Party’s Over for Party Drugs
July 7th, 2009 by Rick
More bad news for the land down under in form of tainted ecstasy. The Crime and Misconduct Commission in Australia is planning on releasing a report saying that ecstasy cooks are spiking their drugs with:
- Painkillers
- Anti depressants
- Methamphetamine
- Ketamine
CMC intelligence director Chris Keen said:
Whereas previously a tablet may have mainly contained ecstasy as the active drug there is now an increased incidence of tablets containing other types of drugs within one tablet. [...] A person who believes they have overdosed from ecstasy may be shown from a toxicology perspective to be from anti-depressive drugs because that was major content of the tablet. [...] To meet the high market demand tablets are being sold as ecstasy that contain no ecstasy at all. [...] Another result of lower purity tablets is that consumers are on average swallowing more tablets in a session (from one to two) than they were five to six years ago, possibly this is to seek achieving the same high. [...] This type of behaviour creates a greater risk for adverse reactions and overdoses.
According to a report by the Australian Crime Commission, Australia has the highest use of ecstasy per capita in the world.
Acetaminophen Drug Linked to Liver Failure
July 6th, 2009 by Rick
Via MPP, we learn that on last Tuesday that a Food and Drug Administration panel voted on the fate of Acetaminophen, commonly found in Tylenol, Excedrin and other medication:
- 21-16 to lower the current maximum daily dose of nonprescription Acetaminophen.
- 24-13 to limit the maximum single dose of the drug to 650 milligrams.
- 1,000-milligram dose should only be available by prescription.
- 24-13 to keep the products on the market.
According to the FDA, Acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure, having sent around 56,000 people to the hospital every year. It is also linked to acute renal failure. Total sales of Acetaminophen drugs reached $2.6b, with 80% not having to be prescribed.
Your Great-Grandma Was Hopped Up on Stuff
June 12th, 2009 by Russ
For those of us caught up in the day to day world of drug politics, it can be easy to forget just how new the concept of ‘illegal drugs’ really is. Pharmacy blog, Pill Talk, provided a big dose of historical perspective this week in releasing a collection of old posters and billboards hocking all manner of substances that no upstanding company would affiliate itself with in today’s whitewashed corporate culture.
Most stemming from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ads feature some truly amazing concoctions.
Miss Winslow’s Soothing Syrup was designed to quiet restless babies especially at the time of teething. Little did babies and their mothers know that the syrup’s secret ingredient was morphine. Those babies were soothed alright. There’s even a terrific vintage testimonial in the New York Times archive lauding the syrup’s ability to quiet entire households of screaming rugrats.
Bayer, the long-time drug manufacturer, experimented with several substances before focusing on wonder drug, aspirin. One such substance was heroin, which, not surprisingly, turned out to be a terrific cough suppressant. As it happens, it also tended to suppress just about everything else, except for the desire to buy more Bayer Heroin, of course.
And finally, there’s the soft drink of lore, Coca Cola. As urban legend (and PillTalk) tells us, the name came from the fact that the drink used to be a simple mix of wine and cocaine. I fail to see how corn syrup and phosphoric acid could ever hope to compete with their far more stimulating predecessors.
Federal Drug Use Survey Tells All
May 28th, 2009 by Rick
Apparently, this is the most recent federal data regarding statistics on illegal drug use, even though one of the sources is from a 2007 National Survey on Drug Usage. Why are we always a day late and a dollar short in this country when it comes to reporting statistics that are factual and recent?
Here are a few stats:
- One million people per year are reported to seek medical help from drug abuse (mostly heroin,cocaine and supposedly marijuana.)
- Out of the 14.2 million arrests in 2007, drug abuse was at 13% — more than 1.8 million people. Half of that amount were marijuana arrests — mostly for possession.
- Drug offenders are in 20% of the state prison population, and federal makes up half.
- Vermont has the highest rate of marijuana usage, while Utah has the lowest.
- 5% of 12th graders smoke marijuana on a daily basis.
- Nearly 51% of males, 12 and older, have tried illegal drugs, females were in the 42% range.
Violence Growing Even Worse in Mexico
March 3rd, 2009 by PerryThe drug violence is growing increasingly brazen in Mexico. Last week, federal officers made several seizures and arrests in relation to two officers who were shot and killed in their police car while on patrol.
The Mexican government reports a staggering 1,000 deaths linked to drug trafficking in the first eight weeks of the year (2009). For the last six months, the violence has grown increasingly worse. Latterly, a governmental criticized itself for the failure in identifying suspects in the murder of a magazine editor.
Naturally, Right Wing-conservative pundits are using this as an excuse to bash Obama’s decision to end federal raids on marijuana as a stimulus plan for these gangsters.
But how is legalization not the logical progression, if you could create revenue and help control something that’s seemingly way more powerful than the government?
It’s not giving up, it’s getting ready to be practical about how out of control the problem is.
Note: The segment above is entitled “The War Next Door” from last Sunday’s 60 Minutes reported by Anderson Cooper. Running time: 11m 52s.
Debris: Wednesday, 1.10.07
January 10th, 2007 by Tim- Marijuana Found in Barbie Backpack [via Robesonian]
- ‘Infomania’ Worse Than Marijuana [via BBC]
- Alcohol Impairs Driving More Than Marijuana [via New Scientist]
- Just Cause You Old Don’t Mean You Can’t Party [via L.A. Noir]
- Couple Taught Daughter to Do Drugs [via NBC4]
- The Drug Testing FAQ [via Cocaine.org]
Drug Slang Quiz = Worthless
October 31st, 2006 by Alex
Boy, I hope my groovy Mom and Pop don’t catch me ripping on some wacky terbacky. They might cop to my jive or maybe even gank my fry stick. I can’t believe they found the Street Drug Slang Dictionary. This damn slang gives me away every time!
Or not. I love these so-called Slang Dictionary’s that are supposed to clue parents in to what their kids are doing. There’s nothing you can do about aging. And anyone who grows up should know that if you’re young there’s always something new to describe what you don’t want adults to know about.
Too bad this quiz, and others just like it, are absolutely worthless. The only way to figure out what your kid calls drugs is by being aproachable about the subject and not forcing them to talk in code language around you. But I guess it’s easier to read a book…
Huge Index of Songs About Drugs
October 31st, 2006 by Tim
So, you think drug songs begin and end at Dr. Greenthumb (or anything else by Cypress Hill)? Wrong. Here’s a Wikipedia entry that might just help you create a kick ass playlist for your moments of green.
This shit is extensive – not only organized by drug type, but alphabetically within each category. Not all of these songs are in your face, “I smoke weed and I wrote a song about it.” Nah, many are subtle mentions, but how’re you gonna leave out the classics?
Obviously, this list took multiple people and quite some time to collect and index. So, thanks to all you Wikipedia editors out there.
[via Wikipedia]
