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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: drug use

drug use stories: 42 news summaries

1 - 20 of 42 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Boomers Enjoy 
 New 'Whatever' 
 'Tude on Pot 


Older tokers find they can be open about once-taboo habit

Nov 16, 09 1:47 AM CST
(Newser) - Aging baby boomers are not only boosting the ranks of older pot smokers, they're enjoying a kind of neo Age of Aquarius of relaxed attitudes toward one of their favorite habits. The number of marijuana smokers in the 50-59 age group has doubled over the past decade, according to statistics.... More »

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Arnold Schwarzenegger • drug use • marijuana • pot

(AP) - Some Americans haven't let go of one part of the 1960s: getting high on illicit drugs. The percentage of Americans age 50-59 who reported use of illicit drugs within a year nearly doubled from 2002-2007, from 5.1% to 9.4%, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported... More »

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baby boomer • drug use • marijuana • 1960s • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration • middle age • illegal drugs

OPINION

 Let's Lock Up 
 Casual Drug Users 

Addicts need help, but casual users need jail: Monbiot

Jun 30, 09 12:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The head of the UN drug and crime office recommended last week that casual drug use be decriminalized and said users "need medical help, not criminal prosecution." We should certainly help addicts, but casual users of marijuana and cocaine belong in jail, George Monbiot of the Guardian writes.... More »

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United Nations • War on Drugs • drug addiction • heroin • cocaine • drug use • addiction • marijuana • drug trade

 15% of Teens Expect 
 to Die Young 

Expectation linked to risky behavior

Jun 29, 09 4:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Teenagers who engage in risky behavior may do so because they believe they’re going to die young anyway, and may create a self-fulfilling prophecy with that belief, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. A study that tracked 20,000 kids in grades 7 through 12 found that 15% thought they... More »

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drug use • pediatrics • death wish • scientific study • teenager • juvenile crime • suicide attempt • women's issues

You Can Dance If You Want to ... Just Not in Vietnam

Ban mulled to curb drugs, prostitution

May 11, 09 8:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Vietnam is considering a measure aimed at eliminating drugs and prostitution that might seem strange to Westerners: banning dancing. The edict would only apply to karaoke bars, reports GlobalPost, and it has a surprising amount of support from people who agree that dancing in such venues is usually a cover... More »

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prostitution • Vietnam • dancing • drug use • karaoke

 Army May Not Want 
 You So Bad After All 

Jobless rate drives surge in applicants

Apr 19, 09 10:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rising unemployment and safer conditions in Iraq have boosted interest in joining the Army, allowing recruiters to raise acceptance standards. The Washington Post reports that felons and recent drug users need not apply, and the pool of applicants also is better educated. For the first time since 2004, the Army... More »

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Army recruiting • US military • drug use • felony • recruitment • US Army • military recruits • Iraq war • Afghanistan war

 Study Links Cannabis 
 to Testicular Cancer 

THC may intercept cancer-fighting chemicals

Feb 9, 09 5:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Cannabis use has been linked to a significant increase in the risk of developing testicular cancer, the Independent reports. Those who light up have a 70% higher risk of getting nonseminoma cancer—found in younger men—and the odds worsen with frequency and duration of use, the research has found.... More »

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study • drug use • cannabis • testicular cancer • men's health

 Do Vast Lungs Equal 
 a Monster High? 

Phelps' super-size lungs help him absorb THC quickly

Feb 4, 09 1:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Michael Phelps' lungs—those that secured him enough Olympic gold to start a mint—are made for a stupendous high, reports Slate. They hold twice the smoke of an average human's, speeding up his THC absorption. But at his size (6-foot-4 and 195 pounds), Phelps needs a lot more weed... More »

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sports • Michael Phelps • drug use • marijuana • drugs in sports • weed • Olympics • THC

Another Kind of White Powder Hits Ski Slopes

Cocaine arrests up
60% at Europe's
leading winter resorts

Dec 29, 08 8:26 AM CST
(Newser) - In the lodges of Austria's winter resorts, mulled wine has given way to more stimulating après-ski treats: cocaine and ecstasy. Austrian police report a 60% rise in drug-related arrests in ski areas and say that bartenders and ski instructors are turning into part-time dealers during the season. "... More »

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cocaine • Austria • drug use • skiing • winter sports • ecstasy

US War on Drugs Has Failed: Report

Americans urged to focus on treatment, prevention, gun sales

Nov 27, 08 8:42 AM CST
(Newser) - America is treating the symptoms rather than the disease of drug use, and its war on drugs will continue to fail unless it changes course, a new report by an influential Washington think tank finds. The report urges the US to develop stronger ties in the Caribbean and Latin America,... More »

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War on Drugs • Mexico • drug trafficking • drug use • Brookings Institution • counternarcotics • drug traffickers • Ernesto Zedillo

Sex, Ethics Scandal Rocks Interior Dept. Oil Agency

Probes reveal sex, drugs, improper dealings in 'culture of ethical failure'

Sep 10, 08 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - It's not quite the Interior Department Gone Wild, but it's not that far off, either. A dozen current and former employees of the departmental agency that deals with oil and gas royalties have been accused of having sex with reps of the energy industry, illegally accepting gifts, using cocaine in... More »

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ethics • Department of the Interior • drug use • government contracts • corruption charges • Inspector General

 Paper Money Often
 Has Traces of Cocaine

Spanish study gives new meaning to 'drug money'

Aug 5, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chances are, you're carrying cocaine in your wallet. Trace amounts of it, anyway. A new Spanish study finds that paper money around the world is often contaminated with cocaine, LiveScience reports. Though concentrations vary by year and city, US bills had an average of up to 28.8 micrograms of... More »

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Spain • European Union • cocaine • money • drug use • US dollar

OPINION

 Without Doping,
 Where's the Fun?

Nowhere, if this year's Tour de France is any sign

Jul 25, 08 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Doping in sports makes some fans uncomfortable, but it keeps others on the edges of their seats, writes Joel Stein in the LA Times. Case in point: This year's largely shenanigans-free Tour de France has been an exercise in boredom. “Before you argue that your favorite sport has to... More »

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cycling • drug use • Tour de France • performance-enhancing drugs • drugs in sports

Colombia to Americans: Cocaine Kills Environment

Drug-makers are destroying Colombia's precious rainforest

Jul 19, 08 5:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Colombia is adding a new tactic in its campaign to persuade Americans to stop buying cocaine: a plea for the environment. The government wants to spread the message to users—especially, say, wealthy professionals who dutifully recycle but also partake of the drug—that cocaine growers are running roughshod over... More »

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drugs • cocaine • rainforest • Colombia • drug use • coca • Amazon rainforest

 Barenaked Ladies
 Singer Busted
 on Coke Charges 

Page nabbed in NY apartment

Jul 16, 08 7:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page has been busted on cocaine charges, the Canadian Press reports. The singer for the Toronto-based band, which recently released a CD for children, Snacktime, was caught with drugs in an apartment in upstate New York, according to authorities. Page, 38, posted $10,000 bail and... More »

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cocaine • drug use • celebrity • felony • drug possession • Barenaked Ladies

 Weed Potency Hits 30-Year High 

Study finds THC levels have doubled since 1983, raising mental health worries

Jun 12, 08 8:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Today's marijuana is the strongest crop since the heyday of Cheech and Chong, a new study finds. University researchers who analyzed seized samples dating back to the '70s found the level of active ingredient THC hit an average of 9.6% last year, up almost 1% from the year before... More »

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drugs • smoking • drug use • marijuana • cannabis • weed

Dude...Where's My Sponsor?

As 4/20 nears holiday status, pot-smokers' festivities curry favor with advertisers

Apr 17, 08 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Major corporations are trying to see dollar signs through the haze of pot smoke hovering over this year's 4/20 stonerpalooza, as the pseudo-holiday gains national attention with its large, (idly) devoted following on college campuses. This year, festivities will include stoner cinema debuts like "Harold and Kumar Escape From... More »

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drugs • drug use • college • marijuana • marijuana legalization • University of Colorado • movies • 4/20

Bobby Blames Whitney for His Drug Abuse

In new book, he also says they married to quell lesbian rumors

Apr 3, 08 8:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bobby Brown has put his latest salvo at ex-wife Whitney Houston in writing, E! reports, claiming in an upcoming book that she turned him on to cocaine and that their "doomed-from-the-very-beginning" marriage was mainly aimed to quell rumors about her sexuality. Bobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth and ... More »

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drug use • Whitney Houston • Bobby Brown • celebrity tell-alls • celebrity divorces

Clintonites Deny Pushing Photo

Obama camp says 'fear-mongering' comes from rival

Feb 25, 08 2:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's campaign denies circulating a 2006 photo of Barack Obama wearing traditional African clothing and a turban, even as the Obama campaign blames its rival, calling the incident “shameful, offensive fear-mongering,” the Chicago Tribune reports. The Drudge Report ran the image this morning, saying it had been... More »

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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Islam • Africa • Drudge Report • drug use • smear campaign

Obama Drug Use Minimal: Old Friends

Candor about teenage 'bad decisions' may have been overstated

Feb 9, 08 7:07 AM CST
(Newser) - In his memoir Barack Obama makes a rare admission—for a politician—of  “some bad decisions” as a teenager, of indulging in drinking and drugs before political activism led him out of apathy. But friends remember an already-focused Obama: an eloquent, poised young intellectual, active against South African apartheid... More »

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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • drug use • Hawaii • Dreams From My Father • Occidental College • teenager

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