Kenora's needle exchange increased 28 per cent last year - and that's normal. The Northwestern Health Unit program mostly based out of the Morning Star detox centre handed out 69,340 needles in 2011, up from 49,720 in 2010. Rather than considering the steady increases as evidence of ballooning illicit drug use, Morning Star detox centre manager Patti-Dryden Holmstrom views it as successfully injecting safety into the streets. "The needle exchange is an entry level service," she said. "People who might not access our service in any other way are coming through our doors to use that service. This is an opportunity for unit attendants at Morning Star to have other crucial conversations like safe usage patterns and safe disposal... We try to make the best use of that meeting." [continues 491 words]
Under the streetlights, the teenagers left their mark on the pavement. The message: Parents need to intervene to keep their children away from drugs. We Talk Fearlessly (WTF) met at 10 p.m. Wednesday in the Safeway parking lot armed with pizza and sidewalk chalk to offer empowerment tips for parents through street art. "We're doing this to get the message across and let people know that you have a voice," said 17 year-old Stefanie Adams. "We want people to know that drugs are stupid and there are so many things you could be doing that are better." [continues 140 words]
Experts reveal the great harm young people are doing themselves now and for the future. Dr Dylan Griffiths has spent more than 20 years healing the minds of troubled teenagers. But the psychiatrist is shocked by what he is now facing on a daily basis. He is treating record numbers of disturbed young patients, unable to cope with the pressures of modern life, who are hooked on drink, drugs and underage sex, or who are so desperate they even contemplate suicide. [continues 1406 words]
Exclusive Report Reveals the Crisis Among Teenagers Caused by Their Growing Addiction to Drink and Drugs. Experts Warn of 'Health Time Bomb' As Ministers Consider Forcing GPs to Report Under-Age Sex to Police and Social Workers Teenagers are facing what medical experts warn is "a mental health time bomb" caused by the abuse of drugs and alcohol. New figures show that the use of drink and drugs has become common among children as young as 13, with one expert saying alcohol, cocaine and marijuana are "as ubiquitous as traffic on the streets". [continues 224 words]
It's one of the most addictive and destructive drugs on the American black market, and now it's arrived in Britain. Crystal meth, the new Hollywood glamour drug, has begun surfacing in nightclubs and bars in London and Manchester. The trend is already causing serious concern among police, health experts and charity workers. Crystal meth, or crystalline methylamphetamine hydrochloride, is manufactured from a cocktail of cheap chemicals - often including fertilisers - and has a number of particularly nasty side-effects. According to US researchers, these can range from the sudden loss of teeth to a rapid descent into severe psychotic disorder. [continues 321 words]
The ridiculously out-dated 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is patently not stopping the great British public from consuming ever greater quantities by criminalising their use ("Trainspotting: the reality". 13 February). The new Home Office report demonstrated that government policy is giving 3600m per year to violent criminal gangs in London alone every year. I propose the Government legalise cannabis, tax it, and use the money to subsidise proper education and harm-reduction campaigns against hard drugs. Though the public has accepted that drug-taking is as common place as, and safer than, many legal activities, the Government continues in its futile War on Drugs, denying any debate - even on the subject of medicinal= cannabis. Jon Thompson Macclesfield, Cheshire. [end]
