Marijuana use could be a predictor for relapse among women undergoing opioid addiction treatment, a Hamilton study has found. A research team from McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton recruited 777 participants from Canadian Addiction Treatment Centre sites across the province as part of an ongoing research file into the risk factors of addiction. About 60 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women in methadone treatment therapy also use cannabis, the study found. The women who smoked pot, the study found, were 82 per cent more likely to relapse and use opioids. [continues 255 words]
Investigators ID 24 instances of dubious testing that led to children being taken from families A probe of child protection files involving flawed drug and alcohol hair tests performed by the Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk lab has now identified 24 cases in which the results were a key factor in removing children from their families. While that represents a fraction of the more than 500 "high-priority" child protection files the Motherisk Commission has so far examined, the number is set to rise in the coming months as an additional 1,200 cases are targeted for review. [continues 961 words]
[Name redacted] of Denville, was charged by Wayne police with possession of heroin.(Photo: Courtesy of Wayne Police) [Name redacted], 26, of Denville was arrested and charged with possession of 39 bags of heroin, among other charges, on Jan. 4. According to police records, Officer Tomasz Cydzik observed a 2000 Honda Civic parked in the CVS parking lot on Hamburg Turnpike with her head down "as if unconscious" around 9:40 p.m. When the officer approached, [name redacted] opened her eyes and police observed an uncapped syringe inside the vehicle, according to police reports. After further investigation, five Suboxone under-the-tongue films, one Clonazepam pill, a sandwich-sized plastic bag containing suspected marijuana, two additional hypodermic needles, multiple open glassine bags of suspected heroin, 39 additional bags of heroin stamped "suicide squad" and one small zip lock bag containing suspected cocaine, police records show. [continues 59 words]
Tiffany Wigginton Carnal is in the fight of her life to save her daughter. Lyndi Carnal, 17, has Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Lyndi was diagnosed when she was 14. Since that time, she and her mother have spent three Christmases, three New Year's Days and countless other days at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The medications Lyndi has taken to control the Crohn's and subsequent pain have negatively impacted her heart, kidneys and liver. Lyndi has also had her colon and rectum removed. The medications to control the pain keep Lyndi sedated and unable to function. One of her medications, Dilaudid, is a strong opiate that can be addictive. [continues 464 words]
Women can blame their cocaine addictions on their biology, according to a new study that claims that ladies are more susceptible to the drug's addictive qualities. Hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle, specifically spikes in estrogen, intensify the drug's pleasurable effects, according to researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on The Upper East Side. "Our study will change the way we think about addiction research to emphasize the need to further understand female subjects, as most research on addiction has been conducted in male subjects," the study's lead author, Dr. Erin Calipari, said in a statement. [continues 313 words]
[photo] Tiffany Wigginton Carnal with her daughter Lyndi at Children's Hospital.(Photo: Provided) Tiffany Wigginton Carnal is in the fight of her life to save her daughter. Lyndi Carnal, 17, has Crohn's Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Lyndi was diagnosed when she was 14. Since that time, she and her mother have spent three Christmases, three New Year's Days and countless other days at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. [continues 545 words]
Narcotic painkillers - which can cause birth defects - commonly were prescribed for women of reproductive age, according to new data presented Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research, which looked at the years 2008-2012, found that 39% of women ages 15 to 44 on Medicaid and 28% of those on private insurance received an opioid prescription. "Many women of reproductive age are taking these medicines and may not know they are pregnant and therefore may be unknowingly exposing their unborn child," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement. [continues 710 words]
Could someone please clarify something for me? In Canada we have laws set in place to protect, to govern and direct. There is nothing safe about injecting anything illegal into our system. If we truly care about the welfare of addicts it's not about "reducing" the harm but rather eliminating the harm and bringing hope where hope has been lost. Do you have children? Here's my take on all of this. Turn the elements of your stove on high, place your children's hands on those hot elements and do not let them remove their hands. Gently reach done and turn the heat down a few notches, well maybe a couple more. As long as those hands are on the heat and the heat is on, damage will continue to be inflicted. Their hands need to be removed from the heat and the heat turned off, not simply down. [continues 1024 words]
A Richland woman died Wednesday in her apartment from a suspected heroin overdose, leaving her 3-year-old son alone in the residence until police found him. The woman was identified as Lauren Wilson, 34, of Thomas Village in the 5600 block of Community Center Drive. Police were called Wednesday afternoon by Ms. Wilson's mother because she was unable to contact her daughter by phone, Northern Regional Police Department Chief T. Robert Amann said today. Police found Ms. Wilson's body and a syringe. [continues 322 words]
Hospital should own its role, and help foot bill, in fallout from faulty drug tests, CAS head says Children's aid societies are calling on the Hospital for Sick Children to "step up" and own the role it played in the Motherisk scandal that saw faulty drug and alcohol hair tests used in thousands of child protection cases. Mary Ballantyne, executive director of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies (OACAS), said Sick Kids, which housed the discredited Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory, should do more to assist in the significant efforts underway to deliver justice to those affected. [continues 867 words]
Kingston woman whose daughter was stuck by needle at city park wants it to be a lesson for all A Kingston business owner, blogger and mother is warning parents to talk to their children about discarded needles after her daughter stuck herself with one earlier this month. "I've anticipated what happens if they fall from a tree and their arm hurts, or if they stepped in glass, I've run through that process in my mind of what I would do I've thought through all the scenarios in my head, but this is one that never occurred to me," Natalie George, mother of four, told the Whig-Standard on Friday morning. [continues 744 words]
Hospital, former lab director point fingers at each other, deny allegations in proposed class action lawsuit The Hospital for Sick Children and the director of its former Motherisk laboratory are now battling each other in court. The two sides have issued cross-claims against each other as part of their statements of defence filed in a proposed class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was launched by parents who claim they lost their children because of faulty drug and alcohol hair tests carried out by Motherisk. [continues 574 words]
Family told airport security in Persian Gulf nation found bag with trace amounts of pot A Hamilton mother is asking Canadians to put pressure on local MPs in support of her daughter, a 27-year-old teacher imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates. "All I want is for her to be supported," said Joanne Augustyn, mother of Heather Augustyn, who was imprisoned in the UAE on Aug. 26 after a random search by airport security. She was returning to teach elementary school at the Abu Dhabi International Private School, where she had started working a year ago after graduating from Western University. [continues 397 words]
As Californians get ready to vote Nov. 8 on whether to legalize recreational marijuana, there are broader public health questions to consider. A pregnant woman has morning sickness so severe she can't keep food down, so she stirs some cannabis-infused oil into her morning tea to regain her appetite. An elderly man has chronic pain that keeps him up at night, so he smokes marijuana most nights before he and his wife go to bed. There's a growing body of research that suggests marijuana can help with conditions such as nausea and pain while posing only modest health risks for adults. But as Californians get ready to vote Nov. 8 on whether to legalize recreational marijuana, there are broader public health questions to consider, from whether it affects developing fetuses to the impacts of secondhand smoke. [continues 882 words]
A Napanee-area marijuana facility is now able to sell its medical product to patients in need, and a mother says her son is benefitting from the development. Six-year-old Gage is able to sit up by himself, playing with a few coloured balls and his iPad while his mother, Kelly, shares their story. Gage has lissencephaly type 1, a rare and incurable neurological disorder, as well as having a severe, rare, yet unnamed, form of epilepsy. "They can't even give it a name because he has so many characteristics from other syndromes of epilepsy," Kelly, whose last name is not being released to protect Gage's privacy, said. "And he currently takes cannabis." [continues 641 words]
The War on Drugs fueled the modern-day prison industrial complex for decades, and many politicians now agree that it was a misguided federal policy that resulted in the needless incarceration of millions of Americans - particularly Black and Latino folks. From 1990 to 2010, the amount of people in state prisons for drug offenses increased by 52 percent according to the American Civil Liberties Union. These arrests for non-violent crimes tore apart communities of color nationwide, separating families and saddling the loved ones of incarcerated individuals with financial burdens - from legal costs to drastic reductions to their household incomes. [continues 198 words]
Cbd Oil Dispensed in Several US States but No Doctor Here Will Prescribe It Cork Mother Made Plea to Minister for Health but Says His Hands Tied by Law The mother of a six-year-old girl with a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy fears her daughter will die unless a consultant goes out on a limb and prescribes cannabis oil to lessen her seizures. Ava Barry from Aghabullogue in Co Cork endures hundreds of seizures every year. Her mother, Vera Twomey, fears her daughter's life will be cut prematurely short unless a doctor prescribes cannabis oil which has been known to control the severity and number of seizures. [continues 541 words]
Women launch court challenge, saying commission meant to help them has shut them out of process Three mothers who claim that their children were removed from their care as a result of faulty drug and alcohol hair tests at Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk laboratory have gone to court to call out what they see as a lack of transparency at the commission set up to review their cases. The very people the commission was established to help want to see everything the commission has seen when looking at their story. [continues 1237 words]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will pay $475,000 to a New Mexico woman who accused agents in Texas of forcing her to undergo illegal body-cavity probes. The woman was at an El Paso port of entry when a drug-sniffing dog jumped on her, according to court filings. The American Civil Liberties Union in Texas and New Mexico announced the settlement Thursday. Customs and Border Protection officers will also be required to undergo additional training. A lawsuit filed in 2013 said the woman - a 54-year-old U.S. citizen referred to only as Jane Doe - was "brutally" searched by customs agents in December 2012. [continues 72 words]
Female Entrepreneurs Aim to Lead in Medical Cannabis The burgeoning sisterhood of Maryland's marijuana entrepreneurs gathered in the back room of a Columbia chain restaurant recently, swapping business ideas over chicken wings and cheese cubes. Maryland's long-promised medical marijuana industry doesn't exist yet, and that's precisely why more than 60 women, mostly dressed like a PTA crowd, banded together there - to rise to the top before anyone gets in their way. "How vital are women to the success of the cannabis business in Maryland? If you're asking, I probably don't want to talk to you," said Megan Rogers, a co-founder of the Baltimore chapter of Women Grow and an applicant to open a dispensary. "We're here to ensure that the cannabis industry has no glass ceiling." [continues 1173 words]
