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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

RegenceRx supports DEA program to raise awareness on unused prescription drugs

In a nationwide effort to clear homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, RegenceRx is supporting the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day taking place on Saturday, April 30.

27 Apr 2011

Unintentional prescription opioid overdose deaths have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S.

Unintentional overdose deaths in teens and adults have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. In some 20 states in 2007 the number of unintentional drug poisoning deaths exceeded either motor vehicle crashes or suicides, two of the leading causes of injury death.

26 Apr 2011

Facts become greatest casualty in war on pain medications

The Florida Society of Pain Management Providers urges Government, Law Enforcement and the media to stop using false prescription drug data and statistics. The continued release of false and / or out of context information is solely intended to enflame the public. The misinformation that unfairly portrays Florida as ground zero in this issue has significant consequences for pain management patients and the physicians who provide legitimate care.

22 Apr 2011

Stepped up measures to tack rising painkiller abuse

Prescription drug abuse is one of the largest problems in the country say experts and according to White House drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, the Congress must require special training for doctors and other health care workers before they are allowed to prescribe powerful drugs such as OxyContin.

20 Apr 2011

Plans to combat painkiller abuse

This Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to fight prescription drug abuse, warning that accidental fatal overdoses now exceed the combined deadly overdoses from the crack epidemic of the 1980s and black tar heroin in the 1970s.

19 Apr 2011

Biological Psychiatry publishes Omeros' PPAR-gamma addiction program

Omeros Corporation today announced that research on the PPAR-gamma agonists it is developing in its Addiction franchise has been published in the April 1, 2011 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2011

Study finds marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy

Following a decade of steady declines, a new national study released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation indicates that teen drug and alcohol use is headed in the wrong direction, with marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy over the past three years.

6 Apr 2011

New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.

24 Mar 2011

New concerns over prescription narcotics use

Over fifty Australian general practitioners have come under the scanner as part of a national crackdown on inappropriate prescribing of narcotics. The three-month campaign is being carried out by the Medicare following high levels of prescriptions for drugs such as OxyContin and OxyNorm. One GP has been found to be writing over 90 per cent of their prescriptions for narcotics. There are further concerns that the painkillers are being resold on the black market.

7 Mar 2011

Study: 6 out of 10 male drug-abusers direct violence against their partners

According to a study conducted at the Department of Pedagogy of the University of Granada, about six out of ten male drug-abusers direct some type of violence against their intimate partners.

4 Mar 2011

Study: 700,000 drug-related ED visits cost nearly $1.4 billion in 2007

Over the past decade, drug-related poisonings have been on the rise in the United States. In fact, in many states drug-related poisoning deaths have now surpassed motor vehicle crash fatalities to become the leading cause of injury death. While the fatalities from this epidemic have been well reported, they are only the tip of the iceberg.

2 Mar 2011

Two genes linked to binge drinking

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have identified two genes associated with binge drinking that may open doors to new, more effective treatments for excessive alcohol drinking. The scientists found that manipulating two receptors in the brain, GABA receptors and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), "caused profound reduction" of binge drinking for two weeks in rodents that had been bred and trained to drink excessively. The study was published online the week of Feb. 28 in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Mar 2011

New study identifies recurrent wound botulism among injection drug users

Botulism is a rare disease and recurrent botulism even more rare. However, in California, recurrent wound botulism among injection drug users has been on the rise and makes up three-quarters of reported cases in the United States.

28 Feb 2011

Omeros announces license agreement with Daiichi Sankyo for PDE7 inhibitors

Omeros Corporation today announced that its exclusive license to phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. has been amended to include addiction and compulsive disorders in the field of use.

23 Feb 2011

New treatment using naltrexone implants can reduce heroin dependency: Study

A new treatment using naltrexone implants could lead to a significant reduction in heroin dependency. According to the researchers responsible for a recent Norwegian study, this should have major implications for the treatment options offered to heroin-dependent patients.

16 Feb 2011

Scientists analyze relationship between drug abuse, recognition of basic emotions

University of Granada scientists have been the first to analyze the relation between drug abuse and recognition of basic emotions by drug-abusers.

4 Feb 2011

Study finds increased prescription drug abuse among teens

Illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin have always been a parent's nightmare. But perfectly legal and easily accessible prescription medications are now the recreational drugs of choice for many teenagers, prompting physicians at Johns Hopkins Children's Center to urge pediatricians to screen specifically for their abuse during routine visits.

4 Feb 2011

Reuters examines how Russia's 'drug problem' has 'become an AIDS problem'

Reuters, in a piece exploring the issue of heroin use in Russia describes how the country's "drug problem has now become an AIDS problem."

28 Jan 2011

Quest Diagnostics releases new data on oral fluid testing system

OraSure Technologies, the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, announced today that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated released new data indicating that oral fluid revealed approximately five times more heroin use in the general U.S. workforce than previously believed.

From Quest Diagnostics 27 Jan 2011

New York Times examines Russia's 'inadequate fight' against HIV/AIDS

Russia's HIV/AIDS epidemic "has defied worldwide trends, expanding more rapidly year by year than almost anywhere else," the New York Times writes in an article that examines how the country has become "one of the world's low points in the effort to fight the spread of HIV," in large part due to the government's failure to reach out to injecting drug users (IDUs) and sex workers - the groups "at the heart" of the epidemic.

18 Jan 2011