We Restore Hope -

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. ~Author Unknown

Mexico enacted a controversial law last week that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging free government treatment for drug dependency.

The law defines “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamines. People detained with those quantities will not be prosecuted. People caught with drug amounts under the personal use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment. For those caught a third time, treatment will be mandatory, although the law does not specify penalties for non-compliance.

The law was approved by the Mexican Congress before it recessed in late April. It is part of President Felipe Calderon’s effort to combat the prevalent drug culture in the country.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is. ~Albert Camus

Alcoholism is a big problem on college campuses. Within Alcoholics Anonymous, underage alcoholics make up just a little more than 2 percent of those going to meetings.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 21 percent of college students are abusing alcohol. Its research found than 1,700 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries, including car crashes. When colleges try to save these students, most focus on binge drinking, create “substance free” dorms, and host orientations discussing the dangers of alcohol.

In 2008, more than 150 college administrators signed the Amethyst Initiative, which wants to lower the legal drinking age. Efforts like AlcoholEdu – a web-based program only explains the basics of drinking. It does not discuss alcoholism and its effects on physical and mental health.

“Prevention programs on college campuses are designed for people who do not have problems with alcohol to begin with,” says Monique Bourgeois, the executive director of the Association of Recovery Schools. Her group, a consortium of more than a dozen schools, is trying to shift the focus to those students who have already hit rock bottom. “It’s time to remove the stigma from having “those kids” on campus,” Bourgeois said. “Young adults can be alcoholics, too.”

Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it. ~Author Unknown

With an estimated 2 million drug addicts in Russia – about one in 50 adults – the country is finally admitting it has a serious problem.

“The goal is not to help people suffering with addiction, but to identify them, and then punish them. No country in the world has ever been able to deal with its drug problems in this way,” said Dasha Ocheret, of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network in Moscow.

One activist says that the culture stifles serious debate about the problems of addiction and demonizes users. This is a major reason why addicts do not get treatment in Russia. Needle exchange programs are not given support and therefore, heroin use is the catalyst for the spread of HIV and hepatitis.

….” VICTORY BELONGS TO THE MOST PERSEVERING”
Napoleon.

You have some cocaine your wallet. Really. Scientists have reported that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, especially in large cities like Baltimore, Boston and Detroit. The scientists found traces of cocaine in 95 pefcent of the money analyzed from Washington, D.C. alone.

The new study suggests that cocaine abuse is still widespread and may be on the rise in some areas. It could help raise public awareness about cocaine use and lead to greater efforts on reducing its abuse.

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~Sydney J. Harris

Binge drinking is usually viewed as a problem on college campuses, but many older adults may be overindulging in alcohol as well, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Using data from a government survey of nearly 11,000 people age 50 and up, researchers found that 23 percent of men between the ages of 50 and 64 admitted to binge drinking in the past month, as did approximately 9 percent of women.

Among adults age 65 and older, more than 14 percent of men and 3 percent of women reported binging – defined as having five or more drinks on one occasion, on at least one day in the past month.

The message for doctors is that they should be asking their older patients specifically about binge drinking to help identify if there is a problem.

We are closer to the ants than to butterflies. Very few people can endure much leisure. ~Gerald Brenan

The parents of a Utah State University freshman who died from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity activity have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school. Attorneys for George and Jane Starks say in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that the university’s “benign neglect” contributed to the Nov. 21 death of their son Michael.

The 18-year-old’s blood alcohol content was higher than 0.35, more than four times the legal limit to drive a car.

The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side. ~Margaret Carty

Kudzu and its extracts and flowers have been used in traditional Chinese folk medicine to treat alcoholism for about 1,000 years. Kudzu contains daidzin, an anti-drinking substance. Daidzin inhibits human aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH-2), which metabolizes alcohol into acetaldehyde. ALDH-2 promotes the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which has aversive effects. A recent test of a synthetic ALDH-2 inhibitor on rats shows that it reduces drinking and prevents relapse by increasing acetaldehyde while drinking and later decreasing dopamine in the brain region that controls a relapse during abstinence.

Let’s not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.
James Thurber

The tragic story of Diane Schuler is part of a frightening trend. The New York mother who caused a deadly wrong-way crash while drunk and stoned brings to light the fact that women in the United States are drinking more, and drunken-driving arrests among women are rising rapidly while falling among men.

Some of those women, as in the Schuler case, are driving with children in the car. Men still drink more than women and are responsible for more drunken-driving cases. But the gap is narrowing, and among the reasons is that women are feeling greater pressures at work and home. As a result, they are driving more and behaving more recklessly.

“Younger women feel more empowered, more equal to men, and have been beginning to exhibit the same uninhibited behaviors as men,” said Chris Cochran of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Nationwide, the number of women arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs was 28.8 percent higher in 2007 than in 1998, while the number of men arrested was 7.5 percent lower.

The increase in arrests comes as women are drinking to excess more than in the past.

Some of those women, as in the Schuler case, are driving with children in the car. Men still drink more than women and are responsible for more drunken-driving cases. But the gap is narrowing, and among the reasons is that women are feeling greater pressures at work and home. As a result, they are driving more and behaving more recklessly.

“Younger women feel more empowered, more equal to men, and have been beginning to exhibit the same uninhibited behaviors as men,” said Chris Cochran of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Nationwide, the number of women arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs was 28.8 percent higher in 2007 than in 1998, while the number of men arrested was 7.5 percent lower.

The increase in arrests comes as women are drinking to excess more than in the past.

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. ~Thomas Jefferson

Women can become alcoholics more quickly than men. They are also likely to develop brain damage from the effects of drinking sooner than men, according to a German research study.

Brain scans of 158 volunteers, including 76 alcoholics, supported previous evidence of the differing effects of alcohol abuse, depending on the drinker’s gender. Mental impairment, heart and skeletal damage and liver disease are all known to be more likely to occur in women, even if they consume less alcohol than men.

I don’t have to attend every argument I’m invited to. ~Author Unknown

A teenage boy received a pacemaker after he suffered a heart attack caused by cocaine abuse.

Tom Bertram, of Portsmouth, England, was spending over $300 a week on cocaine. Since his heart attack, Bertram said he has learned his lesson.

“The doctors said if I took cocaine again I could die, but I’d never do that,” said Bertram, who recently turned 18. “I know I’m lucky to be alive.”

Bertram said he began experimenting with marijuana at the age of 14. At his 17th birthday party, he was tempted to try cocaine and quickly became hooked.

“Coke gave me such a buzz and I liked the confidence it gave me,” he said. “I never considered the risks.”

The cocaine use left Bertram with damaged coronary arteries. The implantation of the pacemaker ensures his heart rate will not drop dangerously low again.