Is Pure MDMA Safer Than Other Drugs?
One of the biggest myths about Molly—pure MDMA—is that it’s safer than other drugs. This belief is dangerous for two reasons:
It’s not true.
It’s impossible to know if you’re actually taking pure MDMA.
Pure or Not, Molly Is Harmful
Pure MDMA—meaning there are no other substances in it—is not a safe drug to take. MDMA can have many of the same effects as other stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines. A person who takes MDMA could experience increased heart rate and blood pressure, muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating.
In high doses, MDMA ca...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - March 5, 2014 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
Meth Use Is Down, But We Still Have Work To Do
November 30 to December 7, 2013 is the first national Meth Awareness Week. Sponsored by our friends at The Partnership at DrugFree.org and coordinated by the Meth Project, this event aims to increase awareness of the devastating effects of using methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine, or meth, is a manmade stimulant that is sometimes made in basement labs from the cold medicine pseudoephedrine and various toxic chemicals like drain cleaner, battery acid, and antifreeze. Meth makes a person more awake and physically active, causes rapid heart rate, and increases blood pressure and body temperature. Repeated use causes your teeth ...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - December 3, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
Super Meth Taking Over San Francisco
Few drugs have caused as much mayhem as crystal methamphetamine on American streets. But nowhere is it more prevalent than the streets of San Francisco.Contributor: Eve OrionPublished: Nov 18, 2013 (Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content)
Source: Most Recent Health Wellness - Associated Content - November 18, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Source Type: blogs
The Heirloom Chemistry Set
I wrote here about chemistry sets as gifts for science-minded youngsters, and at the time, the only recommendation I could make was the Thames and Kosmos line (which are definitely still worth a look). A reader sends along another possibility, though: the Heirloom Chemistry Set, a deliberate attempt to recreate the classic sets of 50 or 60 years ago. It's not cheap, but it certainly looks like the real deal. This part, though, is cause for concern:
Regarding equipment, while we have shipped custom chemistry sets (both chemicals and equipment) to customers in each of the 50 states for the past 10 years it needs to be noted...
Source: In the Pipeline - November 15, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Science Gifts Source Type: blogs
Why Don't I Hate Walter White?
I'm back from vacation and Shrink Rap resumes, even in the face of the continuing federal shutdown.
Note that over on Clinical Psychiatry News, ClinkShrink wrote about "Trauma Informed Care" and how it has traumatized her, and I have an article on "Antipsychotic medications and The Psychiatrist's Dilemma."
So, I surfed over to Psycritic to read about all that is right with Breaking Bad in A Psychiatrist's Favorite Breaking Bad Moments. Like Psycritic, I too am a Breaking Bad addict -- come to it late, then caught up in real time. Maybe it's that we made popcorn during the episodes for a while, but the ri...
Source: Shrink Rap - October 13, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Breaking Bad is Killing Me
A little dramatic, I guess. but have you ever seen anything so intense… so gripping…on a television set? Or at a movie, for that matter? I’ve loved the show for years. I almost pulled my youngest from her sophomore year of highschool a few years ago, when it appeared that she couldn’t catch up with […] (Source: Suboxone Talk Zone)
Source: Suboxone Talk Zone - August 26, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: J T Junig Tags: Acute Pain Chronic pain other blogs Public policy arizona breaking bad hank jessie methamphetamine saul vengeance walt Source Type: blogs
Meth Mouth and Crank Bugs: Meth-a-morphosis
Few SBB posts have gotten as many grossed-out reactions from readers as this one from January 2010—check out what meth does to your body and let us know in comments what you think.
SBB has already told you about some of the nasty effects that methamphetamine can have on the body—remember that post about how scavengers won’t even eat the dead bodies of meth users?
Not only can meth mess up your body’s chemical structure and even cause problems with your heart and lungs, it also changes your appearance and behavior. Soon, meth users might not even look or act like themselves.
Bad news for teeth and skin. Ever heard o...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - July 31, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sara Bellum Source Type: blogs
Narcotics Anonymous 2013
Conclusions: NA offers support for long-term abstinence from diverse misuse of drugs among users of different backgrounds.
(Marc Galanter, Helen Dermatis, Stephen Post, Courtney Santucci; J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 74, 349–352, 2013)
:Doctors in AAWhat Are Drug Users Looking For?Alcoholics Anonymous with Narcotics Anonymous success in…AA Membership Survey 2007Twelve Step Facilitation Therapy (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com)
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - July 29, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addictions Cocaine Drugs Heroin Marijuana Narcotics Anonymous Recovery Abstinence From Drugs abstinence-based fellowship Source Type: blogs
MDPV Turns Lab Rats Into "Window Lickers"
Popular bath salt drug shown to be highly addictive.
Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, appear to have hammered the last nail into the coffin for the common “bath salt” drug known as MDPV. We can now say with a high degree of certainty that, based on animal models, we know that 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone is addictive—perhaps more strongly addictive than methamphetamine, although such comparisons are always perilous. However, principal investigator Michael A. Taffe, an associate professor at TSRI, said in a prepared release that the research group “observed that rats ...
Source: Addiction Inbox - July 14, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs
Popular Synthetics: The Class of 2013
Navigating the new alphabet of intoxication.
You don’t have to be a molecular chemist to know which of today’s recreational drugs are safe. Wait, I take that back. You DO have to be a molecular chemist to navigate today’s synthetic drug market with anything like a modest degree of safety.
It’s hard not to get nostalgic: Back in the day, you had your pot, you had your acid, your coke, your speed, and your heroin. And that, with the exception of a few freak outriders like PCP, was about that. Baby boomers of today, already losing touch with leading-edge music—Macklemore? Tame Impala?—can now consider themsel...
Source: Addiction Inbox - July 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs
What We Talk About When We Talk About Drugs
Some number crunching at bluelight.ru.
A fantastic set of interactive graphics tracking conversational trends in drugs at the chat board bluelight.ru reveals some surprises, to the delight of data journalists everywhere. Virostatiq, a software package authored by Marko Plahuta, was put to the task of analyzing traffic at the drug discussion site. Various kinds of plots are available, with endless variables to permutate. Bear in mind that the data that got crunched dealt with the subject of messages, and cannot be directly correlated with drug use, trends, distributions, etc. But it is a fascinating glimpse at what ille...
Source: Addiction Inbox - June 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs
Women, Cigarettes, and Meth
More bad news for young female addicts.
A blizzard of research findings this year continues to demonstrate that women have gender-specific issues to deal with when it comes to cigarettes and speed. None of the findings have anything to do with the old canard that women cannot “hold their liquor,” or do drugs like men do. Women hold their liquor fine, on a pound for pound basis. And women are well represented, presently, among the ranks of alcoholics. That is unfortunate, since a great deal of research has shown that alcohol causes neurological damage in women more quickly than in men. And now comes more evidence that ...
Source: Addiction Inbox - May 28, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs
Ruminating on a Drug Dealer
I’ve been thinking deeply about my drug dealing neighbor. The police have recently began patrolling by every few hours. I see them more and more. That has slowed things down some. I am sure my corner neighbor had something to do with that. He, the drug dealing neighbor, is obviously not dealing crack cocaine or methamphetamine. All his patrons have decent to nice cars. That makes me think he is dealing marijuana or prescription pills. It must be a harrowing job – people always needing something from you. When he is home then there is a steady stream of people pulling into his driveway for ten minutes at a t...
Source: The 4th Avenue Blues - May 28, 2013 Category: Mental Illness Authors: Andrew Quixote Source Type: blogs
A Look at the OAS Report on Drug Policy in the Americas
Juan Carlos Hidalgo
Last Friday, the Organization of American States released a groundbreaking report on the future of drug policy in the Americas. The OAS received the mandate to produce this document at the Summit of the Americas last year in Cartagena, Colombia, where some presidents aired their frustration with the war on drugs and even suggested legalization as an alternative to fight the cartels.
The document is based on solid premises:
Drug violence is one of the greatest challenges facing the Americas
The current approach is a failure isn’t working
New policy alternatives need to be discussed and impleme...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 21, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Juan Carlos Hidalgo Source Type: blogs
The Georgia Straight Covers My Campaign To Get BC Politicians To Re Open The BC Adult ADHD Clinic
Post from: Adult ADD Strengths
Georgia Straight editor Charlie Smith did an great article about the 6 year campaign ( we adders can be very tenacious if we really want something) I and others have been waging to try to reopen the BC adult ADHD clinic by getting BC politicians to stop neglecting ADHD.
He also talks about then BC NDP Health critic and likely premier tonight Adrian Dix and the clinic.
During the may provincial election I asked BC political party leaders if they’d support reopening the BC adult ADHD clinic.
The BC Conservative Party leader John Cummins supports reopening the BC Adult ADHD clinic.
...
Source: Adult ADD Strengths - May 15, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Pete Quily Tags: ADD / ADHD Advocacy Politics ADHD related Source Type: blogs
