Heroin News and Research

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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.

HHS Secretary Leavitt meets with health officials in Vietnam to discuss health issues, including HIV/AIDS

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Thursday met with health officials in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to discuss health issues, including HIV/AIDS, Thanhnien News reports.

21 Apr 2008

Experts say naltrexone implants for drug dependency are risky

Experts in Australia say the use of naltrexone implants to treat drug dependency should be stopped because of a number of reports of severe adverse reactions.

20 Apr 2008

New research in monkeys may lead to new strategy for treating cocaine addiction

New research in monkeys suggests the feasibility of treating cocaine addiction with a "replacement" drug that mimics the effects of cocaine but has less potential for abuse - similar to the way nicotine and heroin addictions are treated.

7 Apr 2008

Animal research shows potential of amphetamine-like drug for treating cocaine addiction

7 Apr 2008

Scottish drug addicts should not be treated as second-class says Government

Government Ministers in Scotland are proposing a rethink on how drug addiction is both viewed and treated and want drug users' aspirations to be recognised.

24 Mar 2008

For convicted drug users prison does more harm than good

Experts in the UK say sending convicted drug users to prison does more harm than good.

18 Mar 2008

Treatment for substance abuse vital to reduce prison recidivism rate

For newly released prisoners, successful substance abuse treatment on the outside may be the most important factor in keeping them from returning to jail - trumping issues such as transitional housing and finding a job.

14 Mar 2008

You are what you eat and drink - and that is recorded in your hair

University of Utah scientists developed a new crime-fighting tool by showing that human hair reveals the general location where a person drank water, helping police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

27 Feb 2008

Doctors in the United States say yes to marijuana

Doctors in the United States have given their endorsement for marijuana to be used for medical purposes.

17 Feb 2008

Additional similarities found between nicotine and opiate addiction

"That was good!" "Do it again."This is what the brain says when people use tobacco, as well as 'hard drugs' such as heroin.

14 Feb 2008

New findings show additional similarity between opiate and nicotine addiction

"That was good!" "Do it again." This is what the brain says when people use tobacco, as well as ‘hard drugs' such as heroin.

13 Feb 2008

Quitting marijuana as hard as quitting cigarettes

Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes.

25 Jan 2008

Rockefeller University funds clinical, translational pilot studies

The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) has announced the recipients of its 2008 Pilot Project grants.

8 Jan 2008

Cocaine vaccine to cure addiction undergoes clinical trials

Clinical trials on a cocaine vaccine are currently being conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

2 Jan 2008

New prototype colour 3D X-ray system

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed a new x-ray technique that could be used to detect hidden explosives, drugs and human cancers more effectively.

From The University of Manchester 3 Dec 2007

So-called success of 'shooting galleries' in Britain draws a mixed response

A pilot scheme in London where addicts can inject themselves with heroin in a special clinic appears to have reduced drug use and crime.

21 Nov 2007

Heroin overdose kit saves lives of addicts

Health officials in Massachusetts have announced that heroin addicts will now be supplied with a kit containing an antidote called Narcan in order to cope with situations where they have overdosed.

5 Nov 2007

Sleeping pill rouses woman from six year coma

Following a heroin overdose 23 year old Amy Pickard has been in a coma for the last 6 years, unable to eat or breathe for herself since falling unconscious in 2001.

4 Nov 2007

Medicaid pays for one-third of drug abuse hospitalizations

Medicaid paid for more than one-third of the 1.3 million hospital stays related to prescription or illegal drug abuse in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

2 Nov 2007

Search for new uses for heroin and marijuana

The world's leading expert on the opium poppy has joined forces with researchers working on another infamous drug-producing plant – cannabis – in hopes of finding new uses for the much-maligned sources of heroin and marijuana.

1 Nov 2007