"Health News - Medicine, Diet and Fitness"

Opponents and supporters of medical marijuana testified during a hearing in the Tennessee legislature this week, the Associated Press reported Nov. 13.

The Tennessee legislature rejected a medical-marijuana bill last year, but the House Men’s health and Human Resources Committee this week heard testimony on a measure sponsored by Rep. Sherry Jones (D-Nashville). Opponents included doctors who said marijuana is not effective medicine and groups like the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which portrayed medical marijuana as a front for drug legalization.

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One Wonders Whether GSK Might Do A “Soft” Recall Of Its Embattled Diabetes Drug, As Was Done By BMS With Serzone And Tequin In Recent Years

(Posted by Tom Lamb at DrugInjuryWatch.com)

Avandia (rosiglitazone) is a prescription drug from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) approved by the FDA in 1999 to treat Type 2 diabetes.

By Bob Curley

A House-Senate conference committee has approved a FY2008 budget plan that calls for spending $1.779 billion on the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and increasing the budgets of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

President Bush is expected to veto the measure, however.

The block-grant funding represents a $20-million increase over the $1.759 million appropriated in FY2007, falling roughly between the figures approved by the House and Senate in their respective budget bills for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education. The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) reported that the committee bill did not include language tying funding to a set of National Outcome Measures — which many in the field objected to.

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Thousands of youths use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for the first time each day in the United States, according to a recent analysis of data from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Men’s health (NSDUH).

On an average day in the past year, 7,970 youths ages 12 to 17 drank alcohol for the first time and 4,082 smoked cigarettes.

More than 4,300 youths per day used at least one kind of illicit drug for the first time, primarily marijuana and pain relievers used nonmedically. The substances with the lowest number of initiates on an average day were methamphetamine and heroin.

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About one in three hit songs include references to alcohol or other drugs, and most are favorable, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Reuters reported Nov. 7 that a study of the top 279 songs on the Billboard charts in 2005 found that 33 percent included alcohol and other drug references, including 80 percent of rap songs, 37 percent of country songs, 20 percent of R&B/hip-hop songs, 14 percent of rock songs, and 9 percent of pop songs.

Rap songs typically included references to alcohol, marijuana, or nonspecific drug use, while country songs were most likely to mention alcohol use. Alcohol and other drug references were commonly associated with partying, sex, violence, and humor, researchers said.

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Police in Missouri and Arizona are field-testing a new handheld device that the manufacturer claims can detect traces of methamphetamine on clothing, skin, and other surfaces, USA Today reported Nov. 5.

The device, made by CDEX of Tucson, Ariz., uses ultraviolet light to detect traces of the drug as small as one microgram, according to CEO Malcolm Philips. The scanner can distinguish between illegal meth and pseudoephedrine, a chemically similar but legal component of cold medications.

Initial tests of the device found that police officers had a hard time aiming the device, so CDEX added a laser pointer. Police say that while the device probably would not be used to obtain search warrants in drug cases, it would be useful in investigations.

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A study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness finds that about one in four homeless Americans are veterans, and that more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are starting to show up in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, the Associated Press reported Nov. 7.

Veterans comprise about 11 percent of the general U.S. population.

Advocates expressed concern about veterans of recent wars who have already become homeless, noting that it often took years before veterans of Vietnam or other conflicts ended up on the streets. “We’re going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental (more…)

Police in Missouri and Arizona are field-testing a new handheld device that the manufacturer claims can detect traces of methamphetamine on clothing, skin, and other surfaces, USA Today reported Nov. 5.

The device, made by CDEX of Tucson, Ariz., uses ultraviolet light to detect traces of the drug as small as one microgram, according to CEO Malcolm Philips. The scanner can distinguish between illegal meth and pseudoephedrine, a chemically similar but legal component of cold medications.

Initial tests of the device found that police officers had a hard time aiming the device, so CDEX added a laser pointer. Police say that while the device probably would not be used to obtain search warrants in drug cases, it would be useful in investigations.

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College students often mix alcohol with energy drinks so that they can drink more and longer, researchers say, but the strategy can lead to more alcohol-related injuries, too.

Fox News reported Nov. 5 that researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that students who mixed alcohol and drinks like Red Bull had double the risk of being hurt or injured, requiring medical attention, driving with an intoxicated driver, being taken advantage of sexually, or taking advantage of another sexually.

Lead researcher Mary Claire O’Brien said she and colleagues “were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mixed energy drinks with alcohol, even when we adjusted for the amount of alcohol.”

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The California Supreme Court will decide whether an employer had the right to fire an employee for a positive drug test even if he was a registered medical-marijuana user, the Fresno Bee reported Nov. 5.

Gary Ross was fired from Ragingwire Inc., after testing positive for marijuana, even though he showed his employer a doctor’s recommendation that he use the drug to ease his back pain. California law allows medical use of marijuana, while federal law does not.

Ross filed a discrimination case against Ragingwire, saying he should receive the same protection in the workplace as other workers taking pain medications. However, two lower courts have sided with the company, basing their decision on the fact that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

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