Thursday, June 11, 2015

UK: Kids and Drinking
Girl aged just 13 destroys liver through binge drinking     
A girl aged only 13 knocked back so much alcohol she gave herself liver ­disease, aSunday People investigation reveals. The troubled teen suffered cirrhosis of the liver after drinking the equivalent of nearly a bottle of vodka a day. Cirrhosis is so serious that a patient may need a transplant to stay alive. Staggeringly, the girl, treated at London's King's College Hospital in 2011, was not an isolated case. She was just one of at least 13 child alcoholics treated in Britain's hospitals for liver disease due to heavy drinking in the past five years.
National Conversation
Presidential candidates are talking about black tar heroin    
When aspiring presidential candidates step into the mayor's office here, he doesn't let them leave without telling them about what he calls one of the most pressing, dire issues his city faces: heroin. "Every candidate that comes in here, what I say to them is, 'It's not only an issue here in New Hampshire. It's a national issue,' " said Gatsas (R). "If we don't get our arms around it, it's going to take over our country." The nation is in the throes of an epidemic of prescription-drug and heroin abuse - a wave that's leaving its mark on the 2016 presidential campaign, too. Hillary Rodham Clinton has told supporters that drug abuse and mental health will be key issues in her Democratic presidential campaign ... New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) recently participated in a round-table discussion