The numbers of young adults entering NHS-funded treatment for cocaine addiction are growing rapidly, according to new statistics today.

A total of 1,591 people in England aged 18-24 began receiving treatment for dependence on the class A drug in 2005-06. But that number had soared to 2,998 in 2008-09, a jump of 88%, the NHS's National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) disclosed today.

guardian.co.uk

Wanda James and Scott Durrah, the owners of 8 Rivers, just celebrated the end of their first year at 1550 Blake Street in LoDo, where they moved their restaurant after a successful run in the tiny spot at 3609 West 32nd Avenue that now holds Venue. "You can't have a Caribbean restaurant without a bar," James points out. "You need rum."

westword.com

Suspected cocaine trafficker Adam Hart now faces extradition to the UK.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency have been searching for the 30-year-old since he ran away from officers who visited his home in Purfleet, Essex in August 2007.

sky.com

A U.S. federal judge sentenced a kingpin of Mexico's powerful Juarez drug cartel to 27 years in prison for smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the United States, authorities said on Wednesday.

reuters.com

Police in Palmview detained the driver after finding black tar heroin, cocaine, marijuana and several Ecstasy pills. Police say the Ecstasy was in brightly colored pills made to look like cartoon characters Homer Simpson, the Smurfs and even Obama.

myfoxhouston.com
Obama Ecstasy pills hit the streets
pillreports.com
via

The nation's drug watchdog Wednesday urged a restriction on the circulation of compound preparations containing ephedrine – a drug often used for curing the flu – as it could also be used to produce narcotics.

Police confiscated 415 kilograms of ephedrine, 955 grams of methamphetamine and 18.20 million yuan in cash, the government agencies said.

english.people.com.cn

Drugs baron Curtis Warren, thought to be one of Britain's richest criminals, is due to be sentenced for a £1 million cannabis smuggling plot.

Warren, 46, and five members of his gang were convicted in October of a plot to smuggle the controlled drug into Jersey, in the Channel Islands.

hinckleytimes.net
telegraph.co.uk

State officials are poised to decide whether patients with depression or certain anxiety disorders should be allowed to use medical marijuana as part of their treatment.

State law limits the legal use of medical marijuana to patients who have been diagnosed with a "terminal or debilitating medical condition."

seattletimes.nwsource.com