Ecstasy to blame for Psychotic behavior?

A while back I posted an article about ecstasy being underestimated in it's effects, in our addiction physiology catagory, but now this could be another conformation. Can ecstasy sometimes cause phychotic behavior? 

"TAMPA - A Port St. Lucie teenager accused of hammering his parents to death may have been high on the drug "ecstacy."

17-year-old Tyler Hadley is accused of killing his parents with a hammer last weekend, and then hosting a party at his house with his parents' dead bodies inside.

Now, one of Hadley's best friends says he admitted to taking three ecstasy pills around the time of the murders.

Ecstasy is a drug typically used at raves or concerts. In Florida, men are more likely to use it, and in exposure cases reported to Florida's poison control in the last three years, the oldest was 67 and the youngest was just 3 months.

Ecstasy is a drug of choice for young people, even though they are most at risk for its dangers, because they have underdeveloped frontal lobes.

"That is the part of the brain that gives us judgment," said University Community Hospital neurologist Dr. Nancy Rodgers-Neame. "Really keeps us from behaving in a knee-jerk kind of manner."

Dr. Rodgers-Neame says those lobes are not fully developed until someone's late 20s. That's why teenagers tend to act more impulsively.

Add a drug like ecstasy, and the combination is a dangerous one.

"It causes the release of neurotransmitters that are already present in the brain," Dr. Rodgers-Neame said.

Neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, released in large amounts, causes hyperactivity at minimum. At worst, it leads to hallucinations and behavior that follows.

"It can cause psychotic behaviors. It's not a safe drug," said Florida Poison 

Information Director Dr. Cynthia Lewis-Younger. "I do believe that people may do things they would not do off of the drug, while they are on the drug, yes."

Still, both doctors believe someone would likely have to be predisposed to some kind of psychotic behavior in order for ecstasy to bring it out. In the case of Tyler Hadley, they say ecstasy can't be entirely to blame, but the situation may be unexplainable without it.

"Ecstasy will not turn your normal teenager into Mr. Hyde," Dr. Rodgers-Neame said."

Alison Morrow
ABC News 23rd July 2011 

Source: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/new...hotic-behaivor

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Cannabis Case for Legalization

The chemical dependency counseling community has been keeping an open ear on this subject, but it's very two sided. You can legalize cannabis to stop violence, but increase addiction and the amount of chemical dependency counselors needed...or not legalize it and violence remains the same, but you get a decrease in dependency and addiction.

"ENDING the prohibition on cannabis would stop the shootings on Liverpool’s streets, bring much- needed relief to those suffering with disease and help fill the UK’s ailing coffers.

That is the stance of Clear, the UK’s only registered political party set up to campaign for cannabis reform.

Rather than demanding the drug is made available to everyone everywhere as some groups do, Clear is working towards proper informed debate on the issue and an end to the criminalisation of those who smoke for medicinal reasons.

When the government changed the legislation on cannabis in 2004, downgrading it from a Class B to Class C substance, police chiefs said it sent out completely the wrong message to criminals and opened up a market for them that – now it has been returned to Class B – the authorities are struggling to get a grip of.

And five shootings – including two in broad daylight – in as many days on Merseyside last week were put down to warring gangs fighting over cannabis and drug turfs.

Author Peter Reynolds, leader of Clear, says ending the prohibition completely and bringing in a fully taxed and regulated system for the sale of cannabis would put a stop to many of the problems the police and society are facing.

Mr Reynolds said: “The prohibition of cannabis, one of the least toxic therapeutically active substances known to man, leads to crime.

“A report by the Independent Drugs Monitoring Unit showed that a tax and regulation regime, with a tax of £1 per gram, personal growing licences for people at home and commercial licences for companies added to the savings to police, courts and prisons, even with costs taken away for education and health care, is likely to bring in a net benefit of £6bn per annum to the economy.

“The lowest estimate we have for active cannabis users in the UK is 2m. The highest is 10m. It is being used by a phenomenal amount of people.

“Cannabis is scientifically proven to be hundreds of times less harmless than alcohol and we are all for informed arguments on the subject but not for the criminalisation and locking up of people who choose to use something less harmful than that which is legal.

“Allowing it to be prescribed by doctors in the proper way takes crime out of the equation.”

Kate Clark, A&E consultant at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, said the case for legalisation was “not black and white”.

She added: “There is evidence to suggest that it can do some good, for people with conditions like MS it can be helpful.

“If you go to some countries they prescribe cannabis, it is manufactured as a medicine.

“We manufacture heroin as a medicine in Britain. There is a debate to be had.

“Some problems that cannabis causes are because people do not know what they are getting and how strong it is, so controlling it and prescribing it would 
prevent this.

“All drugs have benefits and drawbacks and this all needs to be taken into account, it is not black and white.”

According to the Office of National Statistics, 750 people in the UK in 2009 were admitted to hospital because of cannabis. In contrast, 3,000 people went to hospital with peanut-related issues in the same period.

And last year, in Liverpool alone, more than 3,100 people ended up in hospital because of alcohol while smoking killed nearly 1,000 more.

Mr Reynolds said: “We are not saying cannabis is harmless. It is a psycho-active substance so it must have the potential for harm.

“Research has shown that if it is harmful to anyone it is children when the brain is still developing.

“But we are looking for a regulated system whereby people are licensed to grow it and sell it to adults.

“Anyone found selling to children we would advocate they are sent to prison.

“All the ID a street dealer needs is a £20 note. A proper regulated system and the end of prohibition would put a stop to that.”

GW Pharmaceuticals currently makes Sativex – the first cannabis-based medicine licensed in the UK – for MS sufferers.

But Clear say the cost of Sativex is “10 times” that charged for cannabis by organised crime – and health authorities are refusing to pay for it.

Mr Reynolds added: “Two-thirds of European countries allow their doctors to prescribe cannabis to MS sufferers yet we criminalise those who seek to gain pain relief in this way because health authorities will not pay for it.

“We are fighting very hard on this because there are people out there whose lives have been transformed because of illness who rely on the therapeutic qualities of cannabis.

“But instead we have a Kafkaesque nightmare and it costs every single one of us billions of pounds in wasted money.”"

Ben Rossington
Liverpool Daily Post 23rd July 2011 
Source: http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/...52-29103776/2/

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Legal highs hamper legitimate medical research

This is just another terrible reporting from the chemical dependency counseling community about legal highs. These things have been a menace in addiction physiology for some time now, but it seems they have extended their reach to actual medical research...

"The Kronic backlash is affecting scientists trying to cure cancer, writes Adam Dudding.

KIWI SCIENTISTS hoping to use cannabinoids to treat cancer, strokes, asthma and brain disorders say publicity around Kronic is tarnishing their work and could even jeopardise their funding.

University of Otago lecturer Dr John Ashton said New Zealanders were at the forefront of international research into the medical applications of cannabinoids, which could eventually include tools to tackle stroke, cancer, asthma and neurodegenerative diseases.

He said the trade in "legal highs", and the negative media attention that went with it, was tarnishing the reputation of legitimate research, and could even endanger funding.

"To get research money from often conservative research funding bodies is never easy, but it isn't made any easier when cannabinoids become associated with these kinds of issues."

The growing international notoriety of legal highs has had another downside, Ashton said. A few years ago, he ordered a synthetic cannabinoid from a biochemical supplier in the US, and had it delivered directly to a collaborator there, and it went "without a hitch".

When he tried to do the same recently, products such as "Dream" and "Spice" have become widely known in the US and there are now new bureaucratic hoops to jump through. The collaborator is still waiting for the chemicals to arrive.

"I guess it had to happen," Ashton said. The same rules apply to other drugs of potential abuse, so "maybe we've been lucky that these drugs have flown below the radar of recreational use for so long".

Ashton said cannabinoid researchers have been forced to distance themselves from pro-cannabis activists who use the medical potential of cannabinoids as an argument for decriminalisation of the Class C drug.

For example when Ashton published research tentatively suggesting a connection between stroke recovery and the brain's natural cannabinoid system, members of an online cannabis discussion group posted comments along the lines of "hey guys, cannabis cures stroke!", which isn't what the research said at all.

Research into cannabinoids began in the 1970s, when THC, the most potent active ingredient of the cannabis plant, was first isolated.

In the 1980s, scientists identified the places in the brain affected by THC, and called them "cannabinoid receptors". Remarkably, it turns out those receptors are vital to numerous day-to-day brain functions, including memory formation, movement and appetite regulation (which is why cannabis smokers experience forgetfulness and hallucinations, sleepiness, hunger, and relief from pain and nausea, by inhaling THC).

Chemists can now synthesise THC and numerous other "synthetic cannabinoids" – chemicals that interact with the cannabinoid receptors. But research by big drug firms such as Pfizer to find cannabinoid-based painkillers foundered in the 1980s, after it proved difficult to separate the useful effects (the painkiller) from the debilitating ones (getting stoned).

Unsurprisingly, the very properties that made those chemicals poor medicines made them attractive to recreational drug users, and in the past six months there has been a rising tide of concern, and media attention, about the health risks of "legal highs" containing synthetic cannabinoids, and the fact that teenagers have been buying them from dairies.

Dr Robin Olds, chief executive of the Health Research Council (HRC), which disburses around $80m of government money a year, said the council can only fund a fraction of the grants applied for, and doesn't take into account whether the area of research is controversial or not.

"We're not influenced by the politics of things; we make decisions based on the quality and benefit to New Zealand, not public popularity."

If cannabinoids have such potential, why doesn't Ashton ally himself with the pro-cannabis activists who believe anyone seeking relief from pain, tremors or nausea should be allowed to smoke a joint?

Ashton refuses to take a side on the decriminalisation debate, but said there were serious flaws in that argument.

For instance, even though cannabinoids may eventually yield a stroke treatment, "you don't want to be smoking cannabis when having a stroke. Cannabinoids give you a racing heart and push up blood pressure. If you're having a stroke, that could kill you".

There are currently three cannabinoid medicines on the world market. Sativex is a cannabis extract used by multiple sclerosis sufferers, and Nabilone and Dronabinol are synthetic cannabinoids used to fight nausea among other things.

But for Ashton and the other researchers, there is still a world of possible therapies to be discovered – but they're not going to be found at your local dairy.

NO DOPES

A few of the leading lights in NZ cannabinoid research Michelle Glass, Auckland University. World leader in mapping out the cannabinoid receptors in the human brain. Research includes role of cannabinoid receptors in Huntington's disease. Scott Graham, Auckland University. How immune cells respond to cannabinoids (with possible implications for stroke therapies). John Miller, Victoria University. How cannabinoids and opioids affect memory processes. John Ashton, Otago University. Potential of cannabinoids for treating chronic pain. Paul Smith, Otago University. Role of cannabinoids in sensory and memory processes."

July 10, 2011

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/heal...dical-research

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Births Of Drug-Addicted Babies On Rise

The chemical dependency counseling community has always held a firm stance about any chemicals or alcohol being near children. Take a look at some of these stats for just Florida...

"(CNN) -- According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug overdose deaths in Florida are up a staggering 265% since 2003. But it's not just the deaths that have Florida officials worried; it's the births.

"We saw the number of crack babies that died, and this is just another version of that," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti said. "We all need to be concerned."

According to state health records, 635 Florida babies were born addicted to prescription drugs in the first half of 2010 alone. South Florida doctors and intensive care nurses report an dramatic uptick in babies born hooked on pills that their mothers abused while pregnant.

"They go through withdrawal symptoms," said Mary Osuch, the head nurse at Broward General Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit. "They're crampy, miserable. They sweat. They can have rapid breathing. Sometimes, they can even have seizures."

According to the White House Office on Drug Control Policy, prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem.

Marsha Currant, who runs the Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center near Fort Lauderdale, says prescription drug addiction overtook crack in 2009 as the main problem afflicting the pregnant women who are treated there.

"In the very beginning, it was really 100% crack cocaine," said Currant, who started keeping track of drug trends in 1995. "We see a lot more prescription drugs now."

Currant says new mothers who are hooked on prescription drugs are often reluctant to seek help for fear the authorities will take their babies from them.

"We wanted to have a place where women didn't have to chose between getting treatment and having their children go into foster care," she said.

Compounding the problem, women who are addicted to prescription drugs and find themselves pregnant cannot safely go off the drugs without medical supervision. They need to be weaned off slowly, or the baby will go into withdrawal in the womb.

At the Susan B. Anthony Center, one mother who became hooked on prescription drugs after her husband died says she felt her baby suffering while she was getting clean.

"I know that I'm going through stuff getting off the pills. So what's she going through? She can't talk. She's just a baby," Jessica said.

Thanks to the center, Jessica was weaned off oxycodone before her baby, Casey, was born. But she fears the long-term effects of her drug abuse on her daughter, who has been suffering from respiratory problems.

 

"I want to make sure that she doesn't hurt anymore," Jessica said. "She doesn't deserve that, because she's a princess."

Jessica graduated from the center's recovery program last week."

Source: http://www.turnto23.com/health/28683941/detail.html

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'Kratom' becoming a problem

I've posted before in our Chemical dependency counselor tag, about this drug called "Kratom", but it seems its gotten a little more attention lately from the chemical dependency counseling community. More on this...

"There’s a new natural substance just about anyone can buy right now in South Florida that doctors say can be more addictive and dangerous than some illegal drugs.

It’s a substance many young people in the area are taking and substance abuse experts say it can be more difficult to get off of than heroin.

It’s called Kratom. It’s from the leaf of a tree grown in Southeast Asia and it’s legal in the United States.

Our Contact 5 Undercover Investigation revealed you can buy it easily at many local tobacco shops, over the Internet, or at Kava Bars in the area where it’s mixed into a tea-like drink.

Michelle Tesarek began ordering a drink that contained Kratom earlier this year at the Purple Lotus Kava Bar in downtown West Palm Beach.

“Something that I thought was just going to be a good time, ended up making me sick,” said Michelle.

"They just said ‘Try this, it gives you a euphoric feeling’,” she said.

Michelle said she didn’t know at the time that it can be highly addictive and has been banned in a handful of countries. She soon began to know why.

“In one instance, I had to actually pull over, because it was just way too much of an intense feeling for me,” Michelle said.

“I knew I was hooked on it, when I was given the medicine to block it and I still wanted it anyways to see if I could still get that feeling back because I missed it,” she explained.

It wasn’t until she went to a clinic that specializes in substance abuse that she realized how dangerous Kratom can really be.

“I have treated patients who prefer Kratom to heroin,” said Dr. Moran of the Wellington Retreat.

Doctor Moran treated Michelle and said the substance can have opiate-type effects for some people if taken in certain doses.

"It's quite freighting because most people who are introduced to it have no idea what the potential danger is,” said Moran.

In fact, Dr. Moran prescribed the same medication to wean Michelle off Kratom as he would prescribe to someone addicted to heroin. “They think that because it's not illegal, it's safe,” he said.

However the owner of Purple Lotus, Jim Scianno, who owns both area locations, said the natural substance is similar to drinking coffee.

“You have to do a lot, ridiculous quantities to get any kind of withdrawal,” said Scianno. “It’s not highly addictive,” he said. He said hundreds of his customers drink Kratom without any problems. You won’t find any warnings or age limits posted inside.

“It doesn't deserve a warning, unless you see someone abusing it,” said Jim.

By then, doctors said it can be too late. Including Doctor Raul Rodriguez who has seen more than 100 patients in his Delray Beach office who have had problems with Kratom over the past year.

“The worst one is actually Kratom leaf, that is the one that will get them hooked physically worse than any of the other ones,” said Dr. Rodriguez.

“It's definitely a mind altering substance and can cause problems when over used,” said Boca Raton Doctor Lacresha Hall.

It caused so many problems for Michelle, she checked herself into an inpatient rehab facility for a month.

Everybody thought it was the silliest thing to check myself into treatment for... but at the same time, I was scared to death,” said Michelle.

Kratom is a big substance in the rehab community. Doctors said many people are taking it as a substitute for drugs like heroin or oxycodone. It does not show up on a drug test. Many doctors are now trying to get the drug banned."

By Dan Krauth
June 30, 2011

Source: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/local_n...rowing-problem

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Drugs and Crime expert Kenny Simpson

Chemical dependency counseling is always keeping a close eye on the latest in Drug news and this time it seems expert Kenny Simpson has found new ways people are smuggling drugs. It's amazing what people will go through to indulge in chemicals...more on the story

"Sophisticated new techniques have been developed to smuggle drugs, according to crime expert Kenny Simpson.

The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) manager said cocaine had been inserted into wood, impregnated into clothing, and hidden in jam.

Some drug mules had also swallowed liquid cocaine in bags, which can be mistaken for the intestine under x-ray.

He said criminals had moved away from bulk shipments, where drugs were hidden alongside food and other goods.

In his first interview on drug concealment, Mr Simpson said: "They move with the times. We've seen everything. We've seen all sorts.

"There has been an increase in couriers who internally conceal the drug."

Operation Bakus was the first time officers in Scotland had seen cocaine sealed in a jam sachet.

Mr Simpson, who is a civilian worker for the SCDEA and a former police officer with Strathclyde Police with 32 years of service, said: "It felt like a package of jam. It weighed the same as a package of jam.

"When you squished it about there was nothing to suggest there was anything in it.

"So you really had to probe to find out that there was actually cocaine inside it."

Mr Simpson, a statement of opinion manager for the SCDEA, said criminals were only limited by their imaginations when attempting to disguise drugs.

During a recent visit to Colombia, Mr Simpson said scientists told him that anything could be either made from cocaine or impregnated with cocaine.

He was shown brown coffee beans that had been made from cocaine and painted brown.

Mr Simpson said cocaine dealers in Scotland had also developed skills to reduce the purity of drugs to maximise their profit.

He said officers had regularly seen some cocaine where the purity was as low as 1% or 2% in Scotland, below the average of 5% for the country and lower than a purity of about 20% for England and Wales.

He said Benzocaine, which can be mixed with the cocaine to dilute the purity, was being brought in to the UK at a "fierce rate of knots".

He added that the level of purity was contributing to drug users switching to buying ecstasy, which had seen an increase in use.

•OPERATION BAKUS: Routine search by UK Border Agency of Bolivia parcel, bound for Edinburgh, resulted in discovery of cocaine hidden in jam with estimated street value of £0.7m. The SCDEA launched a surveillance operation and linked the crime group to a number of previous seizures of parcels destined or delivered to Edinburgh addresses, and containing a total of 6kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of £4.5m.

•OPERATION GUMP: Customs and Excise intercepted a package from Istanbul to an address in Aberdeen, which appeared to be a metal machine part. Officers drilled into the item and found 5.4kg of opium, worth about £54,000. The SCDEA took part in an operation which resulted in two men being sentenced to four years and five years in jail.

•OPERATION HORUS: Customs and Excise and SCDEA officers searched six wooden crates containing crockery, which had arrived at Edinburgh Airport from South America. Test drilling of the wood led to the discovery of 5.6kg of cocaine powder in 120 skilfully chiselled-out compartments"

BBC Scotland News 27th June 2011

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13923582

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Former Mexican President on Drug Legalization

I've been following along with this story in our chemical dependency counseling catagory as well as the addiction physiology one, and I would have to disagree. Legalizing drugs out of the fear of past violence only will let the cartels know that it's okay to induce violence to get the things they want. Heres more on the story

"(CNN) -- Part of the solution to end drug violence in Mexico should include legalizing drugs like marijuana for personal use, former President Vicente Fox told CNN en Espanol.

"In order to get out of this trap (of drug violence caused by organized crime), I'm specifically proposing the legalization of the drug," Fox said during a visit to Puerto Rico, where he was speaking at a conference for small business owners in the city of Fajardo.

Fox advocated decriminalizing marijuana in a 2009 interview with CNN en Espanol. Since then, he has repeatedly called on officials to rethink drug laws.

In an interview that aired on CNN en Espanol Tuesday, he also said the Mexican government should "retire the army from the task of combating criminal gangs."

Current Mexican President Felipe Calderon has sent as many as 50,000 troops to hot spots around Mexico to fight the drug cartels. The enforcement strategy is considered a pillar in Calderon's overall anti-drug policy. Both Calderon and Fox belong to the conservative PAN (National Action Party).

Ex-President Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive who was the president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, said the Mexican government should also "demand that the United States do its part."

"The United States has a huge responsibility. It's not enough that they give us (Mexico) a tip, saying 'Here's 500 million dollars. Go do your homework. You can pay us back with blood and with dead bodies,' " Fox said.

Mexican drug cartels buy their weapons and launder drug money in the United States, he said.

Fox said Mexico has fallen into a trap "between the gigantic U.S. drug market and the (illicit) drug producers in South American countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and others.

Fox is not alone in advocating for legalization of some drugs for personal use. Two years ago, three former Latin American presidents proposed radical changes in drug policy for the region.

Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Colombia's Cesar Gaviria, and Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo wrote in the 2009 final report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy that "Prohibitionist policies based on the eradication of production and on the disruption of drug flows as well as on the criminalization of consumption have not yielded the expected results. We are farther than ever from the announced goal of eradicating drugs."

The same conclusion was reached by the U.N.'s Global Commission on Drug Policy last month. The commission, comprised of former presidents (including Fox), policymakers and leaders from all over the world, recommended that governments experiment with drug legalization, especially marijuana."

 

CNN's Dania Alexandrino in Puerto Rico contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.10news.com/news/28674499/detail.html

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War on Drugs- A Tragic Failure?

This is an article on the opinion of Auburnpub.com. Many people within the chemical dependency counseling community agree with this view, but then again many dont. Had the drug war been a failure? Is it still going? Whats your opinion? 

"After three decades and after spending billions upon billions of our tax dollars — yours and mine — we’re waking up to the fact that the “War on Drugs” has been a tragic failure! Of the roughly 850,000 drug arrests that law enforcement agencies make each year, it is estimated that 45 percent of those arrests were for the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Even Pat Robertson, Founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, said that, “criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot is costing us a fortune and ruining young people who go into prison as youths and come out hardened criminals.” Even former President Jimmy Carter believes that “penalties for the possession of it should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

And so, what the drug war has done is lock up nonviolent offenders in maximum-security prisons for years when it would have been a lot less costlier had they been given treatment instead of incarceration.
Had treatment for addiction been provided instead of imprisonment … we would not have had to build so many more prisons than what were needed! (No wonder the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world!)

A number of concerned Americans — both liberal and conservative — are agreeing with what President Obama has called the Drug War … “it’s an utter failure.”

Despite the political party affiliation of the reader, what our president is now recommending be done should be a national priority because he says, “never has it been more important to have a national drug control strategy be guided by sound principles of public safety and public health.”

Fortunately a number of states — 16 in all — have legalized medical marijuana … thanks to the efforts of both the scientific and medical communities who recognize that it lessens excruciating pain and other debilitating symptoms.

And so, what might be worth considering is legalizing marijuana for medical use in New York state. It is estimated that if it were taxed … it would raise over $1 billion … annually! Thus we could save our state's debt problem and not consider the only other alternative … “fracking” for natural gas!."

Joyce Hackett Smith-Moore
Auburn Publications
August 8, 2011 

Source: http://auburnpub.com/news/opinion/ma...#ixzz1UZeFJ1RP

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A Retreat in the War on Meth

In this summary of a much bigger article posted in the chemical dependency counseling community, we see that a retreat has been made in the war on meth. Though this would normally suprise me, it doesn't because so many efforts have been put towards the war on legal highs lately, according to addiction physiology...but heres the latest...

"ST. LOUIS (AP) — Police and sheriff's departments in states that produce much of the nation's methamphetamine have made a sudden retreat in the war on meth, at times virtually abandoning pursuit of the drug because they can no longer afford to clean up the toxic waste generated by labs.

Despite abundant evidence that the meth trade is flourishing, many law enforcement agencies have called off tactics that have been used for years to confront drug makers: sending agents undercover, conducting door-to-door investigations and setting up stakeouts at pharmacies to catch people buying large amounts of cold medicine.

The trend is almost certain to continue unless more states find a way to replace the federal money or to conduct cheaper cleanups...."

The steep cutbacks began after the federal government in February canceled a program that provided millions of dollars to help local agencies dispose of seized labs. Since then, an Associated Press analysis shows, the number of labs seized has plummeted by a third in some key meth-producing states and two-thirds in at least one, Alabama.

"Police chiefs and sheriffs agree the problem is too big to ignore.

"We've got to keep moving forward," said Tim Fuller, sheriff of Franklin County, Tenn. "Funding or no funding, it's a public safety issue and a criminal issue, and we can't back down."

 

Source: http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/Cutbacks_force_retreat_in_war_on_me...

 

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Army hiring more Counselors

Things like this are always great to hear whether your part of a chemical dependency counseling community or not! This is a great article on the Army's push towards hiring more chemical dependency counselors to help fight alcoholism from within.

"WASHINGTON — The army is increasing its staff of substance abuse counselors by about 30 percent to help the rising number of troops with alcohol problems.

Officials said Wednesday that they posted 130 new job openings this week in hopes of increasing staff to counsel soldiers at bases around the world from the current level of around 400.

"One of the largest challenges in maintaining health is addressing issues of substance abuse by our soldiers," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said. Getting more qualified counselors to areas where there are staff shortfalls "is an issue that needs to be rectified as soon as possible."

The number of troops abusing alcohol has roughly doubled in the last five years as soldiers go through the stressful cycle of training, serving in the wars, readjusting to home life and then doing it all over again months later, Dr. Les McFarling, head of the army's substance program, said in an interview.

Some 13,000 soldiers were treated for substance abuse last year, all but about 1,900 for alcohol and the rest for drugs like marijuana and cocaine, McFarling said.

He said officials have found no direct link between the abuse and the number of deployments some soldiers have served. But "a typical thing for somebody coming back if they're having troubles adjusting or PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome), is to have a glass of wine before you try to go to sleep ... or two, or three," McFarling said. "It's a socially acceptable way of dealing with stress."

Though the army has been increasing staff for some years, finding more psychologists has been difficult and slow, partly due to a shortage of such professionals in American society in general.

While the army last year had some 300 staff to do the work, a study in March 2010 recommended it needed a total of some 560, McFarling said Wednesday.

Though some have been hired, officials wanted to move faster. Army Secretary John McHugh last week signed a directive that should help — authorizing additional professional groups allowed to work as as independent practitioners. Those are social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors, who in the civilian sector can work independently, but in the military were limited to working with supervision.

The directive opens a nearly untapped pool of people to hire, McFarling said.

A recent study showed there is no difference in their ability to practice; and other branches of the services are expected to follow suit in adding those professionals to work independently, McFarling said.

"There's no way that anyone should look at this like and say `well they couldn't get enough (psychologists) and so they're lowering the bar,'" he said. The army is merely recognizing what services are available if troops walked out the door and asked for the same kind of help in private society.

The new jobs will be permanent, full-time positions to provide active duty troops, their families, retirees and eligible civilian employees evaluation, treatment plans and counseling services.

Salaries range from about $50,000 to about $106,000 annually, and hired counselors will receive full Department of the Army civilian benefits. Additional incentives may include hiring, relocation, and retention bonuses, and help repaying student loans."

 

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

 

 

Designer Drugs remain a Menace

Bath salts still remain a menace in the drug and chemical dependency counseling community. By the time bans were put out by the states it was already too late for bath salts to claim their toll on many people, according to addiction physiology. 

"Toll of ‘bath salts’ lingers after state ban; K2 law skirted

Jeff Wiehe | The Journal Gazette

Fort Wayne – Her longtime boyfriend used the drug all day, the woman told police, and it made him extremely paranoid.

He began talking “weird” as the two sat in the living room the night of July 18. Soon, he started choking her. He held a knife to her face. He asked whether she wanted to be stabbed.

Then he punched her, according to Allen Superior Court documents.

The drug commonly called “bath salts” is central to the accusations against 33-year-old Scott Mahathy of Fort Wayne. He’s charged with felony counts of strangulation, criminal confinement and criminal recklessness.

While no drug charges were filed, the case highlights yet another recreational stimulant that could occupy law enforcement and medical professionals in the months to come:

Despite a July 1 statewide ban on the possession, manufacture and sale of bath salts, cases involving the drug are still popping up. And those who have stopped using the product, even months later, may still suffer its effects, described by one local doctor as worse than methamphetamine’s.

‘Huge problem’

Until 18 months ago, the drug wasn’t an issue. Then, things exploded, said Dr. Tom Gutwein, Parkview Health’s emergency department medical director.

People began buying a new stimulant from specialty shops, gas stations and convenience stores. The containers had names like Aura, Ivory Wave and Vanilla Sky.

The crystals or powders inside were laced with a hallucinogenic chemical called methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV. It is not the same product to mimic mineral spirits or provide a pleasing aroma while bathing.

Some users of the new designer drug ended up in Parkview Health emergency rooms, Gutwein said.

These patients were extremely agitated with elevated blood pressures and heart rates. Some of their symptoms were similar to those experienced by people who have taken Ecstasy or cocaine. Some who suffered hallucinations or psychotic episodes had to be housed in the psychiatric unit.

“I think the side effects from bath salts are worse than methamphetamine’s,” Gutwein said. “It’s a huge problem.”

Legislators this year passed a law banning both bath salts and K2, or Spice, a synthetic version of marijuana. While 34 states have passed some form of ban, the product could be illegal across the country soon. A bill to outlaw bath salts nationwide unanimously passed a key U.S. Senate committee Thursday.

In the year-and-a-half leading up to the ban, Gutwein said he saw about three or four cases of bath salt abuse a week. Since the ban, he said he has not seen a case come through the emergency room doors, but that doesn’t ease his concern.

“Even after people stop using it, you can see long-term effects,” Gutwein said. “Just from some of what I’ve looked at, there can be problems six months later. It’s not something that just goes away.”

In one case, a patient came to a Parkview hospital in late June suffering from the effects of bath salts, Gutwein said. The patient, though, had not used the drug for several days.

Across the country, stories abound of people committing violent and dangerous acts while high on bath salts.

In May, a Celina, Ohio, man allegedly shot his wife in the hand after the pair used the synthetic drug. An Indianapolis man purportedly using bath salts hung from a roadside flagpole in June before jumping into traffic, where a vehicle struck him.

According to various news reports, a woman in West Virginia scratched herself “to pieces” after using the product, while a woman in Missouri became psychotic toward her fiancé and then died after smoking bath salts.

Skirting the ban

At least 28 states have banned bath salts.

In discussions with police, Gutwein said he has already heard rumblings that the companies that make the synthetic drug were prepared for such bans and are planning ways to get around the laws.

It’s something that requires police vigilance.

“You know it’s always a possibility,” said Lt. Mike Vaughn, head of the Allen County sheriff’s vice and narcotics division.

When it comes to K2 or Spice, some people are getting around the law by buying the plant used to make the synthetic marijuana separately from the chemical, Vaughn said. It’s not illegal to own the plant and many procure the chemical through the Internet to combine the two later, according to Vaughn.

Recently, Vaughn received a tip from a shipping company about a tractor-trailer rig filled with 4 tons of plants typically used to make K2. With no presence of the chemical that goes into the product on the vehicle, though, there was no crime committed.

“The same thing could be happening with bath salts,” he said. “They get the chemical and whatever else they need separately.”

Vaughn said that since the ban on K2 and bath salts went into effect, his department has received numerous tips about businesses that still sell the product. Most of this is done in secret, though: You have to know someone at the shop to buy the products.

When police officers show up at the businesses, the product is not in sight, Vaughn said.

And already there are complications with enforcing the current law, which places possession of bath salts and K2 near the same level as possessing marijuana, Vaughn said.

If an officer finds someone in possession of something that appears to be K2 or bath salts, there’s no definitive test immediately available to prove it’s either of the synthetic drugs. Someone could be carrying around a baggie of plants or even a new product not touched by the law.

“We’re kind of handcuffed as far as enforcement is concerned,” Vaughn said.

Because of that, stories such as the one involving Scott Mahathy might not go away immediately. The same goes for more gruesome ones, such as what happened in Washington state in April, when police discovered the bodies of a couple and their small child in an Olympia home.

The man apparently killed the woman before killing himself, according to media reports. One of them, police aren’t sure which one, used a plastic bag to suffocate the child.

According to reports published last month, a coroner discovered traces of MDPV in the bodies of the couple."

Source: http://www.jg.net/article/20110731/LOCAL07/307319943/1002/LOCAL

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