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A March 29 CBC News article reports that the British government is taking steps to ban mephedrone, a currently legal recreational substance that has been blamed for a number of deaths in recent years:

The U.K. government's panel of scientific experts recommended restrictions on mephedrone, a synthetic drug also known as M-Cat and Meow-Meow. The drug can be bought over the Internet and is popular in nightclubs.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommended classifying mephedrone as a Class B controlled substance. This class includes cannabis and amphetamines. Possession carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail, while supplying it carries a penalty of up to 14 years, according to the Home Office.

The European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction said more than 30 web sites promote the substance, which often originates in Chinese labs. A single dose costs about $4.50 US, according to public health researchers.

Mephedrone is a synthetic form of cathinone, the active ingredient in khat, which is a stimulant popular in parts of Africa, said Steven Grant, chief of the clinical neuroscience branch at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"As a result of the council's advice, I'm introducing legislation to ban not just mephedrone and other cathinones but also to enshrine in law a generic definition & so that we can be in the forefront of dealing with this whole family of drugs," Home Secretary Alan Johnson told reporters Monday.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/03/29/mephedrone-drug-ban-uk-mcat-khat.html#ixzz0jbMgTUFT

Labels: mcat, meow meow, mephedrone

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The National Survey on Drug Use and Health lists New Mexico as second lowest in the nation for underage drinker buying their own alcohol. The survey was released on Thursday, and found that about 3.7 percent of young drinkers in New Mexico bought alcohol.

However, the news wasn't all good:

"The same study, which surveyed youth aged 12 to 20, showed more than 1 in 4 New Mexican youth admit to drinking alcohol in the past month. While many young people may not be buying alcohol themselves ... they are getting booze in other ways." [Source: KOB-TV News (NM)]

John Steiner, from the University of New Mexicos Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention says theyre making progress in the overall prevalence of underage drinking.

Awareness campaigns and sting operations are making access to alcohol more difficult for young people, and the dangers of underage drinking are becoming more widely known.

Labels: teen drinking

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Teen prescription drug abuse remains a relatively common occurrence in the United States, according to a report by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America:

• About one in five high school students used a prescription drug without medical approval at least once, and one in seven have done so in the past year.
• This is a statistically similar to the year before.
• Teenagers told researchers that prescription drugs are easier to get than illegal drugs.
  
• The majority (63 percent) said drugs are easily available from family medicine cabinets.
  

Labels: prescription-drug-abuse

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One out of every three teenagers in Georgia does not believe methamphetamine is risky, one in five say it is easy to obtain and that someone has offered it to them, one in three say that the drug helps you lose weight, and one in four say it makes you happy.

Almost 60 percent of Georgia teenagers have never discussed that the methamphetamine use with their parents.

These alarming statistics are from the Georgia Methamphetamine Use and Attitudes Survey of 2,432 teenagers and 314 young adults.

The survey was part of a project aimed at preventing teenagers from trying methamphetamine. The adults in the survey were more likely to believe that methamphetamine is beneficial.

• 32 percent of the adults believe methamphetamine helps you lose weight
• 23 percent of young adults believe it makes you happy
• 19 percent of young adults believe it helps you deal with boredom.
  

The problem is that methamphetamine is far from safe and extremely addictive. It changes the chemistry of the brain, causing intense cycles of high and low energy and mood changes, and causing the brain to release dopamine at four times the levels that cocaine does.

"Methamphetamine is a lot more powerful than cocaine and the effect lasts longer, " said Neil Kaltenecker, spokesperson for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. "Not to mention that the caustic materials used to make the drugs are toxic."

Labels: research, meth

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Anthony Scalzo, M.D., a toxicologist from Saint Louis University, is warning parents about the dangers of K2, an unregulated (and therefore legal) mixture of dried herbs that is circulating among teenagers. The mixture is often referred to as "fake weed."

Dr. Scalzo's warnings were featured in a March 3 ScienceDaily article:

"K2 may be a mixture of herbal and spice plant products, but it is sprayed with a potent psychotropic drug and likely contaminated with an unknown toxic substance that is causing many adverse effects. These toxic chemicals are neither natural nor safe," said Scalzo, who also directs the Missouri Regional Poison Control Center at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center.

What makes K2 so dangerous? Further testing is needed, but Scalzo says the symptoms, such as fast heart beat, dangerously elevated blood pressure, pale skin and vomiting suggest that K2 is affecting the cardiovascular system of users.

It also is believed to affect the central nervous system, causing severe, potentially life-threatening hallucinations and, in some cases, seizures.

Labels: marijuana

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According to data just released by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), more 12-year-olds have tried "huffing" dangerous inhalants than have used marijuana, cocaine, and hallucinogens combined.

According to SAMHSA data from the 2006-2008 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 6.9 percent of 12 year olds have tried inhalants at least once. By comparison, 5.1 percent of 12-year-olds have used marijuana at least once, 0.7 percent have used hallucinogens at least once, and 0.1 percent have tried cocaine at least once.

Huffing involves the intentional inhalation of chemicals in gas or vapor form with the purpose of getting high. Users can experience stimulation, reduction of inhibition, and loss of consciousness. Huffing can also result in "sudden sniffing death syndrome" which is sudden death due to cardiac arrest.

Huffers can experience sudden death the first, 10th, or 100th time they inhale chemicals. Negative effects of huffing include damage to the heart, kidney, brain, liver, bone marrow, and other internal organs.

Labels: inhalants, huffing, pre-teen

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In response to increasing reports of kids using cough medicine to get high, school officials in Salem, Mass., plan to film a one-hour program to warn and educate parents.

The problem centers on cough and cold remedies like Coricidin that contain the ingredient Dextromethorphan, also called DXM, according to police and information on the KidsHealth.org Web site, provided by the DanversCares prevention coalition. Kids call the practice "dexing" or "robotripping." [Source: Salem News]

High doses of DXM can cause confusion, impaired judgment, blurred vision, loss of consciousness, seizures and even death. The planned hour-long program will include a roundtable discussion with high school officials, police, and a substance abuse doctor.

Labels: over-the-counter drug abuse, cough medicine, prescription-drug-abuse

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Teenagers who use marijuana are twice as likely to develop a psychosis such as schizophrenia, according to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

• Dr. John McGrath , and his colleagues at the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia studied 3,800 young adults born between 1981 and 1984 .
  
• Among the 1,272 young people in this study who never used marijuana, only 2 percent were diagnosed with psychosis.
  
• Among those who used marijuana for six or more years, 3.7 percent were diagnosed with this illness.
  
• Even those who used marijuana for fewer than three years were at an increased risk for mental problems.

"The nature of the relationship between psychosis and marijuana use is by no means simple and more research is needed to examine the mechanisms at work," Dr. McGrath wrote in his report.

The study comes at a time when many state legislatures are considering legalizing marijuana. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported an increase in marijuana use among young people, many of who believe the drug is harmless.

Labels: marijuana, health problems

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Approximately one in five teens has used a prescription medication for recreational purposes. According to a local treatment provider in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, area teens are following this trend.

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in Sioux Falls, according to treatment expert Ben Granville. Granville said local high school students regularly use such prescription medications as hydrocodone, Ritalin, Xanax, and Oxycontin.

Granville said that many teens obtain the drugs from their parents' or relatives' medicine cabinets. In addition, students who have prescriptions for drugs such as Ritalin have been known to sell the drugs at school for as much as $30 to $40 per pill.

Technology also aids access to prescription drugs. Tens text one another when drugs are available at school. Granville and other treatment providers urge parents to be aware that prescription drugs are easily accessible to their children.

(Source: ksfy.com)

Labels: prescription-drug-abuse

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In Tennessee, meth lab seizures rose by a shocking 76 percent in 2009. The state's Director for the Meth Task Force, Tommy Farmer, believes the sharp rise in seizures is due to improved investigative methods.

In a March 3 ad on the website of Tennessee newspaper The Tomahawk, freelance Paula Walter reported on other causes -- and likely effects -- of the increase in meth-related arrests:

While many methamphetamine labs are often set up in out-of-the-way, clandestine areas, new ways of producing meth have arisen. The most common is known as "shake and bake." This method has increased in popularity not only in Tennessee, but across the nation.

This methodology is faster than the traditional methods. However, it is extremely dangerous as the chemicals needed for this process are highly volatile, resulting in explosions. Our burn units are bursting at the seams,  said Farmer. At this time, 60 to 70 percent of lab seizures are shake and bake, Farmer added.

Methamphetamine causes devastating effects upon users, their families and communities. Methamphetamine use destroys families and individuals. Communities with meth users often see an increase in burglaries and thefts as users look for ways to obtain money. Children of methamphetamine users often are abused and neglected.

Labels: law, meth

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New research indicates that alcohol is becoming an increasingly important factor in the number of fatal car crashes involving young women drivers in the United States. In 2007 alone, alcohol-related crashes accounted for almost one-third of all fatal car crashes in the United States.

The new research, which was recently published in the journal Injury Prevention, included an analysis of data from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on fatal road traffic collisions for the years 1995 to 2007. The study shows that the increase in the proportion of young female drivers with a positive blood alcohol test involved in a fatal collision was greater (3.1%) than it was for young male drivers (1.2%).

In addition, the increase in the proportion of young drivers involved in fatal crashes with positive blood alcohol tests at all times of the week was greater among young women than it was among young men. The rate increased by 3.5% on weekdays and 2.2% on weekends among young women. By contrast, it rose by 1.5% on weekdays and 0.4% on weekends among young men.

(Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: alcohol, car accidents

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According to a new study by researchers at the University of San Diego and Harvard University, teens who sleep less than seven hours per night are more likely to use illegal drugs.

For the study, the researchers tracked the drug use and sleep patterns of more than 8,000 teens. They found that social networks significantly influenced both sleep patterns and drug use among study participants. For example, teens with a friend who sleeps less than seven hours per night are 11 percent more likely to sleep less than seven hours per night. In addition, teens with a friend who sleeps less than seven hours per night are 19 percent more likely to use marijuana.

Researchers found that teens with a friend who uses marijuana are almost twice as likely to use marijuana themselves. Study results also indicated that lack of sleep might be linked to increased alcohol use by teens.

The study authors commented: "Adolescents are embedded in complex social networks and are especially vulnerable to peer effects -- possibly not only with respect to drugs, but also with respect to sleep."

(Source: news.yahoo.com)

Labels: teen drug use, sleep

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Approximately one in five teens has used a prescription medication for recreational purposes. According to a local treatment provider in Sioux Falls, S.D., area teens are following this trend.

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in Sioux Falls, according to treatment expert Ben Granville. Granville says local high school students regularly use such prescription medications as hydrocodone, Ritalin, Xanax and Oxycontin. Granville says that many teens will take any prescription medication to get high, but are in danger of experiencing unanticipated and dangerous side effects, such as a slowed heart rate.

Granville says that many teens obtain the drugs from their parents' or relatives' medicine cabinets. In addition, students who have prescriptions for drugs such as Ritalin have been known to sell the drugs at school for as much as $30-$40 per pill.

Technology also aids access to prescription drugs. Teens text one another when drugs are available at school. Granville and other treatment providers urge parents to be aware that prescription drugs are easily accessible to their children.

(Source: ksfy.com)

Labels: prescription drugs

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