We Restore Hope -

The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself. ~Jane Addams

More than 500 pounds of unwanted medications were collected at five sites in Polk County, Iowa last weekend.

Law enforcement agencies, substance abuse treatment and prevention organizations, and more than 50 volunteers participated in the Polk County Substance Abuse and Addiction Workgroup’s event.

“This is a tremendous outcome from the first initiative this group has undertaken to decrease drug abuse and addiction in Polk County,” said Mike Wenger, a prevention specialist with the group.

The drive-through drug drop-off made participation simple. More than 325 vehicles went through the lines. Most items were taken by law enforcement officers to an incinerator. About eight pounds were given to the Iowa Drug Repository.

“One-third of all new abusers of prescription drugs are 12 to 17 years old, and prescription drugs are the drug of choice among 12 to 13-year-olds,” said Wenger.

Praise the bridge that carried you over. ~George Colman

Giving heroin to heroin addicts may not sound like a great idea, but it could soon become the preferred treatment for addicts. Switzerland and a handful of other countries already have clinics that give small, supervised doses, and Britain could be next after completing a four-year trial on the practice. The results were encouraging. Street-drug use among participants fell 75 percent in six months.

The goal is to eventually wean addicts off the drug, and the treatment is only used if detox and methadone have failed.

“It’s a less than perfect treatment,” said one researcher. “But for entrenched addicts, it gives them the first step toward getting their life together.”

The idea is still controversial. In Switzerland last year, 68 percent backed a referendum to keep the clinics open.

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. ~Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind

A rise in heroin abuse by teenagers across the country has led one high school to issue an ultimatum to parents: attend a seminar on the dangers of heroin or your child will be banned from the prom. More than 1,000 parents showed up to the forum in Smithtown, New York two weeks ago.

Those teenagers include Natalie Ciappa, a National Honor Society member, star of school plays, and a cheerleader who sang the national anthem at basketball games. She was everything a parent could want – and the furthest thing from the traditional picture of a heroin addict. Ciappa is one of the new faces of heroin addiction. Days before her high school graduating in 2008, Natalie overdosed and died.

“When we found her, she was already gone,” said Natalie’s mother Doreen Ciappa. “She wasn’t breathing. We heard her last breath.”

Natalie was one of 46 people to die last year from a heroin overdose in Nassau County, New York, a 75 percent increase from the previous year. This disturbing trend is being felt across the country.

Heroin has killed 23 people this year in Will County, Illinois, compared to 16 last year. The number of heroin deaths in Jefferson County, Alabama, has tripled from six in 2007 to 18 this year. And in 2008 there were 119 deaths in Oregon – 71 in Multnomah County alone.

A small bag of heroin “is actually cheaper than a six-pack of beer,” said John Gilbride, the special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Agency’s New York field office.

Dealers have refined production methods, making the drug cheaper and more powerful.

“You can do heroin once,” Gilbride said. “It may be the last chance that you get to do heroin.”

Carrying a resentment is like being pregnant. Everyone else sees it but your the one that feels it. David Chalkley

A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes – also present in humans – that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior.

This discovery provides a significant explanation of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others, as well as a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism. This finding also sheds new light on many of the negative side effects of drinking, such as liver damage.

The researchers first measured the amount of time it took for the fruit flies to lose postural control (fall down) after the exposure to alcohol. At the same time, changes in the expression of all the flies genes were recorded. Using statistical methods to identify genes that work together, the scientists were able to pinpoint specific genes that played a crucial role in adaptation relating to alcohol exposure. The expression of the human counterpart of a critical gene in fruit flies could be directly tied to alcohol consumption in humans.

The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away. ~Barbara Kingsolver

Ireland has the fourth highest use of cocaine among 15 to 24-year-olds in Europe.

The annual report of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction found that almost 4 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds used cocaine in Ireland last year. Denmark had the highest rate, with 5.6 percent, Spain had 5.4 percent, and the rate was 5 percent in Great Britain. The lowest rate for cocaine use was found in Romania, which had 0.1 percent.

Ireland was also among those countries with the highest prevalence of drug-related deaths. It was fifth in Europe, with 57 drug-induced deaths per million of population, behind Luxembourg, Estonia, Norway and Denmark.

Treatment demand for cocaine use had increased dramatically in Ireland in the last eight years. In 2001, 81 people reported cocaine use as their main drug problem, while the number for 2008 was 775.

Ireland was identified as a country where legal alternatives to illegal drugs are sold. The internet and “head shops” were seen as the main outlet.

The director of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction said that “there is little to suggest at present any improvement regarding cocaine and heroin use in Europe.”

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Anderson

The Royal College of Nursing in England issued a report suggesting that alcohol use will cause over 90,000 avoidable deaths in the next decade.

The Royal College of Nursing wants better regulation of the alcohol industry to lessen the dangers and health care costs associated with heavy drinking.

“For 90,000 lives to be thrown away as a result of excessive drinking would be an absolute tragedy,” said Dr. Peter Carter, head of the RCN. “As well as causing unimaginable suffering for the families and friends of those involved, more people needing hospital treatment for alcohol-related reasons means extra pressure on an already over-stretched and pressurized health service.”

“The nation’s (England) relationship with alcohol is a national and international disgrace,” Carter said.

The future is always beginning now. ~Mark Strand, Reasons for Moving

Your genetic content may predispose you to drink more but may not increase your genetic risk for alcoholism. New research pinpoints genetic pathways and genes associated with levels of alcohol consumption but not with alcohol dependence in rats and humans.

Researchers at the University of Colorado used rats to identify the genetic pathways affecting alcohol drinking behavior. They found that the rats’ drinking behavior was linked to the pleasure and reward pathways in the brain.

“We know that high levels of alcohol consumption can increase the risk of becoming alcohol dependent in these who have a genetic make up that predisposes them to dependence. This is a case of interaction between genes and environment,” said lead researcher Boris Tabakoff.

Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues. ~Hugh Prather

Alcohol consumption has long been linked to cancer and its spread, but the underlying mechanism has never been clear. Now, researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have identified a cellular pathway that may explain the link.

The researchers found that alcohol stimulates what is called the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, in which ordinary cancer cells morph into a more aggressive form and begin to spread throughout the body.

“Cancer cells become dangerous when they metastasize,” said Christopher Forsyth, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and biochemistry at Rush University Medical Center and the lead author of the study.

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” Woody Allen

Tennis star Andre Agassi admits in his new autobiography that used crystal meth in 1997 and lied to tennis authorities when he failed a drug test. That result was thrown out after he said he “unwittingly” took the drug.

Agassi used the drug before the World Anti-Doping Agency was founded in 1999, when anti-doping in tennis was managed by individual governing bodies.

“I can’t speak to addiction, but a lot of people would say that if you’re using anything as an escape, you have a problem,” Agassi said on People magazine’s website. Agassi retired from tennis in 2006.

After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done. ~Author Unknown

New animal studies suggest that memory and other cognitive problems experienced by cocaine-addicted people can result directly from the cocaine abuse in addition to preexisting traits or lifestyle factors.

“Our results clearly demonstrate the negative impact that even limited access to cocaine can have on cognitive function,” said senior author Charles W. Bradberry, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh.

“These findings may lead to the development of therapies for cognitive impairments as a way to improve addiction treatment.”

Cocaine users display a range of cognitive deficits, including problems with decision-making, planning and memory. The greater these deficits, the more likely treatment will fail. The current finding is part of study of cognitive assessment in cocaine-exposed rhesus monkeys, which offer an ideal model for study because their brain structure and function are similar to that of humans.