| 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.
Court makes it easier for patients to enter rehab
Pennsylvanians battling drug and alcohol addiction will not need a second opinion from their HMO before entering treatment programs, a state appeals court ruled. In a unanimous decision released Thursday, Commonwealth Court ruled that group insurance companies and HMOs must cover drug and alcohol treatment costs for policy holders referred to detoxification, rehabilitation and outpatient programs by a doctor or psychologist. The ruling will help about 15,000 state residents with private insurance who seek substance abuse treatment each year, said Deborah Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania. It's a really important decision that I think gives power back to doctors and psychologists, said Beck, whose Harrisburg-based organization represents licensed treatment centers and school-run counseling programs.
Addicted to the Internet
The Chinese Media announced that an experimental summer camp is being arranged to treat about 40 young and impressionable Internet addicts in China. Participating in the programme will be youths aged 14-22 after they first undergo psychological tests. This appears to be a milder version of the programme already applied at an Internet Addiction Rehabilitation Centre near Beijing that treats children addicted to on-line electronic games, porno sites and cybersex. As per the same source, about 2.6 youths in China, that is 13% of the users below 18 are considered Internet addicts. .
New drug finds success in battling heroin addiction
Health officials in Baltimore say the city's latest effort to combat heroin addiction is showing some encouraging results.
The city has spent nearly one (m) million dollars since October to put addicts on a new drug called buprenorphine. Unlike methadone treatments, addicts can take the drug at home instead of report daily to public clinics.
Health commissioner Doctor Joshua Sharfstein told a city council committee last night that 65 percent of 269 addicts who entered the program before April have remained in the program for at least six months. Sharfstein says that's not bad, but methadone programs typically have a 90-day retention rate above 80 percent.
Baltimore and Howard counties also have bupe programs, and state funds are available for likely future programs around Maryland.
Chonda Pierce Part Of September Lineup At Tivoli, Memorial
Here are the upcoming events at the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium during September.
Buddy Guy in Concert
Tivoli Theatre
Thursday, Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Don't miss the legendary blues guitar master and 5-Time Grammy Award winner. All seats are reserved at $36.50 and $46.50 plus convenience fees. Tickets are on sale online at ChattanoogaOnStage.com and at Memorial Auditorium box office. Charge by phone (423) 642-TIXS.
Friday Night Live
Community Theatre
Friday, Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Teen talent showcase sponsored by the Dept. of Education Arts & Culture. Here teens can enjoy a variety of performances in a safe, secure and controlled environment. These performances will showcase individuals and groups from local schools, city recreation centers and youth organizations.
Internet addiction expert sees rise in youth cases
Children are the fastest-growing segment of the population battling Internet addiction, according to Dr. Kimberly Young, director of the Center for Internet Addiction. But fighting that addiction, or even establishing that there is a problem, isn't always easy. The most common Internet addictions among adolescents involve gaming, gambling and social networking sites, said Young, speaking Friday at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. These addictions can cause adolescents to sit in front of a computer for hours on end, ignoring important aspects of their lives in the real world. Massive multi-user online role-playing games allow children to enter into a fantasy world and leave their troubles behind, she said. These games allow a child to pretend to be something they're not.
Bloggers comment on Groe's log entry
Embattled state lawmaker Trish Groe took a beating Friday over comments she made earlier this week in her legislative Web log.Several bloggers lashed out at Groe, a Lake Havasu City Republican, for saying she did not receive preferential treatment when she was arrested March 22 in Parker on suspicion of drunken driving.Groe's comments were posted Wednesday in a candid, often self-chastising entry entitled “The Road to Recovery." It was the first time since a March 27 news conference that she spoke publicly about her arrest and its aftermath.“It would be a little more helpful and honest if you could just accept the fact that you are getting a break because of who you are and who you know," an anonymous Lake Havasu City blogger wrote.Groe did not spend the night in jail. She was released to a relative a few hours after her arrest, which she said is standard procedure.“If that was anyone else, they would have spent the night in jail or longer and you know that," the blogger said.Groe also was rebuked for saying she would not step down.“I believe it is time to stop kidding yourself and resign," Hillary C of Lake Havasu City wrote.
Lifting a dark cloud
"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would be not one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better it appears to me."— Abraham Lincoln Depression haunted Abraham Lincoln, swirled around Winston Churchill and envelops about 20.9 million American adults in any given year. The National Institute of Mental Health reports most people with depressive illness don't seek treatment. Those that do are filling the office of family practitioners such as Dr. Ruben Brinckhaus. He estimates one in four patients in the Fortuna Family Medical Group practice seek assistance with the melancholy and despair that take the joy out of life.
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