Medical Marijuana Gains
Momentum in the Deep South
Medical marijuana has been a non-starter in recent years in
the Deep South, where many Republican lawmakers feared it could lead to
widespread drug use and social ills. That now appears to be changing, with
proposals to allow a form of medical marijuana gaining momentum in a handful of
Southern states. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have legalized
medical marijuana, and this year powerful GOP lawmakers in Georgia and Alabama
are putting their weight behind bills that would allow for the limited use of
cannabis oil by those with specific medical conditions. Other Southern states
are also weighing the issue with varying levels of support. Please
click here for the rest of this story.
Heroin Use and Substance
Abuse
Donna Leinwand Leger talked about heroin use and substance
abuse in the U.S. and government plans to deal with it. She said that reasons
for the rise in heroin abuse include people moving to heroin from their
prescription drugs because it is cheaper… Click here to view the
complete C-Span interview.
Two of America's Biggest
Drug Problems Are Intertwined
Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s tragic death last weekend has
placed a renewed spotlight on the nation's heroin epidemic, a problem that has
grown much, much worse in the last decade.
Behind the recent uptick in heroin deaths is a spike in the
number of Americans abusing another kind of drug: prescription painkillers,
which Hoffman reportedly abused before his problem escalated to include heroin.
Dozens of deaths in Pennsylvania, Vermont and elsewhere have been linked to a
form of heroin laced with Fentanyl, a particularly potent painkiller. But in
many cases, it appears the victims first got hooked on prescription pills only
to later switch to heroin for the cheaper high. Please
click here for the rest of this story.
Medication for alcohol use
disorder: Which agents work best?
FDA-approved and off-label medications help patients achieve
abstinence and maintain sobriety.
Historically, alcohol use disorder (AUD; classified as
alcohol abuse or dependence in DSM-IV-TR) has been treated with psychosocial
therapies, but many patients treated this way relapse into heavy drinking
patterns and are unable to sustain sobriety. Although vital for treating AUD,
psychosocial methods have, to date, a modest success rate. Research has
demonstrated that combining pharmacotherapy with psychosocial programs is
effective for treating AUD. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Study: Minimum Pricing for
Alcohol Would Affect Poorer, High-Risk Drinkers
Setting a minimum price for alcohol would benefit the health
of high-risk drinkers with low incomes but have little effect on moderate
drinkers with low incomes, according to a new study. Using a computer model
that analyses the way people respond to price changes, British researchers
examined how a minimum price of about 73 cents per unit of alcohol would affect
the drinking habits of different groups of people. There are about two units in
a pint of beer, nine to 10 units in a bottle of wine, and one unit in a 25
milliliter shot of spirits, the University of Sheffield researchers explained.
The study results showed that this minimum price would have the greatest impact
on the 5 percent of the population who are high-risk drinkers, defined as more
than 50 units of alcohol a week for men and more than 35 units a week for
women. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Doctors unprepared for
medical marijuana
Now that medical marijuana is legal in Massachusetts and
licenses have been awarded for the first 20 dispensaries, you’d guess that my
practice is busily preparing to meet the demands of patients seeking marijuana
for several debilitating conditions including chemotherapy-related nausea and
AIDS-related weight loss.
You’d guess wrong. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Explainer: Prescription
Monitoring Program Enters Crucial Phase
State considers whether to increase requirements for doctors
to participate in PMP. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Use of Heroin and
Prescription Painkillers Have Become Integrated, Experts Say
A growing number of people switch back and forth between
prescription painkillers and heroin, experts tell The New York Times. They call
prescription opiates “heroin lite.” “The old-school user, pre-1990s, mostly
used just heroin, and if there was none around, went through withdrawal,” said
Stephen E. Lankenau, a sociologist at Drexel University. Today, he said, “users
switch back and forth, to pills then back to heroin when it’s available, and
back again. The two have become integrated.” Some young people are introduced
to opiates through prescription painkillers. For people in recovery,
painkillers can set off heroin craving. “You can get the pills from so many
sources,” said Traci Rieckmann, an addiction researcher at Oregon Health &
Science University (OHSU). “There’s no paraphernalia, no smell. It’s the
perfect drug, for many people.” About half of the 200 people being treated for
heroin addiction at the Cleveland Clinic’s Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center
every month started on prescription opiates, according to addiction specialist
Dr. Jason Jerry. “Often it’s a legitimate prescription, but next thing they
know, they’re obtaining the pills illicitly,” he said. They realize heroin is
much less expensive than pills, so they switch. People who have gone through
rehab may be vulnerable to an overdose because they don’t realize their
tolerance level has dropped, according to Dr. Nicholas L. Gideonse, the medical
director of OHSU Richmond Community Health Center in Portland.
What Is Addiction?
As the death of the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and the
rise of overdoses in New England indicate, heroin continues to be a plague of
both desperate poverty and tortured privilege. The abuse of prescription drugs
is an even more widespread problem. But what causes the addiction that lets
drug abuse flourish? Is addiction a disorder, a matter of human frailty or
something else? Please
click here to follow this discussion.
The Facts About Heroin
From how it affects your brain to how it kills you, here's
what you need to know about the lethal drug. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Americans Are Buying More
Alcohol, Research Firm Finds
People are buying more alcohol for use at home, according to
new figures from a market research firm. Spending on alcohol grew during every
quarter over the last four years, indicating increased alcohol sales are not a
weather-related trend. The firm, IRI, found in the four-week period ending
January 26, unit sales of beer from retailers—not restaurants and bars—rose
6.75 percent from a year earlier. Popular products included Bud Light
Lime-A-Rita and Straw-Ber-Rita. Craft beer also increased market share.
Whiskies, particularly bourbon, were also popular. Other spirits that saw
increased growth included Diageo’s Cîroc Amaretto, Johnnie Walker Platinum and
Gold Bullion Reserve and Captain Morgan White, BloombergBusinessweek reports.
Wine sales rose 3.3 last month, and at-home wine consumption rose by about 5
percent last year.
Marijuana Delivery
Services Spring Up in Washington State
Marijuana delivery services are springing up in Washington
state, where recreational marijuana for adults is now legal, but state-run
stores won’t start selling the drug for non-medical purposes until later this
year. One such business is the Winterlife Cooperative Cannabis Delivery
Service, which delivers marijuana to anyone age 21 and older in the greater
Seattle area. The company provides a daily menu of marijuana strains and edible
products, and charges about $80 per quarter ounce. Customers can also order a
“Critter Box” starter kit for $350, which includes several types of marijuana
and hash, along with a pipe and vaporizer. Winterlife is a cash-only business,
Time reports. On its website, Winterlife tells customers it will not ship its
products. The company adds, “It is illegal to take cannabis products out of
state, we cannot condone the removal of our cannabis products from WA state or
give advice on how to avoid detection in the process of removal of cannabis
products from WA state. So Really, DON’T ASK!” According to Seattle Police
Spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, marijuana delivery services are not legal, but
added he does not expect authorities to take action against them.
When Marijuana Looks Like
Candy, Not Drugs
This is not what I thought marijuana looked like. I
understand that I’m naive, and arguably poorly informed. But I don’t think I’m
the only one. When I thought about legalized marijuana, whether for
recreational or medicinal purposes, I was thinking about joints. When I talk to
my children about marijuana use, I expected to talk about smoking — not candy
bars, gummy drops and what look like Tootsie Rolls. The marijuana chocolate bar
Trish Reske’s son consumed and the other products pictured here don’t look like
drugs your mother would warn you about. They look like food. They look safe.
They look yummy. This is not what I thought marijuana looked like. I understand
that I’m naive, and arguably poorly informed. But I don’t think I’m the only
one. When I thought about legalized marijuana, whether for recreational or medicinal
purposes, I was thinking about joints. When I talk to my children about
marijuana use, I expected to talk about smoking — not candy bars, gummy drops
and what look like Tootsie Rolls. The marijuana chocolate bar Trish Reske’s son
consumed and the other products pictured here don’t look like drugs your mother
would warn you about. They look like food. They look safe. They look yummy. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Acamprosate: An Alcoholism
Treatment That May Not Be What We Thought
Occasionally, a paper comes along that fundamentally
challenges what we thought we knew about a drug mechanism. The burden of proof
in these cases is high, but if done in the right manner, these papers are
particularly important. They have the potential of allowing us to go beyond
incremental insights and may point to important, previously unrecognized
processes. In this issue, Spanagel et al (2013) do just that, with regard to
the FDA-approved alcoholism medication acamprosate and its mechanism of action.
Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Residential Neighborhoods
Wrestle with Issue of Medical Marijuana
Homeowners associations in states where medical marijuana is
legal are wrestling with the issue of whether to prohibit use of the drug, The
Christian Science Monitor reports. “It’s a brand-new ball game,” said Bob
Meisner, a Michigan attorney who focuses on laws related to community
associations. “Associations are going to have to decide: Do they want to do
anything about prohibiting this kind of conduct?” He notes communities must
take into account state and federal fair housing laws, which require reasonable
accommodations for residents who have disabilities. Currently, 20 states and
the District of Columbia have approved use of medical marijuana. In addition,
recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older is legal in Colorado and
Washington state. Colorado attorney David Firmin says homeowners associations
would probably have a difficult time enforcing marijuana smoking bans. Such
cases are likely to end up in court, he noted. “The one thing that I
continually hear is that the marijuana lobby is well-funded and that they’re
looking to challenge any restrictions on their rights,” he said. Kelly
Richardson, an attorney who sits on the Community Associations Institute board,
told the newspaper the organization has received many calls from members about
whether they can legally restrict marijuana. Arizona attorney Jason Smith, who
runs seminars on medical marijuana and homeowners associations, recommends
marijuana users use pills, oils and food products instead of smoking the drug,
in order to accommodate neighbors.
Teens Who Consume Energy
Drinks May Be More Likely to Use Alcohol and Drugs:
Study
A new study suggests teens who consume high-caffeine energy
drinks such as Monster or Red Bull may be more likely to use alcohol, drugs or
cigarettes. The study included almost 22,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12,
HealthDay reports. The researchers found 30 percent said they drank
high-caffeine energy drinks or shots, while more than 40 percent drank regular
soft drinks daily, and 20 percent drank diet soda daily. Teens who consumed
energy drinks were two to three times more likely to admit recently using
drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, compared with teens who didn’t consume energy
drinks. Eighth graders were more likely than older students to use energy
drinks. Boys, teens without two parents at home, and those whose parents had
lower education levels, were also more likely to consume the drinks. Drinking
sodas was related to substance use, but the association was much weaker
compared with energy drink consumption. “The current study indicates that
adolescent consumption of energy drinks/shots is widespread and that energy
drink users also report heightened risk for substance use,” the University of
Michigan’s researchers wrote in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. The researchers
note teens who are risk-taking may be more attracted to both energy drinks and
to other substances.
Cheap Crack Pipes, Free
Heroin, and Free Booze: The Evidence for Helping Addicts
From needle exchanges to the latest "wet houses"
for alcoholics, studies show "harm reduction" can help kick a habit.
A crack pipe vending machine for addicts sounds like the
punch line of a bad joke—but the same kind of ridicule has been lobbed at many
measures to fight drug addiction and related harm that have now proven to save
lives. From needle exchange programs for HIV prevention to providing heroin to
addicts, and from supervised injecting rooms to “wet houses” where homeless
alcoholics are given free booze, approaches that seem to “enable” users are in
fact effective in helping them to survive and recover. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
Medical marijuana: OK,
it's legal. Now, how do we live with it?
Some 20 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana.
But the struggle is just beginning over how to make it work where people live,
such as this housing association in Phoenix.
Cancer survivor Tom LaBonte had vowed to collect enough
signatures in his Phoenix-area subdivision over the weekend to overturn his
homeowners association's ban on marijuana use, but it won't be necessary. Amid
an outcry from residents, the HOA rescinded the ban. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
The Doctor Is In (My
Veins): Reporter Gets Shot Up With Hangover Cure By Surfer Bro Nurse
On a 9 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, I felt terrible. The room
was spinning and making me seasick. I had a strong urge to throw up in whatever
corner I could get to fast enough. There were strange patches of black ice
where the memory of the night before should have been. I’d been hungover
before, but this morning it was going to serve a purpose. The previous evening,
I had skipped dinner and drank a succession of whiskey ginger ales, slowly
graduating to just straight whiskey, in anticipation of a visit from The I.V.
Doctor, a new service that takes “concierge medicine” to a new level, with
intravenous solutions to your next-day fuzzies made via house call. Please
click here for the rest of this article.
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