April 11th, 2013
Long Island Woman Fakes Cancer to Feed Heroin Addiction
“There was no cancer, no chemotherapy or radiation. All there was was heroin and more heroin,” said District Attorney Thomas Spota. He is speaking of Brittany Ozarowski, a Long Island woman accused of faking cancer in order to support her vicious heroin addiction. In an Incitement ...
April 10th, 2013
Drug Regulations Obstruct “Magic Mushrooms” Trial
Strict British and European drug regulations hinder a potentially groundbreaking clinical trial researching the use of “magic mushrooms” to alleviate depression. In March Professor, David Nutt, President of British Neuroscience Association and Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial ...
April 9th, 2013
The MPP Billboard of Controversy
April signals the arrival of many things: the Easter Bunny, blossoming flowers, Opening Day for baseball, and some long-anticipated warmer weather. What a lot of people may not know is that April is also Alcohol Awareness Month. Portland coincidentally celebrates the season by hosting its ...
April 5th, 2013
Rethinking the “Three Strikes” Rule
It’s easy for Americans to sit in our moral high chairs and shake our heads at news of human rights violations in far-off lands like North Korea and Libya, but what about the historical injustice currently being perpetrated on US soil? Five percent of the world’s population lives in the United ...
December 4th, 2012
D.A.R.E. to Dismiss
America’s most (in)famous anti-drug non-profit has been advocating “Drug Abuse Resistance Education” to students since the early 1980s, but–possibly in light of recent reports that participation in the program does not decrease drug use–has decided to drop ...
August 14th, 2012
OxyContin Reformulation Fails to Curb Abuse
In an attempt to counter the sharp increases in opiate painkiller abuse, researchers came out with a new formulation of OxyContin in August 2010 that’s less soluble and harder to crush. OxyContin would then be more difficult to inject and inhale, the two most popular methods of administration ...
August 1st, 2012
What Do the Olympics Have to Do With the War on Drugs? More Than You Might Think
107: that’s the number of athletes who were banned for doping offenses before this year’s Olympic Games began. Since then, twelve would-be participants have been sent home by the International Association of Athletics Federations, including nine who were found guilty on the eve of the London ...
April 9th, 2012
Prescription Painkillers: A Growing Trend
It has become common knowledge that legal drugs are not necessarily safe drugs, but recent figures released by the DEA suggest more people are ignoring this fact as the years go on. Prescription painkillers sales have skyrocketed in the last decade, and reports show that in 2010 alone 69 tons ...
August 18th, 2011
Medical Marijuana in Maryland
Maryland may be the next state to legalize medical marijuana. If approved, the state’s medical marijuana plan will rely on academic institutions to direct the prescription of marijuana to patients.
August 12th, 2011
West Virginia Drug Laws May Take a New Turn
Yesterday marked West Virginia’s inaugural Summit on Prescription Drug abuse, a meeting of various government leaders to address the state’s growing prescription drug problem. The summit’s main conclusion was that efforts should not be focused on arrests and incarceration, but ...
August 5th, 2011
Scientists Develop Date Rape Drug Detector
Wondering if your drink is hiding a little something extra? Pretty soon, you may be able to find out if your drink has been drugged by swirling a straw.
August 4th, 2011
PTSD Treatment for Veterans May Start to Look Different
A recent study has shown that antipsychotics are no more effective than placebos in helping veterans overcome PTSD symptoms.
August 1st, 2011
The NAACP Calls for End of War on Drugs
The NAACP wants the War on Drugs to be over, according to a statement released during its July 25th convention. The civil rights advocacy group is arguing that the initiative unfairly targets individuals of color despite the considerable involvement of whites in drug trafficking and consumption.
July 28th, 2011
Mephedrone in the UK
4.4% of Brits between the ages of 16-24 have used mephedrone in the past year, according to the British Crime Survey. This is nearly the same percentage of people who have used cocaine.
July 15th, 2011
Obama on Medicare Changes
As lawmakers continue to clash over fiscal strategy, President Obama announced today that he would support “means-testing” for Medicare recipients. Means-testing requires those above a certain income level to pay greater fees for medical care. House Majority leader Eric Cantor later ...
July 11th, 2011
DEA Marijuana Ruling
Marijuana has no medical value, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as of last Friday. This proclamation was issued in response to a petition calling for a change in the substance’s drug schedule. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, meaning that it is considered ...
