Cocaine and Addiction
Is Cocaine Addictive?
According to the Foundation for a Drug Free World, cocaine creates the greatest psychological dependence of any drug, next to methamphetamine. It stimulates key pleasure centers within the brain and causes extremely heightened euphoria. Cocaine addiction, tolerance and dependency builds quickly. If someone uses cocaine, they will not get the same effect as the very next time they do it with the same amount.
Understanding Cocaine
Cocaine is a white, powdery substance. It creates a high by reacting with the body’s central nervous system, releasing high amounts of dopamine. In turn, this creates energy...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - March 4, 2019 Category: Addiction Authors: Jaclyn Uloth Tags: Addiction Addiction Recovery Cocaine Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment Substance Abuse cocaine addiction coke drug addiction drug addiction recovery drug addiction treatment Source Type: blogs
New Cato Report: A Border Wall Won ’t Stop Drug Smuggling—Marijuana Legalization Has
President Trump has repeatedly cited drug smuggling as a reason to build a wall along the Southern border. Butmy new Cato policy analysis shows that, if stopping drug smuggling is the goal, a border wall is about the worst possible investment. Here are a few of the main findings:Hundreds of miles of border fences built from 2003 to 2009 had no effect on marijuana smuggling.Marijuana legalization starting in 2014 has cut marijuana smuggling between ports of entry (i.e. where a wall would go) 78 percent from 114 pounds per agent in 2013 to just 25 pounds per agent in 2018. Since marijuana is the primary drug smuggled betwe...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 19, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: David Bier Source Type: blogs
Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs: Can Digital Solutions Give A Helping Hand To The Addicted?
Alcohol content measuring wristbands, smart lighters, nicotine tracking wearables, stop smoking apps, virtual reality therapies, automated messaging platforms are the newest elements in the arsenal of digital health technologies supporting everyone in the fight against addiction to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.
Addiction and dependency ruins lives
Once you become addicted, it sticks with you for a long time, if not for life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s about cigarettes, alcohol, medication, drugs, gambling, sex, etc., any of these substances or phenomena could cause you strong dependency and might impact your everyd...
Source: The Medical Futurist - December 6, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Medical Professionals Patients Researchers alcohol cigarette digital health drugs health technology Innovation medication opioid opioid crisis smartphone smartphone apps smoking virtual Source Type: blogs
Today ’s Drug Abusers Did Not Derive From Yesterday’s Patients
We learned last week that the 2017 drug overdose numbers reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clearly show most opioid-related deaths are due to illicit fentanyl and heroin, while deaths due to prescription opioids have stabilized, continuing a steady trend for the past several years. I’ve encouraged using the term “Fentanyl Crisis” rather than “Opioid Crisis” to describe the situation, because it more accurately points to its cause—nonmedical users accessing drugs in the dangerous black market fueled by drug prohibition—hoping this wi ll redirect attention and lead to reforms...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 4, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
The Curse of Delusional Parasitosis
Delusional parasitosis is a rare condition, but it is more common where methamphetamine and cocaine abuse is high. It is a fascinating condition to witness; patients are convinced that their skin is infested with foreign organisms or materials despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.This condition is known by numerous names—Ekbom syndrome, delusory parasitosis, psychogenic parasitosis, delusional parasitosis, delusional ectoparasitosis, formication, chronic tactile hallucinosis, dermatophobia, parasitophobia, and cocaine bugs—but delusional parasitosis and more recently delusional infestation are considere...
Source: M2E Too! Mellick's Multimedia EduBlog - September 29, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Methamphetamine and pulmonary hypertension
(Source: Notes from Dr. RW)
Source: Notes from Dr. RW - September 19, 2018 Category: Internal Medicine Tags: cardiovascular pulmonary toxicology Source Type: blogs
Prohibition Is the Obvious Cause of Opioid Crisis as CDC Releases Preliminary Casualty Numbers for 2017
Earlier this month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released preliminary estimates of the opioid overdose rate for 2017. The total overdose rate rose to approximately 72,000, up from a total overdose rate of 63,600 in 2016, an increase of roughly 10 percent. The total overdose rate includes deaths from numerous drugs in addition to opioids, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and benzodiazepines. The opioid-related overdose rate increased as well, from a little over 42,000 in 2016 to over 49,000 in 2017. This increase occurred despite a 4 percent drop in heroin overdoses and a 2 percent drop in overdoses...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - August 16, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
How to Be Kind
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
I seem to constantly skirt trouble. Writing and medicine are fractious bedfellows – a marriage not always congenial. On one hand, to write well, to truly produce good work, you have to crack yourself open and claw out the truth for examination in the light. No fluffing around, avoiding the difficult topics. No wilful blindness to your own biases. No doing stuff to be liked. No pretence. Writing about medicine, on the other, requires a good deal of restraint – case anony...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - June 19, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michelle Johnston Tags: 'How to...' series. An Instruction manual for those in Critical Care How to Be Kind Source Type: blogs
Methamphetamine related heart failure: rising prevalence, distinct phenotype
(Source: Notes from Dr. RW)
Source: Notes from Dr. RW - June 15, 2018 Category: Internal Medicine Tags: cardiovascular toxicology Source Type: blogs
Tips for Teens fact sheets about drugs
SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), Tips for Teens fact sheets provide information about the effects of short- and long-term use of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and inhalants. These insightful and easy-to-read brochures provide important facts teens need to know, answer frequently asked questions, and help to dispel common myths about each of the substances covered. Recently these fact sheets have been updated and are now available to download or order for free.
Tips for Teens: The Truth About Cocaine
Tips for Teens: The Truth About Heroin
Tips for Teens: The Truth About Methamphetam...
Source: BHIC - June 12, 2018 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Carolyn Martin Tags: Children and Teens Health Information Literacy Substance Addiction and Misuse Source Type: blogs
Double Standards, Trojan Style
By NIRAN AL-AGBA, MD
The University of Southern California (USC) appears to look the other way when male physicians harass or assault women. In reality, sexual violence spares no occupation, including medicine, but the way an organization responds to crime against women indicates a certain level of integrity. The World Health Organization estimates sexual violence affects one-third of all women worldwide. In a nation where women make up 50% or more of each incoming medical school class, only sixteen percent of medical school deans are female, making gender imbalance in leadership positions nearly impossible to overcome.
Fo...
Source: The Health Care Blog - May 24, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: OP-ED Physicians #MeToo Sexual Assault USC Source Type: blogs
While Politicians Cut Opioid Prescriptions, Fentanyl —With Help From the “Dark Web” and the USPS— Becomes the Number One Killer
A May 22 story in Bloomberg News describes with painstaking detail the underground pipeline through which the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl floods the US market. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, while the Mexican cartel plays a role by using its well-established heroin and methamphetamine d istribution networks, most of the fentanyl comes in to the US from China. The raw materials to make the synthetic opioids are cheap and they can be manufactured rather quickly in small laboratories. The laboratories are constantly creating new variations so as to skirt restrictions the Chinese government places...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 23, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
From “Opioid Epidemic " to “Stimulant Epidemic”
Speaking at the National Rx Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta, John Eadie, coordinator for the National Threat Initiative, warned, “We’re now facing a very significant stimulant epidemic.” Abuse of prescription stimulants such as Adderal and Ritalin (used to treat Attention Deficit Disorders) as well as illicit stimulants, like cocaine and methamphetamine, are surging. “No one is paying attention to this,” Eadie said, because the focus has been on opioids.Law enforcement has seized 15 kilograms of stimulants for every kilogram of heroin it has seized during the last 5 years. The Centers for Disease Control and...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Lessons for the Opioid Epidemic from Meth
As the nation remains fixated on the opioid epidemic,methamphetamineismakingaresurgence. Meth is less expensive than heroin, and it isgaining users who fear opioid overdoses.Meth is not new; it burst onto the scene in the early 1990, as the crack epidemic waned. Synthesized from readily available chemicals, meth provided a cheaper, homemade alternative to other drugs. As use increased, legislators and law enforcement officials took note.The first major legislation targeting meth was the1996Comprehensive MethamphetamineControl Act. Passed unanimously by the Senate and by 386-34 in the House, the legislation required that...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 8, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey Miron Source Type: blogs
The First Count of Fentanyl Deaths in 2016: Up 540% in Three Years - The New York Times
Drug overdoses killed roughly 64,000 people in the United States last year, according to the first governmental account of nationwide drug deaths to cover all of 2016. It's a staggering rise of more than 22 percent over the 52,404 drug deaths recorded the previous year — and even higher than The New York Times's estimatein June, which was based on earlier preliminary data.Drug overdoses are expected to remain the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, as synthetic opioids — primarily fentanyl and its analogues — continue to push the death count higher. Drug deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled ...
Source: Psychology of Pain - September 5, 2017 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
