Treating Addicts With Heroin Gains Steam

Debate rages over fundamental shift

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are divided—and it's only a matter of time. Some, including Britain and China, want to retain a special "leap second" occasionally added to the calendar to keep atomic clocks in line with the Earth's rotation. The US, France, Germany, and others, however, want to ditch the second . The matter is up for debate in Geneva today, the BBC reports, and barring an agreement among 200 countries, it could go to a vote. But "this is not a technical issue, it is more a diplomatic one," says an official with the International Telecommunication Union. More»

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.

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»

Start of 'cash for vasectomy' program in Britain

(NEWSER) - Here's an odd bit of international relations: An American charity has paid a British heroin addict to undergo a vasectomy. The group, called Project Prevention , paid the man about $315 dollars in the hope of preventing him from passing his addiction on to the next generation. The man, John, said he'd been thinking about the operation for a while, but the money "spurred" him to act, reports the Telegraph . More»