Category Archives: Drugs

More than 400 million euro is expected to be shaved off the State's bill for medications over the next three years. Health Minister James Reilly said the new deal was struck during intensive negotiations involving the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) and the Health Service Executive. The scheme will result in significant reductions for patients in the cost of drugs, as well as lower the drugs bill to the State and ease financial pressure on the health service. The IPHA said the new supply agreement will ensure new medicines are made available to Irish patients. David Gallagher, outgoing president who led the negotiations, said: "Medicines are a key pillar of any advanced health system and medical innovation has extended life expectancy through reducing illness and death. "Many patients are in need of new advanced medicines in areas such as Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer, stroke prevention, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis." The State pays out some 2 billion euro on drugs each year - with Dr Reilly heavily criticised for health spending overruns. And his former junior minister, Roisin Shortall, whose shock resignation rocked the coalition Government last week, attacked Dr Reilly for not managing the HSE budget, in particular his … Continue reading →

It should no longer be a criminal offence to use small amounts of drugs, the UK Drug Policy Commission has concluded after a six-year study of Britain's drugs laws. It was funded by an independent charity and is composed of some well-respected figures from medicine and the police. Their report says existing drugs policies struggle to make an impact and in some cases may make the problem worse. The commission's chief executive Roger Howard told the Today programme: "We need to base future drug policy on what works, on evidence, and we're calling for a new body to be set up to be able to promote that." Independent drugs expert Sarah Graham disagrees with some of the report's findings and said: "I'm specifically interested in drugs education in schools. When I work with young people they tell me they don't get enough drugs education. "I think we need to be prioritising drugs education because young people are being educated on the streets, by papers, by pop stars, and we need to make sure the information they're getting is scientifically backed up." Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844. Read more from … Continue reading →

Using illegal drugs is like gambling or eating junk food, the independent body that analyses drug laws has claimed as it called for a review of the Government's approach. The final report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) pointed out that there are "some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit ... rather than to prevent entirely". Its six-year study found much of the 3bn the UK spends annually on tackling illicit drugs is not based on evidence. It said until the Government pursues policies based on what works, it would continue to waste public money and damage lives. Calling for a "wholesale review" of drugs laws and the classification system, it said possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use should be made a civil offence instead of a criminal offence. Some 42,000 people in England and Wales are sentenced each year for the possession of drugs, with about 160,000 people given cannabis warnings, the report added. For cannabis, there was also an argument that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to undermining the commercialisation of production, … Continue reading →

The pharmaceutical industry has largely abandoned drug development for mental illnesses even though depression is a leading cause of disability, experts say. Authors of papers published in this week's issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine argue that drug discovery for treating psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression are at a near standstill. "Antipsychotics and antidepressants have been some of the most profitable agents for companies over the last two decades," said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and one of the authors. "But that doesn't mean they're effective. What it means is that they sell and they can be marketed." In the last five decades, more than 20 antipsychotics and 30 antidepressants have been marketed with over $25 billion in sales in the U.S. in 2011 alone, Insel said. The drugs are descended from serendipitous discoveries such as the mood stabilizing effects of lithium in 1949, said Steven Hyman of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and the author of the second paper. "The central problem is clear: Neither vast unmet medical need, nor large and growing markets, nor concerted sales campaigns that attempt to recast 'me-too drugs' as innovative … Continue reading →

KABUL, Afghanistan Afghan counternarcotics police poured gasoline on more than 24 tons of narcotics and other illegal substances, then set the pile ablaze on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday, officials said. Afghan authorities said the drugs, drug-making chemicals and alcohol were seized in and around the capital during the past nine months. Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy minister of counternarcotics at the Interior Ministry, said the destroyed drugs included 1,772 kilograms (3,900 pounds) of heroin; 2,764 kilograms (6,070 pounds) of opium; and 140 kilograms (308 pounds) of hashish. More than 12,100 liters (3,200 gallons) of alcohol as well as raisins used to make alcohol also were destroyed. "It is a considerable amount of narcotics," Ahmadi told reporters at the site as a cloud of black smoke spiraled over the burning drugs. "Compared with (a similar burn from a comparable period) last year, it's a 35 to 45 percent increase." He said 907 suspects had been arrested in connection with the seizure of the drugs and other materials. The police put the illegal substances into a large pile, mixed in some logs, doused it with gas and then lighted the material as police stood by applauding. Stephen McFarland, coordinating director for … Continue reading →

Using illegal drugs is like gambling or eating junk food and there needs to be a wholesale review of the Government's approach, the independent body that analyses drug laws has said. There are "some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit", the final report of the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) said. Its six-year study found much of the 3 billion the UK spends annually on tackling illicit drugs is not based on evidence and, until Government pursues policies based on what works, it will continue to waste public money and damage lives. Calling for a "wholesale review" of drugs laws and the classification system, it said possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use should be made a civil offence instead of a criminal offence. Some 42,000 people in England and Wales are sentenced each year for the possession of drugs, with about 160,000 people given cannabis warnings, the report added. For cannabis, there was also "an argument that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to undermining the commercialisation of production", the UKDPC said. The commission called for … Continue reading →

LONDON (Reuters) - Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take stimulants such as Ritalin tend to feel the drugs help them control their behavior and do not turn them into "robots" as many skeptics assume, a study found on Monday. The research, which for the first time asked children taking ADHD drugs what they felt about their treatment and its effects, found that many said medication helped them manage their impulsivity and make better decisions. "With medication, it's not that you're a different person. You're still the same person, but you just act a little better," said Angie, an 11-year-old from the United States who took part in the study and was quoted in a report about its findings. The results are likely to further fuel the debate in the United States and Europe about whether children with ADHD, some as young as four years old, should be given stimulants. ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders in the United States, where an average 9 percent of children between the ages of five and 17 are diagnosed with it each year. In Britain experts estimate that between 5 and 10 percent of children and adolescents have … Continue reading →

Brad Pitt no longer uses drugs but has confessed he could still get his hands on anything he wanted. The 48-year-old father-of-six - who opened up about his former marijuana habit earlier this year - said he no longer uses drugs but is confident he would have no problem getting his hands on anything he wanted within 24 hours. The 'Killing Them Softly' actor said: 'My drugs days are long since passed but it's certainly true that I could probably land in any city in any state and get you whatever you wanted. I could find anything you were looking for. Give me 24 hours or so.' Brad was speaking to the audience at a Los Angeles screening for the new hard-hitting documentary he executive produced called 'The House I Live In' about the war on drugs on Friday , according to the Huffington Post. He said: 'We have spent a trillion dollars. It's lasted for over 40 years. A lot of people have lost their lives for it. And yet we still talk about it like it's this success.' Earlier this year, the 'Moneyball' star revealed he once used drugs as a way to escape the pressures of fame … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brad Pitt has thrown his weight behind a documentary that blasts America's 40-year war on drugs as a failure, calling policies that imprison huge numbers of drug-users a "charade" in urgent need of a rethink. The Hollywood actor came aboard recently as an executive producer of filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's "The House I Live In," which won the Grand Jury Prize in January at the Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in wide release in the United States on Friday. Ahead of a Los Angeles screening, Pitt and Jarecki spoke passionately about the "War on Drugs" which, according to the documentary, has cost more than $1 trillion and accounted for over 45 million arrests since 1971, and which preys largely on poor and minority communities. "I know people are suffering because of it. I know I've lived a very privileged life in comparison and I can't stand for it," Pitt told Reuters on Friday, calling the government's War on Drugs policy a "charade." "It's such bad strategy. It makes no sense. It perpetuates itself. You make a bust, you drive up profit, which makes more people want to get into it," he added. "To me, there's no … Continue reading →

Damien Miller was serving seven years for supplying drugs in Stoke-on-Trent He began a new criminal enterprise when transferred to an open prison Miller's new crime gang peddled drugs in Stoke-on-Trent He was sentenced to another ten years behind bars Seven men and two women were also convicted over the crime By Alex Ward PUBLISHED: 13:12 EST, 12 October 2012 | UPDATED: 13:47 EST, 12 October 2012 Crime behind bars: Damien Miller will spend another ten years in jail after he masterminded a heroin and cocaine racket from his cell A drugs baron will spend another ten years behind bars for masterminding another heroin and cocaine racket from his prison cell. Damien Miller, 31, was serving seven years for supplying drugs to his home city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire yet he began a new criminal enterprise when he being transferred to an open prison. Whilst on day release from North Sea Camp Prison in Lincolnshire, Miller used his employment as an odd job man on the outside as a cover to meet up with his old accomplices. He then formed a new gang which peddled drugs in Stoke-on-Trent whilst he served out the rest of his stretch over 120 miles away. … Continue reading →