charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

<p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000 into Britain.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Former US gang member Derrick ‘Anthony’ Mitchell was held at Heathrow this month after UK Border Agency officers allegedly discovered 3kg of drugs in his luggage. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Mitchell, 37, is a duty manager at the South London-based Kids Company founded by charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set it up in 1996 to care for abused, neglected or  abandoned children in London’s inner-city communities. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>She has been described as ‘Britain’s most colourful charity leader’ because of her style, dress sense and selfless approach to charity work. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The award-winning author and campaigner was invited  to 10 Downing Street last year. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>She also advises former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and is thought to be one of the inspirations behind Mr Cameron’s pledge to ‘hug a hoodie’. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Ms Batmanghelidjh spoke of her shock at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, whom  she described as a ‘street-level youth mentor’.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>She said: ‘Obviously, because the judicial process needs to take place, we cannot legally comment. The only thing I can say is that the alleged incident took place while he was on holiday in his own time.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>‘At this stage I do not know enough to know the full details. But as a worker, he gave exceptional commitment to the kids over a number of years and I can never take that away from him. <br /></span></span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Pledge: David Cameron's Big Society aims to 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'" class="blkBorder" height="317" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/30/article-2055210-0C38D0A600000578-92_468x317.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pledge: David Cameron's Big Society aims to 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>As an organisation, we employ a range of people and a lot of them have had challenging backgrounds as children and we have given them chances. The majority of them go on to do incredibly well.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>‘In the situation of this individual, if what is alleged has occurred, he has made an abhorrent choice and I do not agree with it.’ </span></span></p><div class="thinFloatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 10px; min-height: 1px; width: 235px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Camila Batmanghelidjh said she was shocked at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, claiming he gave 'exceptional commitment to the kids'" class="blkBorder" height="423" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/30/article-2055210-0084BEEE00000578-354_233x423.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="233" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Camila Batmanghelidjh said she was shocked at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, claiming he gave 'exceptional commitment to the kids'</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Mitchell, of Camberwell, south London, was arrested at Heathrow on October 6 and remanded in custody by Uxbridge magistrates the next day. He will reappear in court in the next month. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The university undergraduate has previously spoken of deciding to rebuild his life after leaving a violent street gang in Miami.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>He claimed he had earlier sold drugs and lost a family member to violence at the age of 19 when his sister bled to death after being stabbed in a leg.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>After coming to Britain in his 20s, he began working with the charity about five years ago, attempting to convince youths in gangs to turn their back on crime. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Kids Company operates from three centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden in London, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>It employs more than 600 people in full and part-time roles to reach out to 14,000 children from the capital’s most deprived and crime-ridden areas. </span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Many of the youngsters live with  parents who are unable to care  for them and have had severely troubled lives.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><br /><br /></span></p>

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value ...

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Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

<p> </p><p>2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young. Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet. For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor. "The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said a 19-year-old female heroin addict whose scar are more than skin deep. She grew up far from the west side's rough and tumble streets, amidst the manicured lawns of the far west suburbs which seems an unlikely breeding ground for a new crop of heroin users. "I always thought of them as homeless and not caring about what they look like and real skinny and everything," the 19-year-old addict said. Heroin has never been cheaper and more pure. Just $100 can buy a two day supply. "I knew. The first time I did it I was like, 'This is bad. I like this way too much. And this is going to be bad," said the 19-year-old addict, whose identity ABC7 has hidden. DEA Agent Jack Riley says powerful Mexican drug cartels have partnered with Chicago street gangs to make heroin easily available. "If I had to liken anything to a weapon of mass destruction, it would be heroin," Riley said. After smuggling the drugs here, Riley says the cartels often operate in Spanish-speaking areas near Midway Airport. "They can assimilate into these hard working neighborhoods. They can appear to be great citizens, take care of their lawn, put Christmas lights up," Riley said. The cartels need the gangs to distribute the drugs but officials say fights between the two groups are increasingly to blame for the near-daily violence plaguing some neighborhoods. "What we consider to be senseless violent acts, many of them may be actually connected to the cartel's operations in Chicago," Riley said. It seems the danger is of little deterrent to users. "Within two weeks I was getting sick physically without it, and I needed it," the 19-year-old addict said. It wasn't until an overdose nearly killed her that she began treatment a few weeks ago at New Hope Recovery Center in Geneva. In four years, the facility has seen a seven-fold increase in heroin cases and many involve teens first hooked on prescription painkillers. "They'll run out, and someone will say 'Well, snort some heroin. It'll help you, so you won't go through withdrawals,'" said Jake Epperly, New Hope Recovery Center. That may have been how Billy Roberts began using. The Homer Glen 19-year-old died of an overdose two years ago and his father now warns of heroin's dangers. "I do it for him," said the victim's father John Roberts. "And I'll continue doing it as long as I'm alive. To give my son's life meaning. A former Chicago cop, Roberts says it's time for new solutions. "We need help. The police cannot do this alone. We need a comprehensive, strategic approach to this problem if we're ever going to see these numbers turn downward," Roberts said. To put in perspective how big the problem is here, the Chicago DEA has secured funding for a 90-person strike force to combat the operation run by the cartels and gangs in the city. Officials say it's the only such strike force outside of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 19-year-old woman interviewed by ABC7, who is currently in treatment, says she knows at least 20 other kids her age, from her community, who are current or former users.</p>

Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

  2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug...

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Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

<div class="lead_photo" style="font-size: 16px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/oct/29/161288/"><img alt="Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles. " src="http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/420111029155357001_t607.JPG" style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></a><div class="lead_photo_caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #666666; border-bottom-color: #dadada; border-bottom-style: solid;"><p class="photo_credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 10px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">PHOTO BY <a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Michael Patrick" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/staff/michael-patrick/">MICHAEL PATRICK</a>, COPYRIGHT © 2011 // <a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Buy this photo" href="http://gallery.pictopia.com/knox/e/?photo_name=420111029155357001.JPG&t_url=http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/420111029155357001_t607.JPG&photographer=Michael%20Patrick&caption=Michael%20Patrick/news%20sentinelThe%20two%20most%20wanted%20prescription%20pills%20on%20the%20streets%20of%20East%20Tennessee.%20The%20small%20pills%20are%20Roxie%2030%20and%20the%20large%20green%20pill%20is%20an%20Oxycontin%2080.%20The%20second-generation%20Oxys,%20made%20by%20Purdue%20Pharma,%20are%20now%20wrapped%20in%20a%20sticky%20gelcap%20coating%20that%20will%20burn%20nostrils%20and%20resists%20needles.">BUY THIS PHOTO</a></p><p class="caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles.</p></div></div><div class="entry-content" style="font-size: 16px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left photothumb_inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="View Full Size" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/oct/29/161401/"><img alt="Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects." src="http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/103011pillsgraphic1_t160.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></a><p class="photo_credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 10px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">PHOTO BY SOURCE: U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE</p><p class="caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects.</p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxy's out. Roxies rule.A tiny blue pill, no bigger than a baby aspirin, overshadows nearly every other illegal drug on the market in East Tennessee. Men and women beg, haggle, threaten, lie, steal and kill — all for a handful of pills.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"It's the new crack," Knox County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Hopkins said. "Most of the addicts we see don't even shop for Oxys now. They've all switched to Roxies, and it's worse than crack ever was."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Doctors, police and emergency workers see the fallout every day. Sometimes it's a pill-sick addict who steals today to buy tonight's fix. Sometimes it's a baby born shaking with seizures from withdrawal.</p><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left text-inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="tab_header gallery" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 14px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #313131; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><h4 class="subhead" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 160px; height: auto; color: #c2c2c2; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Commonly abused prescription drugs</h4></div><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxycontin: A time-release form of oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, produced by Purdue Pharma and used to treat chronic pain. Strengths range up to 80 mg per pill. Nicknames include Oxys, O's and hillbilly heroin.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxicodone: Instant-release form of oxycodone produced by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and used to treat breakthrough pain. Strengths range up to 30 mg per pill. Nicknames include Roxies, blues and stars.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Opana: Time-release form of oxymorphone, a synthetic opioid, produced by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Nicknames include stop signs, biscuits, octagons and Mrs. O.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Methadone: Synthetic opioid, typically prescribed in pill or wafer form, used to treat pain and to ease withdrawal symptoms for opiate addicts.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet: Mixtures of oxycodone and acetaminophen.Percodan, Endodan, RoxiprinMixtures of oxycodone and aspirin.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet: Mixtures of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Nicknames include Vikes and hydros.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Fentanyl: Synthetic opioid, stronger than morphine, typically prescribed in patch or lollipop form. Nicknames include china white and perc-a-pop.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Xanax: Brand name of alprazolam, a benzodiazepine produced by Pfizer and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg. Nicknames include footballs and totem poles.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Valium: Brand name of diazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 10 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Klonopin: Brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ambien: Brand name of zolpidem tartrate, a sedative produced by Sanofi-Aventis. Strengths range up to 10 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Suboxone: Combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, used to treat opiate withdrawal.</p></div></div><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left text-inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="tab_header gallery" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 14px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #313131; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><h4 class="subhead" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 160px; height: auto; color: #c2c2c2; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Pill Sick: The series</h4></div><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Sunday</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/tennessee-drug-task-force-waging-lonely-war/">Tennessee drug task force waging lonely war on Rx diversion</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/law-enforcement-battling-to-cut-off-pain-drug/">Law enforcement battling to cut off pain drug pipeline</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/drug-wars-new-front-makes-for-unlikely-targets/">Drug war's new front makes for unlikely targets</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/living-for-the-needle/">Living for the needle: Addict's life a daily, desperate struggle</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/prescription-pills-are-east-tennessees-new-crack/">Prescription pills are East Tennessee's 'new crack'</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/year-of-pills-drugs-leave-trail-of-damage-crime/">A year of pills: Drugs leave trail of damage, crime</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/pain-pill-findings/">Summary findings from the News Sentinel investigation into the pill trade</a></p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Sometimes it's a corpse — a dealer killed for pills or an addict who chased the last high off the edge of oblivion.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxycodone hydrochloride tablets sell at the pharmacy counter under the brand name Roxicodone and offer quick relief from chronic pain for the old, the aching, the crippled and the dying.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth — all without the pesky time-release formula that coats Oxycontin, the drug's sister medication.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"It's the epidemic of the day," Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said. "Everything is attached to it now. Our investigators will tell you that 90 percent of the folks we see who've committed a crime say it's to get their medicine. That's what they call it — medicine.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"The days of the crack dealer on the corner are slowly waning. It's become the medicine dealer on the street."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Drugs of choice</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Three people died last year in South Knox County when two men broke into a former police officer's house to steal legally prescribed painkillers. Police say a North Knoxville man's stepson beat him and his wife to death in August to steal pain pills, then burned down the house to cover up the crime.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A rash of drugstore robberies last fall and winter set a local record. Semiannual drug roundups keep rural jails packed and court dockets clogged.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Officers on the beat report dealing with addicts desperate to avoid jail and the agonies of withdrawal. Sometimes they run. Sometimes they fight.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"We're out here beating the bushes today, and in a few months we'll be out here again doing the same thing," said Capt. David Honeycutt, chief investigator for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, as he headed out with a stack of indictments in another drug roundup. "Pills have changed the face of law enforcement. It used to be pot, maybe Valium. Now it's pain pills, and they're crazy as hell on them. You'd be hard-pressed to find a family that's not been hurt by these drugs."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Tennessee topped the nation last year in busts of methamphetamine labs, where addicts churn out toxic waste breaking down cold and sinus pills to produce a homemade stimulant. Meth hasn't gone away, but police say they spend more time and money now fighting to keep the cap on the prescription bottle.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"People are afraid of meth, because everybody doesn't do meth," Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults said. "Everybody doesn't do crack. But everybody's on pills of some kind. Pills come from a doctor. People see that as safe. A doctor gives them out, so they've got to be good."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From Oxy to Roxies</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Purdue Pharma's Oxycontin tablets once stood as the gold standard for opiate abusers, with concentrated doses of up to 80 mg of oxycodone locked inside a time-release formula easy to crack. Addicts crushed the pills to powder, then snorted or injected them to turn 12 hours of pain relief into an instant high.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">That golden egg gained an extra shell when Purdue introduced a new formula last year meant to cut down on abuse. The second-generation Oxys come wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that burns nostrils and resists the needle.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Some addicts claim to have found ways to beat the coating. Most don't bother.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxicodone and its generic equivalents deliver smaller doses of the same drug to treat the short, sharp bursts of breakthrough pain that plague cancer patients and others between round-the-clock doses of painkillers like Oxy. The pills come in 15 mg and 30 mg strength with no gelcap and no time-release coating, ready to deliver instant relief — or an instant high.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"There's no preparation," said Officer Phil Jinks of the Knoxville Police Department's Repeat Offender Squad. "It's straight out of the bottle."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The easy access and potential for profit have caught on among young and old.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"We're dealing with kids in high school, and we've got people retirement age selling," KCSO Sgt. Chris Bryant said. "Pills are easy to get for kids. We've given several drug education classes to teachers, and the first question is always, 'What are those little blue pills we keep seeing?' Those are Roxies."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Some officials expect the problem will only get worse. Opana, a time-release form of oxymorphone introduced five years ago, and fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine, offer a stronger high than the old Oxycontin with an even greater potential for overdosing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Meanwhile, addicts keep working on ways to crack the new Oxys.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"Any time there's a chemical change, there's somebody out there who can alter the effects of that change," Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin said. "I don't think you can stop these people from doing what they're doing. The only thing you can do is try to slow them down."</p></div>

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

PHOTO BY  MICHAEL PATRICK , COPYRIGHT © 2011 //  BUY THIS PHOTO Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the ...

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Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoTd8FbjGPrbw5hOP6DjCgSjnPwtZ3_CZcb8maJB6IlSh7CZ8zkJ0kLkxcSxWO-wufo9RbVBn8CQ393v2ivGHCBOtLJ59H0gTn5ns4aFpvGQS2opoeCSQ8q23qadkPfydkN0K8L5ZoOZy/s1600/black+solutions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoTd8FbjGPrbw5hOP6DjCgSjnPwtZ3_CZcb8maJB6IlSh7CZ8zkJ0kLkxcSxWO-wufo9RbVBn8CQ393v2ivGHCBOtLJ59H0gTn5ns4aFpvGQS2opoeCSQ8q23qadkPfydkN0K8L5ZoOZy/s320/black+solutions.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>  <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress). But even more remarkable, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse all the abnormalities (including the addictive behaviour) by giving the animals dopamine (a neurotransmitter/ brain chemical). </span><br /> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> The study has several implications – for a start it alerts for the dangers of high levels of stress during pregnancy, but - since GC are often prescribed as an anti-inflammatory or to help organ maturation during pregnancy - it also calls for an urgent investigation on the effects of this drug in pregnant women. But it is what we learn about addiction that is most interesting - the work not only unveils stress as a new susceptibility factor for the disease, but also a very simple treatment that, if translated into humans, could one day mean an effective treatment, and maybe even the prevention of human addiction. Drug addiction was for a long time a character flaw, a moral problem. Now, instead, is accepted as the complex brain disease that is with the addict a patient in need of treatment. After all many people try drugs, but only a few become addicts And it is in these few that lays the key to the disease and its treatment. So what do we know about these patients and the disease? First although the psychological and social contexts in which the drug is taken are important, as much as 50% of the compulsion is in the individual’s genetic makeup. We know that addiction is linked to the mesolimbic system - the brain area that evolved to provide feelings of pleasure to actions that increase our survival chances, such as eat, sex and social stimulation. In fact, drugs activate the mesolimbic circuit too, only far stronger than any physiologic stimulus. This leads to the production of very high quantities of dopamine – the brain chemical linked to pleasure – creating the euphoria that brings users back. After while, though, the brain no longer can cope with the constant ” high” and adapts by becoming desensitised to dopamine (produced by any type of stimulus) what leads users to consume more in order to “feel” again and trapping those more susceptible in addiction. And with the brain changes induced by drugs being apparently long-lasting - since both cravings and relapses don’t disappear with time – it is not easy to escape once trapped. Adding another piece to the puzzle, recently the disease was also linked to stress during crucial developmental periods, such as feotal life. In fact, high levels of prenatal stress increase propensity to mental problems and now have been suggested also to substance abuse, with the effects being mediated by glucocorticoids (GC). Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Rodrigues and Sousa’s group have a long history of interest in stress and have seen before that rats from mothers injected with GC while pregnant (mimicking pre-natal stress) show changes in their mesolimbic area and in the dopamine response. So in the study now published, following these results and the addiction-stress link, the researchers investigated the responses to drugs in rats exposed to GC while in the uterus. These rats were found to have a susceptibility to addiction not present in control (non-exposed) rats. When their mesolimbic system was examined they also showed several structural and molecular abnormalities, including less dopamine. The levels of their dopamine receptor Drd2, despite initially being very high, once they experimented drugs, went to abnormally low levels . So why is this important? Because reduced dopamine and Drd2 levels are typical of addicts suggesting that stress and long-term exposure to drugs affect the brain in very similar ways what could explain why the first could lead to the second. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The good news is that low levels of dopamine can be treated so Rodrigues and colleagues restored the rats’ dopamine levels to normal just to find,much to their surprise, that all the structural and molecular abnormalities induced by prenatal GC were reversed. Even more surprising, the addictive behavior also disappeared. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As Ana João Rodrigues explains, “This is a remarkable result because it suggests that with a relatively simple pharmacological approach- restoration of dopamine levels- we can eventually treat, and even more importantly, potentially prevent drug abuse in vulnerable individuals. Of course that we still have a long way to go but our results are quite promising. In fact, if we know where susceptibility to substance abuse lies – and low dopamine and altered Drd2 response seems to be it - then maybe we can find better ways to prevent/treat this disorder. “ Restoring dopamine levels has been used to treat cocaine cravings but the few trials looking at its effect on addiction were never very clear. One possible reason might be the length or the dosages used – in Rodrigues’ study, rats treated for 3 days reverted back to an addictive behavior 3 weeks after the end of the treatment, but this no longer occurs if the treatment continues for 3 weeks Now it will be necessary to test this new theory in humans what could be problematic with addicts as they are notoriously not the most cooperative or reliable research subjects. Large human studies on the effect of prenatal stress are also difficult to mount but there are a couple of them being run at the moment that could be tagged into such as “Project Ice Storm” in Canada.This study is following women pregnant n January 98 in southern Québec during an extreme ice storm that led to electrical power failures affecting more than 3 million people for as much as 6 weeks during the coldest month of the year(when temperatures can go to -18 C). It is still early for any studies on addiction(the children are only 13 years old after all) but it will be an interesting place to look, especially since abnormal levels of behavioral and cognitive problems have already been detected by scientists. Drug abuse and addiction carry enormous social and financial costs to society, families and individuals.Only in the US, the National Institute for Drug Abuse calculates that more than600 billion dollars are being spent, annually, to combat the disease. Despite this,a steady increase of drug use among teenagers and in prescription drugs continues with treatments remaining as inefficient as ever. Rodrigues and Sousa’s work might be the first step towards a solution if their remarkable results can be translated into humans.</span></div>

Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

  Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only sho...

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UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

<p> </p><p>Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to new treatments for individuals who struggle with addiction. By measuring the neural activity of macaque monkeys, researchers were able to pinpoint the two specific ways the brain makes decisions, which they explained in a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They now understand that neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex determines the value of decisions, while neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex evaluates the difference between expectations and results, which is responsible for future behavior. “The brain is basically a computer, and the neuron is taking information and then giving information that they’ve calculated,” said Jonathan Wallis, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the principal investigator of the study. “This is the first time we’ve been able to show the specific computation to decision-making in specific areas of the brain. That was really the novelty.” While previous research has determined that these sections of the brain are dysfunctional in addicts, the new research explains how the damage leads to addiction. If these parts of the frontal cortex are impaired, addicts lack the signals that provide them with accurate information about how valuable a choice is, making it less likely that they will learn the consequences of their actions, according to Wallis. “If you’re an addict and this area is impaired, you may not realize your goals, and you potentially are not going to learn from unhealthy decisions,” Wallis said. Wallis and his team conducted the research by testing the neural activity of macaque monkeys as they played games that gauged their ability to make decisions. Researchers could measure the calculations that the monkeys were making in the different areas of the brain, which mimicked the way that humans make decisions. The researchers completed the experiment in 2006 and have spent the last five years analyzing the data. Although still a few steps in the future, the ultimate goal of the study is to use the results to treat for individuals with addictions. “Besides therapy, there is nothing we can do for someone that is severely addicted,” Wallis said. “So far no surgical or pharmaceutical treatments exist. By figuring out what is going on when healthy people are making decisions, we can figure out what is going wrong when addicts make bad decisions and find some ways to target these specific areas of the brain.” While the study has led to a greater understanding of how the brain values decisions, researchers will still need to further investigate how addictive drugs are valued in order to develop more effective treatments, according to Howard Fields, professor of neurology and director of the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UC San Francisco. “This is a new and important scientific advance,” Fields said. “It is likely that addiction involves dysfunction of the relation between valuation of outcomes and subsequent decision making. In other words, drugs become overvalued compared to other action outcomes. Only by understanding the relation of valuation to action selection will we fully understand how drugs become addictive. After we do that, we’ll be able to develop more effective treatments.”</p>

UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

  Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to...

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The singer was found five times over the drink-drive limit, with three empty vodka bottles next to her.

<p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #d3dce2;"><div class="article-image fl-left" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fcd8d8; clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; background-position: 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="image-caption" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Amy Winehouse in Concert, Serbia, June 2011 (Pic: Rex)" border="0" height="396" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2011/8/5/amy-winehouse-in-concert-serbia-june-2011-pic-rex-489016608.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: left; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="610" /><p class="caption" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: center; color: #000000; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Troubled: Amy Winehouse on stage in Serbia a month before she died</span></p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TRAGIC Amy Winehouse died after a killer booze bender following weeks on the wagon, her inquest was told yesterday.</span></p></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #d3dce2; font-size: medium;">She suffered alcohol poisoning but had told her doctor the night before: “I don’t want to die.”</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #d3dce2;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Back to Black star, 27, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was discovered lifeless in bed at her North London home on Saturday, July 23.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In June, she had stumbled around the stage during a shambolic concert in Belgrade, Serbia, where she was booed off after slurring through songs.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And as tearful parents Mitch and Janis listened yesterday in the public gallery, the hearing was told Amy did not drink for the first three weeks of July.</span></p><div class="art-o art-align-left otm-59 article-image" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fcd8d8; clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; background-position: 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="Mitch Winehouse, the father of Amy Winehouse and her stepmother Jane arrive at St Pancras Coroner's Court (Pic: Getty)" border="0" height="396" src="http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/oct2011/0/6/mitch-winehouse-the-father-of-amy-winehouse-and-her-stepmother-jane-arrive-at-st-pancras-coroner-s-court-pic-getty-848244846.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: none !important; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Mitch Winehouse, the father of Amy Winehouse and her stepmother Jane arrive at St Pancras Coroner's Court (Pic: Getty)" width="610" /></div><p class="crosshead" style="margin-top: -15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tears: Amy's dad Mitch Winehouse and stepmum Jane arrive at the Coroners' Court (Pic: Getty)</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But she then hit the bottle days before her death – and the Mirror reported at the time she was spotted necking shots at the Roundhouse venue near her Camden home after dramatically falling off the wagon.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Giving evidence yesterday, her GP Dr Christina Romete said this fitted a pattern in which Amy would abstain from alcohol for weeks, only to drink again. The doctor revealed she warned the star of the many dangers if she kept drinking.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr Romete said: “The advice I had given to Amy over a long period of time was verbal and in written form about all the effects alcohol can have on the system, including respiratory depression and death, heart problems, fertility problems and liver problems.”</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Amy, who won five Grammy awards in 2008, was taking medication to cope with alcohol withdrawal and anxiety. She was reviewed last year by a psychologist and psychiatrist about her drinking but “had her own views” about treatment.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><br /></strong></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The GP, who treated her for several years, said her patient fully understood the risks of continuing to drink. Dr Romete said the night before her death, Amy was “tipsy but coherent” and said she did not know if she was going to stop drinking but “she did not want to die”.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Amy had no illegal drugs in her system when she died but police found three empty vodka bottles in her bedroom – two large and one small.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She was using alcohol withdrawal drug Librium and sleeping tablets but the inquest heard they had not played a part in her death.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At St Pancras Coroner’s Court in London, it emerged she had 416mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in her system, with the legal driving limit being 80mg</span></p><span style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><br /><br /><br /></span></span></p>

The singer was found five times over the drink-drive limit, with three empty vodka bottles next to her.

Troubled: Amy Winehouse on stage in Serbia a month before she died TRAGIC Amy Winehouse died after a killer booze bender following weeks on ...

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Mexico opposition may work with criminals

<p> </p><p>Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said politicians in the main opposition party may consider deals with criminals, opening an inflammatory new front in the nation's presidential election campaign. Calderon's blunt remarks about the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which is favored to win the July 1, 2012 election, are unusual in a country where the president is expected to stay largely aloof from party politics. Centering on the policy that has dominated his presidency -- an aggressive army-led crackdown on drug cartels -- his comments risk polarizing opinion on how to restore stability to Mexico, where the drug war has killed 44,000 in five years. Leading members of Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN), other PRI opponents and political analysts have accused the once-dominant party of making secret deals with drug cartels in the past to keep the peace in Mexico. In a weekend New York Times interview published a day after he said a state governed by the PRI had been left in the hands of a drug gang, Calderon was asked whether the opposition party might pursue a corrupt relationship with organized crime. "There are many in the PRI who think the deals of the past would work now. I don't see what deal could be done, but that is the mentality many of them have," said Calderon, whom the law prevents from seeking a second six-year term. Calderon's office later issued a statement saying the newspaper had expressly noted when posing the question that the PRI had a reputation for making deals with organized crime. His office underlined that the president recognized many in the PRI did not favor this approach and supported his policy. Analysts say Calderon is bitterly opposed to the PRI, which dominated Mexico for seven decades until PAN won the presidency in 2000 under its candidate Vicente Fox. The tide of drug war killings has eroded support for the PAN, and the PRI's main hopeful, the telegenic former governor of the State of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, has around twice the support of his nearest rival. NAMING NAMES The PRI has attacked Calderon for the spiraling death toll, and analysts said the president's remarks were tailored for the election, putting in jeopardy any hope of passing many pending reforms that have been stalled in Congress. "This is really serious," Javier Oliva, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said of Calderon's comments about the PRI. "The president has an obligation to prove this now. To name names." "The president is regressing into a negative stance of being president of the PAN, and not president of Mexico." The Times noted that Calderon "looked disgusted at the mere mention of the PRI" during the interview. The statement issued by his office said Calderon mentioned the ex-PRI governor of Nuevo Leon state, Socrates Rizzo, as someone who had pointed to the existence of such pacts. Rizzo's comments, which were reported early this year, were rejected by leading PRI figures at the time. The PRI's national chairman, Humberto Moreira, told El Universal's Sunday newspaper his party did not want to make deals with organized crime and that Calderon was trying to exploit the issue of public security for political ends.</p>

Mexico opposition may work with criminals

  Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said politicians in the main opposition party may consider deals with criminals, opening an inflamma...

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Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor

<p> </p><p>Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor. The army says the men were found guarded by three Zetas kidnappers in a safe house in the border city of Piedras Negras on Saturday. Soldiers made the discovery during a security sweep in the area that also turned up an abandoned truck filled with 6 tons of marijuana. Loading... Comments Weigh InCorrections? In a press conference Sunday, Gen. Luis Crescencio Sandoval Gonzalez said one of the captives was from Honduras and others were from various parts of Mexico. He said the three kidnappers were arrested. Piedras Negras sits across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, which has been the scene of ongoing battles between drug gangs.</p>

Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor

  Mexico’s military says soldiers freed 61 men being held captive by the Zetas drug cartel for use as forced labor. The army says the men w...

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Four former members of the Colombian army's special forces are training members of Los Zetas

<p> </p><p>Four former members of the Colombian army's special forces are training members of Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent drug cartel, the Bogota daily El Tiempo reported Sunday. The retired soldiers - two captains and two sergeants - served time in Colombia for human rights violations. "The identities of the soldiers have not been released because charges have not been filed against them," El Tiempo said, adding that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican police and Colombian police were tracking their movements.</p>

Four former members of the Colombian army's special forces are training members of Los Zetas

  Four former members of the Colombian army's special forces are training members of Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent dru...

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You shoot a police officer, you’re going to get shot back at

<p><img alt="" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/10/10/Foreign/Images/AP110608041916.jpg" /></p><p> </p><p>A little before dawn on a sticky summer night in June, one of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Ranger Reconnaissance Teams was running a clandestine operation along the Rio Grande when its surveillance squad came across a Dodge Durango pickup truck loaded with bales of Mexican marijuana. Bad idea, messing with Texas. 37 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare Gallery  The Texas governor is seeking the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Gallery  Mexico's ongoing drug war continues to claim lives and disrupt order in the country. More On This Story Read more on PostPolitics.com Rick Perry a hawk on Texas border security Perry and Romney dominate GOP fundraising Cain defends ‘9-9-9’ tax overhaul plan View all Items in this Story The lawmen chased the truck along the river, with a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter swooping overhead and Texas game wardens roaring down the Rio Grande in boats, state authorities said. In minutes, the traffickers had ditched the truck in the muddy water and were rafting the dope back to Mexico. Then the shooting started. Alone among his Republican rivals running for president, the Texas governor has a small army at his disposal. Over the past three years, he has deployed it along his southern flank in a secretive, military-style campaign that his supporters deem absolutely necessary and successful and that his critics call an overzealous, expensive and mostly ineffective political stunt. A hawk when it comes to Mexican cartels, Perry said in New Hampshire this month that as president he would consider sending U.S. troops into Mexico to combat drug violence there and stop it from spilling into the United States. The June incident along the Rio Grande was typical of Perry’s border security campaign: a lot of swagger, with mixed results. The initial news release said the Texas Rangers team came “under heavy fire” by members of the Gulf cartel, though officials later said it was “four to six shots.” The Texas Rangers and their multi-agency task force, which included U.S. Border Patrol agents, returned fire — big time — lighting up the Mexican riverbank with 300 rounds. “You shoot a police officer, you’re going to get shot back at,” said Steven McCraw, Perry’s homeland security chief and director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.</p>

You shoot a police officer, you’re going to get shot back at

  A little before dawn on a sticky summer night in June, one of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Ranger Reconnaissance Teams was running a clandestin...

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Frightening 'Drug Threat Assessment' for the USA and Mexico

<p> </p><p>The National Drug Intelligence Center, a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, recently released a document entitled the "National Drug Threat Assessment 2011."  You can read the document online here.  The document paints a gloomy picture for both the U.S. and Mexico. The Assessment's Executive Summary begins: "The illicit trafficking and abuse of drugs present a challenging, dynamic threat to the United States.  Overall demand is rising, largely supplied by illicit drugs smuggled to U.S. markets by major transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).  Changing conditions continue to alter patterns in drug production, trafficking, and abuse. Traffickers are responding to government counterdrug efforts by modifying their interrelationships, altering drug production levels, and adjusting their trafficking routes and methods. Major Mexican-based TCOs continue to solidify their dominance over the wholesale illicit drug trade as they control the movement of most of the foreign-produced drug supply across the U.S. Southwest Border. "The estimated economic cost of illicit drug use to society for 2007 was more than $193 billion...." One of the contributing factors is the high demand for drugs in the United States. This high demand finances the drug cartels, allowing them to spend more and expand their operations.   According to the 2011 Assessment, that demand is growing. The document reports that "The abuse of several major illicit drugs, including heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, appears to be increasing, especially among the young."  Elsewhere it says that "Overall drug availability is increasing."  One exception to this tendency is cocaine - its availability and use are down.   The document states that "The Southwest Border remains the primary gateway for moving illicit drugs into the United States.  Most illicit drugs available in the United States are smuggled overland across the Southwest Border...."  The Southwest Border is comprised of the southern borders of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas with Mexico. Then there is the tunneling: "Despite enhanced detection efforts and better countermeasures, Mexican drug traffickers will continue to build tunnels under the Southwest Border." In the U.S., Mexican cartels have cornered the market.  The 2011 Assessment states that "Mexican-based TCOs [transnational crime organizations] dominate the supply, trafficking, and wholesale distribution of most illicit drugs in the United States."  Elsewhere, it predicts that "Major Mexican-based TCOs and their associates are solidifying their dominance of the U.S. wholesale drug trade and will maintain their reign for the foreseeable future." The Mexican cartels are active in many urban areas.  The Assessment calculates that "Mexican-based TCOs were operating in more than a thousand U.S. cities during 2009 and 2010...." And, "Mexican-based trafficking organizations control access to the U.S.-Mexico border, the primary gateway for moving the bulk of illicit drugs into the United States.  The organizations control, simultaneously use, or are competing for control of various smuggling corridors that they use to regulate drug flow across the border. The value they attach to controlling border access is demonstrated by the ferocity with which several rival TCOs are fighting over control of key corridors, or ‘plazas.'" The document says that seven major Mexican drug cartels are supplying the United States, but that "... the Sinaloa Cartel is preeminent - its members traffic all major illicit drugs of abuse, and its extensive distribution network supplies drugs to all regions of the United States." U.S.-based gangs are involved in the distribution north of the border: "The threat posed by gang involvement in drug trafficking is increasing, particularly in the Southwest Region. With gangs already the dominant retail drug suppliers in major and midsized cities, some gang members are solidifying their ties to Mexican TCOs to bolster their involvement in wholesale smuggling, internal distribution, and control of the retail trade." The Assessment reports that "Criminal gangs - that is street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs - remain in control of most of the retail distribution of drugs throughout much of the United States, particularly in major and midsize cities." The document predicts that "Collaboration between U.S. gangs and Mexican-based TCOs will continue to increase, facilitating wholesale drug trafficking into and within the United States.  Most collaboration occurs in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, although some occurs in other regions of the country. Some U.S.-based gangs in the Southwest Border region also operate in Mexico, facilitating the smuggling of illicit drugs across the border." The 2011 Assessment paints a gloomy picture of the drug trafficking situation, drug cartels, and the safety and security of both the U.S. and Mexico.</p>

Frightening 'Drug Threat Assessment' for the USA and Mexico

  The National Drug Intelligence Center, a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, recently released a document entitled the "Nationa...

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prescription painkiller addiction

<p> </p><p> Painkillers in Maine: A cure that came with a curse Maine’s out-of-control pill habit is among the worst in the nation, and all of us bear the costs of its abuse. By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com Staff Writer First of six parts click image to enlarge A pharmacist counts out Vicodin pills at a pharmacy in Portland last week. Maine was one of the first states to see an explosion of painkiller addiction and it remains among the worst states in the nation for pill abuse. The human and societal costs associated with the epidemic – almost 1,400 Maine people have died from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the past decade and thousands more need treatment for addiction – are staggering, experts say. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer click image to enlarge . Ten years ago, Maine’s former U.S. attorney called prescription pain-pill abuse “the greatest criminal problem and possibly the greatest social problem facing Maine.” The problem, as it turns out, was just getting started. Maine was one of the first states to witness the explosion of prescription painkiller addiction, and its pill habit, still out of control, is among the worst in the nation. The damage continues to pile up. Nearly 1,400 Mainers have died from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the past decade. And all residents bear the costs of the abuse. They pay for the pills, police the crime and care for and treat the addicts. Substance abuse in Maine is now estimated to cost $1.18 billion a year, or $900 for every man, woman and child, and much of that comes from misuse of prescription drugs. “It’s extraordinary how deep this epidemic has gone,” said Dr. Mark Publicker, an addiction specialist in Westbrook. “It was eating its way through the culture, and it was diagnosed too late.” Now human and social costs are at historic highs, leading to a renewed urgency to fight back. • Overdose deaths from pharmaceuticals in Maine set a new record in 2009 – 165 – and for the first time exceeded the number of Mainers killed in motor vehicle accidents. One hundred and sixty-two Mainers died from the drugs in 2010, the second-highest year on record. • Pill abuse continues to rise among teens, according to experts. Nearly one in four high school seniors in 2009  – 23.6 percent – said they have used prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them. • A record number of Maine babies – 572 – were born last year to mothers who were known to have used painkillers or other drugs during pregnancy, more than triple the number in 2005. Most of the babies experienced painful opiate withdrawal and spent their first two weeks in the hospital. • Crimes driven by pill addiction – especially pharmacy robberies and home invasions – are becoming more common and more dangerous, according to police statewide. These crimes have turned county jails into busy detox centers. • Prescription pain pill addicts are seeking treatment in record numbers – nearly 4,000 last year. Maine has more people per capita in state-funded treatment than any other state, eight times the national average, according to federal and state data. After a decade of efforts to contain the abuse, Maine’s Legislature and the Attorney General’s Office are among those calling for a more aggressive, coordinated response. A seven-year-old effort to track opiate prescriptions statewide, for example, has never been put to full use because of limited resources and participation. “I think there’s enough fault to go around for everybody,” said Jay McCloskey, who sounded the alarm as Maine’s U.S. attorney a decade ago and is now in private practice. FERTILE GROUND The 10-year toll and Maine’s inability to contain the epidemic come as little surprise to those who have experienced addiction. “It just really quickly takes control. And then it takes and takes,” said Daryl Blums, a 27-year-old recovering addict from the Sanford area. Painkiller abuse is the side effect of powerful new pain relievers introduced more than a decade ago. Drug makers targeted Maine physicians with promises that the pills were safe and effective. And doctors who took an oath to relieve suffering felt they could no longer allow pain to go untreated, at least not without violating their oath and losing patients. Maine’s fishermen, loggers and other physical laborers provided plenty of demand for the new pain medications, and the prescriptions flowed. Maine has been a consistent leader in the prescribing of narcotic painkillers such as oxycodone. Teens and others quickly figured out how to crush the pills and snort the powder to get the full euphoric rush of the synthetic opiates, which are as powerful and addictive as heroin and morphine. As a rural state at the end of the distribution network, Maine didn’t have a lot of experience with hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. But now, here was a drug delivered to every community in pure, pharmaceutical-grade, precisely measured doses. Experienced drug users loved the pills because they could trust them to work. The inexperienced considered them safer than street drugs. And there was a ready appetite for the pills, especially among teens and among adults wanting to wash away depression or escape the stress of unemployment and financial insecurity. Police, meanwhile, were all but powerless to keep the pills out of the wrong hands. “Drugs used to come from foreign countries and people would smuggle them in,” said Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross. “Today, they are in the medicine cabinets of our homes.” HIGHLY ADDICTIVE At first, prescription opiates – also called opioids – give a warm, on-top-of-the-world feeling, users say. Pretty soon you need larger amounts to get high. Then one day you feel like you have a horrible flu – pain, vomiting, sweats and chills – and you realize it’s because you missed a dose. Opiate receptors in your brain, spine and intestines have gone into a kind of shock. Opiate withdrawal doesn’t kill you, but addicts say you wish it would. “You don’t have a care in the world when you’re on it. And when you can’t get it, it’s the worst experience in the world,” said Chuck Lawson, a recovering addict in Portland. Some addicts say it took them as little as two weeks of regular use to get hooked. The extreme highs and lows physically change an addict’s brain. Getting the next dose becomes the first thing – and sometimes the only thing – on an addict’s mind. Some addicts, chasing the high and trying to avoid withdrawal, mix painkillers with Xanax or other anti-anxiety pills or dissolve the pills and inject them directly into their veins. Both push addicts closer to a potentially fatal overdose. “Once you got past a certain point, there is no going back,” said 31-year-old Nicole Martin, a recovering addict who injected the drugs and used heroin when she couldn’t get pills. “Anything you say you haven’t done yet, you will do eventually.” WIDELY AVAILABLE Finding the drugs is rarely a problem, addicts say. Users share them, buy them, steal them, forge prescriptions for them and, if desperate enough, trade sex for them. Some go out of state to get the drugs, including to Florida’s so-called “pill mills” – clinics that offer painkiller prescriptions for cash. Many addicts get prescriptions from their local doctors – sometimes for real pain and often not. Some are even bold enough to file false police reports of pill theft so they can convince their doctors to give them more. Those with their own prescriptions get their pills on the cheap – MaineCare and private insurance cover most of the cost. And they quickly learn they can sell their pills for as much as $30 to $100 apiece depending on the type and strength. Addicts buying their pills on the street can spend $100 to $400 a day to feed their habits. That gets very expensive, said Blake Carver of Portland. Carver, now 24, was a teenager when he started breaking into houses looking for money to buy “Oxys,” he said. And he always cleaned out the medicine cabinets in the homes he robbed. “Even if there wasn’t something I wanted, I knew somebody who would,” he said. ‘NO FAMILY IS IMMUNE’ The epidemic has affected Mainers of all ages and backgrounds – middle schoolers and senior citizens, clam diggers and doctors. “No family is immune from this particular issue,” said Troy Morton, chief deputy of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.  “They are the youngest of kids, in their early teens, and people in their 70s. They are the poorest of the poor and the richest. There are no boundaries.” Abuse often starts among teens, who don’t understand the danger and are more vulnerable to addiction. Addiction, meanwhile, is most common among young adults who were in their teens when the pills first flooded into Maine communities. Thirteen percent of Mainers age 18 to 25 said they abused painkillers in the past year, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most recent available. The rate is 6 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds and 4.7 percent of all Mainers over 12 – a total of 52,000 people. The overall cost of painkiller abuse in Maine is not known. Through taxes, health insurance premiums and higher medical costs, Mainers are helping to supply the pills, pay for emergency room visits, investigate crimes, lock addicts in jails and provide the treatments to help them get sober. Opiate addiction treatment alone costs Maine taxpayers millions of dollars a year. The state spends about $12 million a year on substance abuse treatment programs, not including its share of MaineCare coverage for treatment services. Painkiller addiction accounts for about one-third of substance abuse treatment admissions. However, every dollar spent on treatment saves as much as $12 in medical care and crime-related costs, according to Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse. Opiate abuse – including both heroin and prescription painkillers – was responsible for 30,451 emergency and outpatient hospital visits in Maine in 2008, a 28 percent increase from the year before, according to a May report. Pharmacies have banklike security, with surveillance cameras and tracking devices, and still get robbed repeatedly in some cases. County jails and state prisons are straining financially to hold and care for all the addicts arrested for drug-related crimes. RENEWED URGENCY State government, the medical community, law enforcement, drug makers and others have all taken action to try to contain the problem. There are new prescribing guidelines, tamper-proof prescription sheets, overdose prevention campaigns and collection drives for unused drugs. Experts say many of the efforts have helped keep the abuse from doing even more damage. But frustration is clearly peaking after a decade of watching the problem steadily worsen. “It just seems that if we’re leading the way with this problem, we ought to show some leadership in dealing with it,” said Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland. Hinck proposed a bill in the Legislature earlier this year that would have established new rules for doctors, including a requirement that they check patients’ medication records before prescribing them painkillers. The proposal failed, but lawmakers instead created a study group that is due to propose policy changes by Dec. 1. McCloskey, the former U.S. attorney, said the state and federal governments have not devoted enough resources to educating kids about the dangers of abuse. “It hasn’t been a priority,” he said. McCloskey, meanwhile, took criticism himself after leaving the federal government in 2001 and working as a consultant for the maker of OxyContin. McCloskey still maintains the pharmaceutical industry is not to blame for the abuse. “If we don’t reduce the demand for drugs we’ll never be successful.” Most now agree that pill abuse is so entrenched in Maine’s culture it will take more than doctors or state agencies or police alone to control it. “People want to point a finger. Let’s blame the pharmaceutical companies. Let’s blame the physicians. Let’s blame the druggies. (Some) people still think it’s a problem of will power,” said Marcella Sorg, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. “The reason we haven’t been able to tackle it is because it’s so darn complicated.” Maine Attorney General William Schneider has invited leaders in government, law enforcement, medicine, education and addiction treatment to attend a one-day summit Oct. 25 and come up with a coordinated action plan. “It’s staggering,” Schneider said. “I don’t think it’s going to be solved by any one particular tactic, but I think if we choose several different tactics we can make a difference.” Those who have experienced addiction first-hand have no easy answers, either. The pills are too easy to get and too powerful, said James Cox, a 31-year-old recovering addict in Jonesboro. “I don’t think they’ll ever get rid of it,” he said.</p>

prescription painkiller addiction

   Painkillers in Maine: A cure that came with a curse Maine’s out-of-control pill habit is among the worst in the nation, and all of us bea...

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Justin Townes Earle looks back at year of recovery

<p> </p><p>In the days following Justin Townes Earle's arrest last September in Indianapolis, he slipped so deeply into a cocaine psychosis it began to change his personality. Gone was the brash, cocksure young singer-songwriter who against the steep odds of addiction and a tough upbringing had transformed himself into a true artist with the critical acclaim to prove it. In its place was a 150-pound wraith haunting the East Village in New York City with an overriding paranoia brought on by an eight-ball of cocaine and a half-gallon of vodka every day. The continuous binges were destroying his talent and making his intense live shows occasionally forgettable. They were destroying his friendships one by one. Nearly six years of sobriety, all gone during an increasingly tight downward spiral over a year's time. Earle fixated on an erroneous news report that said he hit a woman while destroying his dressing room in an Indianapolis club. For a man raised by a single mother, the idea he would hit a woman was devastating. It prompted a five-day bender. "I'd just be walking down the streets in Manhattan thinking everybody was looking at me," Earle said. "I thought everybody knew about what happened and it absolutely was just crushing me. I remember vaguely calling my publicist at the time — I fired my manager not long before that had happened, and my publicist and my booking agent were the only people still working for me — and just hysterically crying and saying I just didn't want to do this anymore. I didn't want to tour any more. I didn't want to make records." Not long after, Earle entered formal treatment for the 13th time. In the 10 months since he completed rehab, the 29-year-old son of country rebel Steve Earle has experienced a series of highs and lows he shared in several interviews. He's slipped back into heroin use and rallied, turning to a new treatment that seems to have helped him settle into a healthier routine. He's been hailed as a new voice for his generation and targeted by cruel attempts at gallows humor. He split with his old girlfriend and started a new relationship that's brought him back to his hometown. Today he's on the "marijuana maintenance plan" and enjoying the benefits of anti-addiction drug Soboxone. He's exercising and feels as fit as he ever has. He's touring much of the fall and is preparing to record his fifth record, a significant step that has Earle pointed directly into the future. "And I'm as content as I've ever been," Earle said. "Which doesn't mean I'm content, but I'm as content as I've ever been. I'm still always going to be a little bit discontent because I'm a little bit crazy and I'll always want more than I have. That's what keeps me going. That's what keeps me driven to keep on doing what I'm doing." Perhaps it's that drive that's kept him alive so long. ___ Sometimes, Justin Townes Earle is amazed he's still above ground. Images flashed through his head as he sat backstage at The Mercy Lounge last November, staring out a window at bejeweled luxury high rises. The Nashville he's looking at doesn't much resemble the lazy town with the seedy side he grew up in during a nearly feral, often lonely and always confusing childhood. At the same time, some things look very much the same. "I remember when you'd look out this window and there wasn't (expletive) anything there," he said. "It was a rail yard. Well, hell you can still buy crack on 8th Avenue." A few weeks out of rehab, Earle admits his mind is often on drugs. He catches himself falling prey to the classic addict behavior of daydreaming about scoring. "I feel good now, but at least once a day I come up with some kind of hare-brained scheme to get high and get away with it," he said with a laugh.</p>

Justin Townes Earle looks back at year of recovery

  In the days following Justin Townes Earle's arrest last September in Indianapolis, he slipped so deeply into a cocaine psychosis it be...

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Food addiction, although controversial, has recently gained attention in scientific literature and comes under the realm of atypical eating disorders.

<div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="color: #3f3f3f; float: left;"><div id="sshow"><div class="cnt" style="margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 10px; width: 310px; display: inline; float: left;"><div id="bellyad" style="padding-left: 3px;"><div class="mainimg1" style="position: relative; float: left; display: inline; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding-bottom: 10px; margin: 0px;"><div style="float: left; position: relative;"><span style="color: #336797;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?msid=10376638&width=300&resizemode=4" style="display: block; margin-right: 5px; border: 4px solid #e1e1e1;" vspace="0" width="300" /></span><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 20px; bottom: 7px; left: 275px; position: absolute;"><img align="left" alt="" border="0" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/5766056.cms" style="display: block; margin-right: 5px;" /></span></span></div><div class="zoomimg1" style="right: 4px; bottom: 4px; width: 300px;"><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: left; padding-right: 5px; color: #757575; font-style: italic;">Are you addicted to food? (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="Normal" style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #336797;"><em><br /></em></span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">We all over-eat occasionally. However, a food addict eats too much food and wrong kinds of food all the time. It may be associated with an obsessive/compulsive relationship to food - where an individual indulges in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, else experiences anxiety if he is unable to do so. However, this may have serious health implications in due course. </span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">Nutritionist and </span><span style="color: #336797;">obesity</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;"> consultant Naini Setalvad says, "Food addiction basically means a person eats uncontrollably, for reasons besides</span><span style="color: #336797;">hunger</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">. One reason for this is the neurobiological imbalances in the levels of the chemical, serotonin. Once its levels drop in the body, a person feels low and needs to eat again. This leads to overeating, which in turn leads to feelings of guilt, depression, </span><span style="color: #336797;">mood swings</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">, weight gain and a reinforcement of low self-esteem. Because of this, a person looks to food for comfort and the vicious cycle continues." </span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">How can one overcome it? "One way is by breaking the cycle. If it is a severe case, then psychological treatment must be accompanied with a healthy food plan. Replace addictive foods with healthy ones, which also boost the mood and serotonin levels. Stick to whole grains, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds and make </span><span style="color: #336797;">vegetables</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;"> a habit. Also, drink lots of water. These foods not only comfort a person, but also take away the 'guilt' factor. You can eat three mangoes and not worry about the amount of fat you have eaten, since there is none. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">However, the natural sugar in mangoes perks a person and makes him feel better," says Setalvad. If you are addicted to food, it's time to take an honest look at your life and make a commitment to loving yourself. </span></div></span></div>

Food addiction, although controversial, has recently gained attention in scientific literature and comes under the realm of atypical eating disorders.

Are you addicted to food? (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images) We all over-eat occasionally. However, a food addict eats too much food and wrong...

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Roman Abramovich is a "gangster", court told

<p> </p><p>Boris Berezovsky said Mr Abramovich was part of “black ops” by the Russian security service designed to force him to give up his business interests in the country. Mr Berezovsky, the so-called “godfather” of the Russian oligarchs, says he met Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, at the Kremlin “eye to eye” and was told to give up his control of a television station that had criticised the president over his handling of the sinking of the nuclear submarine the Kursk. When he refused, he was threatened with arrest and policemen in balaclavas, dubbed “maski” stormed the TV station ORT to remove documents. Mr Berezovsky says he fled the country and Mr Abramovich, his former protegee took advantage of the situation to pressure him into selling both ORT and the oil conglomerate Sibneft they had created together. Mr Abramovich is then said to have sold his minority stake in the aluminium giant Rusal, massively devaluing Mr Berezovsky’s stake.</p>

Roman Abramovich is a "gangster", court told

  Boris Berezovsky said Mr Abramovich was part of “black ops” by the Russian security service designed to force him to give up his business ...

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Michael Jackson's heartbroken daughter lashed out at Dr Conrad Murray for failing to save her father's life, jurors heard today as they again saw a photo of the pop stars dead body.

<p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span><br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The King of Pop's three children 'cried and cried and cried' after being told their father was dead.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>His daughter, Paris, now 13, told Murray, her father's personal doctor: 'I will wake up in the morning and I won't be able to see my daddy.'</span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="On Tuesday a court in Los Angeles heard recordings of Conrad Murray saying Michael Jackson's children sobbed when they learned their father died " class="blkBorder" height="312" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/11/article-2047963-0E5546B500000578-629_468x312.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">On Tuesday a court in Los Angeles heard recordings of Conrad Murray saying Michael Jackson's children sobbed when they learned their father died and saw a photo of the singer's dead body</p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>According to the 58-year-old cardiologist, she said: 'Dr Murray, you said you save a lot of patients. You know, you save people with heart attacks, and you couldn't save my dad.'</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Paris's anguish was revealed in an interview Murray gave to detectives two days after Jackson's death on June 25, 2009.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The court saw a photograph of the painfully thin star taken before an autopsy was carried out on his body the day after his death. It was the second time the jury has seen a photo of the dead star after a picture was displayed on the opening day of the trial.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span> Jackson's mother, Katherine, who flew back to Los Angeles from the weekend tribute to her son in Wales, left the courtroom before the disturbing image was shown on a screen.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Dr Christopher Rogers, Los Angeles Deputy Medical Examiner, said the 5 ft 9 ins tall singer was comparatively fit when he died.</span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><a class="lightboxPopupLink" style="min-height: 1px; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: #003580; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/11/article-2047963-0E5577D700000578-437_468x328_popup.jpg"><span class="clickToEnlargeTop" style="position: absolute; z-index: 11; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; color: #ffffff; width: 52px; height: 13px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; padding: 2px; margin: 0px;">Enlarge</span><span class="clickToEnlarge"> </span><span class="clickToEnlargeButton" style="z-index: 12; position: absolute; background-image: url(http://f.dailymail.co.uk/i/furniture/spt_icons_misc_2.png); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; bottom: 3px; right: 3px; height: 11px; width: 11px; zoom: 1; background-position: -90px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"> </span><img alt="A coroner's photo of Jackson's naked body, with his genitals blacked out, was shown to jurors as they heard he was relatively fit for his age, despite appearing abnormally thin" class="blkBorder" height="328" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/11/article-2047963-0E5577D700000578-437_468x328.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /></a><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">A coroner's photo of Jackson's naked body, with his genitals blacked out, was shown to jurors as they heard he was relatively fit for his age, but had many puncture wounds on his arms and legs from injections</p></div></div></div><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'He was healthier than the average person of his age,' said Dr Rogers, who added there was no sign of any fat or cholesterol on the walls of Jackson's heart.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He ruled the cause of death was homicide as a result of acute Propofol intoxication, the court heard.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Dr Rogers dismissed Murray's claims that the singer took a deadly dose of Propofol himself while the doctor left his bedside for two minutes to go to the toilet. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He suggested it was too short a time for Jackson to be able to self-administer the drug and for it take sufficient effect to stop his breathing.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He said Murray had no equipment to help deliver the correct amount of Propofol to help Jackson sleep.</span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><a class="lightboxPopupLink" style="min-height: 1px; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: #003580; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/11/article-2047963-0E55789A00000578-139_468x357_popup.jpg"><span class="clickToEnlargeTop" style="position: absolute; z-index: 11; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; color: #ffffff; width: 52px; height: 13px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; padding: 2px; margin: 0px;">Enlarge</span><span class="clickToEnlarge"> </span><span class="clickToEnlargeButton" style="z-index: 12; position: absolute; background-image: url(http://f.dailymail.co.uk/i/furniture/spt_icons_misc_2.png); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; bottom: 3px; right: 3px; height: 11px; width: 11px; zoom: 1; background-position: -90px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"> </span><img alt="A close up of Jackson's wrist shows his date of death, June 25, 2009" class="blkBorder" height="357" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/11/article-2047963-0E55789A00000578-139_468x357.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /></a><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">A close up of Jackson's wrist shows his date of death, which was actually June 25, 2009 but mis-labelled as August, and Coroner Case Number 2009-04415</p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'It would be easy for the doctor to estimate wrongly and give too much Propofol,' he added.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, is not expected to testify at the trial at Los Angeles Superior Court, but the recording means jurors at least got to hear his side of the story.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Before Rogers the last 45 minutes of the two-hour tape was played in the hushed courtroom on Tuesday.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Murray told police Jackson's children 'really were weeping, really weeping' when they were told that doctors at UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles had been unable to revive their 50-year-old father.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'I hugged them all, gave comfort to Paris, comfort to Prince, comfort to Blanket, which is the last little guy, because whenever they were sick, they would always ask for Dr Conrad,' he said.</span></p><span><br /><br /><br /></span></span></p>

Michael Jackson's heartbroken daughter lashed out at Dr Conrad Murray for failing to save her father's life, jurors heard today as they again saw a photo of the pop stars dead body.

The King of Pop's three children 'cried and cried and cried' after being told their father was dead. His daughter, Paris, now 13...

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