Although Florida is continuing the fight against fake marijuana and cocaine (bath salts), many makers and sellers of the fake drugs are skirting state and federal bans of their products and making loads of money. Earlier this year, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Florida legislators banned a long list of chemicals found in both fake marijuana and fake cocaine (bath salts). But manufacturers are changing the chemical compounds just enough to escape the bans.
“It’s a frustrating road,” said Special Agent David Gross of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “These are not traditional drugs…these are chemical substances.”
There have been 149 overdoses in Florida connected to the fake cocaine(bath salts). Another 374 overdoses, including two deaths, were connected to fake marijuana in the state.
Posts Tagged ‘treatment centers’
Makers And Sellers Of Fake Drugs Skirting Bans
Monday, November 14th, 2011Depression in college students
Friday, April 1st, 2011
A new study of college students finds that depression is not properly addressed by schools.
“I think the stress of academic performance has helped cause an increase in the rate of depression among students,” said Michael Fleming, one of the lead authors of the study and a professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “That’s why it’s important to take the opportunity to screen at every visit.
According to the study, about 25 percent of all students who sought help were ultimately diagnosed as depressed. The study was conducted over a period of two years and surveyed more than 1,600 students who visited their campus health centers at the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin.
“Depression screening is easy to do,” Fleming said. “We know it works, and it can save lives.”
Epidemic of prescription drugs spreading in high schools
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
It has been reported that twenty percent of students in high school have abused prescription drugs. The epidemic of prescription drugs has posed a challenge for law enforcement and school officials, as well as for parents.
It is important to know how to dispose of unused prescription drugs, so as to minimize the chances of abuse by your child or their friends. Many communities around the United States have initiated take back programs, some even designating entire days to safely ridding medicine cabinets of the prescription drugs. Many pharmacies will take back unused prescription drugs, no questions asked. For participating pharmacies, visit
www.disposemymeds.com . Many pills can be mixed into coffee grounds or cat litter, then thrown away with the rest of the household garbage in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Some pills can be flushed down the toilet, but check before you do to make sure this will not harm your plumbing. For more information on safe disposal of prescription drugs, visit www.fda.gov
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Is acupuncture safe and effective?
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
New research has shed doubt on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture. The researchers found that there was little convincing evidence that acupuncture is successful in reducing a patient’s pain.
“Many systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain management are available, yet they only support few indications, and contradictions abound,” said Professor Edzard Ernst, M.D., PhD., of the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in England.
“Acupuncture remains associated with serious adverse effects. One might argue that, in view of the popularity of acupuncture, the number of serious adverse effects is minute. We would counter, however, that even one avoidable adverse event is one too many. The key to making progress would be to train all acupuncturists to a high level of competency.”
The Genesis Program for the homeless
Monday, March 28th, 2011
The Genesis Program is a unique treatment program at the Union Mission in West Virginia. The Genesis Program helps those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction who are also homeless.
“I was recently homeless and I came here to get some help with maybe food and shelter. Then I heard about the Genesis Program. I struggle with addiction, with alcoholism,” said Jeromy Bolton, who has been in the program since January. Bolton used to drink a liter and a half of vodka every day.
The Genesis Program lasts one year and there are currently almost two dozen men and women in the program.
One-year-old daughter drunk
Friday, March 25th, 2011
A woman in Houston is facing felony child endangerment charges after police found her and her one-year-old daughter drunk on Four Loko.
Lashwanda Allen, 32, had been drinking the alcoholic energy drink and fell asleep. Allen’s roommate found the child wandering the halls of the apartment complex and called police. The roommate then found Allen’s other child, a four-month-old girl, hanging upside down from the bed and turning blue. The roommate called an ambulance. The older child was found drunk in the parking lot with a legally intoxicated blood alcohol content of .09.
Allen is being held on $2,000 bond in the Harris County jail.
Ohio’s fight against opiate addiction
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
Treatment officials in Ohio are pleased with Governor John Kasich’s support and funding for the fight against the state’s severe problem with opiate addiction. Under the previous administration of Ted Strickland, budget cuts resulted in addicts scrambling for treatment services in Ohio.
Governor Kasich has now set aside $4.6 million dollars for treatment, but Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, the spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Drug Addiction and Alcohol Services, is encouraged with the governor’s move. The Ohio Department of Drug Addiction and Alcohol Services funnels state and federal treatment services money to 50 local mental health and recovery boards across the state.
“It’ll help,” said Frohnapfel-Hasson. “We’ve been so historically underfunded.”
Women can suffer more negative effects from alcohol
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
A new study has learned that women in Australia and New Zealand suffer more negative effects from alcohol than almost anywhere else in the world. The study looked at the consequences of drinking in 26 countries. The number of drinkers and its cultural norms were a factor in the study. The authors of the study said that negative consequences of using alcohol may be more in poorer countries. Australian women were more likely to have negative consequences on their work and personal relationships as a result of drinking alcohol.
“It does highlight the possibility there are convergences around drinking patterns in developed countries like Australia so that the differences between men and women are attenuating over time,” said study co-author Paul Dietze, the head of drug and alcohol research at the Burnet Institute.
Young drug users are sharing needles
Monday, March 21st, 2011
A new study of illegal drug use in south Florida finds that young drug users are sharing needles in increasing numbers. The study learned that cocaine and crack are not as popular as in previous years.
“Here’s a generation that’s not that familiar with the high risk of injection drug use,” said Jim Hall, the author of the study and the director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Substance Abuse at Nova Southeastern University.
The study found that in the first half of 2010, people who died from oxycodone overdoses were between 35 and 50 years of age. According to Hall, these people were most likely part of a demographic that began using drugs when they were younger.
Mike Starr has died from the disease of drug addiction
Friday, March 18th, 2011
Another celebrity has unfortunately succumbed to the disease of drug addiction. Mike Starr, the former bassist for Alice in Chains, died in Salt Lake City earlier this week.
Starr, 44, was arrested in February for felony possession of a controlled substance. Police found six Xanax pills and six pain pills on Starr when he was arrested.
“It’s a terrible shock and tragedy,” said Starr’s father.
In 2009, Starr was a part of VH-1′s show, Celebrity Rehab, where he received treatment for heroin addiction at the Pasadena Recovery Center.