DALLAS (AP) - Oregon was forced to bench two players because of failed drug tests days before the team competes in the first College Football Playoff title game, the latest hit to a roster already depleted by injuries. Wide receiver Darren Carrington and running back Ayele Forde did not travel with Oregon for Monday's national championship game against Ohio State after each failed NCAA-mandated drug test. Carrington tested positive for marijuana; the results of Forde's test weren't disclosed. [continues 808 words]
DALLAS - Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington and running back Ayele Forde will not play in Monday's national championship game after positive NCAA drug tests, coach Mark Helfrich said Saturday. Carrington did not travel with the team to Dallas after testing positive for marijuana. The results of Forde's test were not immediately clear. Helfrich said the team has faced many issues during the season, including injuries. But he insisted that the team is not distracted heading into the first College Football Playoff title game. [continues 350 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- While part of the key to treating heroin addiction is methadone, more needs to be done in terms of funding, prevention and removing the stigma associated with drug abuse, White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey said. Speaking at the American Methadone Treatment Association's National conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, McCaffrey said addicts need to be treated as any other patients afflicted with disease. "It is clear to me that there has to be a package, a system, in the treatment of opiate addiction -- and methadone is an important part of it," said McCaffrey. [continues 434 words]
SAN FRANCISCO - White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey, an advocate of methadone therapy, said heroin addicts must be treated the same as people with other diseases. Speaking at the American Methadone Treatment Association's National conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, McCaffrey said the challenge is making effective, science-based treatment for addicts more available. An estimated one million people nationwide are chronic opiate addicts, but only about 179,000 are in treatment, he said. ``We are not talking about a rare tropic disease, we're talking about a million of our citizens,'' he said. [continues 210 words]
SAN FRANCISCO - Inside the Gold Coast, patrons who belly up to the mahogany bar and throw down a pack of cigarettes are handed a flyer warning that police can slap smokers with costly tickets. A no-smoking sign is prominently displayed at eye level among rows of liquor bottles. Yet the customers still grab for heavy glass ashtrays and light up, filling the downtown bar with a light gray haze by the end of the workday. "It's ludicrous," Gold Coast customer Lee Marie Parmelee said, "I don't come into a bar for my health." [continues 668 words]
