"Shake and bake" methamphetamine is contributing to a spike in the number of people arrested for possession of the drug.

The number of meth-related arrests had been declining for years, but a new formula is allowing users to make methamphetamine relatively easily by combining cold pills and a few chemicals in a two-liter soda bottle and then shaking it for a few minutes.

The old way to make methamphetamine required laboratory equipment and cans of flammable liquid. Many people suffered injuries during explosions at these home laboratories.

Drug users now can make methamphetamine faster, quicker and cheaper. They can even make a small batch of meth from a few cold tablets.

Law enforcement officers have expressed concern over the new "shake and bake" recipe for meth. Methamphetamine addiction often leads to disorientation, violence, poor judgment and a number of other devastating physical and psychological effects.

Labels: meth, methamphetamine, abuse

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Adderall, a stimulant drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children, is becoming a problem on college campuses.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 6.4 percent of students use Adderall for non-medical reasons, with the most common being to get through finals week on very little sleep. Some graduate students and professors are also taking the drug to enhance their academic performance.

Many university health centers are aware of the Adderall problem, and are taking measures to combat it. Doctors are familiar with students who fake ADHD symptoms in order to obtain prescriptions for the drug.

The most common way to get the drug, many students report, is from other students who already have a prescription. These stockpile their supplies and sell their excess medication.

Some students who abuse Adderall report having withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches and lethargy, once they stop using the drug.

Labels: prescription drugs, adderall, abuse

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Creatine -- a type of nitrogen that aids in muscle contraction -- occurs naturally in the human body. It's produced by the liver, kidneys and pancreas. But it is also available as a dietary supplement, and an increasing number of teenage athletes are starting to use this substance.

"It's considered a 'natural' way to enhance performance," reports My Optum Health Instead of building muscle tissue like anabolic steroids, creatine helps the muscles work for a longer time. [Creating use] seems to be most helpful for people who do sports that demand short bursts of speed or power, such as sprinting or weightlifting."

Though not a steroid, creatine has prompted many of the concerns that are associated with steroid use and other types of drug abuse by young athletes.

For example, parents and medical professionals are concerned about the effects creatine may have on adolescent bodies, especially in long-term users. In addition, because creatine is a supplement and not a drug, it isn't regulated, which means there are no quality or safety standards that have to be met. Some health experts also worry that it may strain and damage the kidneys.

Labels: steroids, abuse, creatine

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According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, 20 percent of all teenagers have abuse prescription painkillers, stimulants or tranquilizers. Young people are turning to prescription medication because they wrongly think these substances are safer to abuse than are illicit drugs.

Writing in the Alternative Health Journal, AHJ editor Sylvia Anderson addressed the problems that can result from this misguided mindset:

Using prescriptive drugs for the wrong reasons can lead to very serious health risks especially if taken with other substances like alcohol, antihistamines, and ... depressants.

Moreover, there are many variations of the same medication and the abuser may not be aware of which one they have taken, how long it will remain in the body and the dangers of it interacting with other chemicals. ...

Taking prescriptive drugs in the wrong way can manifest into very dangerous consequences. For example, Ritalin seems harmless for children with ADHD but it is extremely harmful when snorted or injected.

Abusing painkillers to get high is like abusing heroin because both contain opiates. Since many pills look the same, the dosages manifest in varying effects from mild to lethal.

A teenager who is abusing prescription medication will try to hide the abuse. A change in behavior, change in friends, drop in grades or changes in mood could all indicate that a teen is abusing medication.

Labels: prescription drugs, abuse, signs

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The use of medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among college students who dont have ADHD is increasing. Most students who abuse ADHD meds do so when they have a big test, or need to pull an "all-nighter" to study or finish a project. But experts say that the benefits students believe they are receiving by abusing ADHD meds are largely imagined:

The ideas so simple: Just pop a bill and become Encyclopedia Brown. Hate to break it to you, but thats not how it works. Adderall and Ritalin are prescription medications for a reason. For one thing, they take weeks of regular use before they are properly metabolized for use by the brain: One pill a few hours before class wont suddenly increase your cognitive ability.
-- Source: La Voz Weekly (De Anza College, Calif.)

In addition to delayed or nonexistent "benefits," the abuse of ADHD medications is associated with a wide range of side effects, the La Voz article noted. The abuse of ADHD pills and other prescription medications is approaching epidemic levels in the United States, and is causing many young people to require the types of comprehensive services that are offered in residential rehab centers for teens.

Labels: students, adhd, abuse, medications

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The Community Child Protection Team of Salisbury, North Carolina, met last week to discuss teen abuse of prescription drugs and possible steps to address the problem in the community. The chairman of the group cited a recent statistic from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America that one in five American teens has abused prescription pain medication, stimulants, and/or tranquilizers.

A Salisbury attorney, Mr. Morris, shared his observations with the group: "I see it every day in court ... and the judges and DAs see it many more times daily." Morris said he believes that almost all physicians and pharmacists are honest; however, money may still be an incentive for over-vending the drug legally (a pharmacy makes $400 on a prescription for the painkiller OxyContin). OxyContin, which is the chemical cousin of heroin, may be even more addictive and more deadly.

(Source: www.salisburypost.com)

Labels: teens, abuse, prescription_drugs

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Few people realize how prevalent physical abuse is in teen dating relationships. But not all abuse is physical, and not all scars are visible.

"Most see [emotional abuse] as just a control issue, even those being abused. That's what makes this abuse so scary, the fact that those involved may never speak up and may not even recognize that it is abuse."

A teenager who's endured an emotionally abusive relationship could carry the scars with her for the rest of her life. If your teenager, or a teen you know, is dating someone who isolates her, blames her for everything, demands to know where she is at all times, or withholds emotion as a form of punishment, the relationship is emotionally abusive and the teen should end the relationship immediately. Source: Standard-Examiner (Utah)

Labels: abuse, violence, relationships

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The most recent edition of the annual "Monitoring the Future" survey from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that teens are drinking and smoking less, but abusing more prescription painkillers, stimulants, and marijuana.

According to the CASA report, smoking and drinking has been on a steady decline since 1997. For example, the percentage of 12th graders who drink alcohol decreased from 19 percent to 11 percent; among 10th graders, the drinking prevalence decreased from 43 percent to 29 percent.

However, more teenagers are using prescription drugs, especially painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin, and stimulants Ritalin and Adderall. The number of prescriptions written for these drugs has doubled in the past ten years.

The annual survey, which was conducted by the University of Michigan, analyzed data on 46,000 students in grades eight to 12.

Labels: abuse, prescription_drugs

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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced a new program last week that will enable children who have mental health and substance abuse issues to get better help. Called Illinois DocAssist, the consultation program helps primary care providers offer better treatment.

"Due to a shortage of child psychiatrists, many children who have special mental healthcare needs or who are battling substance abuse problems receive treatment not from psychiatrists but from pediatricians and family doctors. Through Illinois DocAssist, those providers will have access to consultations, the latest in educational tools, trainings and other resources..."

By making these resources available, the program will improve the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders by primary care physicians and pediatricians. Source: EMaxHealth

Labels: treatment, abuse, mental_health

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A major new government survey of 50,000 teens indicates that overall drug use has continued to decline over the past ten years. However, more teens are abusing prescription painkillers.

Social scientists at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research investigated the behaviors of 8th, 10th and 12th graders and found that the percentage of eighth graders using illicit drugs at least once a year dropped to 13% from 25% in 1997. For 10th graders, the rate dropped from 39% to 28%; and for 12th graders, those figures are 42% compared to 36% today.

Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator for the National Institute on Drug Use study, said, "The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are substantial, especially among the youngest students."

The bad news is that more teens are experimenting with prescription narcotics like Oxycotin and Vicodin, which doctors prescribe to cancer patients and others in severe pain. These drugs can produce states of euphoria often followed by stupor. Almost 10% of the 12th graders in the study had tried Vicodin, and 5% of all students in the survey had tried Oxycotin.

Researchers found an increase in the use of ecstasy, but a decline in amphetamine and methamphetamine. In addition, anabolic steroid use is on the increase among teenage boys. Marijuana remains the most popular of the illicit drugs.

Labels: addiction, teenagers, abuse

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Parents of toddlers lock up medicines so their children do not have access to dangerous drugs. Now experts are advising parents of teens to do the same thing.

A new study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that teens say it is easier to obtain prescription drugs than cigarettes, beer, or marijuana. One-third of the teens in the study who abuse such drugs obtain them from their own homes. Parents are often unaware teens are raiding family medicine cabinets because teens often steal just a few pills at a time.

Researchers in this latest government study interviewed 1,000 students ages 12 to 17 and 300 parents between April and June. Nearly half of the older teens reported knowing at least one friend who was abusing prescription drugs.

Illegal drug use among teenagers has declined 25 percent since 2001, but teen prescription drug abuse is increasing, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Opiates such as Vicodin and OxyContin, which are chemical cousins of heroin and morphine, are particularly popular with teens. Teens are prone to addiction because the human brain does not fully mature until age 24.

"This has quietly and insidiously grown into a big problem," said spokesperson for the agency, Tom Riley. "It's not the creepy guy in an overcoat pushing drugs - this is about medications that are in your home. ... Teens are getting drugs from their parents' or grandparents' medicine cabinets."

Teens can also buy almost any drug they want from Internet pharmacies without doctors' prescriptions.

New legislation sponsored by California Senator Dianne Feinstein would require any business selling controlled substances on the Internet to register with the Drug Enforcement Agency. This measure passed in the House of Representatives and is now pending in the Senate.

Labels: parental_involvement, abuse, prescription_drugs

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Danny was in eighth grade when he first got hooked on drugs. He started with the Ritalin that had been prescribed him for ADHD by crushing and snorting it. Then he started stealing other medications from his mother.

"By the time Danny was a sophomore in high school, he was using cocaine and crystal meth. One morning when he was 19, he woke up vomiting and hung over as usual. 'I just broke,' he said. 'I was wholeheartedly ready to stop.'"

Now, two and a half years later, Danny is clean, even after being prescribed Vicodin following extensive back surgery. Coming out of the surgery was a "huge turning point," making Danny realize how far he'd come and how much he'd gained since giving up drugs and alcohol. Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Labels: parental_involvement, abuse, prescription_drugs

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Treatment for prescription drug abuse and addiction surged 321 percent in 10 years, according to federal statistics. Stephen Pasierb, president and chief executive for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America says this abuse is fueled in part by a low perception of risk.

"'There's a very low social disapproval. In fact, there are parents who are almost relieved that their kid is using Vicodin and not smoking marijuana,' he said."

Prescription drug monitoring legislation exists in 38 states, and some states offer pre-addressed, postage-paid envelopes for people to mail in unused medications for proper disposal. Still, the efforts seem to be making little headway in curbing this latest substance abuse trend. Source: Reuters

Labels: addiction, abuse, prescription_drugs

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A study that appeared in BioMed Central found that drug and alcohol use was often linked with sexual encounters. Many of those surveyed had specific sexual uses for either drugs or alcohol.

"Overall, alcohol was most likely to be used to facilitate a sexual encounter... males were more likely to use alcohol to facilitate a sexual encounter although nearly a quarter of female alcohol users also used it for the same purpose."

The study also found that young people who used drugs or alcohol in sexual encounters were far more likely to engage in risky behavior and to have multiple partners. Source: BioMed Central

Labels: sex, abuse

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Three times as many Floridians died this year from prescription drug abuse than from the use illicit drugs, according to a report from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. Florida is one of the few states that keep such records.

The new information supports the findings of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, which estimates an 80 percent increase in the number of people abusing prescription drugs in the United States over the past six years. This increase means that an estimated seven million people are illegally using prescription medications, primarily painkillers and opiates like oxycodone and hydrocone.

The Florida report found that 989 individuals died from using cocaine, heroin or methamphetamines, while 2,328 deaths resulted from the use of painkillers. An additional 743 deaths were attributed to the misuse of benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax.

Florida legislators are considering joining the 38 states that already have laws to monitor prescription drug sales.

Labels: death, abuse, prescription_drugs

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Katie is a high school senior who spends part of her school week working at the Teen Health Center, where both staff and volunteers have been hearing more stories about prescription drug use among students.

"The center's coordinator, Mary Tonsmeire, said one of the first things she and other medical professionals did was to gather data to see if the anecdotal information they were hearing was showing a trend."

Tonsmeire then talked to doctors and pharmacists to find out if there were ways to keep track of where teens got prescription medication that didn't belong to them. She and her staff are working closely with high schools to include information about prescription drug use in health classes. Source: Juneau Empire

Labels: abuse, prescription_drugs, health_care

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Gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens are 190% more likely to smoke, drink, and use injection drugs or cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine compared to straight youth. Lesbian teens are at highest risk (400%).

Researchers from the Western Psychiatric Institute based their results on 18 studies done between 1994 and 2006 about sexual orientation and the use of illegal substances in teenagers.

The study appears in the journal Addiction.

SunHawk Academy, a private boarding school for troubled teens in Utah, combines intense adolescent substance abuse recovery with academics. Learn more at www.sunhawkacademy.com.

Labels: abuse, gay_teens

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Dionne Passacantando was a cheerleader and a gymnast, but her reason for using anabolic steroids had nothing to do with athletics. She just wanted better abs. It's a story that is more common than many realize.

"A recent report by the Oregon Health and Science University using data from the Centers for Disease Control said 5.3 percent of teenage girls admitted using anabolic steroids, mostly for body-enhancing reasons or self-protection, not athletics. According to 2003 CDC data, seventh-grade girls were the fastest-growing group of steroid users, with more than 7 percent using them, the controversial report said."

Though steroids can make you stronger, they also can have devastating psychological effects. Five weeks after Dionne started using, she began feeling suicidal. Steroids also can cause liver tumors, increase blood pressure, and stunt growth. Read more at IHT.com.

Labels: abuse, steriods, supplements

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At a national conference for substance abuse in Edmonton, Nancy Poole - a researcher for the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women urged conference attendees to begin developing programs that can meet the unique needs of women struggling to overcome addiction.

"As many as 80 per cent of women entering treatment programs also have histories of being abused or assaulted, and many use drugs or alcohol to try to cope, delegates were told."

Researchers have also found that women metabolize alcohol and nicotine differently than men. Add to that higher rates of childhood sexual abuse and violence suffered by women and the need for specialized programs becomes clear.

Copper Canyon Academy is a girls residential treatment program and private boarding school. Learn about their therapeutic program at CopperCanyonAcademy.com.

Labels: girls, treatment, abuse

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The Calhoun County Medicine Abuse Prevention Task Force was formed in 2005, as the county became aware of the increasing abuse of prescription medication. Now, the task force is urging parents, teachers and community leaders to educate themselves on the dangers of prescription drug use and the warning signs.

"Signs of a medicine abuse problem may include: hiding pills, obsessively counting them, doctor shopping, or frequent visits to emergency rooms, having meds filled at more than one pharmacy, taking a greater amount of drug or taking it more frequently than prescribed."

The greatest danger in prescription drug use is that many people, especially teenagers, think that prescribed medicine is safer than illegal drugs. Pain killers are currently the most common among misused prescription drugs.

Labels: abuse, prescription_drugs, medications

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On August 15th, parents, teens, health care professionals, and city officials will come together in East Brunswick, New Jersey to discuss the dangerous trend of prescription medication abuse among teens. The purpose is to educate and raise awareness of the problem.

"More importantly, we aim to identify solutions and strategies to address this issue. Audience members will be encouraged to join in the dialogue with questions and ideas."

State Senator Barbara Buono will serve as moderator. Read more at THNT.com.

Dealing with teen drug abuse? You don't have to go through it alone. Learn how to get help at DrugRehabTreament.com.

Labels: awareness, abuse, prescription_drugs

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A year ago, most city, county, and sate officials were concerned with teen use of things like marijuana and cocaine. Though use of those drugs is still an issue, more and more people are becoming aware of the increased abuse of prescription medication.

"According to an analysis of national surveys prepared by [John] Walters office, 2.1 million teenagers abused prescription drugs in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available."

The increased used is primarily attributed to accessibility and the misconception that prescription drugs are safer. Read more at TheOaklandPress.com.

Labels: prescription drugs, teenagers, abuse

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The final weeks of the school semester bring the promise of warm summer days, no classes, and the chance – finally – to sleep late. The final weeks also often bring the dangerous abuse of attention-deficit medications like Adderall.

According to director of health services for Dowell Health Center Jane Halpern, students should understand that prescription medication should not be used simply as a study aide. "I understand that temptation because you want to stay up, stay awake, study and be focused, and I’m sure in most people, it does that…[but]… you’re getting it illegally from someone who’s selling it illegally." [Source: The Towerlight (Towson University)]

Halpern believes taking medication that wasn’t prescribed to you is no different than taking steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. In addition to the legal issues, misuse of prescription medication can have dangerous consequences, not the least of which is accidental overdose.

 

Labels: adderall, abuse, medications

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