BU Medical School Discovers Vaccine for Cocaine Addiction

After years of work, Baylor College of Medicine researchers have brought a cocaine vaccine to its final stages of testing.
With the number of cocaine addicts in the United States reaching around 2.4 million in 2005, researchers have been working to find a medical treatment to assist counseling and rehabilitation programs already in place.

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Reality Rehab: Good Idea or Bad Medicine?

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Minnesota Trailing in Addiction Treatment, Report Says

Minnesota’s reputation as a leader in the treatment of chemical dependency is turned on its head by a report authored this month by Carol Falkowski, director of the chemical health division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
It found that Minnesota ranked third-to-last among states in the number of adults age 18 and over in treatment per 100,000 population.
Only Texas and Arkansas ranked lower.

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Jail$: A Crisis in the Counties

With county jails across the state bursting at the seams, alternatives to incarceration are getting some attention. Drug court, an intensive rehabilitative program, is one such alternative.“There is certainly a place for jails and prisons. But there is also a middle ground defendant who may not need prison. We fill in that continuum,” says Connie Payne, general manager of Kentucky Drug Court.

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Moet & Chandon Fined Over Champagne Ads

Champagne house Moët & Chandon is the latest firm to fall foul of France’s advertising laws on alcoholic drinks.
Moët breached advert rules by glorifying Champagne during a campaign entitled ‘La nuit en rose’, a Paris judge has ruled.
Moët must pay €30,000 in damages to France’s National Association for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Addiction (ANPAA), which filed the case.

It is the third high-profile ruling in ANPAA’s favour in less than two months, suggesting a tougher stance on alcohol adverts in France.

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What Makes an Alcoholic? Definations Changing

The holidays are over. Resolutions are wearing thin. It's a time of year when many people wonder if they have a drinking problem.
More than 30 percent of Americans engage in risky drinking at some point in their lives, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. But there's no consensus on exactly what an "alcoholic" is. Even Alcoholics Anonymous relies on alcoholics to diagnose themselves.

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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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