Drug Abuse

Apr 17 2013

Attractive to abusers who crush it to snort, or melt and inject it

In an effort to curb prescription painkiller abuse, the Food and Drug Administration is banning generic versions of the original OxyContin formula.

“The FDA has determined that the benefits of original OxyContin no longer outweigh its risks,” the agency said in a statement.

Apr 2 2013

In the middle of the street yelling and screaming

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Paramedics transported a 50-year-old man to the hospital in cardiac arrest after he was detained by officers for yelling, screaming and interfering with traffic at a South Los Angeles intersection, police said today.

The incident at the intersection of 51st Street and Wall, just east of Main Street, took place about 10:45 p.m. Monday, said Sgt. David Garland, watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Newton Station.

CNN
Mar 13 2013

Drugs are serious business

Pediatrician and neurologist Dr. William D. Graf has noticed a disturbing trend. Over the past 20 years, he begun to hear stories of an increasing number of doctors who give perfectly healthy children prescriptions for the sole purpose of enhancing their focus or memory.

The dramatic increase in the number of children taking stimulants and other “study drugs,” as they are popularly known, seems to back up his anecdotal evidence.

Mar 11 2013

Uses likes to predict private personality traits

Your Facebook “likes” might be revealing more than you know about your private life.

It is possible to predict potentially private traits such as a person’s sexual orientation, political leanings, religion, intelligence, emotional stability and even if they abuse drugs or alcohol, just by analyzing their Facebook likes, according to a new study out of the University of Cambridge.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Jul 7 2011

Redirecting their energy might be key to their success

The GIFT (Girls Interested in Finding the Truth) Rites of Passage program was created by Queen Aminah Muhammad as a way to do something about the negative influences impacting youth in South Los Angeles. The mission of the organization is to improve the lives of young women ages 10-19 who have been adversely affected by illiteracy, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, gang violence and other social problems, and to create positive change in their lives.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.