“A new spate of violence has pushed the homicide rate in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez to an unprecedented 1,701 murders, breaking the record set just a year earlier in 2008.” http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iPY_KqHNyXXRr35uyyQlF70RxxMQ

“A former supervisor at a North Dakota regional human services center is accused of forging prescriptions to get painkillers.” http://www.kxmc.com/News/441413.asp

“A lethal combination of rock bottom prices combined with a spike in the potency and availability of heroin on Massachusetts streets has led to a startling increase in the number of heroin-related deaths in recent years.” http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/21068822/detail.html

“According to New Martinsville Police Chief Tim Cecil, heroin use by kids is becoming a big issue in not only New Martinsville but in surrounding counties as well. “ http://www.wtrf.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=67079

“A federal agency warned this week that cocaine laced with levamisole, a veterinary anti-parasitic drug, has caused 20 cases of a serious medical disorder. “ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/cocaine-levamisole.html

By Megan K. Stack “In the years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan triggered a sharp increase in poppy cultivation, Russia has been flooded with heroin. The drug has crept along a trail stretching from Afghanistan through Tajikistan and other Central Asian nations and over the Russian border, turning this country into the world’s top…

By Dave Willinger “Gangs exist to accumulate wealth and they do it through drug sales, he said, in particular cocaine and their biggest moneymaker, marijuana. But heroin trafficking is on the rise and the drug increasingly is being purchased by high school students, Spota explained. “Heroin is here,” the district attorney said, and named in…

By Emily P. Walker, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today “An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend approval of a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride (OxyContin) that is more difficult to crush or dissolve, and which may deter drug abuse.” http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/PainManagement/16132

By: Lily Jamali “Members of the law enforcement community say the city’s youth are the latest victims of a growing heroin epidemic. Brennan says people in their teens and 20s seem to be turning to heroin in large numbers. For years, studies showed the typical user was older.” http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/law_enforcement/100810/heroin-making-dangerous-comeback-among-city-s-youth/Default.aspx