As U.S. Embraces
Marijuana, Sports May Need To Follow Suit
For an advocacy group seeking attention, tying its cause to
the kickoff of the NFL season is never a bad strategy. Such was the thinking
behind a billboard unveiled Wednesday by the Marijuana Policy Project not far
from Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium — home of the Broncos, who
hosted the Baltimore Ravens Thursday night in the first game of the 2013 NFL
campaign. “Stop Driving Players To Drink!” the 48 X 14 foot message says. “A
Safer Choice Is Now Legal (Here).” The visual: a football next to a beer mug. Continue
reading here.
Back to School: Better
grades don’t require prescription drug abuse
It used to be all you needed to do well on your high school
calculus test was a disciplined study plan, a good night’s sleep, and a hearty
breakfast. Nowadays you might need to add a dose or two of Adderall or Ritalin
as well. Or so it would seem. The pressure to get good grades in order to be
accepted by the best colleges and universities, combined with an often crushing
load of extracurricular activities, has convinced an increasing number of high
school students that the only way to stay ahead is through the use – and
frequent abuse – of prescription drugs. Continue
here.
Heroin Use on the Rise,
Methamphetamine Use Decreases, National Survey Finds
A new national survey of drug use released last week finds
heroin use is on the rise, while methamphetamine use is decreasing, Time.com
reports. The survey also found 5.3 percent of young adults used prescription
drugs for nonmedical purposes in the past month, similar to rates in the
previous two years. The survey found rates of teen drinking, including binge
drinking, in the past month were lower last year compared with 2002 and 2009.
Prescription drug abuse rates among adults ages 18 to 25 were significantly
lower last year than in 2009, when 6.4 percent of young adults used
prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, according to the 2012 National
Survey on Drug Use and Health, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey found the number of
Americans who said they used meth in 2012 fell to 440,000, from 731,000 in
2006. SAMHSA said the drop is most likely due to state laws restricting the
sale of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient of meth that is found in cold
medicines such as Sudafed. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug,
the survey found, with 7.3 percent of Americans saying they are current users.
The number of people ages 12 and older who said they used heroin in the past
year increased from 373,000 in 2007, to 669,000 in 2012. Drug use in on the
rise among people ages 50 to 64. The survey found 7.2 percent of people in this
age group used illegal drugs last year, up from 3.4 percent a decade ago. Among
adults ages 55 to 59, drug use rose from 1.9 percent to 6.6 percent from 2002
to 2012. In 2012, more than half of Americans—52.1 percent—reported drinking
alcohol, and almost one quarter—60 million people—reported binge drinking. The
study also found fewer teens are smoking.
Music Festival Attendees
Say “Molly” Use is Widespread
Young people who attend electronic dance music festivals
tell The Christian Science Monitor that use of the drug “Molly” is widespread.
The drug has been attributed to four recent overdose deaths, including two at a
music festival in New York. “I mean, there might be some kids that bring stuff
with them to use or to sell, but the common idea is, you don’t bring sand to a
beach,” Matthew Walcott, a former student at Franklin Pierce University in
Rindge, New Hampshire, told the newspaper. “There’s no reason to, because
there’s crazy, crazy amounts of drugs everywhere.” Wilson Compton, director of
the Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, said, “We’re certainly concerned about reports that
we’re hearing in different locations, about complications and side effects of
these synthetic agents.” He noted that “some people can die from the equivalent
of heat exhaustion brought on by the excess activity under the influence of
this substance.” The drug, a more pure form of Ecstasy, comes in a powder. It
has been available for decades, but has become more popular recently with college
students. Mentions of the drug by music stars including Madonna, Miley Cyrus
and Kanye West have increased its appeal. Molly’s health risks can include
involuntary teeth clenching, a loss of inhibitions, transfixion on sights and
sounds, nausea, blurred vision and chills and/or sweating. More serious risks
of the drug, also called MDMA, can include increased heart rate and blood
pressure and seizures. It is not uncommon to see people at music festivals and
clubs go into a “K hole,” an almost-unconscious state, the newspaper reports.
The term originally referred to an overdose of the drug ketamine. A growing
number of people who use Molly are buying drug test kits online, to test
whether the drugs are laced with impurities.
Pa. colleges move to curb
student drinking
House Party at Bucknell University was a springtime rite of
passage for decades of students, a weekend of live outdoor music, grilled food,
and a festival atmosphere on campus. But the weekend was also known as a hazy
few days of debauchery. Among the tamer pastimes: shots, beer pong, daytime
boxed wine, sometimes all three. While the tradition of House Party appeared
sacred on Bucknell's campus, university president John Bravman canceled the
event in August, joining a growing band of officials across the state taking
action against alcohol abuse. Please
click here to continue.
FDA Announces Stronger
Safety Warnings for Some Opioid Painkillers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced
safety labeling changes for extended-release and long-acting opioid
painkillers. The new labels will call attention to the dangers of abuse and
possible death, Reuters reports. They will also highlight the risks to babies
whose mothers take the medicines, in a prominent boxed warning. The labels will
appear on drugs including OxyContin, a long-acting form of oxycodone. Other
opioids include fentanyl and morphine. The drug labels currently state they are
indicated for patients with moderate to severe pain. The new labels will
indicate the drugs should be used only by patients in pain that is severe
enough to require daily, constant, long-term opioid treatment, who have not had
adequate pain relief from other medicines. The FDA will also require additional
studies of the drugs to assess risks of abuse, overdose and death. “The FDA is
invoking its authority to require safety labeling changes and postmarket
studies to combat the misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death from these
potent drugs that have harmed too many patients and devastated too many
families and communities,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a news
release.
ACA Brings Big Changes for
Addiction Treatment
The Affordable Care Act recognizes drug addiction and
alcoholism as chronic diseases that must be covered by health insurance plans,
and in so doing marks a major transformation of addiction care.
The biggest change is that 40 million people could enter
substance abuse treatment, opening a huge market for addiction care. Click here for the rest
of this story.
6 ways your life is personally affected by the War on Drugs
US drug policy has unequivocally curtailed your basic civil rights, regardless of whether you're a user
US drug policy has unequivocally curtailed your basic civil rights, regardless of whether you're a user
Many Americans who do not use illegal “drugs” assume
exemption from drug war policies. But regardless of how much marijuana you do
or don’t smoke, the U.S. war on drugs affects nearly everyone. While some
prohibition tactics are more obvious than others, the drug war has slyly pushed
its way into many corners of American life. Be it at the post office, in the
workspace, or behind the counter at Walgreens, the war on drugs has established
a nagging presence in the everyday lives of Americans, even those who do not
get high illegally. We can no longer come down with a cold, for example,
without the medication we take to treat it being tracked and monitored by the
government. A national database collects information on every person who buys cold
medication containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine.
Read more here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Drug Testing in
Schools
To read the latest NIDA information on this topic, click here.
To read the latest NIDA information on this topic, click here.
Number of People Seeking
Addiction Treatment Could Double Under New Health Law
The number of people seeking addiction treatment could
double under the Affordable Care Act, the Associated Press reports. Under the
new law, four million people with drug and alcohol problems will become
eligible for insurance coverage. The surge of new patients is likely to strain
the substance abuse treatment system, the AP notes. How many new patients will
seek addiction treatment will depend in part on how many states decide to
expand their Medicaid programs. “There is no illness currently being treated
that will be more affected by the Affordable Care Act than addiction,” Tom
McLellan, CEO of the nonprofit Treatment Research Institute, told the AP.
“That’s because we have a system of treatment that was built for a time when
they didn’t understand that addiction was an illness.” The new law designates
addiction treatment as an “essential health benefit” for most commercial
insurance plans, meaning the plans must cover it. Substance abuse treatment is
to a large extent publicly funded, and run by counselors who have limited
medical training, according to the article. Programs are already running over
capacity in many places, and have been hit by government budget cuts. The
increase in patients could result in long waiting lists, treatment agencies
warn. According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 23.1
million people ages 12 and older needed treatment for an illicit drug or
alcohol use problem last year, but only 2.5 million received treatment at a
specialty facility. About one-quarter of those who need treatment but do not
receive it lack insurance, according to the article.
DEA Says New Cold Medicine
Can be Used to Make Meth
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said this week
that a new cold medicine must be kept behind pharmacy counters because it can
be used to make methamphetamine. The medicine, Zephrex-D, contains a new form
of pseudoephedrine that the drug’s maker says is difficult to use to make meth.
Over the past month, pharmacies have started to sell Zephrex-D in all 50
states. DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said government chemists were able to make
meth from the cold medicine, the Associated Press reports. “DEA commends the
efforts of companies to develop products that deter the production of illicit
drugs,” he said. “While this particular company claims that their ‘drug
delivery system provides a new and unconventional approach to combat drug
misuse,’ this product can still be utilized to manufacture methamphetamine.” In
a news release, the company that makes Zephrex-D, Westport Pharmaceuticals,
says the product cannot be used to make meth with the one-pot shake-and-bake
method, in which the ingredients are mixed together in a soda bottle. “The vast
majority of homemade meth is now produced this way,” the company notes, adding
that the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association said it has not found the
product in any meth labs. Pseudoephedrine must be crystallized in order to make
meth. Westport officials say the pseudoephedrine in their product becomes gooey
when heated, instead of crystallizing. The officials acknowledge that their
product can be used to make meth in very small quantities, but that a single
dose made in this way would cost $250 to $500—up to 20 times the street value.
According to the U.S. Combat Meth Act, pseudoephedrine products must be sold
behind the counter. A person purchasing the products must show identification
and have their names entered into a tracking database. More than 70 cities and
counties in Missouri require prescriptions for pseudoephedrine, as do Oregon
and Mississippi.
Drugs, Death and Dance
Music
As lights flashed, monster beats pounded and thousands of
ravers threw their arms in the air, things took a dark turn on August 31st, the
second day of New York's annual Electric Zoo festival. In separate incidents,
two young fans, University of New Hampshire student Olivia Rotondo, 20, and
recent Syracuse University graduate Jeffrey Russ, 23, died after apparently
taking MDMA, which is commonly referred to as Ecstasy (in its pill form) and
Molly (a powder). According to a New York Post report, Rotondo told an EMS
worker, "I just took six hits of Molly," before suffering a massive
seizure. Click
here to continue reading.
Energy drink studies may
be clouded by industry ties
The involvement of energy drink companies in research into
their products has prevented clear answers about the risks these drinks may
pose, argues a new editorial in a prominent medical journal. In the pages of
the journal BMJ, a researcher raised concerns about the role of energy drink
makers, specifically Red Bull, in the design and interpretation of research
into the safety of these drinks. The studies have investigated whether energy
drinks worsen the harms from alcohol consumption when the two beverages are
taken together. The
rest of this story is here.
Senate Panel Approves
Lesniak Bill Allowing ‘Recovery’ Charter Schools
The NJ Senate Education Committee on Thursday approved a
legislative proposal authored by Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) that would
allow for the creation of recovery charter schools to help students overcome
substance abuse or dependence disorders. The legislation, S-2974, would permit
charter schools devoted to students in recovery. “This would provide sober
schooling for young students in recovery,” said Lesniak. “These schools will
help students address their addiction issues at the same time they receive a
quality education.”
Please click here to continue.
Views of Drunk Driving May
Change Once a Person Becomes Intoxicated: Study
Drinking can change a person’s view of intoxicated driving,
according to a new study. A person who normally disapproves of drunk driving
may change their view once they have had a few drinks. The study of 82 young
adults compared their views on drunk driving twice: once when they were sober,
and a second time after they drank a moderate amount of alcohol, HealthDay
reports. After participants had been drinking and were coming down from their
peak blood alcohol levels, they felt it was safer to drive than they did when
they were sober and asked whether it would be safe to drive after having
several drinks. “We all probably know people who make good decisions about lots
of things when they’re sober, but put four or five beers in them and they make
bad ones. So that part wasn’t surprising,” University of Missouri researcher
Denis McCarthy said. “I was surprised, however, that it was such a big effect
over and above their sober beliefs.” He noted that when people are coming down
from their peak blood alcohol level, they are typically driving home. The
findings are published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
Mark B. Johnson, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation, noted in a journal news release, “The present research
shows us that the sort of decisions people think they would make while sober
may be different than the decisions they would make after drinking. If we want
to understand how to change people’s drinking and driving decisions in the real
world, we need to study decision making under the influence of alcohol.”
California Legislature
Passes Two Bills Aimed at Curbing Prescription Drug Abuse
The California Senate passed two bills designed to fight
prescription drug abuse and overdose deaths, the Los Angeles Times reports. The
bills, which were passed unanimously, now await Governor Jerry Brown’s
signature. The measures will help officials track prescriptions for painkillers
and other addictive narcotics, the article notes. They will also allow for
increased scrutiny of deaths that involve prescription drug abuse. One of the
bills requires coroners to report prescription overdose deaths to the Medical
Board of California for review, while the other provides increased funding for
the state’s prescription drug monitoring system. The state database includes
information on prescriptions for commonly abused drugs, including the names of
patients and the doctors who prescribe the drugs. A third bill, which would
have allowed the state medical board to act more quickly to suspend prescribing
privileges of doctors who are suspected of endangering patients, was opposed by
the California Medical Association. It failed a vote in the Assembly. The
newspaper notes the measure is expected to be reconsidered soon. Last year, the
Los Angeles Times conducted an investigation that concluded a small number of
doctors are linked to a large percentage of prescription drug-related deaths in
Southern California. The newspaper found that in almost half of the 3,733
deaths from prescription drugs in four Southern California counties, those who
died had a doctor’s prescription for at least one drug that caused or
contributed to the death. In many cases, deaths were caused by use of multiple
drugs, sometimes prescribed by more than one doctor. In some cases,
prescription drugs were mixed with alcohol or illicit drugs.
Editorial - The Marijuana
Muddle
On marijuana policy, there’s a rift between the federal
government and the states. It started with California’s allowing marijuana for
medical use in 1996, widened as several other states followed suit, and became
too big to ignore 10 months ago, when voters in Colorado and Washington decided
to legalize the drug for recreational use. Under federal law possession is
still a crime. Please
continue reading here.
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