“Dreams are the sources of action, the meeting and the end, a resting place among the flight of things.” – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice and Judaism (1913-1980)
The son of “Diff’rent Strokes” actress Dana Plato has committed suicide at age 25, almost 11 years to the day after his mother took her own life in May 1999. Tyler Lambert is said to have suffered from drug addiction and depression, and the anniversary of his mother’s dead was always the hardest time for him. Four years ago, Lambert filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his mother’s former fiancé, claiming that he didn’t act quickly enough to prevent her death.
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More than 90 percent of the world’s 16 million injecting drug users are offered no help to avoid contracting AIDS, and governments that ignore them risk a spiraling public health crisis, drugs experts said on Monday.
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Two weeks ago, a man wanted on drug charges was caught through another addiction—playing the role-playing computer videogame “World of Warcraft.”
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Being “addicted” to caffeine is considered perfectly normal among adults. But how strong is caffeine’s appeal in young people who regularly drink caffeine-laden soft drinks? What impact does acute and chronic caffeine consumption have on children’s blood pressure, heart rate, and hand tremor? Does consuming caffeinated drinks during adolescence contribute to later use of legal or illicit drugs?
Read more about Researchers Studying Addictive Effects of Caffeine on Young People
Researchers at Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis discovered that many of the same genes influence both alcohol and marijuana use as well as dependence. Together, these genes make some people more likely to drink alcohol or use marijuana. As consumption of alcohol or use of marijuana increases, risk of dependency rises.
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How long has it been since you’ve done a complete inventory of all the prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs you have in your home? Do you even know what you have? Some of those old containers of pills, solutions, drops and creams may be long past their expiration date. Chances are, however, you’ve got bigger problems lurking in your medicine cabinet. Without knowing it, you may be endangering yourself or others in your family. It’s time to be smart about prescription addiction. In this case, what you don’t know may very well kill you.
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The Gulf State of Yemen faces multiple problems, including a looming water crisis that is exacerbated by the country’s addiction to qat, a mildly narcotic leaf, as growing the plant is draining Yemen’s scarce water supply. New anti-qat campaigns have been springing up around the country, according to Peter Kenyon of NPR.
The family of hitmaker Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) is suing the parties it blames for the late star’s 2008 plane crash, insisting that the incident ultimately caused his death. Goldstein was found dead in his Manhattan apartment in August 2009, and the cause of death was determined to be an overdose of prescription medication.
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Thomas Farley, Jr., brother of the late Saturday Night Live comedian and actor Chris Farley, visited the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to raise awareness of drug and alcohol abuse in a comedic way.
Read more about Chris Farley’s Brother Speaks about Substance Abuse at University