BALTIMORE As the use of synthetic drugs seems to grow across the nation, police are reminding people that a federal law recently went into effect that adds several synthetic drugs to the Food and Drug Administration's list of controlled substances. Officials said 26 drugs commonly found in synthetic marijuana products, such as K2, K3, spice, genie and bath salts, are now being controlled under the Controlled Substances Act. These substances are considered to have a high potential for abuse. The new law also creates a new definition for "cannabamimetic agents," meaning it will create criteria by which similar chemical compounds are controlled. Synthetic marijuana, which has been around since 2002, has become increasingly popular in the past few years and is often marketed throughout the U.S. as an herbal incense or potpourri. Warnings say the product isn't for human consumption, but many young people aren't taking it seriously, health officials said. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received 6,959 calls for synthetic marijuana incidents in 2011. Those who manufacture, sell or use synthetic drugs will be subject to the same penalties as other schedule I drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana. Penalties include … Continue reading →

Malaysian police have arrested three people, one of them a Nigerian, on suspicion of running a major international drugs smuggling ring. Published: Sept. 5, 2012 at 6:30 AM KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Malaysian police arrested three people, one of them a Nigerian, on suspicion of running a major international drugs smuggling ring. The Nigerian man, 32, was arrested along with his wife, 31, at their bungalow in Lukut, near the capital's seaside resort area of Port Dickson, after a six-month surveillance operation, a report by The Star newspaper said. The suspect is believed to have arrived in Malaysia less than a year ago, Director of Anti-Narcotics Investigations Department Commissioner Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said. Police also seized two cars -- a BMW and a Toyota -- from the Nigerian suspect who is believed to own several high-value properties in Malaysia. "With his arrest, we hope to find out more about the syndicate's modus operandi and nab more suspects who worked for the syndicate in the days to come," Ibrahim said. None of the arrested suspects was named by police. The third suspect, a man believed to be the Nigerian's lieutenant, was arrested at an apartment in the … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lvt7z7/pain_therapeutics) has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Pain Therapeutics - Drugs, Markets and Companies" to their offering. This report describes the latest concepts of pathomechanisms of pain as a basis for management and development of new pharmacotherapies for pain. Major segments of the pain market are arthritis, neuropathic pain and cancer pain. Because pain is a subjective sensation, it is difficult to evaluate objectively in clinical trials. Various tools for pain measurement are described, including brain imaging. Most of the currently used analgesic drugs fall into the categories of opioids and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs such as COX-2 inhibitors. Non-opioid analgesics include ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. Adjuvant analgesics include antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs used for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Management of pain is multidisciplinary and includes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods such as acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and surgery. Various pain syndromes require different approaches in management, for example, the main category of drugs for migraine are triptans such as sumatriptan. Drug delivery is an important consideration in pain treatment. Controlled release preparations provide a steady delivery of analgesics. Well-known non-injection methods such astransdermal, pulmonary and intranasal application have been … Continue reading →

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire -09/05/12)- Approval times for new oncology drugs in the United States during the last decade were shorter than approval times for non-oncology products, while the reverse was the case in the European Union, according to a study recently completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. For drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2002 through 2011, approval times were 10 months shorter for oncology vs. non-oncology drugs. In contrast, in Europe, approval times were almost two months shorter for non-oncology vs. oncology drugs. During that period, oncology approvals accounted for 19% of all new drug approvals in the U.S. and 12% in the EU. In addition, in both regions there was little difference in approval times between products that had a special designation -- such as fast track, accelerated approval, and orphan designation -- and those that did not. "Oncology drug development continues to be challenging due to smaller patient populations for recruitment and longer periods for evaluation of treatment response," said Christopher-Paul Milne, director of research at Tufts CSDD. "What's encouraging is that while total development time for oncology and non-oncology drugs decreased by half a year during the 2002-11 … Continue reading →