Magic Mushroom Depression Trials Stalled

A trial that could lead to the use of magic mushroom treatments for depression has been stalled because of "absurd" regulations restricting the use of illegal drugs in research, it has been claimed.

Study leader Professor David Nutt, who was controversially sacked from his role as the Government's chief drug adviser in 2009, says "archaic" rules obstructing scientific progress should be abolished.

His team at Imperial College London has uncovered evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin may combat severe depression which resists conventional treatment.

The problem is that psilocybin is the psychoactive ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms" and is banned as a Class A drug.

Although the Medical Research Council has awarded a £550,000 grant for the trial, Professor Nutt said it has not yet been able to proceed.

Speaking ahead of the British Neuroscience Association's Festival of Neuroscience in London, he said: "We're not allowed to go and pick the mushrooms anymore and finding a company to provide this illegal drug in a way that can be prepared for trial use as yet has proved impossible.

Professor Nutt was the Government's chief drug adviser

"We are between a rock and a hard place, and that's very unfortunate because if this is an effective treatment, as it may well be for some people, then they are obviously being denied that possibility."

Under the law, academic researchers are not allowed to manufacture their own Class A drugs and must obtain them from external sources.

Companies that could supply the drugs have to go through "regulatory hoops" to obtain the necessary Home Office licence, Professor Nutt said.

This can take up to a year and triple the cost, he maintained.

Other major hurdles were the EU guidelines on Good Manufacturing Practice, which sets daunting standards for potential suppliers, and rules on storage.

Only four hospitals in the UK currently have a licence to hold psilocybin, making it difficult to roll the drug out as a prospective treatment.

Professor Nutt added: "We are the first people ever to have done a psilocybin study in the UK, but we are still hunting for a company that can manufacture the drug to GMP standards for the clinical trial, even though we've been trying for a year to find one.

"We live in a world of insanity in terms of regulating drugs at present. The whole field is so bogged down by these intransigent regulations, so that even if you have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic."

Researchers discovered that when healthy volunteers are injected with the drug it shuts down a region of the brain known to be over-active in depression.

Professor Nutt was asked to step down from his role as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after claiming that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

00.35 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mick Philpott's Derby Home To Be Demolished

Derby City Council plans to demolish the home of Mick and Mairead Philpott, where six children were killed in a fire started by the couple.

Mick Philpott, 56, was jailed for life on Wednesday after being convicted of manslaughter over the deaths of the children in the blaze last May.

His wife Mairead, 32, and friend Paul Mosley received 17-year sentences.

The charred shelll of the Victory Road house has been empty since the fire

The council is attempting to take legal possession of the three-bedroomed semi-detached house, as well as of the adjoining one.

Council leader Paul Bayliss said: "Who would want to live in a house where six children have died and why would you want to live next door to a house where six children have died?"

The council wants residents in the area to decide what to do with the property, and an online petition has called for a memorial garden to be built on the site.

However, Sky's Frazer Maude said many neighbours are opposed to the idea of a memorial.

He said: "They've told me they just want to move on, and they fear a memorial garden could become a tourist attraction."

The case shocked Britain

CCTV footage has emerged showing the Philpotts at a local pub just days after the fire, drinking and enjoying a karaoke session.

Mick Philpott is seen singing Suspicious Minds, the Elvis Presley hit, as he dons Blues Brothers-style sunglasses.

The Philpotts hatched a plan to start the fire at their home in order to frame Lisa Willis, Mick Philpott's former girlfriend who had left the house taking their children with her.

They planned that he should break in by the back door and rescue the children.

In the early hours of May 11, they poured petrol in the hallway of the property to start the blaze.

But the plan went wrong as fire ripped through the council house in Victoria Road.

At one point 11 children lived in the house

Mick Philpott, described as the "driving force" behind the plan, has been ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.

The Philpotts and Mosley were found guilty of six counts of manslaughter, one for each of the victims: Jade Philpott, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and Duwayne, 13.

00.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teen Crime Commissioner In Offensive Tweet Row

Britain's first youth police commissioner has refused to step down after it was revealed she had posted a string of offensive comments on Twitter.

Paris Brown, 17, who took up the post just days ago, wrote homophobic and racist comments on her Twitter account and boasted about getting drunk.

She also appeared to condone violence in a tweet in which she said she was pleased that her brother had thumped someone who "gave his tiny little friend a black eye".

The messages were all posted before she took up the one-year post - which has a £15,000 salary funded by the taxpayer - for Kent Police last week.

The disclosure of the tweets has prompted a Twitter backlash against Miss Brown, while Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has led calls for her to step down from the post.

An emotional Miss Brown after giving interviews about her Twitter posts

Miss Brown said she "sincerely" apologised for the remarks and for any offence caused, but she told Sky News she would not be resigning and felt she could still do the job.

She said: "I don't want to be judged on tweets that were written a long time ago, before I found out I had the job.

"I don't think it should affect my future, my career. I still want to be the voice of young people. I still think I can be.In a way it shows I am - those tweets are horrible obviously - but I am just a normal teenager.

"Everybody's got a regret, maybe it's a tweet, maybe it's a status but out of 4,000 tweets, there's only a few that have been picked up upon."

In her tweets, the teenager, who turned 17 two days ago, refers to immigrants as "illegals" and gay people as "fags".

In one message she admits "Im (sic) either really fun, friendly and inclusive when Im drunk or Im an anti social, racist, sexist, embarrassing a*******. often its the latter."

Another said: "Been drinking since half 1 and riding baby walkers down the hall at work oh my god I have the best job ever haha!!"

In another she wrote: "I really wanna make a batch of hash brownies."

Miss Brown told Sky her tweets contained the language of youth and that "fag" was not a term of homophobic abuse, but actually meant silly or idiotic.

Kent police commissioner Ann Barnes with Miss Brown after the revelations

Speaking on Sky News' Boulton & Co after her appointment on Friday, Miss Brown had said: "Being a young person today you feel like you have got to sort of show that you are growing up, that you are a grown up, even when you are as young as maybe 13 or 14.

"You are growing up at a faster rate in today's time and people might feel I am being patronised or I am being intimidated and that's why the are acting like they are in certain situations."

Miss Brown, whose appointment was to be a trail blazer for other youth commissioners across the country, reports directly to the newly elected Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes.

The police and crime commissioners' roles, which command salaries of up to £100,000, have themselves been controversial, largely because they put inexperienced commissioners in charge of the budget, policing and choosing the chief constable.

Mrs Barnes has said Miss Brown's job was safe.

She said: "I absolutely do not condone the content and language of Paris' tweets. I suspect that many young people go through a phase during which they make silly, often offensive comments and show off on Facebook and Twitter.

"I think that if everyone's future was determined by what they wrote on social networking sites between the ages of 14 and 16 we'd live in a very odd world.

Miss Brown with her 'boss' Ann Barnes announcing her appointment

"I also suspect that thousands of parents would be at best surprised and at worst deeply shocked and ashamed if they looked into the social networking of their children."

Miss Brown, who lives with her parents in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, has a full-time apprenticeship role as an office junior at Kent's Swale Borough Council.

She said she had put off doing A-levels for a year while she undertakes the job as commissioner.

Miss Brown has removed her @vilulabelle account from Twitter following the revelations. She now tweets under an official account.

Reports of her deleted remarks have attracted criticism from many Twitter users, including Alex Cahill, who wrote: "Well Paris Brown (@vilulabelle) is a shining example of young people ..."

Paul Davies wrote: "God help us and our police!!!"

00.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jockey Ryan Mania Airlifted To Hospital

Grand National-winning jockey Ryan Mania has been airlifted to hospital after he suffered a fall in a race this afternoon.

Mania was conscious as he was taken to RVI hospital in Newcastle for further assessment on neck and back injuries.

He was reported in stable condition, though he was described as very sore after what appeared to be a kick between his shoulder blades.

His fall at Hexham occurred a day after he won on his first ride in the Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool.

Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: "All I can say at the moment is he's conscious and talking, and he is being taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for further assessment.

Mania riding Auroras Encore

"Hopefully all will be fine but we won't have any more news until later."

The Scotsman, who steered Auroras Encore to a famous 66-1 success, was linking up once again with trainer Sue Smith in the St John Lee Handicap Hurdle.

However, his mount Stagecoach Jasper came down early on the final circuit.

Some 25 minutes after the race, the 23-year-old Mania was still being attended to on the track by medics.

With the covers up, there was a delay to racing following the arrival of the air ambulance.

Mania was seen being put into the air ambulance on a spinal board before being taken to hospital.

Mania was attended to on the track and then taken to hospital

Mania was riding at Hexham just hours after posing for photographs with Auroras Encore at his stables in West Yorkshire.

He said: "You do maybe worry that something might happen but something can happen riding him at home - it can happen any time so you kind of just put that to the back of your mind really, and concentrate on winning, concentrate on riding the race.

"What will be will be."

The jockey had to leave the photocall before the horse's traditional trip to the local pub in order to get to the Hexham meeting on time.

Mania was scheduled to ride in two races.

As well as the horse that fell, he was booked to partner Twice Lucky in the Primary Websites Handicap Chase at 4.25pm.

Ewan Whillans took over the ride on Twice Lucky.

The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle

Mania is a former point-to-point rider from Galashiels in the Scottish Borders.

His Grand National victory on Saturday marked a dramatic turnaround in his career, which was temporarily halted when he spent six months out of racing and working in the hunt service after his former boss Howard Johnson lost his training licence.

He became the first Scottish-born winning rider of the world-famous steeplechase since 1896, when David Campbell won on The Soarer.

00.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Four Teenagers Arrested Over Man's Death

Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with the death of a man in a town centre on Saturday night.

They were held after reports of an assault at around 7.30pm in Bridge Street, near its junction with Central Avenue and Ryton Street in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

The 40-year-old victim, yet to be formally identified, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination is due to be conducted to find out the cause of death.

A murder inquiry is now under way, Nottinghamshire Police said.

The four boys - three aged 15 and one aged 16 - remain in custody.

Police asked anyone with information on the assault to come forward.

00.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Magic Mushroom Depression Trials Stalled

A trial that could lead to the use of magic mushroom treatments for depression has been stalled because of "absurd" regulations restricting the use of illegal drugs in research, it has been claimed.

Study leader Professor David Nutt, who was controversially sacked from his role as the Government's chief drug adviser in 2009, says "archaic" rules obstructing scientific progress should be abolished.

His team at Imperial College London has uncovered evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin may combat severe depression which resists conventional treatment.

The problem is that psilocybin is the psychoactive ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms" and is banned as a Class A drug.

Although the Medical Research Council has awarded a £550,000 grant for the trial, Professor Nutt said it has not yet been able to proceed.

Speaking ahead of the British Neuroscience Association's Festival of Neuroscience in London, he said: "We're not allowed to go and pick the mushrooms anymore and finding a company to provide this illegal drug in a way that can be prepared for trial use as yet has proved impossible.

Professor Nutt was the Government's chief drug adviser

"We are between a rock and a hard place, and that's very unfortunate because if this is an effective treatment, as it may well be for some people, then they are obviously being denied that possibility."

Under the law, academic researchers are not allowed to manufacture their own Class A drugs and must obtain them from external sources.

Companies that could supply the drugs have to go through "regulatory hoops" to obtain the necessary Home Office licence, Professor Nutt said.

This can take up to a year and triple the cost, he maintained.

Other major hurdles were the EU guidelines on Good Manufacturing Practice, which sets daunting standards for potential suppliers, and rules on storage.

Only four hospitals in the UK currently have a licence to hold psilocybin, making it difficult to roll the drug out as a prospective treatment.

Professor Nutt added: "We are the first people ever to have done a psilocybin study in the UK, but we are still hunting for a company that can manufacture the drug to GMP standards for the clinical trial, even though we've been trying for a year to find one.

"We live in a world of insanity in terms of regulating drugs at present. The whole field is so bogged down by these intransigent regulations, so that even if you have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic."

Researchers discovered that when healthy volunteers are injected with the drug it shuts down a region of the brain known to be over-active in depression.

Professor Nutt was asked to step down from his role as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after claiming that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Four Teenagers Arrested Over Man's Death

Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with the death of a man in a town centre on Saturday night.

They were held after reports of an assault at around 7.30pm in Bridge Street, near its junction with Central Avenue and Ryton Street in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

The 40-year-old victim, yet to be formally identified, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination is due to be conducted to find out the cause of death.

A murder inquiry is now under way, Nottinghamshire Police said.

The four boys - three aged 15 and one aged 16 - remain in custody.

Police asked anyone with information on the assault to come forward.

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mick Philpott's Derby Home To Be Demolished

Derby City Council plans to demolish the home of Mick and Mairead Philpott, where six children were killed in a fire started by the couple.

Mick Philpott, 56, was jailed for life on Wednesday after being convicted of manslaughter over the deaths of the children in the blaze last May.

His wife Mairead, 32, and friend Paul Mosley received 17-year sentences.

The charred shelll of the Victory Road house has been empty since the fire

The council is attempting to take legal possession of the three-bedroomed semi-detached house, as well as of the adjoining one.

Council leader Paul Bayliss said: "Who would want to live in a house where six children have died and why would you want to live next door to a house where six children have died?"

The council wants residents in the area to decide what to do with the property, and an online petition has called for a memorial garden to be built on the site.

However, Sky's Frazer Maude said many neighbours are opposed to the idea of a memorial.

He said: "They've told me they just want to move on, and they fear a memorial garden could become a tourist attraction."

The case shocked Britain

CCTV footage has emerged showing the Philpotts at a local pub just days after the fire, drinking and enjoying a karaoke session.

Mick Philpott is seen singing Suspicious Minds, the Elvis Presley hit, as he dons Blues Brothers-style sunglasses.

The Philpotts hatched a plan to start the fire at their home in order to frame Lisa Willis, Mick Philpott's former girlfriend who had left the house taking their children with her.

They planned that he should break in by the back door and rescue the children.

In the early hours of May 11, they poured petrol in the hallway of the property to start the blaze.

But the plan went wrong as fire ripped through the council house in Victoria Road.

At one point 11 children lived in the house

Mick Philpott, described as the "driving force" behind the plan, has been ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.

The Philpotts and Mosley were found guilty of six counts of manslaughter, one for each of the victims: Jade Philpott, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and Duwayne, 13.

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teen Crime Commissioner In Offensive Tweet Row

Britain's first youth police commissioner has refused to step down after it was revealed she had posted a string of offensive comments on Twitter.

Paris Brown, 17, who took up the post just days ago, wrote homophobic and racist comments on her Twitter account and boasted about getting drunk.

She also appeared to condone violence in a tweet in which she said she was pleased that her brother had thumped someone who "gave his tiny little friend a black eye".

The messages were all posted before she took up the one-year post - which has a £15,000 salary funded by the taxpayer - for Kent Police last week.

The disclosure of the tweets has prompted a Twitter backlash against Miss Brown, while Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has led calls for her to step down from the post.

An emotional Miss Brown after giving interviews about her Twitter posts

Miss Brown said she "sincerely" apologised for the remarks and for any offence caused, but she told Sky News she would not be resigning and felt she could still do the job.

She said: "I don't want to be judged on tweets that were written a long time ago, before I found out I had the job.

"I don't think it should affect my future, my career. I still want to be the voice of young people. I still think I can be.In a way it shows I am - those tweets are horrible obviously - but I am just a normal teenager.

"Everybody's got a regret, maybe it's a tweet, maybe it's a status but out of 4,000 tweets, there's only a few that have been picked up upon."

In her tweets, the teenager, who turned 17 two days ago, refers to immigrants as "illegals" and gay people as "fags".

In one message she admits "Im (sic) either really fun, friendly and inclusive when Im drunk or Im an anti social, racist, sexist, embarrassing a*******. often its the latter."

Another said: "Been drinking since half 1 and riding baby walkers down the hall at work oh my god I have the best job ever haha!!"

In another she wrote: "I really wanna make a batch of hash brownies."

Miss Brown told Sky her tweets contained the language of youth and that "fag" was not a term of homophobic abuse, but actually meant silly or idiotic.

Kent police commissioner Ann Barnes with Miss Brown after the revelations

Speaking on Sky News' Boulton & Co after her appointment on Friday, Miss Brown had said: "Being a young person today you feel like you have got to sort of show that you are growing up, that you are a grown up, even when you are as young as maybe 13 or 14.

"You are growing up at a faster rate in today's time and people might feel I am being patronised or I am being intimidated and that's why the are acting like they are in certain situations."

Miss Brown, whose appointment was to be a trail blazer for other youth commissioners across the country, reports directly to the newly elected Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes.

The police and crime commissioners' roles, which command salaries of up to £100,000, have themselves been controversial, largely because they put inexperienced commissioners in charge of the budget, policing and choosing the chief constable.

Mrs Barnes has said Miss Brown's job was safe.

She said: "I absolutely do not condone the content and language of Paris' tweets. I suspect that many young people go through a phase during which they make silly, often offensive comments and show off on Facebook and Twitter.

"I think that if everyone's future was determined by what they wrote on social networking sites between the ages of 14 and 16 we'd live in a very odd world.

Miss Brown with her 'boss' Ann Barnes announcing her appointment

"I also suspect that thousands of parents would be at best surprised and at worst deeply shocked and ashamed if they looked into the social networking of their children."

Miss Brown, who lives with her parents in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, has a full-time apprenticeship role as an office junior at Kent's Swale Borough Council.

She said she had put off doing A-levels for a year while she undertakes the job as commissioner.

Miss Brown has removed her @vilulabelle account from Twitter following the revelations. She now tweets under an official account.

Reports of her deleted remarks have attracted criticism from many Twitter users, including Alex Cahill, who wrote: "Well Paris Brown (@vilulabelle) is a shining example of young people ..."

Paul Davies wrote: "God help us and our police!!!"

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jockey Ryan Mania Airlifted To Hospital

Grand National-winning jockey Ryan Mania has been airlifted to hospital after he suffered a fall in a race this afternoon.

Mania was conscious.

He fell a day after winning on his first ride in the Grand National.

More follows...

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More