• ‘I had 30 Lamborghinis’: Pablo Escobar’s top cocaine pilot gives first interview
    Friday, June 6, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Tirso ‘TJ’ Dominguez says Escobar paid him $20m monthly to fly planeloads of coke A man who eventually became Pablo Escobar ’s go-to cocaine pilot has revealed that he first turned down an employment offer from the notorious Colombian...
  • ‘People think prison is for rehabilitation. It is all lies’: could community service work better than jail?
    Sunday, June 1, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Colombia has seen a surge in the number of female inmates – many poor, from rural areas and convicted of drug offences. Now a radical scheme could release thousands to support their families The baby calls out, reaching towards a metal...
  • Mexico steps into unknown with world’s first popular election of all judges: ‘A blind date with democracy’
    Friday, May 30, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Critics warn the experiment will lead to low turnout, a political power grab and infiltration by organised crime On a heat-dazed afternoon in Culiacán, the capital of Mexico’s Sinaloa state, a speaker by the cathedral was droning through...
  • Leader in Kinahan drug gang extradited to Ireland from UAE
    Thursday, May 29, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Sean McGovern, wanted on charges of murder and directing organised crime, flown to Ireland in military aircraft A leader of the notorious Kinahan organised crime group has been flown from the United Arab Emirates to Ireland in the first...
  • Mexico: ‘Noah’s Ark’ of animals flees cartel violence for new home on coast
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Officials at animal refuge near Culiacán, capital of violence-torn Sinaloa state, faced threats from powerful drug gangs Hundreds of animals including elephants, crocodiles, lions and tigers have been moved from a violence-torn Mexican...
  • ‘I’m in love with the birds and the river’: how ecotourism helped a small Colombian town recover from war
    Tuesday, May 20, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Since the 2016 peace treaty, Mesetas has embraced its natural assets and visitors have flocked to enjoy the region’s unique biodiversity. But the threat of violence is never far away Photographs by Antonio Cascio Ten years ago, violent...
  • British teenager held in prison in Georgia on drug charges – video
    Thursday, May 15, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Bella Culley, 18, was arrested in Tbilisi on Tuesday on suspicion of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics including marijuana. The teenager's family had thought she had gone missing while travelling in...
  • El Chapo’s family enters US as part of negotiating plea deal of drug lord’s son
    Tuesday, May 13, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Mexico says 17 relatives traveled for Ovidio Guzmán, who was extradited to US in 2023 to face narcotics charges Relatives of Ovidio Guzmán, a son of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán , have gone to the United States as...
  • Cocaine, corruption and bribes: the German port under siege by Europe’s criminal drug gangs
    Tuesday, April 29, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    After seizure in Hamburg of 16 tonnes of high-purity powder, state attorney is accused of being on payroll of gang he was supposed to be prosecuting In Hamburg’s spring sunshine, 200,000-tonne cargo ships almost a quarter of a mile long,...
  • Synthetic opioids linked to spate of overdose deaths found in wastewater across Australia
    Monday, April 28, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Detection of powerful nitazenes in samples from 60 sites a ‘red flag’ amid surging use to lace street drugs Get our afternoon election email , free app or daily news podcast Synthetic opioids a thousand times stronger than morphine and...
  • ‘Kush destroys them’: the Guinean rehab clinic tackling a drug epidemic
    Sunday, April 20, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Experts say a crisis is under way in Guinea, fuelled by a growing market run by cross-border trafficking syndicates At Guinea’s only private drug rehabilitation clinic, Dr Marie Koumbassa and her 15-person team are so convinced that drug...
  • French prisons hit by wave of attacks after clampdown on drug traffickers
    Tuesday, April 15, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Terrorism office launches investigation into assaults including gunmen opening fire on entrance to Toulon jail France’s national terrorism office has launched an investigation into a wave of apparently coordinated attacks at multiple...
  • US blocks Canadian access to cross-border library, sparking outcry
    Friday, March 21, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    US officials claim move was to curb drug trafficking while Quebec town says it ‘weakens collaboration’ among nations The US has blocked Canadian access to a library straddling the Canada-US border, drawing criticism from a Quebec town...
  • Deadly synthetic opioids 40 times stronger than fentanyl detected in Australian wastewater for first time
    Tuesday, March 18, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Researchers think detected nitazenes may have been directly disposed of in wastewater, rather than consumed Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Deadly...
  • The senator, the priest, the forensic pathologist: the people who brought ex-president Duterte to justice
    Friday, March 14, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    For years many brave Filipinos have worked tirelessly, in and out of the spotlight, to expose the horrors of the deadly campaign Facing charges of crimes against humanity and hauled off to The Hague, the arrest this week of the former...
  • Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest could be telling blow in the Philippines’ dynastic feud
    Wednesday, March 12, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Former president was surrendered to The Hague amid a row between his family and that of the current president Few expected things to move so quickly. Supporters of the Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte barely had time to...
  • Sierra Leone’s immigration chief fired after footage showed him with fugitive drug lord
    Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    President sacks Alusine Kanneh after video of him with Johannes Leijdekkers, one of Europe’s most wanted Sierra Leone’s president has fired the head of the immigration service days after footage was published showing him receiving a...
  • Colombia urges UN to remove coca leaf from harmful substances list
    Monday, March 10, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Foreign minister says legalisation of main ingredient of cocaine is only way to stop drug trafficking and violence Colombia , whose president, Gustavo Petro, is a vocal critic of the US-led war on drugs, has urged the UN to remove coca –...
  • Trump policies could fuel illicit drug trade despite vow to curb fentanyl
    Saturday, March 8, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    ‘Coercive’ tariffs and federal funding cuts could worsen flow of illicit drugs into US, ex-government officials warn Donald Trump ’s policies could leave the US more vulnerable to dangerous synthetic drug trafficking from abroad, even as...
  • FBI offers $10m reward for ex-Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin
    Thursday, March 6, 2025 from Drugs trade | The Guardian
    Ryan Wedding, 43, wanted for role in billion-dollar cross-border drug trafficking operation and several homicides Authorities in the United States have offered a $10m reward for information that leads to the arrest of a Canadian former...
  • Feeling Panicked Without Phone Tied to Worse OCD, Poor Sleep Quality
    Monday, August 31, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study finds a link between feelings of panic when a person is away from their smartphone and increased anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior. A related study found that these...
  • Your In-Laws’ Drinking History Could Lead to Your Own Drinking Issues
    Friday, August 28, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study reveals a surprising family connection to alcohol use disorder (AUD): the drinking habits of a person’s in-laws. The findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, suggest that...
  • Study: Too Many Barriers to Opioid Use Treatment, Especially for Pregnant Women
    Saturday, August 22, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study suggests it is very difficult for women, particularly those who are pregnant, to be accepted into many treatment centers for opioid use disorder. The Vanderbilt University Medical...
  • Chatbot Therapy Can Reduce Post-Op Opioid Use
    Wednesday, August 19, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    Major orthopedic surgery is often associated with pain that is often controlled or managed by opioids. Unfortunately, some are susceptible to developing dependency on such drugs, and researchers have been...
  • Tobacco Companies Use Targeted Marketing to Entice Teens to Vape
    Monday, August 17, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study is the first to show the ways e-cigarette companies persuade teens to vape. Officials are concerned because youth, and especially youth in vulnerable populations, can become addicted...
  • New Protocol Reduces Post-Op Opioid Use
    Saturday, August 8, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    While opioids effectively relieve pain, for some they lead to overuse and addiction. New research suggests planning that emphasizes a person’s surgical care before, during and after surgery can reduce...
  • Drug Overdose May Lead to PTSD Symptoms
    Thursday, August 6, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    Surviving or witnessing a drug overdose is a psychologically traumatic event that can lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new Johns Hopkins study of female...
  • Post-Acute Care Facilities Often Reject Patients With Substance Use Disorder
    Monday, July 20, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new Massachusetts study reveals that 29 percent of private post-acute care facilities in the state explicitly discriminated against hospitalized individuals with opioid use disorder, rejecting their referral for admission....
  • Using Marijuana While Pregnant Boosts Risk of Sleep Problems for Children
    Monday, July 6, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study warns pregnant women that if they use marijuana, their child is more likely to suffer sleep problems as much as a decade later. Published in Sleep Health:...
  • About 10 Percent of Gamers Show Pathological Addiction
    Friday, May 22, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    In a new six-year study, the longest ever conducted on video game addiction, researchers found that about 90% of gamers do not play in a way that is harmful or...
  • Youth Who Get Job Skills Training Less Likely to Use Drugs In Long Run
    Monday, May 18, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study shows that job skills training for low-income youth does more than help them get better jobs. It makes them significantly less likely to use illicit drugs, even...
  • Emergency Room Visits for Drug Overdose Linked to Increased Risk for Suicide Later
    Friday, May 15, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    New research finds that patients who visited the emergency room for an opioid overdose are 100 times more likely to die by drug overdose in the year after being discharged...
  • AA Can Work Well with Other Therapies for Alcoholism
    Wednesday, April 29, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    New research suggests combining the 12-Step Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program with a different treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy can result in a very effective intervention for individuals with alcohol use...
  • Can Suicide Be Predicted From Patients’ Records?
    Monday, April 27, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    A new study demonstrates that a predictive computer model can identify patients at risk for attempting suicide from patterns in their electronic health records — an average of two years...
  • Cannabis Dependence Linked to Poor Mental Health
    Saturday, April 25, 2020 from Psych Central News » Addiction
    New research shows that people with a history of dependence on cannabis are more likely to have some form of mental illness or substance abuse. “Our findings illustrate that for...
  • Catnip: What do we know about the feline drug?
    Wednesday, January 22, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Catnip is the most famous stimulant for cats. How does it work, why does it not affect all cats, and are there any catnip alternatives? We investigate.
  • Sugar alters brain chemistry after only 12 days
    Saturday, January 18, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    New research in pigs examines how sugar intake affects the brain's reward circuits and finds that changes are noticeable after just 12 days.
  • How long does molly stay in your system?
    Saturday, January 18, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    The exact length of time that molly, or MDMA, stays in a person's system depends on several factors, including how much of the drug they have taken. Learn more here.
  • What to know about alcohol and depression
    Friday, January 10, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Alcohol is a depressant and can amplify or trigger depression symptoms in some people. Learn more about the links between depression and alcohol in this article.
  • Veterans benefit from pain treatment without drugs
    Thursday, January 2, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    A new study sees fewer post-treatment complications among returning military service personnel with chronic pain who received nondrug therapy.
  • New Year's resolutions: How to boost success rates
    Wednesday, January 1, 2020 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    In this special feature, we ask whether New Year's resolutions work and look at some science-backed ways to improve the chances of success.
  • Could MDMA help treat mental health conditions?
    Monday, December 30, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    New research in mice investigates the possibility that MDMA, a potentially addictive drug, may help in the context of mental health therapy.
  • What to know about alcohol and the keto diet
    Thursday, December 19, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    The keto diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate eating plan. Although alcohol does contain carbohydrates, it can be part of a keto diet. This article looks at the best and worst drinks for people following a keto diet.
  • What to know about marijuana detox
    Friday, December 13, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Marijuana contains some compounds that remain in the body after use. Many factors affect how long it stays there. Learn about the marijuana detox process here.
  • What does it feel like to be high on marijuana?
    Tuesday, December 10, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Marijuana use can affect different people in different ways, and being 'high' can feel different to different people. Learn about what being high on marijuana might feel like here.
  • Is marijuana use associated with a higher risk of cancer?
    Sunday, December 8, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    A new meta-analysis looks at the potential link between marijuana use and an increased risk of cancer, emphasizing the poor quality of existing studies.
  • What to know about alcohol intoxication
    Tuesday, December 3, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Alcohol intoxication is a temporary condition that occurs when a person drinks an excess of alcohol. Learn about the signs, treatments, and risks, including alcohol poisoning.
  • Study outlines concerns around natural psychoactive substances
    Tuesday, December 3, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    New evidence shows that the rate of exposure to natural psychoactive drugs in the United States has increased, putting adult and child health at risk.
  • One ketamine shot could help heavy drinkers cut down
    Friday, November 29, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    An experimental study shows that a single shot of ketamine helps reduce drinking cravings, particularly after the retrieval of associated reward memories.
  • Weed: Can it kill you?
    Tuesday, November 26, 2019 from Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
    Most medical experts agree there is very little risk of death from using marijuana alone. Read this article to learn more about the potential health risks of cannabis use and what the research says about the risk of dying.
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