David Cameron gave a speech in London November 23, in which he said that he will be “tough but intelligent” on crime. He said crime should not be viewed in terms of black and white, either lock them all up or let them go. Cameron instead called for rehabilitation and tougher sentences for those who continually re-offend and do not reform.

Currently only those who are in prison for a year or longer are offered rehabilitation while in prison. However in his speech, Cameron said that he wants rehabilitation to be offered to all those who are in jail, in order to target those who are consistently serving short sentences and then re-offending. He said, “Prevention is the cheapest and most effective way to deal with crime.”

This speech by Cameron on rehabilitation for criminals comes a week after the UK Drug Policy Commission published a report titled: “A Fresh Approach to Drugs.” One of the recommendations of this report is to “… make the criminal justice system more focused on recovery.” The report also says, “sending to drug users to prison without appropriate support either inside or on their release may lead to a a higher risk of death” or “reduced risk of recovery because their treatment is disrupted.” It stresses the need for proper rehabilitation to stop criminals from re-offending.

Cameron then went on to say he wants to see payment by results spread right across rehabilitation and that “… with payment by results your money will go into what works.” This is similar to another of the recommendations within the UKDPC’s report. The report highlights the fact that there are many drug treatment programs that simply do not work and says they should no longer be supported. With Cameron’s payment by results scheme, those rehabilitation programs that do not work will receive no money, therefore cutting off the support that these defective programs receive. However, this could lead to companies ignoring those deemed to be too hard to reform, and instead lead them to focus on reforming the criminals who are easy to rehabilitate, in order to make more profit.

What Cameron also failed to mention in his speech was just how he plans to afford to pay for those programs which have promising results. At the moment, with a lack of details about when it will happen or where the money will come from, this approach to crime that he has outlined appears to be more of a wish list for how he would like to deal with crime than what he actually plans to do.

However if he was to follow a few more of the recommendations outlined in the UKDPC’s report, such as reduced sanctions for possession of drugs by making it a civil rather than criminal offense, then the money to make this a reality could become available. Making possession a civil problem means anyone found guilty would be fined or sent to drug awareness sessions rather than be sent to jail. The report says changing this “could potentially result in less demand on police and criminal justice time and resources,” thus helping to reduce the 3 billion pounds currently spent fighting drugs each year.

If they were to make the possession of drugs a civil offense, then the lesser strain on police time and resources could potentially save billions, thus freeing up money to be spent on Mr. Cameron’s payment by results plan. Not sending criminals to jail for possession could also result in prisons having more spaces available, which could be used to house those re offenders which Cameron say should be given longer prison sentences.

Image Courtesy of The CBI

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The powerful one-hour docu-series Addicted returns to Discovery Fit & Health Tuesday, August 28, at 10 PM ET/PT. Season two opens the doors to the complex journey of addiction while following the unpredictable ride to recovery as top interventionist Kristina Wandzilak works with nine individuals with uncontrollable addictions, and the friends and family members who are seeking to help them.

Whether pushing away their families, blowing their life savings or breaking the law to feed their addictions, addicts do anything and sacrifice everything for drugs and alcohol. Getting sober is their only chance to stay alive and win back their families’ trust. Kristina, Executive Director and founder of Full Circle Intervention and a recovering addict herself, steps in to help these addicts and families by pulling from her own experiences and bringing understanding and compassion to the healing process. In addition to her strength and commitment to sobriety, Kristina is a mother, top-selling author (The Lost Years) and one of the most sought-after, unconventional addiction interventionists in the country. Kristina will empower the addicts not only to get sober, but also to live the healthy life they deserve, but the question is, will they accept her help?

This season of Addicted will feature the following stories: Lindsay, a 25-year-old addicted to prescription painkillers; 22-year-old Aaron who is addicted to heroin; 33-year-old Megan and 48-year-old Theresa, both alcoholics;  Josh, 37, Jason, 38 and Phil, 58, all addicted to meth and Gina & Sean, a 35-year-old and 27-year-old married couple addicted to heroin and meth.

About Discovery Fit & Health
Discovery Fit & Health, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc, entertains viewers with gripping, real-life dramas, featuring storytelling that chronicles the human experience from cradle to grave. Network programming includes forensic mysteries, amazing medical stories, emergency room trauma, baby and pregnancy programming, parenting challenges, and stories of extreme life conditions.

Image Courtesy of Discovery Fit & Health

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Every week there seems to be another drugs issue in the media. Whether it is Lance Armstrong, Frank Schlek, Hope Solo, Bradley Wiggins or LaShawn Merritt, performance enhancing drugs contaminate news pages everywhere.

Last week John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), sent out a warning to all Olympic competitors.

“If you are a doping athlete and you are planning to compete in London then you must withdraw from your Olympic team,” said Fahey.

“These will be the most tested Games in Olympic history and doping athletes must know that they will be under the severe scrutiny of anti-doping officials from the moment they set foot in the Olympic Village,” he added.

But how successful will they be in the testing, and how will we ever be sure of their success?

Let’s rewind 12 years – Sydney 2000. Marion Jones was America’s sweetheart, she broke numerous records and won five medals. Wow, a superhuman effort, it seemed too good to be true. And sadly it was.

Jones later admitted (after a lot of lying) that she had taken drugs as part of the BALCO scandal, a high profile drugs scandal involving some high profile athletes such as Dwain Chambers and Barry Bonds.

With Victor Conte as her nutritionist she had been using a cocktail of drugs including THG or,”the clear”, a development from BALCO which was undetectable.

It was only when a rival trainer sent a sample of “the clear” to WADA that they managed to develop a test for it.

Jones took over 160 drug tests during her career and did not fail one.

Neither has Armstrong. Yet, there are numerous ex-team-mates that will testify, under oath, that they were with him as he was doping illegally. Moreover, three of Armstrong’s former coaches have been banned for life from the sport. Take of that what you will.

The problem is the drug testing technology is behind the drug developing technology, and while athletes are often caught years posthumously, justice never seems to be done. And the second-placed athletes never get the right recognition for their achievement. Who knows the name of the Olympic gold medal holder of the women’s 200m from 2000? (Pauline Davis-Thompson).

LaShawn Merritt, the current 400m Olympic champion, was caught doping in 2009. He was banned for two years (reduced to 21 months) and managed to overturn his lifetime Olympic ban imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and will defend his title in London. He claims he was using a penis enlargement product which had testosterone in it.

It is important to note that Merritt’s was a landmark case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of WADA over the IOC that a lifetime ban from the Olympics can effectively result in double jeopardy after an athlete has served their two year ban. This ruling has had knock on effects for athletes such as Dwain Chambers and David Millar who will now compete at the Olympics after their lifetime Olympics bans from the British Olympic Association were overturned.

The fact that Merritt did not even miss a world championship, for me, is unacceptable. But then again, he may have just wanted to improve the size of his manhood and not benefit from any stimulant contained within, so who am I to judge?

How can WADA find out if these stories and excuses are true or false? Are some athletes making innocent mistakes because the list of performance enhancing drugs is too extensive and complex? How long should they be banned for? How much of a substance is needed in order to benefit the athlete? So many questions, and the problem for WADA is that there are no clean cut answers.

Fahey is currently asking sports governing bodies around the world about what they would prefer the doping policy to be for the next Olympic cycle. It seems, and I hope that, the maximum ban will be increased to four years, so an athlete will automatically miss the next major championships in whichever sport it may be.

Two years doesn’t seem long enough, and for me a lifetime ban is too extreme. While I do not agree with doping, I think that many athletes do not use drugs intentionally, and many of them will hugely regret their decision – if you make a serious mistake in the office, you may get fired, but you won’t be banned from the industry for life.

A four year ban is severe enough to provide a deterrent, but the most dedicated athletes could still come back to prove their true talent and skill.

WADA faces many challenges in an ongoing uphill battle. Implementing a decent ban time that is uniform across all sports (including baseball and American football) will be a big step in the right direction.

WADA claims this will be the most tested games ever. But how will they test their success?

By catching more cheats, they will be showing their techniques are successful, but people will become more disillusioned with certain events. If they don’t catch many dopers, people will believe the sports are getting cleaner, but how will we ever really know? It could just be the result of some really advanced drug technology that WADA is not yet familiar with.

It seems to be a lose-lose situation.

Will there be one day where they give up and legalize all performance-enhancing drugs to create another level playing field? I hope not. It doesn’t fit in with the whole idea of sport.

However, the problem seems to be so large in sports such as sprinting, boxing, cycling, wrestling and weightlifting that it makes me think this could soon be the only viable option.

I am sure London 2012 will expose some depressing truths and churn up some bad surprises. But it will also showcase some immense talent, determination and hard work. It is just a shame that I, like many others, will question the authenticity of some of the great genuine sporting achievements that we will see in a few days time.

Image Courtesy of  Paul McKinnon / Shutterstock.com

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While zombie enthusiasts may cry foul, the rest of the world can rest assured that the Apocalypse is not yet upon us, after a man had his face literally chewed off in Miami over the weekend. It seemed like the perfect set up for any classic horror film – from ‘28 Days Later‘ to the tongue-in-cheek ‘Shaun of the Dead‘ – a homeless man attacked by a naked assailant in broad daylight, the creature gnawing at the flesh of his skull and seemingly impervious to bullets as Miami-Dade police tried to end the grisly scene.

Almost immediately after news hit the World Wide Web, millions of individuals on the internet, from real conspiracy theorists to those just enjoying the fun, accused the culprit of being the first sign of a long-awaited “Zombie Apocalypse”.

The actual truth is likely much more anti-climactic, though just as indicative of a rising problem: Investigators in South Florida have pointed in the direction of a designer drug being sold legally in stores under the guise of synthetic “bath salts”.

While nothing stands as official, Armando Aguilar, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of police, has suggested that the symptoms exhibited by the attacker, Rudy Eugene, 31, are exceedingly similar to past cases Aguilar has seen with individuals high on the same drug. And those symptoms? Perhaps not as far removed from that of classic zombies than one would anticipate.

“The cases are similar minus a man eating another,” Aguilar told ABC News.

“People taking off their clothes. People suddenly have super human strength. They become violent and they are burning up from the inside. Their organs are reaching a level that most would die. By the time police approach them they are a walking dead person.”

Though Aguilar is careful to exclude the potential side-effect of cannibalism as a usual symptom, he does admit to ABC News that in the recent waves of incidents spawned from the drug, there has been at least one previous case of an intoxicated individual attempting to bite another human. Fortunately, police intervention was successful that time around.

With other, more common, side-effects including paranoia, hallucination, agitation and an increased risk of suicidal behavior, one has to wonder what the allure of these “bath salts” is. Sold under names such as “Ivory Wave” and “Vanilla Sky”, the drug has managed to avoid status as an illegal substance on a technicality – though that hasn’t prevented the majority of states from taking legislative action to ban it.

Whatever the case may be, it stands currently that the increase in use of this new party drug may be the closest the world will ever get to that fabled “Zombie Apocalypse.”

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LONDON, UK – Existing adoption rates and commercial success of launched Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) for therapeutics have established a strong platform for these products. Broadening the horizontal indications for existing mAbs, expanding the applications of mAbs in new therapeutic areas and developing innovative and faster drug delivery mechanism are the current trends in the mAbs market.

Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) are mono-specific high molecular weight complex proteins which are capable of post translational modifications like glycosylation.

They are predominantly used in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Other areas include cardiovascular and infectious diseases and organ transplants.

Over 45 mAbs are currently used. Drugs developed for cancer and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) account for 75% of the total market.

The European therapeutic monoclonal antibodies market, accounting for approximately 33.1% of the global market, is estimated at $19.01 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach $42.37 billion in 2018 with a CAGR of 12.1%.

“Robust activities and strong product potential across both existing and pipeline products drive M&A activities across the monoclonal antibodies market,” explains Deepika Pramod Chopda, Research Associate at Frost & Sullivan. “The alliances commonly observed include that of Big Pharma acquiring small biotech companies helping growth and development across the biologics industry.”

While a strong product pipeline, premium pricing trends and growing market opportunities and success from existing product line-up drive the mAbs market, high developmental costs, the financing of mAbs therapeutics in public healthcare, alternative treatment options within biologics and competition from biosimilars are all factors impeding the market growth.

Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibibodies market for their innovative and lucrative offerings into the biopharmaceuticals market resulted in a positive revenue growth rate through the economic recession. “Growing demand for improvised therapy allure mAbs against conventional chemical drugs for therapeutics,” concludes Ms Chopda. “Strong pipeline and broadening product segments to ophthalmology, respiratory infections will promote their development.”

Frost & Sullivan recently organised an on-demand analyst briefing entitled “Is Biologics the Answer to Rising Disease Incidence.” The web-conference summarizes Ms Chopda’s findings, identifying the market’s drivers and constraints and looking at the pipeline and R&D developments made within the Monoclonal Antibodies market.

This web-conference will benefit investors from the Big Pharma segment to evaluate the development made by small biotech companies promoting Mergers & Acquisitions and Product/Technology Alliance opportunities. Healthcare/medical professionals, venture capitalists and drug manufacturers looking to widen the knowledge about mAbs are also a suitable audience.

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New York, U.S.A. – New, nationally projectable survey results released by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation found that past-month marijuana use – particularly heavy use – has increased significantly among U.S. high school students since 2008.

The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study, sponsored by MetLife Foundation, found that 9% of teens (nearly 1.5 million) smoked marijuana heavily at least 20 times. Overall, past-month heavy marijuana use is up 80% among U.S. teens since 2008.

Past-month use is up 42% (up from 19% in 2008 to 27% in 2011, which translates to about 4 million teens), while past-year use is up 26% (up from 31% in 2008 to 39% in 2011, which translates to about 6 million teens). Lifetime use is up 21% (up from 39% in 2008 to 47% in 2011, which translates to nearly 8 million teens).

This marks an upward trend in teen marijuana use over the past three years. The last time marijuana use was this widespread among teens was in 1998 when past month use of marijuana was at 27%.

“These findings are deeply disturbing as the increases we’re seeing in heavy, regular marijuana use among high school students can spell real trouble for these teens later on,” said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org.

“Heavy use of marijuana – particularly beginning in adolescence – brings the risk of serious problems and our data show it is linked to involvement with alcohol and other drugs as well. Kids who begin using drugs or alcohol as teenagers are more likely to struggle with substance use disorders when compared to those who start using after the teenage years.”

Teen Marijuana Use Has Become a Normalized Behaviour

Teens now report seeing more of their peers smoking marijuana and only 26% agree with the statement, “in my school, most teens don’t smoke marijuana” (down from 37% in 2008). Also, 71% of teens say they have friends who use marijuana regularly (up from 64 percent in 2008).

Social disapproval of marijuana among teens remained the same, with 61% of teens saying they disapprove of their peers using marijuana. (About 41% say they ‘strongly disapprove’). The PATS data also found an erosion of anti-marijuana attitudes among teens, with only about half of teens (51%) saying they see “great risk” in using marijuana, down significantly from 61% in 2005.

“We have also seen a considerable decline over the past five years in the proportion of teens seeing great risk associated with marijuana use,” says Professor Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the nationwide Monitoring the Future study conducted at the University of Michigan. “We believe that this decline in perceived risk has played an important role in the increases in teen use of marijuana, as it has done in the past. The fact that perceived risk is still falling portends a further increase in use.”

As teen drug use takes a turn for the worse, a heavier burden is placed on the shoulders of parents to play a more active role in protecting their kids from the health risks posed by drug and alcohol abuse.

The removal of critical pieces of our national prevention infrastructure across the country – The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which was highly focused on educating youth about the dangers of teen marijuana use, and the elimination of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program – left a gaping hole where drug and alcohol education resources should be.

“The latest findings showing an increase in marijuana use among teens is unsettling and should serve as a wake-up call to everyone in a position to prevent unhealthy behavior,” said Dennis White, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “While it may be difficult to clearly understand just how dangerous marijuana use can be for teens, it is imperative that we all pay attention to the warning signs and intervene anyway we can. Early intervention is critical to helping prevent teens from drug abuse and addiction.”

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Detection dogs sniffing for drugs or bombs are affected by their handlers’ reactions to stimuli, a new study at the University of California has revealed.

Eighteen professional dog handlers and their hounds were asked to complete a set of brief searches. Of the eighteen, thirteen worked in drug detection, three in sniffing out bombs, and two in both.

The searches took place in rooms in a church, with five minutes allocated to each of the different search areas. Before the searches began, the handlers were told that several of the areas might hold up to three target scents and that in two situations those scents would be flagged by red paper.

Unbeknownst to the handlers, though, was that two of the targets held decoy scents in the form of hidden sausages to push the dogs’ interest in a false location. In addition, not one of the search areas actually held the scents of drugs or explosives. Therefore, any “detections” made by the teams had to be false. Recorders, who were blind to the study, marked where handlers indicated that their dogs had raised alerts.

The findings, published in the journal Animal Cognition, show that of 144 searches, only 21 had no alerts. In total, the teams raised 225 alerts, all of which were false. While the sheer number of false alerts may strike some as interesting, the locations of these alerts was what researchers were most fascinated by.

When handlers saw pieces of red paper, which supposedly were what marked scents, they were much more likely to report that their dog had signaled. In the two rooms that contained red paper but no sausages, 32 of a possible 36 alerts were reported. In the two rooms where both pieces of red paper and sausages were hidden the figure was 30, a not all too different figure. The number of alerts in search areas where only sausages were present, however, was 17.

While the dogs were distracted by the stimuli aimed toward them, it appears that the stimuli that were aimed at the handlers had a greater affect, with the handlers’ reactions rubbing off on to the dogs. Interestingly, in almost every case the handlers could not help but be distracted by the stimuli.

In the real world, this could mean false positives come up much more than they should. Not only would this inconvenience those innocent, but it would also distract teams from finding guilty parties. Racial profiling could also play a role here in finding false positives.

If a handler thinks someone is carrying drugs or a bomb, the dog is much more likely to signal that that person is carrying such goods, even if the person is not. While it is unclear how handlers will be able to get around this problem, hopefully the news can spark a change in the system.

Image Courtesy of   KellyNelson / Shutterstock.com

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Columbia Laboratories and Watson Pharmaceuticals has confirmed that the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not recommend approval of progesterone vaginal gel 8% for the reduction of risk of preterm birth in women with short uterine cervical length at the mid-trimester of pregnancy.

While panel members generally agreed that progesterone vaginal gel 8% is safe, the panel stated that more information is needed to support approval. While the FDA will consider recommendations of the Committee, the final decision regarding the approval of the product rests solely with the FDA.  The FDA’s Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products is expected to take action on Columbia’s New Drug Application (NDA) by February 26, 2012.

“We will work with the FDA to address the Advisory Committee’s comments as the Agency finalizes its review of our NDA. We remain confident in the PREGNANT study results that showed the administration of progesterone vaginal gel 8% is a safe and effective treatment for patients at risk for preterm birth due to short uterine cervical length in the mid-trimester of pregnancy. We hope the agency’s final decision will acknowledge the clear unmet medical need in this patient population,” said Frank Condella, President and CEO of Columbia Laboratories.

“As was highlighted today, there are currently no products approved to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women with premature cervical shortening – an established strong predictor of preterm birth risk,” saidFred Wilkinson, Watson’s Executive Vice President, Global Brands.

“The availability of a safe and effective product, with a demonstrated ability to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women with short uterine cervical length in the mid-trimester of pregnancy, would represent a significant advance in the prevention of early preterm birth and its associated complications.”

The Committee evaluated data submitted by Columbia to the FDA in its New Drug Application (NDA 22-139), which includes data from two Phase III clinical trials.  One of these trials, the PREGNANT study, showed that women with a short uterine cervical length as measured by transvaginal ultrasound between 19 and <24 weeks of gestation who were treated with progesterone vaginal gel 8% had a significantly lower risk of preterm birth before 33 weeks gestation compared to those who were treated with placebo (p=0.022).

This study included women with and without a prior history of preterm birth.  Progesterone vaginal gel 8% was also associated with a significant reduction in the risk of preterm birth before 35 weeks gestation (p=0.012).

In the pregnant study, the frequency of maternal treatment-emergent adverse events both overall and by individual event was comparable between the placebo and progesterone vaginal gel treatment groups.

The most frequent events in the progesterone vaginal gel group were expected complications of a high-risk pregnancy and included “premature baby” (19%), “uterine contractions abnormal” (14%), “premature labor” (7%). “Cervical disorder” (10%), “nausea” (10%), “headache” (7%), and “vulvo vaginal mycotic infection” (7%) were also reported.

The Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs is an independent panel of experts that evaluates data concerning the efficacy and safety of marketed and investigational products for use in the treatment of reproductive conditions and makes non-binding recommendations to the FDA.

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The death of two 18-year-old boys, while partying at the end of August, was reported by the National Police in Getafe, Madrid. Another boy was hospitalized. After the investigation, police concluded that the boys died due to an overdose of a new drug composed of alcohol, speed, and a plant called Datura Stramonium.

The consumption took place in a remote and derelict old monastery where an underground rave party was taking place. Some thought that a 23 year-old male, nicknamed Cabe, must have been involved in the partiers’ deaths. According to party-goers, Cabe had offered free samples of his homemade drug to people.

As Cabe reported to the police “We [Cabe and his girlfriend] handled it for free to lure people to try it and open new markets.” Both Cabe and his girlfriend were arrested and charged of offense against public health and negligent homicide. Three days after Cabe’s public statement and arrest, an unrelated group of adolescent, intrigued by the media coverage of the incident, decided to experiment with the same toxic plant just for fun.

But the euphoria caused bizarre behavior of the boys.  Witnesses reported that one of the guys, at night in the middle of a crowded street, started to suffer hallucinations, was incapable to focus his vision, and was moving his arms as if he was trying to catch something in the air. He was unable to answer questions and only murmured indecipherable words.

A girl observing the scene decided to call the emergency service with her cell phone. Unfortunately the operator on duty did not believe her claims. It took the girl several calls to get an ambulance to come to the scene. Upon arriving, the ambulance was unequipped to care for the drugged up boy and drove him straight to the hospital – the boy was in a deep coma.

Datura Stramonium is an ancient plant with very toxic seeds and leaves that contains atropine, a drug with a wide variety of effects. Among others it can be listed as: delirium, hyperthermia, tachycardia or photophobia. There is not a maximum dose per person because it depends on the physical characteristics of the consumer so any quantity can be lethal.

The plant is also known as devil´s weed, devil´s trumpet, moonflower or Jamestown weed. Many are questioning whether the media should raise alarm concerning this drug. Last time there was a similar reported case in Spain, was during 2004 in Valencia; a Danish man was offering a beverage made from Stramonium to whoever wanted it and five people consumed the dangerous substance.

A week later, four more were intoxicated during a Gay Pride Parade due to the same media luring effect.

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Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Police rescued 24 people kept in “filthy and cramped” living conditions, on Sunday morning. They also arrested 5 persons under the Slavery and Servitude Act 2010.

Greenacre caravan site was disturbed by dog-handling officers, a helicopter and firearms support from local Major Crime units, and UK Human Trafficking Centre in search of 15 possible persons forced to live and work in harsh conditions.

According to Sean O’Neil, Detective Chief Inspector, police units have been aware, since 2008, of 28 persons who have made accusations of slavery. After searching the place, 24 people were found “living and working in a state of virtual slavery.”  The victims were from England, Poland and Romania, while LeightonBuzzardOnline stated Slovakians were involved as well.

“One man was found to be covered in dog excrement, while others were so malnourished that an intake of proper food may kill them,” LeightonBuzzardOnline said. People were recruited from soup kitchens and benefits offices, being promised to receive £80 per day, in addition to board and lodgings.

Instead, they had their hair cut off; they were kept in “horseboxes, dog kennels, and old caravans” and worked for nothing or for little food. The time they spent there ranged between a few months to 15 years, being forced to work for British and Scandinavian projects, detectives said.

In some cases, on Sundays, the prisoners’ only day of rest, they were obliged to get up at 6 a.m. to clean the travellers site. The individuals’ present mental conditions are poor. Immediately after the raid, they were given medical and professional assistance – a specialist in torture was there to offer support and assistance as well.

Most of them were among the most “vulnerable category of people in society, who can disappear and be held here without anyone knowing they were missing,” Sean O’Neil said, according to BBC UK. The five persons arrested are 4 men and one woman, being identified as Irish. Further interviews will be held and accusations established. Money, drugs and weapons were found at the location.

In light of such events, many believe it is necessary that Europe revisit it’s policy of respect for human. Migrants to Western Europe as well as nomadic population are still an issue for the European Community and their living conditions and working facilities are to be revised in order to avoid such inhumane cases of abuse and mistreatment from reoccurring.

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Amy Winehouse’s family and close friends said their last goodbyes at the private ceremony at Edgwarebury Cemetery. Her father, Mitchell Winehouse said goodbye to his daughter at the private ceremony in North London.

“Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much,” he said.

Her issues with drugs and alcohol have been well documented. Winehouse died alone in her bed as many addicts are, alone in the dark fighting off demons. It is still unclear whether she took an overdose of drugs or a lethal combination or bad drugs, (or none of the above) but according to rumors, those disastrous habits are probably the cause of her death.

Winehouse never got on top of her disease. It controlled her for the majority of her short life, right up until the very end.

She joined the “27 Club” — also known as the Forever 27 Club or the Curse of 27 — alongside Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Alexander of the Stooges and Kurt Cobain. The 27 Club is the title for a group of influential musicians who all died at the age of 27 and they all are generally considered to have led a “rock and roll” lifestyle.

Unfortunately, she never received the help she so badly needed. Media is full of clips showing her stumbling across the stage during a show and it is well known, Winehouse wasn’t a fan of rehab and wrote a hit song about it.

“They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no,” she sang.

An article in the Daily Mail said, “Generous Amy Winehouse spent £130,000 sending her friend Alex Foden to rehab, when perhaps she should have spent it curing herself.”

It’s easy for those who are not addicts to judge and make comments about drug addicts or alcoholics because most people are lucky enough to have a mind that knows when to stop.

Things are very different in the minds of addicts. Most people may believe that if she had just checked herself in, she could have walked away from all those poisons. Sadly, things are not as easy as many people think. Rehab can give the tools, but each person has to walk the road alone. Only Amy Winehouse could have helped Amy Winehouse, but she didn’t ask to be an addict in the first place.

Broadcaster Piers Morgan struck out at Winehouse’s record company and promoters in the wake of the singer’s death. He claimed that Winehouse did not receive enough support from “the people making money out of her” as she battled her personal problems.

Morgan said to Access Hollywood,“I do blame people. Where were all the people making money out of her when it mattered? Really, where were they? You know, it’s just not good enough that they’re all going to make millions out of it now she’s dead. You know, the album ’Back To Black’ is number one… but people let her down.”

In her short life, Winehouse won five Grammys and three Ivor Novello awards, among many others. She had sold thousands of records and was popular at the time of her death.

She received her first guitar when she was 13, and began writing music a year later. She began working soon after as a journalist in addition to singing with local group the Bolsha Band. Her special talent couldn’t go unnoticed for long. She became commercially known singing jazz. She seamlessly blended old R&B with the music of jazz crooners and came up with something that sounded simultaneously fresh and classic.

An anonymous source close to Winehouse’s record label has said that the late singer had recorded around 12 new songs which may now see the light of day. She had been in and out of the studio for the last three years, according to the spokesperson. If any new material is released, it would have to be decided on by her parents, as well as her label and management company, reports The Guardian.

Winehouse achieved what she did without compromise. Many singers will come and go having small moments of popularity but there will be one Amy Winehouse.

The fact is that the majority of musicians who made a huge career, from rock bands to individually artists, their careers had something to do with drugs and some sort of addicted habits. Many popular songs were written during drug use and it is difficult to know whether or not the songs would be the same if written under sober conditions.

In one or another way music and drugs are correlated. The true inspiration may only exist when they move from the reality to another place and there you find the great conception. It is not just luck that some of the greatest songs were written during drug use. Probably only in their personal moment of use they had those great inspirations. Fortunately or unfortunately, music would not have been the same without drugs.

dutourdumonde / Shutterstock.com

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Yesterday’s tragic death of Grammy-winning singer Amy Winehouse adds another name to the infamous 27 Club.

The number 27 has become a symbol for lost talent in music history – many great musicians have died during this age. This has led to the creation of the club known as the 27 Club.

More than 30 musicians have been added to the list over the years and and yesterday the Club  added another great singer.

Being part of this club for some can mean gaining status as a legend, for others its their natural end of their lives.

The 27 Club includes several artists that have made a remarkable impact on the music world. The original musicians usually referred to when speaking of the club are Rolling Stones man Brian Jones, pioneering guitarist Jimmi Hendrix, singer Janis Joplin, Doors front man Jim Morrison and the face of Seattle grunge Kurt Cobain.

Neil Young once said “it’s better to burn out than to fade away”, this phrase was found in the suicide note of Kurt Cobain. The burn word on this phrase emphasizes the idea of leaving a mark on this world rather than just being forgotten.

These great musicians ended up leaving this world at the height of their musical creativity, leaving an imprint that will never wear out through their bands — The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and Nirvana.

What all of these legendary musicians have in common besides their musical brilliance is the tragic way in which they died. Their deaths differ but most of them have been associated with drug abuse. It’s also said that with the exception of Janis Joplin, a confirmed suicide, all of these deaths have been suspicious in their own way.

Is 27 the age we should fear? Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist, try to answer this question by explaining: “Of course late twenties is not that old, but we spend an awful lot of our twenties defining ourselves with our jobs, with our relationships. When we reach 27 we’ve been trying so hard to reach certain goals – fame, money, success – that we might suddenly realize for the first time that we’re not that happy after all. And we are supposed to be grown-up and responsible, and we don’t feel ready.” The age represents the final step into adulthood and enforces the thought of growing up and leaving behind the carelessness of youth.

Some would say Amy Winehouse´s death was unavoidable while some are in shock. The responses coming in through twitter speak of both sadness and predictions – many from the music industry have expressed their deepest condolences to her family.

The only thing left by the legends lost at 27 is their music which will live on in our minds and their lyrics which will never be forgotten.

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A recent observation by the Washington Post describes states cutting back on their efforts to provide medicines to patients with HIV.

Around “8,300 people are on waiting lists in 13 states to get antiretroviral and other drugs used to treat HIV and AIDS or the side effects, mental health conditions or opportunistic infections”. Many of these states have changed their eligibility programs by eliminating waiting lists or simply not have a waiting list. Some are also known to have dis-enrolled their patients according to Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an advocacy group on gay issues; whose state currently holds 1,520 patients the second highest number on a waiting list.

A program known as the AIDS drug assistance (ADAPs) pays for HIV medication for low-income patients when they can’t afford the drugs. According to the National Alliance of State and Territorial Aids Directors, these programs cover around 174,000 people. Recently, however, the number of people has been rising after the recession because of unemployment and no insurance coverage. The state, by cutting back to provide drugs, has given these patients no direction. Since the ADAP program is not an entitlement program, it can turn away applicants and put them on a waiting list if the funding is not available.

Many people who do not get into the ADAP programs try getting into other programs that offer drugs donated by pharmaceutical companies. These programs, however, require patients to reapply, and are completely dependent on what donations they receive.

According to the Washington Post, “Florida… has 3,938 people on the ADAP waiting list, the highest number in the country… the state ran out of ADAP money and turned to Welvista, a South Carolina-based non profit pharmaceutical assistance program that is providing medication to HIV patients on ADAP waiting lists in several states”. The company has provided medication to more than half of the people in the Florida ADAP program.

Advocacy groups describe how those with HIV on antiretroviral drugs are able to handle the disease, allowing them to work and keep the costs down for the state.

A research mentioned how people who are immediately put on medication after being diagnosed are less likely to prevent the spread of the disease.

Thomas Decker, a 58-year-old HIV patient in Arlington, who was laid off from his job in September 2009. He bought his insurance through the COBRA program, but then they ran out so he turned to ADAP. Thomas Decker in The Washington Post describes how “It’s such a shock when you have insurance and you pay into everything for so many years and then you are just sort of left out into the open — people really don’t get it.” Decker was kicked out of his state’s ADAP program in January when his health was improving by an increase in his T-cell count. “I was kicked off the program basically because of my health. I always kept my health up,” he said.

Thomas Decker’s story is one of many who have been kicked out of their programs or have not been covered in any way. An economic growth will help facilitate many of these small but important problems the country is constantly facing.

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The legalization to consume some drugs in Argentina has generated a great polemic in the country. The Government had to firmly state that: “ There will never be free drugs in Buenos Aires”. The executive of Cristina Fernandez announced to propose a legal change, where the consumer would not be consider a delinquent.

This type of regulations  are really interesting taking in consideration that South America is a continent where the production of drugs is very wide, and it is controlled and handle illegally.

The Argentinean authorities considered that this policy has failed due to the fact that it will equate “the addict with the trafficker”, these were the words that yesterday the Minister of Justice, Aníbal Fernández said. He claimed that it is more important to bring medical attendance to the consumers and chase drug trafficking, rather than expend the State resources into penal processes against the drug addicts.

This is remarkable change of posture for Argentina, since the 1989 ONU convention, it was always possitionated towards the persecusion of drug consume.

The Government’s announcement has generated divisions of opinions among the partidarians that focus on attacking the problem with a  similar angle as some Euroepan countries, such as Spain. Against the others that advert that the measure will provoke the opposite effect, than the one expected.

This is the first time that this kind of drug regulations are being discuss in South America. If we take in consideration the posibility to legalize drugs in South America, rather than having them situated in the black market, and controlled by delincuents, and guerrilleros such as the As Farc in Colombia. It is good to look at the other side of the coin, where offering control and regulation many of this groups would dissolve and the drug consumption would be controlled  in a legal way.

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“The world knows I’m a recovering drug addict and alcoholic,” relates the Aerosmith front man.

The book is an exertion of Steve Tyler’s life. The story narrates a lot of his life experiences; he provides an insight look on how his band Aerosmith, and the situations he had to overcome as a rock star. The first lines of the book start like this: “ Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile”.

The book contains a variety of experiences by the author. He mentions and describes tough situations that he was over passing at the moment, such as his addiction with drugs. “I made no qualms about being a drug addict in the ’80s and getting sober. I have an addictive personality. It’s a daily process, and I’ve got to keep my eyes open. I don’t want it to bite me in the ass. I’ve got to be careful.”

As well, Tyler also describes his experiences by being part of his band Aerosmith. He also portrays his private life mentioning his marriages and children, such as his daughter Liv Tyler.

Here is a small preview of Steve Tyler’s new book, published by the NBC:

Semiprologue

If you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

If you’re a singer, everything looks like a song.

“Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile.” We’re not quantified; there’s no chart of desire. When the roaring flames of your heart have burned down to embers, may you find that you have married your best friend. Hunch, conjecture, instinct … a blind allegiance to anything can get you killed, and always remember … sing as though no one can hear you; live as though heaven is here on Earth. Here I want to say something deep and meaningless, like ‘To thine own self be true,’ but in truth, the first thing we have to do is KILL ALL THE LAWYERS.

When I was a kid and in a gang, my so-called best friend Dennis Dun, would slam me in the arm and say, ‘Pass it on, motherf—-!’ So I turned to Ignacio and punched him in the arm and said, ‘Pass it on!’ Ignacio turned to Footie and punched him in the arm, and Footie punched Raymond, who in turn punched me again. It’s all about fighting for position. Later on in life I was to find that being in a band was not too different. Only in my new gang, Brad punched Tom, Tom punched Joey, Joey punched Joe, and Joe punched me (in the mouth), and that’s the sweetest way I can tell you what happens in every band that ever there was (at least those that lasted more than ten years and got the chance to manifest the light).

I remember once my mother telling me, when I said I wanted to be like Janis Joplin: ‘If you manifest the light, you will become a dartboard for others’ fears, doubts, and insecurities. And if you can handle that, Steven, my little skeezix, you may have your Blue Army.’ And guess what? I got both barrels! I also wish to articulate at the outset here, neighbors and ne’er-do-wells, that my life’s journey has not taken me to place to defile, demoralize, or damage anybody … So all of YOU who have ruffled my feathers and done me wrong for being an inquisitive child or an oversensitive pain-in-the-neck artist, remember, just as they said about Mongo in the movie “Blazing Saddles,” if you shoot Steven, you’ll just make him angry.

When you’re young, you experience everything for the first time, and because it’s happening to you so matter-of-factly, it just is … and you argue your way through it. In midlife, you question f–ing everything, and so much energy is wasted questioning the whys of it all. You want to find that angel of thunderstorms that will put out your internal fire. You start to believe that you made it through six decades because there is an angel on your shoulder.

That’s why I’m a songwriter … because I’ve lived through the changes of not knowing ANYTHING … to knowing EVERYTHING … and now at sixty-two I’m back to NOT KNOWIN’ NOTHIN’. And when your mind is free of so-called knowledge, it is now set free to use its imagination. Like Albert Einstein once said: ‘Knowledge will never replace imagination.’

Radio plays your song; the melody is so catchy that it crawls inside of the people listening and changes their Everything. They start singing it! You got into them. You made love to them. You got into their soul … and vice versa. It’s like Vuja Dé and that’s when the miracle manifests … you’re trading faces, places, spaces, and graces.

Father of four children (loves of my life), a songwriter, got a doctorate at Berkeley and another one at UMass, Boston, a poet, a painter, a drug addict, and a peripheral visionary who learns something new on a daily basis, from the Malibu Home for the Recently All Right to having dinner with Sheikh Nion in Abu Dhab… and now … an author? You gotta be kidding! RoMANtics. SeMANtics. Exotic, neurotic, you got it! Does the noise in my heather bother you … yet? Yeah, really? I’d say we’re off to a good start.

Nowadays Steve Tyler is involved in this year’s T.V show American Idol. His book was completed before he got enrolled in the program, so it does not provide any of his experience as a judge. Now he is enjoying a lot this opportunity, and his presence has definitely spiced up American Idol, bringing to the screen, hilarious, and unforeseen moments.

His new solo single named” It Feels so Good, will be released on May 10. Nevertheless, Aerosmith is coming back with a lot of strength and new projects. The band will be working on a new album this summer, and they will heat up the stages by the end of the year, giving out concerts in Japan and South America.

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An international watchdog group warned federal governments to increase their efforts to crack down on so-called designer drugs.  The International Narcotics Control Board released its annual report in March and stated that governments need to monitor abuse trends and make new substances illegal as soon as possible.

“Given the health risks posed by the abuse of designer drugs, we urge governments to adopt national control measures to prevent the manufacture, trafficking in and abuse of these substances,” said Hamid Ghodse, the board’s president.

Designer drugs are easily made by changing the molecular structure of illegal substances to create a new product with a similar effect.   One such designer drug is the party drug mephedrone, sometimes also known as “meow meow,” whose results are reported to be comparable to cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy.  Europe is currently monitoring 16 new drugs for abuse potential.  Japan recently placed 51 drugs under national control, according to the report.

“They can be easily manufactured, as instructions on their manufacture and a description of their pharmacological effects are often found on the Internet,” the report said, adding governments should consider making groups of substances illegal at a time to slow the process of finding replacements for them.

The United States is still a prime destination for shipments of illegal drugs, according to the report.  The U.S. saw an increase in the abuse of all drugs except for cocaine in 2009 and an increase in the illegal distribution of prescription medications.  According to government data, so-called pain clinics in some states dispense or prescribe large amounts of prescription opioids to people with no need for them.   The large profits produced by the illegal drug trade allow criminal groups to engage in large-scale corruption that includes paying off police to let them operate more freely, the report found.  This can influence the credibility and competence of a country’s criminal justice system and weaken the rule of law. It also can undermine international cooperation to crack down on drugs. A prime example of this is seen in Mexico where corruption continues to block efforts to fight drug trafficking.  Africa has seen an increase in all types of drug abuse, meanwhile east and Southeast Asia saw an increase in trafficking, production and abuse of synthetic drugs.

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A new longitudinal study, published on March 1 in BMJ,  suggests that early use of marijuana may trigger psychotic symptoms and prolonged use could increase the risk for psychotic disorders in later life.  There has been a well documented correlation between marijuana use and psychosis; it has been unclear if smoking marijuana preceded psychotic symptoms.

“There are indications that especially people who start using cannabis at an early age (<16 years) are likely to become chronic users and thereby increase their risk for mental health problems, such as psychotic symptoms,” Rebecca Kuepper, research psychologist and PhD student at Maastricht University in the Netherlands said.

This study was uniquely designed to look specifically at the sequential association between incident cannabis use and incident psychotic symptoms.  For 10 years, the researchers tracked 1,923 individuals from the general population of Germany, aged 14 to 24 years at baseline, who had no history of psychotic symptoms or cannabis use at the beginning of the study.  They found that those who started smoking cannabis during the study had nearly twice the chance of reporting psychotic symptoms during follow-up as those who remained cannabis free.  This was true even after accounting for potentially confounding factors, such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, use of other drugs, and other psychiatric diagnoses.  In addition, cannabis users who reported psychotic symptoms and continued to use cannabis were more apt to have their symptoms linger than those who stopped smoking it. The continued use of marijuana increased the risk for psychotic symptoms more than two-fold.

These results suggest that incident cannabis use increases the risk for the onset of psychotic symptoms “and, if used continuously, increases the risk that those symptoms will persist,” Ms. Kuepper said.  Wayne Hall, PhD, of University of Queensland, Australia, and coauthor of a linked commentary, stated that the pattern of results “makes it unlikely that cannabis use is a form of self-medication of psychotic symptoms and more likely to be a contributory cause of psychotic symptoms.” In the study, psychotic experiences did not predict later cannabis use. Given the current findings and those of earlier studies, “it is likely that cannabis use precipitates schizophrenia in people who are vulnerable because of a personal or family history of schizophrenia,” Dr. Hall and Dr. Louisa Degenhardt, co-authors of the commentary, note.

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