Adult Binge Drinkers Prefer Beer; Teens Hard Liquor

Binge-drinking is an increasing problem across a spectrum of age groups but two sobering analyses reveal that adults have a preference for beer binges while teens tend to swill the harder spirits.Training a spotlight on alcoholic drinking habits is vital, experts said Tuesday, because bingeing has become a national public health problem.

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Naked Man Eaten By Bears at Beer Festival

A 23-year old Serb was found dead and half-eaten in the bear cage of Belgrade Zoo at the weekend during the annual beer festival.

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Ark. Court Rejects Narcotics Anonymous Because of Focus on God

Mindy Gayle Offutt's first court-ordered Narcotics Anonymous meeting was also her last. The meeting began with a prayer and ended with one, as meetings often do, but the religious undertones of the gathering made her uncomfortable.
Five days later, on Dec. 7, 2006, Offutt filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, Ark., against the judge who sentenced her to the meetings for a misdemeanor drug possession offense. In the suit, Offutt's claimed Narcotics Anonymous amounts to religion and she should not be forced by a government official to participate in religious activity.

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Parole for Man Jailed After Rape Apology

A man who confessed to raping a woman as he apologized two decades later as part of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is scheduled to be released from jail after serving six months of an 18-month sentence, officials said Wednesday.
William Beebe, 42, pleaded guilty in November to one count of aggravated sexual battery for his attack on Liz Seccuro while at the University of Virginia. In March, a judge ordered a 10-year prison sentence with all but 18 months suspended.

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Underage Drinking & Hand Sanitizer: The New Booze?

A new study finds underage drinking is at an all time high in July...with a report of 50% of 15-year-olds claiming to have consumed alcohol. About one third of teen drinking happens during the summer months...its alarming numbers that has law enforcement working to keep kids away from alcohol.
The average age for kids to first try alcohol is 11-years-old for boys and 13-years-old for girls. It may sound shocking, but Jonesboro D.A.R.E. Officer Greg Lawson says he's heard it all.

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46 South Dakota Counties Join Sobriety Project

More than two-thirds of South Dakota counties have embraced an initiative by Attorney General Larry Long to keep chronic drunken drivers off the road.
If ordered by judges, repeat drunken drivers in those counties must report to sheriffs' offices twice a day for breath testing or other means of detecting alcohol consumption.People are taken immediately to jail if tests show that they've been drinking alcohol. Those who miss appointments are tracked down and locked up.The effort began two years ago as a pilot project in 14 counties. It worked so well that Long persuaded this year's Legislature to expand it statewide. The law went into effect July 1, and 46 of the state's 66 counties are now signed up.

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Intravenious Treatment Promising for Alcohol & Drug Addictions

New research into an obscure brain cell receptor found in the human brain has lead to a treatment that has been generating greater than 80% success for the past 12 months at a medical center in Denver, Colorado.These brain cell receptors are a subclass of the super family of receptors called G-protein coupled receptors, which are made from amino acids."The specific receptor in question which is damaged in addiction is made up of 466 amino acids and found on the surface of only one in a million brain cells." Commented Tamea Sisco a certified addictionologist and scientific advisor to Excel, "this lead us to the so called 'Ah Ha!' moment."If we were to administer the correct peptides and amino acids, in the correct proportion, to repair this receptor, would we be able to control addiction cravings?

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Study: Most Prisoners Have Addiction Problems

The initial results of a broad survey of prisoners' health indicate that more than 80 percent of people imprisoned because they defaulted on fines have addiction problems. At least half of these have drug problems. The Prison Service says that half of all prisoners test positive for Hepatitis C, which is common on intravenous drug users.Many prisoners also have mental health problems, which are often linked to their use of intoxicants, the researchers say.

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Treatment Improves, But Availibility Doesn't

The good news about treatment for heroin and opiate addiction is that there are new drugs to help the user and better understanding of addiction than ever before, said Dr. Allan Ebert, a Flint doctor and expert on substance abuse treatment.
The bad news is that those who want treatment but who don't have private health insurance or who are uninsured face waiting lists or shortened stays in programs, given the lack of funding by the state Legislature, officials say. Payments for heroin users who receive methadone were also cut in the spring.

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Marijuana May Increase Psychosis Risk

Using marijuana seems to increase the chance of becoming psychotic, researchers report in an analysis of past research that reignites the issue of whether pot is dangerous.
The new review suggests that even infrequent use could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40 percent.

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Ohio Bill Would Let Some Felons Hide Their Records From Employers

A controversial bill working its way through the Ohio Legislature would help state residents with multiple felony convictions hide their criminal records from prospective employers.
Opponents said the initiative is unfair to employers, who fear they would not have all necessary information when making hiring decisions. But supporters of the proposed "second chances'' bill said it would stem recidivism rates and help those who have shown they can live law-abiding lives find work beyond minimum wage jobs. Prospective applicants must go five years without being arrested before they are eligible to have their records sealed.

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Trail Brings Akron's AA History Alive

Families can explore the varied history of Akron — from the Portage Path Indian Trail to the city’s industrial presence to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous — through the city’s second History Trails project.

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Star Trek's Synthehol Now Possible

Synthehol is a science-fictional substitute for alcohol that appears on the Star Trek:The Next Generation television series. It allows drinkers to experience all of the enjoyable, intoxicating effects of alcohol without unpleasant side-effects like hangovers.
Professor David Nutt, a psychopharmacologist at the University of Bristol in the UK, believes that there is no scientific reason why it cannot be created now.

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Hey Big Spender, $210,000 Drinks Bill

A Middle Eastern businessman spent over $210,000 in a five-hour, champagne- and vodka-fuelled spending spree in a London nightclub at the weekend.
Fraser Donaldson, a representative of Crystal, a club favored by Prince Harry, said in 20 years working in the industry it was the biggest bill he'd seen from one customer.

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Smoking Ban Is Proposed in Drug Centers

New York would become the first state requiring all addiction treatment programs to help their clients quit smoking under a proposed rule to be announced today.
Pointing to the high number of tobacco-related deaths among former addicts, the state’s Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Service said that by July 24 of next year, all facilities treating drug or alcohol addiction would have to have programs in place to encourage clients to stop smoking. Under the plan, all treatment centers would have to be smoke-free, and staff members would also have to abide by the ban.

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Distinguishing a Budding Pedophile From Kids With Real Boundary Problems?

In the early 1980s, a therapist named Robert Longo was treating adolescent boys who had committed sex offenses. Their offenses ranged from fondling girls a few years younger than they were to outright rape of young children. As part of their treatment, the boys had to keep journals — which Longo read — in which they detailed their sexual fantasies and logged how frequently they masturbated to those fantasies. They created “relapse-prevention plans,” based on the idea that sex-offending is like an addiction and that teenagers need to be watchful of any “triggers” (pornography, anger) that might initiate their “cycle” of reoffending. And at the beginning of each group session, the boys introduced themselves much as an alcoholic begins an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: “I’m Brian, and I’m a sex offender. I sexually offended against a 10-year-old boy; I made him lick my penis three times.”

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Overweight Kids face stigma Comparable to Cancer

Overweight children are stigmatized by their peers as early as age 3 and even face bias from their parents and teachers, giving them a quality of life comparable to people with cancer, a new analysis concludes.
Youngsters who report teasing, rejection, bullying and other types of abuse because of their weight are two to three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts as well as to suffer from other health issues such as high blood pressure and eating disorders, researchers said.
"The stigmatization directed at obese children by their peers, parents, educators and others is pervasive and often unrelenting," researchers with Yale University and the University of Hawaii at Manatoa wrote in the July issue of Psychological Bulletin.

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Police Find Cocaine in Off-key Piano

When a grand piano played an off-key note, drug police in this Caribbean port opened it up and found some 560 pounds of cocaine stuffed inside.
The piano was part of a shipment of household items originating in the capital of Bogota and destined for Panama, police said in a statement Monday.
Authorities were investigating, but had made no arrests. The drugs' value was estimated at $5 million.

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Need a Cigarette and a Cocktail? Just Pop a Pill Instead

Smoking and drinking are two vices that often go hand in hand (one hand clutching a drink while the other holds a smoke). A decade ago, a study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol indicated that as many as 85 percent of heavy drinkers also light up. Smokers have various aids to help them quit the deadly habit, including varenicline, a drug manufactured by Pfizer that blocks nicotine from releasing the pleasure-associated neurotransmitter dopamine. Now new studies in rats show that it also blocks a craving for alcohol.

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Workers Drinking Heavily to Relieve Job Stress

STRESSED workers are drinking harmful amounts of alcohol to get over the tension of the job, with hospitality workers at the top of the list.
Researchers at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, say they are concerned about an Australian workplace culture of employees overindulging to deal with stress.

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Drinking Will No Longer be an Excuse for Crime

Criminals will no longer be able to blame alcohol for their offending under new laws being planned by ministers determined to tackle drunkenness and violence.
Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, will introduce legislation to state that being intoxicated cannot be used in mitigating pleas for the defence.

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Youths Beaten Up for Drinking and Driving

Three drunken youths, who were driving a car in a reckless manner on VIP Road in Karelibaug, were caught by the public and beaten up before being handed over to the police late on Saturday night. This is the third incident in recent times, where the public has taken law into their hands.

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NCSU Freshmen to Take Alcohol Quiz

N.C. State University will require incoming freshmen under 21 to take a three-hour alcohol awareness exam before starting classes this fall.

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Addiction Rewrites Brain Circuits

Cocaine addicts have trouble making judgments about rewarding and punishing behaviors, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found.
“There’s a misconception that addiction is just a problem with your personality or character or you just need to suck it up,” said Dr. Geoffrey Schoenbaum, assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology and lead researcher on the study. “It’s clear to us now that in people who are addicted, the brain has really been altered in fundamental ways.”

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Alcohol Abuse, Addiction Hits 3 of 10 Americans

Three out of ten Americans suffer some form of alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction during their lives, according to a new study of drinking and dependency.
Some 12.5 percent of more than 43,000 people surveyed reported having succumbed to alcohol dependence during their lives, including 3.8 percent who had had the problem during the year prior to the 2001-2002 survey.

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Inroads Against Drug Trade Can be Reinforced by Addiction Treatment

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime presented a sobering perspective of global drug trafficking and addiction of all types this week. This annual report suggested that production and use aren't getting worse, while law enforcement and interception are making a dent in cocaine and heroin distribution.

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Jesuits Hold Three-day Conference on Drug Addiction

Another conference on Ireland's drug problems is due to get underway in Dublin today.
The Jesuits have organised the three-day meeting on drug addiction in response to bishops' calls earlier this year for a national debate on the issue.
The event is aimed at finding more effective ways of dealing with the problem.
Yesterday, a different conference discussed growing ways to tackle cocaine use in Ireland and the harm associated with the drug.

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Can Friday Classes Stop Drinking?

MAKE SURE your favorite college student signs up for an early Friday class and you might save him, or her, a few hangovers, say psychology researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia
A light Friday class schedule may contribute to weekendlike drinking that begins on "thirsty Thursday," said Phillip Wood, professor of quantitative psychology in the College of Arts and Science's Department of Psychological Sciences.

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California Commits to Fixing Prison Addiction Programs

It would be difficult to imagine a more scathing indictment of a government program than the Inspector General's report earlier this year on California's services for prison inmates addicted to alcohol and drugs.
The programs, the report said, were almost a complete failure. There was no evidence that they were preventing inmates from committing new crimes after their release from prison. And remarkably, inmates who went through some of the programs were returning to prison at higher rates than criminals who got no treatment at all.

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Study: Pill Curbs Alcohol Addiction

Researchers in the US claim a pill designed to stop people from smoking may also curb alcohol addiction.

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Addiction Fuels Prostitution

Drug addiction has a tight grip, and there's no place where it is more evident than in Charlotte's prostitution industry.

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Yale Hosts Historic Conference of Food & Addiction

In what is believed to be the first meeting of its kind, Yale University is convening nearly 40 experts on nutrition, obesity, and addiction on July 9th and 10th to discuss the controversial topic of food and addiction.

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Does Food 'Addiction' Explain Explosion of Obesity?

Obesity has long been blamed on weak willpower, overeating, genetics and lack of exercise. Now scientists increasingly are seeing signs that suggest there may be an additional contributor: food addiction.

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AA Co-Founders House NY Landmard

BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y., July 3 — The house tour was nearing an end in this Westchester County hamlet, in a region known for its historic sites, from pre-Revolutionary grist mills to Gilded Age mansions. But as the visitors entered the austere pine-paneled office that once belonged to Bill Wilson, a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, the tour suddenly became a pilgrimage.

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DUI Charges Send Man to Prison for 30 Years

DUI Charges Send Man To Prison For 30 Years
Wendel Klotz, a 52-year-old Texas resident, was recently sentenced to a 70-year sentence for repeated drunk driving offenses. Furthermore, the sentence carries a 30-year non-parole term. Klotz has been caught driving under the influence eight times in the last 20 years. His last conviction was for the use of a deadly weapon, which was his truck with him drunk and driving. To date he has refused several offers of alcoholism treatment. County District Attorney John Bradley is relieved by the Judge's decision, "We keep getting encouraged and pushed to offer treatment before imprisonment, and Klotz is a perfect example of the county doing just that. But we had to abandon that philosophy before someone got hurt."

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Pub Lollipop Making Right Noises

Drinkers in Angus are to be given lollipops when they leave pubs in a bid to cut down on late night noise.
The idea, which has already been used as an effective silencing tool south of the border, is now coming to Montrose.
The Angus Drugs and Alcohol Action Team, which is behind the plan, said it believes that pub-goers will be less rowdy if they are sucking on sweets.

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Lollipop Painkiller Linked to Addiction, Overdose

When you think of a lollipop -- candy comes to mind. But Ted Banasiewicz thinks of relief for his excruciating cancer pain.
Ted's battled cancer for nine years and never leaves home without his own kind of lollipop -- a prescription painkiller version called actiq.
"Right now, I carry it with me wherever I go," he said.
The berry-flavored lozenge is fentanyl: 100-times more powerful than morphine. It is absorbed through the cheek and relieves pain in minutes.

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South Africa: Drug Addiction Can Be Prevented, Treated

Drug addiction is an illness that can be prevented and treated, says Deputy Minister of Social Development Jean Swanson-Jacobs, Tuesday.
She said early intervention was important and primary interventions were desperately needed.
"Prevention is intended to help parents, educators, community leaders and any other role players in the field of substance abuse," said Dr Swanson-Jacobs addressing the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking event, in Rustenburg.

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Unified Efforts Needed to Eradicate Addiction

Government, social organisations and the society should all work towards eliminating addiction from the society, said Dr Narendra Dabholkar, secretary of Satara-based Parivartan Vysan mukti Sanstha.
Speaking at a function held at the Sadhana Media Centre in Shaniwar Peth on Monday on the eve of International Drug and Drug Trafficking Prevention Day, Dabholkar said that at the moment it is alcohol that tops the list of addictives, followed by drugs. “It is a misconception that consuming alcohol and drugs in a controlled manner does not qualify as addiction. Few however know the detrimental effects that these have on one’s physical and mental health,” he said.

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India: Rise in Addicts Concerns Experts

PATNA: On the occasion of the "World Anti Drugs Day" on June 26, experts expressed their concern over the rising number of young drug addicts in the city in recent years. Until a few years ago, schoolchildren and adolescents using drugs was an uncommon sight. But now a substantial section of the drug addicts comprises of youngsters, said medical director of International Health Organisation, Dr Diwakar Tejaswi. Influence of movies and western culture are the factors which lure youths towards drugs. Moreover, nuclear family system and loneliness contributes to drug abuse among children, he added.

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New Vaccines Help Stop Drug Addiction?

Two new vaccines have been developed to relieve cocaine and methamphetamine addiction also minimize withdrawal symptoms, researchers say. The vaccines cause the body to produce antibodies which attack the drugs in the blood stream, preventing them from reaching the brain and therefore blocking the pleasurable effect of the drugs.

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Drunk Man Breaks Into AA Club

A 20-year-old Fond du Lac man told police he was “drunk” and being “stupid” when he broke into a building used for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings over the weekend.

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Drinking for Mother Earth With Organic Brewers Fest

Consuming organic foods is good for you, and good for the environment. Of course it is. Organics are completely free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
But could it be that drinking organic beer lessens your chance of getting a horrendous, throbbing hangover?

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Britain to Launch Anti-Drinking Campain

A new campaign aimed at creating a more positive attitude toward drinking in Britain is expected to save the government $27 billion in medical and other expenses.
Britain's broad acceptance of excessive drinking is thought to cause health, crime and disorder problems. The government believes the population widely accepts anti-social behavior and consistent drunkenness.

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Binge-Drinking Increases Risk of Violence

A study of more than 4,000 teenagers in 13 different schools in Britain found that binge drinking increased aggression, but also increased the chance of children becoming the victim of violence, even if they were not violent themselves. According to the Cardiff University study, children who reported drinking monthly were also three times more likely to be hit. Adolescents who drank but didn't get into fights were more likely to be hit than those who did fight.

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Why Not Lower the Drinking Age?

Why not drink at 18?
As a former college president, John McCardell knows all about binge drinking on campuses. What he wants to do about it might surprise you.

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New York Debates Banning Booze on Railroads

Report Shows Stats of Drinking Issues on Trains
Almost 1,000 Long Island and Metro-North railroad passengers last year were so drunk they needed medical attention. And about 300 people were ticketed for drinking alcohol and creating disturbances in trains or stations.That's according to The New York Times, which got the statistics from Metropolitan Transportation Authority police.

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Drinking by 8th-graders Sets Off Survey Alarms

Oregon eighth-graders are consuming more and more alcohol while their counterparts across the nation are drinking less and less.
The pattern apparently reflects the drinking habits of their parents -- adults in Oregon consume more alcohol than the national average and rank fourth nationally in alcohol-related deaths, according to a new study by the Oregon Department of Human Services.

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Lawnmower Driver Arrested for DUI - Ticketed for Not Mowing

Due to the failure to pass a field sobriety test, Robert Wendt was jailed for two nights in Illinois, Chicago. Wendt who had previous DUI convictions was pulled over by the police for driving his lawnmower on the wrong side of the road.
When interrogated, Wendt admits to have taken a couple of cans of beer before going for fuel. When stopped by the police, he had 6-pack which was yet to be opened. After his release, he received a ticket for not mowing the lawn.

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Arrested for Drinking and Riding

Two people police say were hoping to avoid drinking and driving chose instead to head home on horseback, and ended up under arrest anyway.

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Anheuser-Busch Brewing Drinking Water

It's still in a beer can, but Anheuser-Busch is stocking up on high quality drinking water to get ready for the hurricane season."The strategy is to have that water in locations prior to hurricanes so if needed people can get it right away," says Jacksonville Senior Plant Manager Syl Robinson.

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Weird Drinking Laws of the USA

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DUI: Former Policewoman Blows State Record Alcohol Level

Recently, a former policewoman who blew a state record alcohol level of .47 on a breath test was released from a Seattle jail for treatment while she faces drunken driving charges.
Deana Jarrett is now attending an alcoholism treatment center in Kirkland. She had been in jail since April pending two other separate drunken driving arrests in Redmond.
Jarrett is a former Seattle police officer. Part of her release conditions are that she wears an electronic monitoring device, not drive a car and not drink alcohol.

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Just Add Water - Student Invent Alcohol Powder

Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros ($1.35-$2).
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

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Call for Pub alcohol Warnings

Pubs should put up posters and restaurants include warnings in menus giving information about the number of units in alcoholic drinks, doctors say.
The government announced last month that alcohol labelling will come into force by the end of next year.

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Alcohol Branding Banned on Children's Sports Shirts

Alcohol branding on children's replica sports shirts is to end following an agreement within the drinks industry that it is unnecessary for logos to be advertised in this manner.

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Study: Liver Cancer Breakthrough Found

For the first time, doctors said Monday they have found a pill that improves survival for people with liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more than half a million people globally each year.
The results in a multinational study of 602 patients with advanced liver cancer are impressive and likely will change the way patients are treated, say cancer specialists, including the study authors.

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Bill W. & Dr. Bob Celebrates 100 Performances

Bill W. and Dr. Bob - a new play about Alcoholics Anonymous founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith - will celebrate its 100th performance Off-Broadway at New World Stages (Stage 2, 340 West 50th Street) on Friday, June 1st.

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For Sale: Original Draft Manuscript of AA

£600K FOR AA BOOK
THE original draft manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous from 1939 is set to fetch up to £605,000 at auction.
Featuring a multitude of revisions and additions by several founders of AA, the working copy is being sold in New York next month. The AA are an international organisation who have helped millions of alcoholics cope with their problems.

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Addiction Services for Veterans

A new program at the Bath VA Medical Center is addressing the unprecedented number of veterans with addictions.
Addiction officials say sixty seven thousand military men and women who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan now have substance abuse problems.

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DUI Suspect Charged With Bribery

A Belleair Beach man faces felony charges after two Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies say he offered them $500 to take sobriety tests for him. Mark L. Tearney, 39, is charged with two felony counts of bribery as well as a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge and a citation for speeding in an enhanced penalty zone on Interstate 95.

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Movie Review: Hurbert Selby Jr - It'll be Better Tomorrow

A good biography will make you regret never meeting the subject. A great biography will make you fall in love. This documentary about author Hubert Selby Jr. falls into the latter category. Cubby, as he called himself, was a warm man who transcended a great deal of pain to create beautiful and lasting art.

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Steady Rise in Deaths from Heavy Drinking

A steady rise in long-term heavy drinking has led to a doubling of alcohol-related deaths among men over the past decade, according to official figures.
The study of “preventable mortality” found that the rate of alcohol-related deaths had risen sharply among women too, with two thirds more dying of diseases such as cirrhosis over the period.
The rise in alcohol-related deaths is in stark contrast to sharp falls in the rest of the top five “preventable causes of mortality”.

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Drinking Alcohol May Help Protect Agaist Dementia?

Alcohol drinking in moderation may slow progression to dementia in people with mild cognitive impairment, suggests an Italian study published in the May 22 issue of Neurology, a journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Howvever, the study per se did not establish any causal relationship between drinking alcohol and cognitive impairment, meaning that drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages does not necessarily provide any protection against dementia in a particular person.

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Study: College Breeds Alcoholism

College can be a blast, but it can also create alcoholics. Genetics is known to play a role in the risk of alcoholism. A new study, detailed in the June issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggests that college attendance is conducive to and exacerbates the innate predisposition of some young adults to become heavy alcohol users. "If your genetic makeup predisposes you toward drinking, it may be even more enhanced by attending college," said lead scientist David Timberlake, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Irvine.

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Navy Dr. Who Developed 1st Military Treatment for Alcoholism Dies

Inside a rusted Quonset hut at the Long Beach Naval Station, Dr. Joseph J. Zuska operated a clandestine program, treating sailors for an illness that in the eyes of the Navy did not exist. It was the mid-1960s, a time when alcoholism and its accompanying behavior were treated as violations of Navy policy, punishable by time in the brig. Yet the atmosphere on base and at sea encouraged heavy drinking. The abiding image of the drunk sailor was a reality for many. After a conversation with a retired Navy commander who was also a recovering alcoholic, Zuska began treating the illness as a medical problem. His underground program, the first in the history of the armed forces, eventually earned national acclaim, providing a model for other branches of the military and private industry.

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India's First Condom Bar Opens

After the advent of theme restaurants, theme bars are next in line with a unique 'Condom Bar' opening its door for curious visitors in Chandigarh.
An initiative of Chandigarh Industrial Tourism Corporation (CITCO) and AIDS Control Society of Chandigarh, the bar is aimed at propagating the message of 'Safe Sex' while creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.

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Appetite-Regulation Peptide Leptin's Influence on Alcohol Craving Confirmed

A new study published in 'Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research' has confirmed that appetite-regulating peptides leptin and ghrelin influence alcohol cravings for some alcoholics. Craving, a powerful urge to drink, is an important contributor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism.Professor Otto Lesch of the University of Vienna has divided patients of alcohol dependence into four groups- Type 1 that refers to people with heavy alcohol withdrawals who tend to use alcohol to weaken withdrawal symptoms, Type 2 patients use alcohol as self-medication because of its anxiolytic effects, Type 3 which is an affective disorder as origin for alcohol abuse, and Type 4 patients pre-morbid cerebral defects, behavioural disorders and a high social burden.

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Drinking 4 or More Cups of Coffee A Day May Help Prevent Gout

Coffee is a habit for more than 50 percent of Americans, who drink, on average, 2 cups per day. This widely consumed beverage is regularly investigated and debated for its impact on health conditions from breast cancer to heart disease. Among its complex effects on the body, coffee or its components have been linked to lower insulin and uric acid levels on a short-term basis or cross-sectionally. These and other mechanisms suggest that coffee consumption may affect the risk of gout, the most prevalent inflammatory arthritis in adult males.

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MU Study Finds Binge Drinking Among College Students Impaires Decision-Making Ability

People addicted to alcohol and young adults who are heavy drinkers, but not considered alcoholics, have something in common: they possess poor decision-making skills, according to psychologists at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The findings are based on research examining binge drinking and heavy alcohol use among college students.

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Cardinals Ban Alcohol in Clubhouse

But La Russa unimpressed since 'guys don't stay in the clubhouse to drink'
The St. Louis Cardinals banned alcohol from the clubhouse on Friday, five days after the alcohol-related fatal accident of pitcher Josh Hancock.

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Man Cited for DWI at McDonald's Drive-through

A man who was a little slow in picking up his fast food has been charged with drunk driving. Police said they found Terrance Forte, 32, asleep behind the wheel in the drive-through lane at a McDonald's restaurant.
Restaurant employees called police about 12:30 a.m. Saturday after waiting 15 minutes for Forte to drive from the first window to the second window in the drive-through.

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Man Busted for Drunk Driving in Wheelchair

A wheelchair-bound German stunned police when they pulled him over for using the road and found he was 10 times over the legal alcohol limit for drivers.
"He was right in the middle of the road," said a spokesman for police in the northeastern city of Schwerin Tuesday. "The officers couldn't quite believe it when they saw the results of the breath test. That's a life-threatening figure."

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Hershey Sues Man Who Made Pot Candy

It was a big enough bummer for Kenneth Affolter when he was sentenced to more than five years in prison for making pot-laced treats and soft drinks. Now he faces the wrath of a candy giant.
The Hershey Co. has sued Affolter, 40, for giving his marijuana goodies names like Stoney Rancher, Rasta Reese's and Keef Kat. Each came in packaging similar to Hershey's Jolly Rancher, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kat candies, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Crime of Stupidity Hatched From Treatment Center

Pair who hatched bomb treat get prison.
The idea seemed a long shot at best: One man would call police and accuse his friend of carrying a bomb in hopes the arresting officer would rough up the suspect enough to support a lawsuit.

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Scots Are Worst Boozers

SIX of the 10 worst places for people too ill to work because of boozing are in Scotland, a survey has revealed.
Inverclyde tops the UK list with more than one in 200 of its workers claiming incapacity benefits due to alcoholism.

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Bar Patrons Get Tow-Truck Taxis in Ill.

This new taxi service doesn't come cheap, but it may be a bargain compared to the price of a drunk-driving arrest.

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Bank Robber Stops for a Beer

Clearly, beer was more important than freedom. An accused bank robber only made a half-hearted getaway in Orange County.

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Positive Info About VIVITROL for the Treatment of Alcoholism

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Addiction Illuminates Concept of 'Free Will'

Whether humans possess free will or whether their actions are determined by something outside their conscious control is one of the most persistent problems in philosophy.
In a lecture May 9, Steven E. Hyman warned his audience that he would not attempt to resolve the issue of free will in an ultimate sense. He did, however, have some fascinating insights regarding a special instance of the free-will dilemma — namely, the neurochemical mechanisms that result in the loss of free will when a person becomes addicted to drugs.

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Passing On Afghanistan's Addiction

Afghanistan remains infamous as an exporter of opium. However, opium use within the country is just as rampant, with perhaps one million addicts in the country, according to the UN, of whom more than 600,000 are under the age of 15.

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Rehab Centers, Big Business in India

New Delhi: A number of de-addiction centres have sprung up across the country following a rise in the incidence of alcoholism. In the absence of a mechanism to monitor such centres, doctors caution against quacks out to make a fast buck.

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Nicotine Addiction as Potent as Cocaine, Heroin

Twelve years ago, Henry W. "Chuck" Richardson became a convicted felon after an illegal drug violation.
After 23 years of shooting up heroin, an addiction that started during the Vietnam war, he was finally able to break free from the drug while serving jail time and has now been "clean" 12 years—clean of heroin, that is, but not drug-free.
Like millions of former users of illegal substances, Richardson, a Marine machine gunner with two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, simply doesn't have the brawn to give up cigarettes. The drug he now craves is nicotine.

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Prison Crisis Looming

Of the 368 new inmates who checked into the crowded Northern Nevada Correctional Center in the past six weeks, 294 were methamphetamine addicts and half admitted they were high when they committed their crimes.

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Moderate Drinking May Lower Kidney Cancer Risk

Having a drink or two per day appears to modestly decrease the risk of developing kidney cell cancer, new research findings suggest, regardless of the type of alcoholic drink that is consumed.

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Marine Corps Allows Underage Drinking

The Marine Corps has changed its rules on drinking to allow Marines as young as 18 to drink on Camp Pendleton and other Marine bases on special occasions, a decision that has been cheered by some Marines but has upset anti-drinking groups.

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Couples Share Risk for Problem Drinking

People at risk for drinking problems are more likely to marry someone who's also at risk for alcohol dependence, according to a team of American and Australian researchers.

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Heavy Drinking May Trigger Irregular Heart Rhythm

Raising a glass too often could put heavy drinkers at risk for atrial fibrillation, a dangerous heart condition that can trip off a stroke or heart failure, British researchers warn.
Luckily, reducing alcohol consumption even a little bit makes a big difference, said the authors of a study slated for presentation Thursday at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, in Denver.

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Midtown AA Accused of Sexual Exploitation

Officials of a prominent church in Northwest Washington said the church has barred an Alcoholics Anonymous group from meeting on its property pending the outcome of an investigation.
The group, called Midtown AA, has come under scrutiny for unusual practices in the past.
Many of the former members have described the group as a cult.
One woman, a former member of Midtown AA, claims she was pressured to have sex as a teenager with the leader of an Alcoholics Anonymous group called Midtown.

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'Cocaine' Energy Drink Re-emerges as 'Censored'

An energy drink that was barred by the US government from going on the market with the name "Cocaine" will re-emerge under the tongue-in-cheek moniker "Censored," its maker said Friday.
"We love the 'Censored' name because it has the same rebellious and fun spirit that our original name did," said Redux Beverages LLC founder Jamey Kirby.

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Brain Chemical Protects Some Against Alcoholism

Researchers have long wondered why some people with a family history of alcoholism become alcoholics and others do not. Now a Brookhaven National Laboratory study has found a difference in brain chemistry that may protect some from developing alcohol abuse problems. Elevated levels of D2 receptors for dopamine may provide a protective effect for some at high risk to become alcoholics.

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OxyContin Maker, Execs Plead Guilty

The maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday to misleading the public about the drug's risk of addiction, a federal prosecutor and the company said.

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Coffee Is Gateway to Addiction

Our early morning behavior is second nature to many of us. Get up, get a cup of coffee or four, and get on with the day. Deviate from the routine and our bodies find subtle and not-so-subtle ways to remind us.It only took four days to figure out my problem.Each morning a few weeks back, I took the fancy package of coffee out of the freezer and made a full pot. Each afternoon that week, I nursed a migraine and tried to stay awake. The house was a mess by the fourth day. I had no energy to clean it. And I can't say I was very pleasant, either. On Friday, my husband asked where I put the coffee because all he could find was decaf. One cup of Starbucks later, all was right with my world once again.

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Jump in Crashes Since Drinking Age Lowered

Massey University research indicates that alcohol-related crashes involving young drivers have increased since the legal drinking age was lowered.

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Scotland Starts National Drinking Season

NATIONAL Drinking Season kicked-off in spectacular fashion over the bank holiday weekend with more than 125,000 arrests and pandemonium across the country.

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Vienna Library Starts Erotica Hotline

VIENNA, Austria - This isn't the typical whispering you might expect to hear at a library. Vienna's City Hall has launched a "sex hotline" to raise money for the capital's main public library, officials said Tuesday.

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'Cocaine' Drink Pulled From Shelves

An energy drink called Cocaine has been pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name, the company that produces it said Monday.
Clegg Ivey, a partner in Redux Beverages LLC of Las Vegas, said the company plans to sell the drink under a new name for now.

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Man Takes Driving Test Drunk, Fails

A German man failed his driving test after attempting the examination while three times over the legal alcohol limit, police said Tuesday.

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So. Korea County Cans Award for Drinking Workers

On second thought, maybe it was not a good idea to give an award for drinking to local government officials.
The South Korean county of Koesan has decided it will discontinue giving out its "Drinking Culture Prize" after being flooded with complaints that the award promotes drunkenness among municipal employees and encouraged binge drinking.

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Addiction Treatment Facility Burgled

A burglary at the Hina Mauka drug and alcohol rehabilitation and prevention center earlier this week has puzzled and bewildered members of its staff.

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Brewer Must Pay Alcoholic Beer Taster

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A Brazilian court has ordered local brewer Ambev to pay 100,000 reals (US$49,400; euro36,400) to an alcoholic beer taster who drank about a liter and a half (3.2 pints) of beer each day.
The unidentified employee alleged that the company did not provide the health measures needed to keep him from developing alcoholism, a labor court in the Rio Grande do Sul state said in a statement Friday.

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MADD Award Winner Charged With DUI

A Cincinnati police officer who received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been charged with drunken driving.

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Study Suggests Heavy Drinking Shrinks Brains

A new study indicates that the brains of people who drink large amounts of alcohol get smaller. Psychiatrist and substance abuse expert Dr. Robert Millman says that doesn't surprise him in the least. Millman, who's with New York Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell Medical Center, says it makes complete sense, considering how much of a poison alcohol is. People recovering from alcoholism can take six months to a year to fully regain their cognitive abilities, such as memory and ability to do abstract thinking. So, it follows that alcohol has a physical impact on the brain.

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Book Review; The Joy of Drinking

Against Moderation
It’s odd the books people get asked to review. Take this one, a carefree history of our long love affair with drinking. I have no training as a historian, just some slight experience on both sides of bars. And perhaps an exaggerated reputation for disparaging today’s ubiquitous alcohol-free business lunches. Barbara Holland, though, might empathize. She reminds us that in 1787, two days before their work was done, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention “adjourned to a tavern for some rest, and according to the bill they drank 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 of whiskey, 22 of port, 8 of hard cider and 7 bowls of punch so large that, it was said, ducks could swim around in them. Then they went back to work and finished founding the new Republic.” Note the 55 delegates and 54 bottles of Madeira. Which founder was slacking?

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Beer Maker, Scientist to Create Energy

Scientists and Australian beer maker Foster's are teaming up to generate clean energy from brewery waste water — by using sugar-consuming bacteria.
The experimental technology was unveiled Wednesday by scientists at Australia's University of Queensland, which was given a $115,000 state government grant to install a microbial fuel cell at a Foster's Group brewery near Brisbane, the capital of Queensland state.

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Alcoholics Anonymous Group Hijacked

A struggle inside AA
Recovering alcoholics say a Washinton, D.C., group has hijacked the 12-step program's name.

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The Drinking Man's Politician

MOSCOW - Boris Yeltsin developed a penchant over 15 years in high office of jolting world leaders by committing gaffes, cracking off-colour jokes or blurting out flippant comments.

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Drinking Provokes Fighting on Beaches

DRINKERS at pubs and clubs in Manly are the most likely to become involved in street or violent crime, NSW police figures show, and local councils have called for more power to control the problem.

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Seattle Shelter Allows Alcoholics to Drink

Seattle shelter for street alcoholics let's them keep drinking
Most shelters for street alcoholics requires them to give up the bottle to get a place to sleep.
But a 75-unit apartment building run by the Downtown Emergency Service Center in Seattle is trying a different approach. It lets residents drink in their rooms. The goal is to give residents some stability and break a cycle of repeated trips to jail and emergency rooms at taxpayer expense.
The "National Alliance to End Homelessness" says associated groups and government agencies across the country are watching the Seattle experiment.
A study of the effectiveness of the housing is expected by later summer or fall. Some neighbors oppose the spending. It costs about $15,000 a year in King County, state and federal money for each resident.

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Drinking Alcohol Linked to Breast Cancer

Alcohol is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer, even when consumed in moderation. Now, new animal studies confirm alcohol consumption stimulates tumor growth and malignancy of breast cancer.

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Indian Groom Too Drunk to Wed, so Brother Steps In

Villagers at a wedding in eastern India decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom's more sober brother instead, police said on Monday.

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Thief Betrays Himself to Get Free Beer

A German phone thief led police right to his front door when they called the stolen mobile to say he had won some free beer and he willingly gave his address.
"An officer called and said, 'You've won a crate of beer'," said a spokesman for police in the eastern town of Neustrelitz Friday.
"Then he asked where he lived so he could drop the beer off, and the guy told him. I think the man was drunk."

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Dad Dies After Drinking From Lava Lamp

A father-of-two who had been battling alcohol addiction for 15 years died after drinking lava lamp oil.It remains a mystery why insurance broker Joseph Clarke, 50, drank the corrosive acid - but his wife believes he never intended to kill himself.

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Nude Paris Hilton to Caution Underage Drinking

Washington, April 28: A naked and outstretched Paris Hilton autopsy sculpture will now warn teens about the dangers of underage drinking.
A public service announcement featuring a tiara-wearing and provocatively posed yet dead Paris Hilton has been created by Capla Kesting Fine Art to caution teenagers about the hazards of underage drinking.

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Alcohol Ads Target Young Blacks

Young Blacks see far more than their share of the $383 million worth of advertising placed in major magazines by the nation's alcohol industry.
A report developed with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shows that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life.

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Women's Early Drinking Problems Unlikely to be Diagnosed

Women at risk for alcohol dependence may be slipping through the cracks.
A new study shows while men are more likely to have problems commonly associated with non-dependent drinking, women are prone to different alcohol-related problems that are less likely to be diagnosed.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota wanted to see whether the criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence were as accurate for women as for men. They compared 1,348 men and 1,402 women with similar levels of alcohol problems.

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Urinating Drunk Golfers on TV

Mom teed off by urinating drunk golfers.
A mother teed off by drunken golfers urinating near her house by the 18th hole resorted to videotaping the men after no action was taken on her complaints. Video of some men relieving themselves behind trees at the city-owned course was played on local and national television news.

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Formulating the Perfect Pint

Of beer and bubbles: The formula for a perfect pint.
A mathematical formula can now predict how the frothy head on a beer changes over time, a finding that may have a wide range of commercial uses beyond pulling the perfect pint, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.
The formula explains how the tiny bubbles that make up foam grow -- an explanation that could lead to the development of products such as metal shrink wrap.

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Damage from Alocohol Faster In Women

Alcohol damages women's brains faster than man's.

The brain-damaging effects of alcohol strike women more quickly than men, a new study conducted in Russia confirms.
Female alcoholics performed worse on a number of tests of neurocognitive function compared with males, Dr. Barbara Flannery from RTI International in Baltimore and her colleagues found.
However, Flannery cautioned in an interview with Reuters Health, the findings aren't good news for alcohol-dependent men. "Women are vulnerable to the extent to which they will experience the negative consequences of alcohol abuse and alcoholism more rapidly than men, but men will also experience it -- the same kinds of effects," she said.

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Bar Lets Diners Tipple From IV Tubes

A Taipei restaurant-bar is letting visitors order "medicine" from a menu and dripping it into their glasses from a transparent ceiling-suspended vat, becoming the latest oddball themed restaurant in Taiwan's capital.
As many as 10 visitors can sit around each bed at the D.S. Music Restaurant, a hospital-themed eatery, and watch showgirls dance on weekend nights or chat up "nurses" whose rabbit-ears complement their starched white uniforms.

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Study Finds Fruity Cocktail Count as Health Food

A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, U.S. and Thai researchers said on Thursday.
Adding ethanol -- the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits -- boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.

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New Alcoholic Anonymous Stories Speak Directly To Very Young

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Gift Born of Addiction

It's one of those images he will never be able to shake. There were all the little signs that led up to the moment -- the missing money, the declining grades, subtle changes in appearance, the constant tardiness, changing moods.
And then Jim and Nancy Bildner reached the end of what he would later describe as "a parent's seemingly endless reserve of hope." With his son in bed, they turned over the boy's knapsack on the rug of their study and braced themselves for what would fall out.

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Alcohol Detecting Anklet Used in Vegas

Alcohol anklets detect drinking in Vegas court

Robert Fry has a dirty little secret shackled to his ankle.
It sits above his work boot, right where the construction worker sweats, right where his buddy could see it and snicker -- Fry's little Big Brother, an alcohol monitoring machine that detects any drinks he sips by analyzing secretions of his skin.
Identical anklets are strapped to about 60 Clark County residents, men and women whose problems with alcohol have landed them in court.

They're people who have agreed, as part of a pretrial promise not to drink, or for a reduced bail, or in lieu of jail time, to wear the black plastic devices, called SCRAM, short for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor.

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