Latest news with #drugrehabilitation
CBS News
02-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Fire kills 12 people who were reportedly locked up inside drug rehab center in Mexico
Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico to help fight cartels Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico Why Trump is pushing military help for Mexico A fire in a drug rehabilitation center in the violence-plagued Mexican state of Guanajuato killed 12 people and injured at least three others, authorities said Sunday. The fire broke out early Sunday in the town of San Jose Iturbe, where the municipal government said it was still investigating what caused the deadly blaze. "We express our solidarity with the families of those who have been killed while they tried to overcome addictions," the municipal government said in a statement, adding that it will help to pay for the funeral expenses of those killed. Experts were gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to establish "the reasons for the tragic incident," the Guanajuato state prosecutor's office said. Mexican media outlets reported that the victims of the fire had been locked up inside the rehab center. A woman lits candles at the rehabilitation center where 12 people died due to a fire in San Jose Iturbide community, Guanajuato state, Mexico on June 1, 2025. MARIO ARMAS/AFP via Getty Images Mexico's privately run drug rehabilitation centers are often abusive, clandestine, unregulated and underfunded. They have been the targets of similar attacks in the past. The industrial and agricultural state of Guanajuato has for years been the scene of a bloody turf battle between the Jalisco New Generation cartel and a local gang, the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. Guanajuato has the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico. Just last month, investigators found 17 bodies during a search for missing persons in an abandoned house in Guanajuato. Days before that, seven people, including children, were gunned down in the same region. Mexican drug gangs have killed suspected street-level dealers from rival gangs sheltering at rehab facilities in the past. Officials also believe cartels sometimes execute patients who refuse to join their ranks. In April, gunmen shot up a drug rehab clinic in the troubled Sinaloa state, killing at least nine people. In July 2022, six people were shot dead at a drug rehab center near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara. Two years before that, heavily armed men stormed a drug rehab center in the central city of Irapuato and killed 27 people. In 2010, 19 people were killed in an attack on a rehab center in Chihuahua, a city in northern Mexico. More than a dozen other attacks on such facilities occurred in the decade between those massacres. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
CNA
20-05-2025
- CNA
Drug offenders in halfway houses less likely to reoffend after release compared to others: SPS
SINGAPORE: New data from the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) showed that drug offenders in halfway house programmes are less likely to reoffend after they are released. Among the latest cohort released in 2022, 23.5 per cent reoffended within two years – lower compared with the nearly 30 per cent who did not go through the programme and fell back into drug abuse, according to the government agency. SPS said halfway houses help to keep offenders away from drugs, get them employed and help them secure a place to stay. About 60 per cent of halfway house residents secure jobs, vocational training or education during their stay and 98 per cent are able to find accommodation before they are discharged, said SPS. HELPED BY HALFWAY HOUSES At The Helping Hand, ex-resident Mr Chan Ah Chin, who graduated last year, is giving back to the halfway house, which he credits for turning around his life. The 59-year-old said the programme was much better than other forms of rehabilitation, following multiple incarcerations, as it supported him in taking up new courses. 'There's no more going back to the old times taking drugs. All the staff, quite good (to) me. Some teach (me) how to do things, how to respect people,' he said, adding that his 96-year-old mother is overjoyed with his rehabilitation. He now works as a security guard at the facility, hoping to set an example for residents like 48-year-old Jack – not his real name – get clean and reintegrate into society. Jack, who is going through his fourth rehabilitation and a 20-year battle with drugs, told CNA he did not want to disappoint his family anymore. "My parents are getting older. I would really want to spend my time with them … because they have always been there for me,' he said. This is Jack's first time in a halfway house. He hopes the programme, which he said has taught him life skills, will help him find a stable career in F&B when he completes his sentence. Like Jack, Aaron – also not his real name – who is at HCSA Highpoint halfway house, hopes the programme will assist in keeping him on the straight and narrow after being incarcerated seven times. The 55-year-old credits the dedication of the staff in encouraging him to turn the page on his past. He said their support never wavered even after he left the halfway house prematurely, discharging himself in January last year after he was suspected of possessing and consuming substances. Aaron returned to HCSA Highpoint four months later after seeking detoxification treatment at the National Addictions Management Service. The clinic, which was set up at the Institute of Mental Health with the support of the Ministry of Health, provides treatment for people with addictions. "(If) I go back to drugs, I have to lose a lot of things - my family, my loved ones. I hate this drug. Frankly speaking, I am really sick and tired of this,' he told CNA. FLEXIBLE BUT STRICT LIFE Inhabitants of halfway houses are given more freedom than those in prisons but they must abide by firm rules involving discipline and punctuality, following a compulsory curfew and a strict schedule. Some are given the flexibility to leave the premises for educational classes, skills training or work, and may even go home on weekends to see their families. This is dependent on their external family situation and if there is an employer or organisation providing work or training. SPS officers and halfway house staff members conduct surprise urine tests and regular checks for controlled drugs and contraband including alcohol, cigarettes and vapes. All medication must have a valid prescription. Thorough searches will be done if a resident cannot produce a urine sample or in the event of a positive test result. Authorities said positive cases will be brought to the Central Narcotics Bureau for further testing and residents could face fresh charges. "The operation is important in order to deter the drug abuse in the halfway house, so that it sets an example for others to stop all the drug abuse,' said Chief Warder Edmund Lim Boon Hwee, a reintegration officer, referring to spot checks. Drug offenders are three times more likely to re-offend compared with other crimes, according to the SPS. NEW DRUGS POSE A NEW CHALLENGE Halfway houses said they are facing a growing challenge in the form of new psychoactive substances, which mimic the effects of controlled substances but go undetected in urine tests. One illicit product of particular concern is "Kpods" – vape juice laced with etomidate, an anaesthetic agent. "When they smoke it, they will get high in 20 minutes, in a very fast way. Some cannot take it. They just overdose,' said Mr Adam, a staff member at The Helping Hand, who preferred not to give his last name. He added that such synthetic drugs can damage a user's brains, and can undermine the entire rehabilitation process. Staff have been trained to spot tell-tale signs and behavioural indicators of those abusing substances. 'We have to develop our own clinical skills to basically assess a person. (Such as) eyes are very red, walk in a stagger, slurring speech, cannot put sentences together, thoughts a bit haywire,' said Mr Samuel Wong, a programme manager at HCSA Highpoint. 'These kinds of bodily, physical … manifestation of a person who is high, with some experience, you can see that.' Mr Wong was a former substance abuser whose journey to integration has come full circle. Now clean from drugs, he serves at the halfway house where he was once incarcerated as a resident in 2011. After returning to society, Mr Wong became a manager at the facility in 2016. He said his experience allows him to better understand the challenges of drug abusers, as well as to support and counsel them.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- BBC News
Peterborough woman stabbed man after mobile phone dispute
A woman who stabbed a man in a city centre after a dispute about a mobile phone has been given a suspended prison said Lauren Lines was seen on CCTV stabbing the 27-year-old victim in Fitzwilliam Street in Peterborough in the early hours of 15 42-year-old, of Oundle Road in Alwalton, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent, being in possession of a knife and possession of cocaine. At Peterborough Crown Court on 12 May, Lines was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years. Police said "the violence had erupted over the alleged theft of a mobile phone".Det Con James Walker-Harrison, said: "Attacks involving knives have the potential to end fatally, and it is fortunate this was not the case here."Lines still had the knife and three wraps cocaine on her in custody, the force must complete a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement, a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a 120-day alcohol abstinence requirement. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
