The only heroin maintenance program in the Western Hemisphere will soon be closing down.

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:04:00 -0400

The only heroin maintenance program in the Western Hemisphere will soon be closing down.

Consumer Reports has an interesting table of pharmaceutical companies’ direct-to-consumer...

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:37:48 -0400

Consumer Reports has an interesting table of pharmaceutical companies’ direct-to-consumer advertising vs. retail dales; Rozerem actually made only 68 cents per dollar spent on advertising.

A drug bust (for marijuana) in Kansas City ended with a dog being shot.

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:33:54 -0400

A drug bust (for marijuana) in Kansas City ended with a dog being shot.

A report from former UK drug officials calls for drug-free prisons.

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:32:02 -0400

A report from former UK drug officials calls for drug-free prisons.