Treating marijuana use as a public health issue

Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske Ignores Marijuana Evidence: "“Once again, the federal government is trying to blame attempts to reform our marijuana laws for increases in use, completely ignoring the facts that arresting people for marijuana is obviously not stopping anyone from using it and that education, not arrest, is responsible for decreases in alcohol use over the past year,” said Morgan Fox, communications manager for the Marijuana Policy Project. “If we treat marijuana as a public health issue and stop wasting resources arresting adults for using something that is demonstrably safer than alcohol, we might be able to see the same effects. It is unfortunate that the Obama administration and ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske adamantly refuse to consider rational policy alternatives that don’t involve criminal penalties.”"

Opposing Views

Project BeanSprout helps babies born with drug addiction
WBIR-TV
... mothers with drug addiction give birth to babies addicted to drugs themselves. An East Tennessee teen has made it her mission to help these babies. At East Tennessee Children's Hospital, dim lights comfort crying babies suffering from drugwithdrawal.

WBIR-TV

SOLACE support group to have town hall meeting
Lancaster Eagle Gazette
What: SOLACE of Fairfield County, "Together We Can Fight Addiction" town hall meeting. Several speakers will participate, including Orman Hall, director of Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services; Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen ...

'Harry Potter' Author's New Book Will Be About Drug Addiction and Sexuality
Information Nigeria
J.K. Rowling has gone all the way from writing about wizards and adventures to the other end of the writing spectrum of composing a book based on heroin addiction and teen sexuality. Read more about the book below: A female character is introduced with ...

Mel Sembler, GOP's top drug policy aid, founded a rehab that “treated” 50000 ...
Salon
When the national political press writes about Republican financier Mel Sembler—a major Romney donor who formerly chaired the finance committee for the party (and the candidate himself)—it typically fails to mention his involvement in abusive ...

REEL Recovery Film Festival: 7 days of movies about addiction
Examiner.com
Each is centered on addiction. “Oxy-Morons” is an action-packed thriller that shows the horrors addiction to the opioid Oxycontin. “Ciao! Manhattan” is about Andy Warhol's muse, Edie Sedgwick. The Village Voice called this flick, “The 'Citizen Kane' of ...

Examiner.com

Former patient says methadone treatment was 'just another addiction'
Grand Forks Herald
based alcohol and drug addiction treatment center Hazelden, called the News Tribune's findings concerning, especially the lack of completed treatment. Hazelden, which offers abstinence-only treatment for opiate addiction, has about a 53 percent ...

Hollis to host forum Thursday on prescription drug abuse
Nashua Telegraph
Prescription pills like oxycontin and Percocet are becoming a drug of choice for more young people and are killing drug addicts in New Hampshire. Opioid addiction is widely recognized as one of the biggest challenges now facing health and treatment ...

2012 EMCDDA scientific paper award showcases innovative research in drugs ...
EU News
'Long-term effects of a community-based intervention: five-year follow-up of 'Clubs against Drugs'', Dr Johanna Gripenberg, PhD (Sweden). Published in Addiction, 106, 1997–2004. 'The impact of needle and syringe provision and opiate substitution ...

Local Addiction Recovery Program Announces Expansion
Eye On Annapolis
In celebration of over 40 years of service, the Samaritan House, a residential care facility for men suffering from alcohol and drug addiction, is launching a “Campus of Recovery” campaign to raise funds for expansion. The $600,000 expansion plans ...