April 21st, 2014
The International Narcotics Control Board
The United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board was initially established in 1961. In its recent annual report – the 52nd such report in the Board’s history – the INCB denounced the current state of illicit drugs on the worldwide stage. And fresh in its focus is marijuana, for which ...
April 14th, 2014
New Opioid Approval: Zohydro
What better time than the present? The question didn’t escape the FDA, which has formally issued approval of a new opioid prescription painkiller called Zohydro. This prescription-only opioid analgesic was approved as a Schedule II drug. Schedule II drugs are more tightly controlled than ...
March 24th, 2014
New Label Requirements on Generic Drugs
A recent proposed federal regulation would establish new label requirements for generic drugs, and give patients greater rights in the event of rare drug-related complications. Generic drug companies have been fighting against the requirements, and a strange series of legal loopholes has made ...
February 24th, 2014
FDA Launches Secure Supply Chain Pilot Program
The United States Food and Drug Administration — the FDA — has recently approved an initiative to speed specific imported drugs through their approval process. This action enables a much hastier process for these pharmaceuticals than what was previously in place. This in turn ...
February 20th, 2014
DEA Unable to Keep up with Synthetic Drugs
Synthetic drugs are some of the most popular drugs entering the market today, making it difficult for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to keep up with newly emerging substances. The synthetic market is taking off in part because of crackdowns on ‘classic’ drugs, such as methamphetamine. As ...
February 18th, 2014
CVS Quits Tobacco
Pharmacy giant CVS today announced that their stores and pharmacy locations will no longer have the sale of tobacco products after October 1, 2014. Their announcement was accompanied by the statement that cigarettes are “inconsistent with their mission” for health. Tobacco addiction is a ...
February 17th, 2014
Lethal Injection Drugs in the U.S.
Over the past few years, many companies — largely international, and some Danish — have ceased selling lethal injection drugs to United States prisons. These boycotts have been motivated by humanitarian concerns: drugs like Nembutal in the case of the Danes are commonly used ...
February 12th, 2014
Uruguay’s President Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Not only is Uruguay the first country in the world to legalize marijuana, but its quirky, ex-guerilla president is now being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The Uruguayan president, Jose Mujica, pushed a bill into law that fully legalized marijuana. Recently, Jose has been nominated as a ...
February 10th, 2014
Uruguay Becomes First Country to Legalize Marijuana Trade
In a striking first move, the Uruguayan government passed a bill fully legalizing the sale and distribution of marijuana, both medical and recreational. Coming off the tail end of this year’s leaked U.N. report, which revealed a changing attitude on global drug policy, Uruguay’s bold action is ...
February 6th, 2014
New Link Between Narcotics and Deforestation
The journal of Science published a recent survey and grant data led by Kendra McSweeney that draws a connection between narcotics and deforestation. Although this connection has been drawn before, McSweeney’s study, funded by a National Geographic grant, suggests far wider connections ...
January 28th, 2014
Vermont Governor Attempts to Tackle Drug Addiction
This year, Vermont Governor Shumlin addressed his year-opening House and Senate with a State of the State message about a single topic: drug addiction. Though a concern to the country at large as well, Vermont has a particularly nasty stint with heroin and opiate addiction, consistently ranking ...
January 22nd, 2014
How to Afford Treatment: Low-Cost Ways of Getting Clean
People have many reasons for procrastinating when it comes to obtaining treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. Of these, a lack of financial resources should never hold you back. If you are ready and willing to seek help for your addiction but feel constrained by your economic status, know ...
January 15th, 2014
Migraines: Placebos vs Prescription Drugs
A study published recently by the Science Translational Medicine periodical concluded that the information provided with migraine drugs is exceptionally likely to affect the drug’s effectiveness. This isn’t to say that a placebo is more effective than an actual prescription-quality ...
December 18th, 2013
Drinking Water Contaminated with Drugs
Suffering from high blood pressure? Instead of spending money on a drug prescription, you might want to consider drinking more tap water. New results from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study on 50 major U.S. metropolitan water treatment plants indicates that our tap water is anything ...
December 11th, 2013
Technology Addiction Gains Recognition in Australia
In Australia and Tasmania, doctors and mental health professionals are beginning to confront a new trend and serious concern. New technology- and delivery platforms for technology- is creating modern issues for today’s youth. Australia has a handful of clinical professionals examining the ...
December 10th, 2013
Mom Turns to Medical Marijuana to Treat Son’s Epilepsy
In a recent Huffington Post interview, a mother of an epileptic boy, Zaki, reports that a unique strain of medical marijuana known as “Charlotte’s Web,” sent her son’s severe symptoms of epilepsy almost directly into remission. Zaki’s mother, Heather Jackson, explained in the interview that her ...
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