Drug Trafficking and Addiction: Still on the rise

UNICEF recently made a survey of the state of drug addiction and drug trafficking in the Maldives, revealing that as much as half of the youth population was addicted to drugs in the islands. The survey has shown a great increase in the number of drugs over the past few years. Over 50 percent of the youth abuse drugs in some islands, said the UNICEF report. The most common substance abused is heroin. The average age when the habit forms is 12, the report said, although there were cases as young as 9 years old. A joint investigation into the extent of drug abuse in the Maldives is being conducted by the National Narcotics Control Board (NNCB) and UNICEF. The investigation will touch upon key issues such as the specifics of trafficking, and the number of new addicts. The survey will be conducted throughout all the regions of the Maldives and on all the islands where the abuse of drugs is present.

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Video statements in Lakin case detail sex, drug abuse allegations

One is a shaggy-haired boy, now 16. Another, a distressed elder brother. Then there's the bewildered woman, just barely 18. And two older women who say they were overwhelmed with drugs and sex. Their video statements, recorded in April for East Alton attorney Ed Unsell and made available to the Post-Dispatch, present a clearer and more emotional picture of the child sex and drug abuse allegations against former attorney and Metro East power broker Tom Lakin. The accusations paint Lakin - publicly an accomplished lawyer and political boss - as a free-wheeling man of sexual avarice. Tom Lakin's exact whereabouts are unknown, but Brad Lakin, who heads the firm his father founded, has strenuously denied the allegations that also accuse him and another brother of trying to cover up the sordid affair.

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'Drug-addiction patients becoming younger '

The profile of patients attending the Aurora Alcohol and Drug rehabilitation centre in Bloemfontein has become younger over the years, the centre's director said on Wednesday. "(Previously) you mainly worked with alcoholism at centres like this, the other stuff (drugs) were a side issue," said Gert Kruger. "Today the majority of your patients are under 35 years of age." .

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Gathering focuses on drug abuse

GREENSBORO — A conference on substance abuse in Guilford County will bring together voices for recovery at the end of the month.The Guilford County Substance Abuse Coalition, a group of more than 40 public and private organizations and agencies, will hold its fourth annual Substance Abuse Symposium on Sept. 29 and 30 at Centenary United Methodist Church.The conference will provide people with information on substance abuse issues and the network of community resources available. About 100 people attended last year 's event and the coalition hopes to draw 150 people this year, said George Coates, executive director of the coalition.A 2002- 03 survey estimated that in Guilford County more than 28,000 people are using illegal drugs and more than 70,000 are abusing alcohol. Flo Stein, a state health official who served as chairwoman of the Mental Health Reform Project, will open the symposium with a presentation and discussion on the mental health reforms and their impact on substance abuse and the community.The symposium will also include training sessions on adolescent substance abuse, treating older adults, family perspectives, gangs and treatment.

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Peas' Fergie reveals drug addiction

Fergie, singer with the Black Eyed Peas, has admitted she was once a drug addict and that ending her dependency on crystal meth was like a difficult relationship break-up. Speaking to Time magazine while promoting her first solo album, 'The Dutchess', Stacy Ferguson called the drug "the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with". "I dug deep as to why I got there," she added. "It's the drug that's addicting. But it's why you start doing it in the first place that's interesting. "A lot of it was being a child actor, I learned to suppress feelings." Before she found fame with the band best known for their song 'Where Is The Love?', Ferguson starred in 1980s sitcoms like 'Married With Children' and 'Mr Belvedere'. She also featured in 'Monster in the Closet', a horror spoof.

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Fergie had to dig deep to beat drug addiction

New York - Fergie, the female voice of the Black Eyed Peas, says she had to dig deep within herself to kick her crystal meth addiction. "It was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with," Stacey "Fergie" Ferguson told Time magazine in an interview for the issue that hits newsstands on Monday. "It's the drug that's addictive," said Fergie, who has released her first solo album, The Dutchess. "But it's why you start doing it in the first place that's interesting. A lot of it was being a child actor; I learned to suppress feelings." .

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