An archive of recent news articles on the topic of alcohol and drugs.
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Stepping on to slippery path of a drug cheat
30th April 2013
In February, the Australian Crime Commission issued a report alleging the widespread use in professional sport of peptides - performance enhancing drugs that are cheap, accessible and very likely being used in New Zealand. Herald reporter Steve Deane put his body on the line to find out how easy the drugs are to obtain and their effect on sporting performance. The needle hurts more than I expect as it slides into my belly's fatty tissue. Depressing the plunger on the 1ml insulin syringe brings another stream of pain, but it's far from severe.
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Peptides: Sport drug stance reversed
30th April 2013
Low-level importers of new generation performance-enhancing drugs are still unlikely to face prosecution despite the Government changing its view on the legal status of some substances.
Medsafe, the Government's regulatory body for medicines, has shelved plans to add some classes of peptides to the schedule of the Medicines Act and has instead introduced a new interpretation that substances such as growth hormone peptides are already covered by the act.
This reversal comes after the Herald received documents under the Official Information Act showing Medsafe planned to recommend five classes of peptide be reclassified at the next meeting of the Medicines Classification Committee. Originally scheduled for tomorrow, that meeting has now been postponed.
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Homes evacuated after suspected P lab explodes
23rd April 2013
Residents are returning to their houses this morning following a suspected P lab explosion that has injured at least one man.
Some residents were walking the beach to access their homes.
Many said they did not hear the explosion, although a neighbour said he heard a compressor begin early this morning.
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Dunedin dairies robbed for synthetic cannabis
23rd April 2013
Another aggravated robbery of a Dunedin dairy this week has prompted police to warn shopowners about the dangers of selling synthetic cannabis products.
There had now been seven aggravated robberies involving synthetic cannabis in the Southern district during the past two years, with the majority in the Dunedin area, Proactive Policing Team Sergeant Chris McLellan said yesterday.
"It is getting to the point where we are stressing to the dairies not only are they putting themselves at risk, but putting their customers at risk also.
"They need to seriously consider their situation because the product will cause them danger."
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Three suffer kidney injuries from synthetic cannabinoids
17th April 2013
Three young adults have suffered severe kidney injuries this month after smoking synthetic cannabinoids, the Canterbury District Health Board says.
Two required treatment in intensive care.
In 2011 the Government banned all existing synthetic cannabis products, including industry-leader Kronic, which had been sold in dairies.
However, new products have skirted the ban by having a slightly altered chemical make-up.
Canterbury medical officer of health Alistair Humphrey said clinicians had growing concerns about the easy accessibility and safety of the drugs, as well as the long term effects they could have on people's physical and mental health.
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Warning on car meth labs
17th April 2013
Contaminated vehicle returned to owner. Police and specialists are warning of the rising use of stolen vehicles as mobile meth labs - which are sometimes returned to unsuspecting owners after being contaminated.
One horrified businesswoman had her stolen BMW car returned worthless after it was used for a drug-making operation.
The $28,000 silver sedan was taken from her home at Farm Cove, Pakuranga, in October. It was recovered in December during a police operation in West Auckland and she is still negotiating an insurance settlement.
The married mother of three, who asked not to be named, had the car examined after police advised her thieves might have manufactured methamphetamine, or P, in the boot.
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Ex-cop on P and cannabis charges
11th April 2013
Man who allegedly sold meth and dope to woman has been granted interim name suppression. A former senior police officer has been charged with selling methamphetamine and cannabis.
A suppression order prevents the Herald from identifying the man, or giving any details of his age, hometown, the district where he worked or the squad he was assigned to.
He is facing two charges of selling methamphetamine and cannabis to a woman over 18 years old between June 2011 and June 30 last year. Her name is also suppressed.
A police source understood the charges were representative, meaning the alleged offending may have been going on throughout the period stated on court documents, rather than on just two occasions.
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Smoking attack adverts pushed for NZ
11th April 2013
American expert says people are more likely to try to quit if they turn against the tobacco industry.
American-style attack ads that liken cigarettes to children's food treats spiked with shards of sharp glass are being promoted as an effective way to further reduce smoking in New Zealand.
Tobacco control expert Professor Stanton Glantz, of the University of California, San Francisco, says the virtual absence of such ads in New Zealand is a reason smoking prevalence is significantly higher in this country than in his home state - 17 per cent, compared with 12 per cent.
"There's good evidence denormalisation and making smoking socially unacceptable really works."
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Welfare reforms to crack down on drugs
10th April 2013
New welfare reforms will address the "major" issue of beneficiaries being unable to pass drug tests to get a job, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.
The latest round of reforms, passed into law last night, will require job seekers to be drug-free, with sanctions in place if they are not.
The reforms also broaden the sanctions, in the form of temporary or permanent benefit payment cuts, which apply to beneficiaries who do not meet the requirements.
Ms Bennett told Newstalk ZB today that beneficiaries being unable to pass workplace drug tests was a "major" issue.
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Kids in unsafe Northland drug houses
10th April 2013
A 3-month-old baby was the youngest of 17 children found by police living in unsafe drug houses in Northland during the annual blitz on cannabis.
The children from six different homes across the region have all been referred to Child Youth and Family after police became concerned about the dangerous drug environments they were discovered living in.
During the operation, code-named Ruth, teams of Northland police destroyed 48,546 cannabis plants growing in various urban and rural locations.
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