Wonderful blog post. Someone also commented on this, but I especially love this line, "When you are the center of your own universe and too inebriated to see the next closest planet, you shouldn’t comment on its life forms." Read Full Article » More

By Kevin Bersett, News-Democrat

JoAnne Aldredge couldn't deal with the pain.

Her fibromyalgia was so bad the 45-year-old Scott Air Force Base resident would cry if she had to shake hands. Her oxycodone pain medications weren't working to curb the chronic, body-wide pain and tenderness so she was tempted to go to the emergency room to get more. Instead, on July 27, she went to her family clinic in Belleville. » More

By Scott Hensley
In a bracing call to action, three doctors from California are telling their peers to think twice before prescribing potent narcotics for patients with chronic pain.

Drugs such as Vicodin, Percocet and Oxycontin have become among the most prescribed in the country. Between 15 and 20 percent of patient visits with physicians the U.S. include a prescription for an opioid, the modern painkilling medicines whose roots can be traced back to the opium poppy.  » More

Reports Cites Increased Heroin Use by Teens

Reporter: Jeff Todd
A recent report prepared for the city of Albuquerque showed that teen use of heroin and other opioids is dramatically higher here than in the rest of the nation.

Heroin use by high schoolers in Albuquerque is nearly double the national average for high school kids, and now the Mayor Richard J. Berry wants to see more action.  » More

Survey Shows an Increase in the Rate of Marijuana Use

By Denise Mann, WebMD Health News; Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
The use of illicit drugs and the nonmedical use of prescription medications is increasing, and this is largely driven by an increased rate of marijuana use, a survey shows.

The survey on drug use was released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  » More

By LARRY ESKRIDGE of the Daily Ledger
CANTON — The cost of underage drinking and ways to reduce it provided the focus of a town hall meeting Tuesday at the Donaldson Center in Wallace Park, sponsored by SADD/SWAT, the Coalition for Wise Choices, the Making Wise Choices program, the YWCA, the YMCA, and United in Jesus Outreach Ministries.

District 66 Superintendent Roy Webb said he was pleased to see such a large turnout, noting he believed so many people came because there was a concern about young people in the area.  » More