| Dutch cocaine 'contaminated with atropine'
Amsterdam - The Trimbos institute of mental health and addiction put out a warning Friday over the use in the Netherlands of cocaine found to have been contaminated. The Trimbos Institute, located in Utrecht in the centre of the Netherlands, is the national knowledge institute for mental health care, addiction care and social work. Trimbos scientists said they had found atropine in the cocaine they researched after reports from all over the country. One user of cocaine sold in the Netherlands had already died. Atropine is a tropane alkaloid extracted from the deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna, and other plants of the family Solanaceae. It serves as a drug with a wide variety of effects. Being potentially deadly, it derives its name from Atropos, one of the three Fates who, according to Greek mythology, chose how a person was to die.
Man shares burden for addicts
My name is Edward Fortson and my mission has been to assist people who need help to recover from drug addiction. In July of 2000 God burdened my heart to help establish a Christian Rehabilitation Center in Northeast Arkansas. I researched different organizations and toured a facilities in Tuscumbia, Ala. called Restoration Ranch. This center was a division of Mission Teens, Inc. which operated nine different centers across the country. At the time I believed that establishing a center was what I was being led to do. In December of that same year I started to actually work with the people who needed to go into the centers. I worked with a young woman in jail and helped her get into a center. I had a lot to learn and no clear guidance or handbook on how to do this. I have learned about centers, the jail systems, court systems and even the prison systems.
Recovery program can keep families together
Substance abuse is a family issue, even if what makes the news is celebrities going it alone.
Actress Lindsay Lohan might not have to worry about keeping a family together while dealing with her addiction, but that isn't the case for many people who need help, such as the 928,000 Pennsylvanians who abused controlled substances in 2005, according to estimates by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
And in Lancaster, there is a treatment program that helps women to deal with family and recovery at the same time, by keeping mothers and their children together.
Vantage, at 208 E. King St., allows women to bring their children, up to age 12, with them when they enter rehab, so they don't risk having them placed in foster care while they are away.
Thursday TV talk
7 a.m. Today: From "The Bourne Ultimatum," actor Matt Damon and actress Julia Stiles; the No. 7 most beautiful place in America; musicians Josh Peck and Drake Bell. (WIS-10); The Early Show: Live from South Padre, Texas, with Dave Price; from "The Bourne Ultimatum," actor Matt Damon. (WLTX-19); Good Morning America: "High School Musical 2" cast performs; actress Nicole Richie; "On Call" medical report from Dr. Tim Johnson; financial contributor Mellody Hobson. (WOLO-25) 10 a.m. Live with Regis & Kelly: From "The Company," actor Chris O'Donnell; from "High School Musical 2," actress Ashley Tisdale; musician Clint Black. (WIS-10); Martha: From March: designer Zac Posen shares his spring fashion line; New York cheesecake; Andre Soltner shares his lamb stew recipe; astronaut Anousheh Ansari.
Jamie Oliver's leftovers go off
MORE than half the young down-and-outs who started apprenticeships with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in Melbourne failed to finish. Eleven of the 20 who started the Fifteen Melbourne program dropped out, the Herald Sun can reveal. One relapsed into heroin addiction, two have struck trouble with the law, one slumped back into homelessness and another threw it in to work in a pastry shop. The TV series Jamie's Kitchen Australia charted the first four months of the 16-month apprenticeship scheme, aimed at helping the young disadvantaged. But youth workers said the conditions were too tough. Youth welfare worker Les Twentyman said young people felt more pressure to perform under the public's gaze. "If they're not successful, it can throw them into further depression," Mr Twentyman said.
Methadone misunderstood?
ALABASTER - The owner of a Shelby County methadone clinic, who wants to put another clinic in Clanton, said many of the people who are against the clinic are misinformed about what they will be doing. Many people have claimed that the clinic is there to get more people addicted to methadone, but Susan Staats Sidwell said that is not the case. "What we are here to do is to help people break the addiction to opiates like Oxycontin and Lortab," Staats said. "They usually had some kind of traumatic event, and got addicted to a painkiller. Anybody could get addicted. Most of our patients are middle class, blue-collar workers. "One of the best ways to treat the addiction is methadone." Staats owns the Shelby County Treatment Center in the Saginaw community near Alabaster.
Kauai man gets 25 years for meth and heroin possession
LIHUE ยป A Hanalei man who led police on at least two chases, accidentally ran over a woman and was caught with more than an ounce of methamphetamine received a 25-year prison sentence yesterday. Byron Say, 38, had been arrested at least four times over the past two years for drug and driving-related offenses. He also led police on a chase in January, when he escaped via mo-ped and then jumped into heavy brush. .
Institutes, Centers & Offices
The Office of the Director (OD) The Office of the Director is the central office at NIH for its 27 Institutes and Centers. The OD is responsible for setting policy for NIH and for planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all the NIH components. OD's program offices include the Office of AIDS Research and the Office of Research on Women's Health, among others. more > .
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