Category: Prescription Drug & Drug Addiction

Marijuana in the news this fall seems to focus on the sea change in public opinion on legalization. Colorado and Washington are ironing out the details of legal marijuana in their respective states. A new Gallup poll reveals that for the first time, a majority of Americans (58 percent) think marijuana should be legal. But…

New Drug Tunnel Shut Down Another tunnel for drug smugglers has been discovered in California, stretching from Mexico several thousand feet under the border to a San Diego warehouse. Homeland Security officials kept the tunnel under surveillance for several weeks before making a move. The tunnel was shut down, three people arrested and marijuana and…

Krokodil is the latest drug scare that comes with dire symptoms, but now drug officials are not sure whether the drug is in the United States or not. Krokodil is the opiate desomorphine, a drug homemade in rural Russia as a substitute for heroin, which is scarce there. Russian drug addicts create krokodil by combining…

Nicotine Addiction Linked to Pregnancy—Your Mom’s Pregnancy For every time you think addiction isn’t complicated, read a story like this. Researchers have linked nicotine addiction in women to their prenatal exposure to stress hormones when their mothers were pregnant. The researchers used information from a study of women’s pregnancy habits, the Collaborative Perinatal Project at…

Treating Pain or Enabling Addiction? Painkiller use has skyrocketed in the past decade, but has it made a difference in pain? According to a new study, the number of office visits for pain hasn’t changed.  The government is trying to address the problem with new labeling rules. Can these changes make a difference for people…

College is a time for learning and self-discovery. It’s the first time you are on your own. For many, this is a time to have fun and make memories to last a lifetime. Making bad decisions and mistakes is just part of the learning experience. The misuse of “study drugs,” prescription drugs like Ritalin, Adderall…

Deadly Happy Pill Epidemic in Women When you think of health risks for women in the United States, the first thing that comes to mind may be cancer. You may not think of prescription drug addiction and overdose, but maybe you should. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that more women died…

AMC’s “Breaking Bad” has taken the nation by storm. The show has offers a glimpse into the dark and gritty world of crystal meth. Creator Vince Gilligan created a story and characters that are complex and frightening and crystal meth is at the center of it all. Art Imitating Life From the beginning of the…

There is a false sense of security with prescription drugs—they can’t be that bad if they are legal, right? For rapper Eminem, his denial about being an addict almost cost him his life in 2007. He comes forward now and opens up about his addiction in the documentary, “How to Make Money Selling Drugs.” Denial…

You might have to think twice about letting your kids eat homemade cookies or brownies next time you’re at your grandmother’s house. The number of children being unintentionally poisoned by marijuana has been growing. In Colorado, where medical marijuana has been legal since 2009, there have been more than a dozen cases. Just When You…