Opium Addiction On Rise for Afghan Moms, Kids

Doctors say addiction more than just behavioral problem

(NEWSER) - After four years of work involving 80 experts, the American Society of Addiction Medicine is redefining addiction—to alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, and more—as a brain disorder, updating its former classification as a behavioral problem, reports Live Science . Addiction is also now considered a primary and chronic disorder, meaning it is not the result of stress, abuse, or other causes, and it needs to be treated over a patient's lifetime, just as one would deal with a chronic disease like diabetes. More»

Daniel Radcliffe's admission is far from the first to surprise

(NEWSER) - Raise your hand if you were shocked to read that Harry Potter—er, Daniel Radcliffe— had a drinking problem . Well, you weren't the only one. The Frisky rounds up seven more celebs whose addictions surprised the world:

• Demi Moore: She was addicted to cocaine in the '80s, but cleaned up after the St. Elmo's Fire director threatened to fire her.

Overdoses now leading cause of accidental death in Scioto County

(NEWSER) - Scioto County sits in the southern tip of Ohio, an unremarkable piece of Appalachia save for the deadly tidal wave of prescription drugs washing over its population. Overdoses have quadrupled over the past decade, reports the New York Times, and are now the leading cause of accidental death, ahead of even car crashes. One in 10 babies born here tests positive for drugs; the most popular among the area's addicts is OxyContin. “It was moving so fast that families were caught totally off guard," says a counselor. "They had no idea what they were dealing with.” More»

Dr. Drew Pinsky 'is not helping anyone'

(NEWSER) - With the death of Mike Starr, a former Celebrity Rehab participant, the time has come to talk about why the show needs to be shut down. No, not because of Starr’s death—“If every recovery center had to close down after a former patient relapsed and died, we'd have no facilities left,” notes Drew Grant on Salon —but because it’s become completely obvious that Dr. Drew Pinsky “is not helping anyone,” Grant writes. By mixing true addicts with people like Rachel Uchitel, who was supposedly addicted to love, the show is no longer about treatment. More»

Most of the deaths are blamed on insurgents

(NEWSER) - Nearly 740 kids—an average of about two a day—were killed in the Afghanistan war last year, says a watchdog group. About two-thirds of those deaths were blamed on insurgents—or "armed opposition groups" in the language of the report—with 17% blamed on US and NATO forces. The kids were among the record-high 2,421 Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence in 2010, reports Reuters . More»