Street drinkers hit hospital gel bottles.
The battle against hospital superbugs has encountered an unexpected enemy - street drinkers and homeless people are stealing the 70%-proof alcohol hand sanitiser from hospital wards in London to make potentially lethal cocktails. The gel, which retails at over £10 a litre, is mixed with orange juice, Lucozade or cola to create a new version of the street drinkers' favourite "red biddy" - meths and red wine. > Read more

Record heroin seizure in the Gulf
Police in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week seized 202 kg of heroin and arrested 19 Afghan suspects in what is the biggest-ever heroin seizure in the Arab world. The police said the high-purity heroin, worth around US$11 million, was intercepted in the Emirate of Sharjah, where the suspects ran a fruit and vegetable business as a cover. > Read more

'Beer goggles' effect explained
Scientists believe they have worked out a formula to calculate how "beer goggles" affect a drinker's vision. The drink-fuelled phenomenon is said to transform supposedly "ugly" people into beauties - until the morning after. > Read more

The strange case of the man who took 40,000 ecstasy pills in nine years.
Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills. > Read more.

Illegal drugs: NHS reports rapid rise in young users being hospitalised.
The number of under-25s admitted to hospital with mental and behavioural problems linked to illegal drug use has risen by 18% in a decade, figures showed today. In the decade from 1996, drugs-linked hospital admissions among children under 16 rose 48% from 272 to 402 and there was a 17% jump among those aged 16 to 24 from 5,964 to 6,983, according to the NHS information centre. > Read more

Olympics: Ohuruogu lucky to be competing, says rival Richards.
Sanya Richards believes her gold medal rival Christine Ohuruogu is lucky to be competing in Beijing after missing three drugs tests. The American is the overwhelming favourite to win the 400 metres in Beijing, a year after Ohuruogu returned from her doping suspension - imposed for missing those three tests in 2005 and 2006 - to triumph at the World Championships in Osaka. The British runner had been banned for 12 months and sparked mixed reaction when she triumphed in Japan. > Read More

Drug-linked mental illness rises by 100%.
The number of people admitted to hospital in England with mental illnesses linked to use of illegal drugs has doubled in the past decade, official figures revealed yesterday. The NHS Information Centre said 38,170 adults and children were admitted with drug-related mental and behavioural disorders in 2006-7, an increase of 101% since 1996-97. > Read more

Our Laboratory Director has now been elected as the President of the Society of Hair Testing - 11th August 2008
The Director of the hair testing laboratory has just been elected as the President of the Society of Hair Testing. A prestigious position within the scientific society, and a mark of his wealth of knowledge and experience in hair analysis.