Three found dead in one hour in three Lancashire towns may be linked to a batch of heroin in the area.

17:27 Three found dead in one hour in three Lancashire towns may be linked to a batch of heroin in the area 0 Comments

Three found dead in one hour in three Lancashire towns: "Three men have been found dead at addresses in Lancashire within about an hour.

The men, aged 52, 36, and 32, were found in properties in Burnley, Colne and Nelson between 2315 GMT on Friday and 0020 GMT on Saturday.

Police have said they are treating the deaths as unexplained but are concerned they may be linked to a batch of heroin in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Crimestoppers.

Det Ch Insp Stuart Dixon, of Lancashire Police, said: 'It is too early to say whether the cause of the deaths are connected, but we are concerned that there could be a particularly strong batch of heroin in the area and I would urge anyone who uses heroin and who may be concerned to contact their local healthcare provider.

'

Crackdown as kids of 12 spend their pocket money in illegal ‘hookah’ smoking dens

10:05 illegal ‘hookah’ smoking dens 0 Comments

Crackdown as kids of 12 spend their pocket money in illegal ‘hookah’ smoking dens "CHILDREN as young as 12 are blowing their pocket money in hookah smoking dens.

The youngsters are risking their health using unfiltered shisha tobacco for hours at a time.

Police know of one girl of 12 who spent her £30 birthday cash in one of the Middle Eastern-style meeting places.

Shisha cafes, where customers inhale flavoured tobacco smoke through a water pipe – known as a hookah – must follow strict health and safety guidelines and can only sell to adults."

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Pill-free pain relief treatments gain ground among recovering addicts » Knoxville News Sentinel

07:55 Pill-free pain relief treatments gain ground among recovering addicts 0 Comments

Pill-free pain relief treatments gain ground among recovering addicts » Knoxville News Sentinel: "When Eric Amburgey started experiencing daily back pain last year, he could have gone to a pain clinic and gotten a narcotics prescription.

But as a recovering addict with years of hard-won sobriety under his belt, Amburgey knew all too well that could lead him down a slippery slope.

Still, he waited until his back locked up and he was begging for relief before trying 'something I really didn't believe in' — acupuncture.

After 12 treatments over six months, Amburgey is pain-free — and has been for nine months.

'I don't understand how you can stick needles here and there … and get rid of the pain,' Amburgey said, laughing. 'I just know that it works.'"

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BBC News - Mother jailed for tying up daughter to prevent access to a drug dealer

BBC News - Mother jailed for tying up daughter to prevent access to a drug dealer: "Tim Saker's wife has been jailed for false imprisonment after she tied up their daughter to prevent contact with a drug dealer.

19-year-old Tabitha Saker, who's now in rehab, was restrained with parcel tape by her then-boyfriend and her mother. Julia Saker was sentenced to twelve months in prison in January, and Christopher Franklin for eighteen months.

Mr Saker defends the actions of his wife on BBC Radio 5 live: 'In the same circumstances I would have tried to stop her getting out as well.'

'I think it's a reasonable thing to do,' he tells Victoria Derbyshire. 'It's what any loving parent would do.'

'I'm most unimpressed by the judicial decision, I have to say.'"

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The Truth About Sex Addiction

07:51 The Truth About Sex Addiction 0 Comments

The Truth About Sex Addiction - TIME: "A difference between an addict and a recovering addict is that one hides his behavior, while the other can't stop talking about it. Self-revelation is an important part of recovery, but it can lead to awkward moments when you meet a person who identifies as a sex addict.

For instance, within a half-hour of my first meeting Neil Melinkovich, a 59-year-old life coach, sometime writer and former model who has been in Sex Addicts Anonymous for more than 20 years, he told me about the time in 1987 that he made a quick detour from picking up his girlfriend at the Los Angeles airport so he could purchase a service from a prostitute. Afterward, he noticed what he thought was red lipstick on himself. It turned out to be blood from the woman's mouth. He washed in a gas-station bathroom, met his girlfriend at the airport and then, in the grip of his insatiability, had unprotected sex with her as soon as they got home — in the same bed he said he had used to entertain three other women in the days before."

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Feature: The neuroscience of addiction - Neuroscience, Florey Neuroscience Institute, drug discovery, addiction - Australian Life Scientist

07:50 Feature: The neuroscience of addiction 0 Comments

Feature: The neuroscience of addiction - Neuroscience, Florey Neuroscience Institute, drug discovery, addiction - Australian Life Scientist: "In their search for the molecular roots of addiction, the Florey team studied neurons that project from the prefrontal cortex, just behind the forehead, down into the striatum, in the inside of the forebrain. Within the striatum lies the nucleus accumbens, a cluster of neurons known to play a key role in reward, pleasure and addiction.

The neurons projecting from the prefrontal cortex employ the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. Where they terminate in the nucleus accumbens, the target neurons are studded with a type of glutamate receptor called mGlu5, also known as the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5.

“There is increasing evidence that this corticostriatal projection is a key part of the addictive system in laboratory animals, and some brain imaging studies in humans essentially concur with that conclusion,” says Lawrence."

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Tanzanians practicing “flashblood,” in which one addict injects herself with another’s blood in the hopes of sharing the high.

07:48 ” in which one addict injects herself with another’s blood in the hopes of sharing the high. , Tanzanians practicing “flashblood 0 Comments

A First in Sub-Saharan Africa - Methadone Maintenance Program Begins in Tanzania - NYTimes.com: "Last year, an American researcher reported finding Tanzanians practicing “flashblood,” in which one addict injects herself with another’s blood in the hopes of sharing the high.

In Africa, fear of the unfamiliar often leads to accusations of witchcraft, and if heroin use is unfamiliar, methadone is even more so. Methadone is even more addictive than heroin, though it is given in oral doses meant to be small enough to produce no high. In announcing the opening of the program at Muhimbili Hospital, the American Embassy in Tanzania said it was “fully aware that challenges will likely be encountered whilst services are being established.”"

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Thousands are 'at risk of alcohol death' say doctors

11:00 Thousands are 'at risk of alcohol death' 0 Comments

 Thousands are 'at risk of alcohol death' say doctors: "Poor alcohol regulation could cost up to 250,000 lives in England and Wales over the next 20 years, doctors warn.

Writing in The Lancet, leading liver disease specialists say measures including a minimum price of 50p per unit are urgently needed.

They also said the coalition government was 'too close' to the drinks industry.

But the Department of Health said it was taking 'tough action', while the drinks industry said it was 'playing its part in tackling alcohol misuse'.

The scientists predicted UK deaths from liver disease in four different scenarios.

The best case was based on the UK following the example of France, which had a deep-seated problem in the 1960s, with high liver disease deaths linked to the consumption of cheap alcohol.

Drinking levels there were reduced by imposing strict marketing restrictions."

2.5 million die of alcoholic drinks a year

23:43 2.5 million die of alcoholic drinks a year 0 Comments

tehran times : 2.5 million die of alcoholic drinks a year: "The use of alcohol causes approximately 2.5 million deaths a year, young people were especially vulnerable to its harms, the World Health Organization(WHO) said on Friday in a report profiling 193 countries on alcohol controls.

“one third of deaths(from alcohol) are among young people ,”said Dr.Shekhar Saxena , director of the WHO’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse department, adding that alcohol is responsible for 9 percent of all deaths that occurred to people aged between 15 to 29 .

Saxena said alcohol consumption may lead to liver cirrhosis, epileplsy, poisonings and mental disturbance which very often causes road accident or violent behavior.

Recent research even proved the links between alcohol abuse and cancers."

Drink-drive fine for Louisa Lytton

19:48 Louisa Lytton has pledged to 'move on' with her life after she was fined for drink-driving. 0 Comments

The Press Association: Drink-drive fine for Louisa Lytton: "Louisa Lytton has pledged to 'move on' with her life after she was fined for drink-driving.
The 22-year-old former EastEnders star was fined £350 at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court for driving with excess alcohol on January 30, a court official said.
She was also ordered to pay £85 costs, and disqualified for 14 months, which will be reduced by three months if she completes the Secretary of State-approved course, he added.
Her manager said later: 'She is very remorseful about this, and will move on. She will live and learn from it.
'She will take the course and just get on with it, she wasn't hiding from it.
'She had only had one drink and was just over the limit, but she knows that the law is the law, she understands the severity of it, and that you can't drink and drive.'"

CRACK: Lives lost to addiction

17:31 CRACK: Lives lost to addiction 0 Comments

CRACK: Lives lost to addiction | Calgary & Alberta | News | Calgary Sun: "The power of crack drives not only property crimes, it’s forged a phrenetic battleground where addicts often wind up murdered on Calgary streets.

Eric Regimbald, a crackhead also embroiled in the trade, was left gasping for breath as blood emptied his body on a Chinatown road following a backseat dispute with another dealer on Aug. 27, 2006.

Just last month, jurors found Ryan Charles Everett, a 26-year-old drug dealer, guilty of manslaughter.

The violence continued in 2007, with at least one murder and several stabbings linked to crack.

Jacqueline Clara Crazybull, 44, bled to death on a Beltline street bench, stabbed in what friends described as a row over crack turf.

Four others were attacked within an hour that same early morning of July 11 by a group identified as three to four black men in a light-coloured car.

The bloodied and partially-clothed body of Tara Landgraf, who receded from friends and family into a spiralling crack addiction, was found on a Ramsay street in August that same year.

And in the case of Clifford Charles Hamilton, found slumped in a northeast alley Sept. 21, cops believe he may have been killed over as little as $100 worth or crack cocaine, a rock no bigger than an M&M."

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Woman gave daughter fatal drug overdose in Tacoma

17:30 Woman gave daughter fatal drug overdose in Tacoma 0 Comments

Woman gave daughter fatal drug overdose in Tacoma: "A recovering heroin addict admits she gave her 12-year-old daughter a fatal dose of methadone in Tacoma.

The News Tribune reports 48-year-old Jane Elizabeth Griffith gave the drug in October to her daughter because she complained of knee pain. The girl, Jessica Griffith, who also went by Jessica Wood, died of a drug overdose.

Jane Griffith pleaded guilty Jan. 26 to controlled substance homicide and was sentenced in Pierce County Superior Court to five years in prison."

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Addiction Specialist on Lindsay Lohan: She's Too Fragile for Lawsuit - Lindsay Lohan

17:29 Addiction Specialist on Lindsay Lohan: She's Too Fragile for Lawsuit 0 Comments

Addiction Specialist on Lindsay Lohan: She's Too Fragile for Lawsuit - Lindsay Lohan: "Lindsay Lohan got out of rehab a hot minute ago and probably still has jail-cell smell in her hair, and is already in trouble with the law again.

She was charged with felony grand theft earlier this week and is on lock down by her camp, but addiction specialist Blake LeVine, President/Founder of Will Listen, thinks all this publicity will make her recovery impossible.

LeVine, who has not treated Lindsay, tells Hollyscoop, 'I think Lindsay Lohan is in a very fragile place and this arrest will only make her recovery near impossible.

“While she is trying to rebuild her life, she now faces both this charge and another lawsuit. Since she is famous, many companies or individuals can sue her and obtain a great amount of free publicity for their business. Even if the businesses lose, they still are written about in nearly every paper.'"

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Support pours in for Lucas in rehab journey | New York Daily News

17:28 Support pours in for Lucas in rehab journey 0 Comments

Support pours in for Lucas in rehab journey | New York Daily News: "Former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas, who was admitted to a Florida drug rehabilitation facility last week to treat the painkiller addiction he developed during his NFL career, has been chronicling his experiences on Facebook, as the Daily News first reported. Here's Lucas' latest entry:

'Day 3 of detox was filled with a lot of anxiety. I was moved from the detox unit into the Seaside condos to start full days of various therapy sessions, group meetings & other treatment. I am nervous & feeling on edge. I met my therapist, it was a very emotional time a lot of feelings coming to the surface. I am drained. More later. Thanks everyone for the support.'

Lucas, now a broadcaster with SNY, ESPN and the Rutgers Radio Network, has received scores of supportive and heartfelt comments. Here's one:

'RAY!!! I've been through what you are going through, the first 5 days to a week are hell, but I promise each day after gets better! Before you know it you will be feeling like yourself again. The easy part is getting clean, the hard part is staying clean. Stay in therapy as long as you need and always express your thou...ghts and feelings to whoever will listen, it helps tons, believe me. Be strong!'"