Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a mild stroke and fainting in his home. He later regains consciousness at a local military hospital.

Pinochet, 89, has suffered several strokes in recent years, including one a month ago for which he was also hospitalized

According to Pennsylvania researchers, nicotine affects the brain through the same method as heroin and other opiate drugs.

Dr. Julie A. Blendy, and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia revealed this fact after carrying an experiment on mice

A study released Thursday indicates more American teens are using prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin to get high. The 2004 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study commissioned by nonprofit group, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, says about 20-percent of teenagers nationwide admit to abusing prescribed drugs in their medicine cabinet more than using drugs such as cocaine, LSD, or Ecstasy. The study also says about 9-percent have abused cough medicine or other over the counter products. PDFA President Steve Pasierb says, "The pain reliever number translates to about 4.3 million kids who have tried these products, outside of a doctor's recommendation, with the intention of getting high." Partnership Chairman Roy Bostock says, "For the first time, our national study finds that today's teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller to get high than they are to have experimented with a variety of illegal drugs." Vicodin is the leading drug of choice by teens with 18 percent abusing it. 10-percent of teens say they abuse Ritalin or OxyContin. v The survey says 48 percent of teenagers consider experimenting with prescription medication as being a "great risk". They say "ease of access" is the top reason to try the drugs. v Pasierb says, "We're finding that the kids who are doing this are by and large already drug-experienced. This is not an entry behavior. These are kids who have tried other drugs, primarily illicit drugs. They're getting a buzz, they're getting high. They're seeing these as a safer alternative to illicit street drugs." The study indicates marijuana use is down from 42 percent in 1998 to 37 percent in 2004. Ecstasy use is also down slightly as well as methamphetamine. More than 7,300 teens participated in the 17th annual survey that has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent

The latest national study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America labels today's teens "Generation Rx" because of their increased recreational use of prescription drugs. The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse, released Thursday morning, found that about one in five teenagers has abused a prescription painkiller -- more than have experimented with either Ecstasy, cocaine, crack or LSD. One in 11 teens had abused over-the-counter products such as cough medicine, the study reported. According to the survey, the most popular prescription drug abused by teens was Vicodin, with 18 percent -- or about 4.3 million youths -- reporting they had used it to get high. OxyContin and drugs for attention-deficit disorder such as Ritalin/Adderall followed with one in 10 teens reporting they had tried them. Fewer than half the teens -- 48 percent -- said they saw "great risk" in experimenting with prescription medicines. "Ease of access" was cited as a major factor in trying the medications, with medicine cabinets at home or at friends' homes. This is the second year studies are being done on the abuse of legal drugs. But the first time surveyors included a question about the use of over-the-counter drugs to get high. Nine percent, or about 2.2 million teens, had experimented with cough syrup and other related products. The number of teens reporting marijuana use declined to 37 percent last year, compared with 42 percent a half-dozen years earlier. Over the same amount of time, ecstasy use declined from 12 percent to 9 percent, while methamphetamine trial dropped from 12 percent to 8 percent. The 2004 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study surveyed more than 7,300 teens, the largest ongoing analysis of teen drug-related attitudes toward drugs in the country. Its margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percent. The nonprofit Partnership for a Drug-Free America, launched in 1987, is a coalition of communications professionals aimed at reducing the demand for illegal drugs

Twenty have been arrested in the U.S. and abroad after being charged of running internet pharmacies and illegally shipping narcotics, steroids, and amphetamines to teenagers and buyers around the world. The arrests come after a yearlong investigation by six federal agents of web pharmacies they say operate in the shadows of the internet. With no fixed addresses there is no way to accurately track where they are located. One Philadelphia based company had smuggled in prescription painkillers, steroids and amphetamines into the U.S. from India, Germany, Hungary and elsewhere. Shipping the packages with little or no verification as to the buyer's age or medical needs; giving teens and abusers easy access to dangerous drugs. Arrests took place in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota, Fla.; Abilene and Tyler, Texas; New York City and Rochester, N.Y.; Philadelphia; and Greenville, S.C. Authorities also made arrests in Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and India. The FDA has led the government's enforcement efforts against Internet pharmacies as part of its strenuous opposition to the legalization of imported prescription drugs