According to a new report,  cocaine abuse is spreading in Sweden, and reaching new groups.

The study from the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and other Drugs is reported on by the newspaper “Svenska Dagbladet”. According to the report, the Stockholm police have confiscated nearly three times as much cocaine during the first quarter this year, as during the same period last year.

The police say one explanation may be low prices making what has been a luxury drug more affordable to young adults.

Reported by  Sveriges Radio International

A scientist for RTI International has received a national award for his research in the field of drug addiction.

F. Ivy Carroll, RTI distinguished fellow and director of the Center for Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, was named the recipient of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence's 2006 Nathan B. Eddy Memorial Award.

Carroll has led RTI research on substance abuse treatments for more than 30 years. He developed two pharmacotherapies for the treatment of cocaine abuse and prevention of cocaine relapse - both of which are expected to enter clinical studies next year.

In addition to the Eddy Award, the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded Carroll the Pacesetter Award in 1993 and the MERIT Award in 1996 for his research on the biochemical mechanisms of the action of cocaine.

Carroll earned a doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Eddy Award is presented annually by the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, one of the oldest and largest organizations for the study of drug dependence addiction.

Survey of White Americans Finds Choice of Prison over Treatment Related to Attitudes on Race and Morality

Washington , DC , June 9 -- A nationally representative survey has found that three quarters of White Americans prefer drug treatment or probation for persons caught for the first time with 5 grams of cocaine, while one quarter prefer a prison sentence.

The same survey also found that those who supported a prison sentence were more likely to make moral judgments about the addict and were more likely to blame the addict for the addiction. Those who made moral judgments were also more likely to deny that racism is a problem in this country and to believe that Blacks were more likely to use cocaine than Whites.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has issued an action alert to substance abuse treatment and prevention professionals about a new combination of street drugs with a potentially lethal effect. The addition of fentanyl, a powerful narcotic analgesic, to heroin or cocaine being sold on the streets is believed to be the cause of clusters of drug-related deaths and even greater numbers of overdoses in east coast and midwest cities in the past few months.

In just one week in May, an estimated 33 individuals in the Detroit are reported to have died after using this fatal drug mix. The same drug combination may have been responsible for over 100 deaths in Philadelphia/Camden, Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit since last September.