America, we need to wake up! A prescription written on a pad by a doctor does not equal safe. When prescribed responsibly, taken as directed and kept out of reach of children, painkillers, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds — any pill — can be a godsend to the people who need those drugs to live day-to-day. But all too often, those tablets intended for one particular patient get into the hands, the mouths, the bloodstreams of those just looking to get high.

In my new book, “iWant,” I talk about my addiction to alcohol. Before I got sober, I would occasionally take a Valium with a glass of wine. Alcohol was my main vice. I wasn’t a pill addict, but I did pop a few. Want to know how I got them? Well it wasn’t from a doctor. I got them from friends. That’s how it works….

So how do we even start to cure this epidemic? First and foremost we need to stop expecting to get a pill for every ache and pain we complain to our doctors about. Addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky pointed out recently on my show, “Issues,” that, “The medicines we have today are miraculous. They are spectacularly effective. Thank goodness we have these substances. Only because there’s a dark side to this, we have to become less dependent on them and seek them less.”

Click here to read the whole piece. It’s eye opening and thought-provoking.

Mahmoud ElSohly says marijuana’s potency will continue to rise before tailing off in the next five years.

The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday.

Scientists working for the government predict that potency, as measured by the drug’s concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, will continue to rise.

At the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, where thousands of samples of seized marijuana are tested every year, project director Mahmoud ElSohly said some samples have THC levels exceeding 30 percent.

Average THC concentrations will continue to climb before leveling off at 15 percent or 16 percent in five to 10 years, ElSohly predicted.

The stronger marijuana is of particular concern because high concentrations of THC have the opposite effect of low concentrations, officials say.

In addition, while experienced marijuana users may limit their intake of potent marijuana, young and inexperienced users may not moderate their intake and possibly suffer from dysphoria, paranoia, irritability and other negative effects.

Potent marijuana also poses significant risk to the developing adolescent brain, said Edward Jurith, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

Increasing potency is leading to higher admissions to emergency rooms and drug treatment programs, officials say.

The average THC for tested marijuana during 2008 was 10.1 percent, according to the government, compared to 1983 when it was reportedly under 4 percent.

read full article…

Wesleyan Resources:

• Online Marijuana Assessment

If you do use and are wondering how your use stacks up, take the online marijuana assessment to get personalized feedback and advice on how to reduce or eliminate your use.  

You will be asked to enter your Wesleyan email and password to access the site; however, your data is in no way linked to your name. All data is aggregated and offers compete anonymity for you.

or view it here.

Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at higher risks for serious mental health problems, including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report.

The report said more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.

The goal is to “correct the blind spot we’ve had in our society that’s caused more young people to suffer,” Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters said.

“The short message is: Marijuana’s not safe.”

Although the report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy notes that use of the drug among teenagers has dropped by 25 percent in the past seven years, it emphasizes that more teens use marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined.

That use can have serious consequences, according to the report. Teenagers who smoke marijuana to self-medicate can compound their depression, the report said.

read full article…
view video on report…

One in four Americans shares prescription drugs with others — and opens a Pandora’s box of risk.

This suggestion of widespread drug sharing comes from a pilot study in which researchers interviewed 700 people in 10 U.S. cities. It’s the first study to take a broad look at what people say about “loaning” and “borrowing” prescription medications.

About 23% of the people interviewed loaned medicines, and about 27% borrowed them, find Richard C. Goldsworthy, PhD, of Academic Edge Inc. and colleagues.

“Whether this sharing is beneficial or detrimental depends on what is shared and for what reason,” Goldsworthy tells WebMD. “But we found a lot of situations where sharing can be detrimental — in ways we don’t always think about.”

read full article…

Wesleyan students…What observations, if any, have you made about prescription drug sharing on campus? Is it problematic or not? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

From Scientific American…

If you use cocaine and need a reason to quit—or one to avoid starting in the first place—think conservation. The national parks of Guatemala and other countries have become the preferred haven of drug traffickers who usurp protected areas and burn the forest to serve their own purposes and the demands of their customers, according to Roan McNab, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) country director for Guatemala.

“They systematically destroy and sabotage forests so they can put in landing fields,” McNab said at the WCS State of the Wild conference on April 15. The landing fields enable them to move drugs—particularly cocaine—north by plane to feed American habits.

Similar misuse of parklands has plagued Colombia since at least the 1990s, and the Sierra de la Macarena National Park there is home to some 13,000 hectares (32,100 acres) of coca plantations, according to field data compiled by the illegal-drug monitoring U.N. body the Sistema Integrado de Monitoreo de Cultivos Ilicitos. As a result, officials have targeted the park for herbicide spraying from airplanes. Of course, this indiscriminately kills both coca and forest vegetation as well as poses a risk to the area’s frogs and other amphibians.

In Guatemala, drug traffickers clear a new landing strip on average once every six months to avoid being caught. read full article…

Q: Dear Alice,

I am a teenage girl currently taking Adderall (20 mg) to treat my ADHD. My question: does taking this medication affect sexual wantings or behavior? I am supposed to start taking it at 7:00am so it will wear out at about 9:00 or 9:30pm. Since I go out later at night, my medicine is usually worn off before I engage in any kind of sexual activity. But sometimes on weekends I wake up late and have to take it at later times such as 12:00 or 1:00pm. Since then it will not wear off until after I go out, would being on Adderall affect my sexual behavior? I feel like I am less “horny” when on Adderall and sex is worse because of the lack of my desires. Does this have anything to do with my medicine or is it just a coincidence?

A: Dear Reader,

Kudos to you for recognizing that medications can sometimes have unanticipated side effects — your lack of sexual desire may not just be a coincidence. It’s important to talk with a health care professional about the specific effects of Adderall, especially if you are considering altering your medication regimen.

Adderall is an amphetamine used to treat ADHD. Amphetamines are stimulants that have been shown to help with the symptoms of ADHD. Adderall’s potential side effects include:

• Headache
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Loss of appetite
• Stomach pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Weight loss
• Diminished sex drive
• Impotence

As you can see, it’s possible that your medication is related to your lower sex drive. Taking your medication far in advance of sexual activity may help with your lack of desire. Would it be possible to wake up at your normal time on weekends to take the medication, and then go back to sleep? If this isn’t feasible, you can talk with your health care professional about other options. Don’t change your dose or skip a dose without discussing it with her/him; you don’t want to jeopardize your health.

Also consider other medications you may be taking or habits you may have on the weekends. For example, some women report lowered sex drive from hormonal birth control, some people have sexual side-effects from depression or anti-anxiety medications, and some people who use alcohol or other drugs can experience sexual side effects. If any of these factors play a role in your life, you may want to consider their impact in addition to the possible impacts of Adderall when speaking with a health care provider. Keeping a journal of when you take Adderall or any other medications or substances and when you experience lower sex drive may also help you pinpoint a pattern and make a plan of action.

Good luck figuring out what is impacting your sex drive. Remember, don’t stop taking any prescription medications without speaking with your health care provider first; withdrawal effects may be even less desireable than low sexual desire!

This will be a very informal event, led by the Peer Health Advocates. We’ll be discussing drugs, alcohol, harm reduction, and the social climate at Wesleyan. We expect this to be a group conversation, not a lecture by the PHAs. You can ask or talk about drugs, what they can do, how not to hurt yourself while taking them, how to help your friends if they have a bad experience, and the fact that really, you don’t have to take any drugs or drink if you don’t want to. WesWELL’s mission is to equip you with accurate and useful information that can be used in your personal decision-making. Snacks will be served!

When: Friday, April 18 @ 2:30 pm
Where: Davison Health Center Solarium (2nd floor)

Yet given the ease of access to perfectly legal substances that can be inhaled, it is a behavior that can carry over from junior high or high school, where “huffing” is more common.

 The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) offers these health hazards for inhalant use:

Although they differ in makeup, nearly all abused inhalants produce short-term effects similar to anesthetics, which act to slow down the body’s functions. When inhaled in sufficient concentrations, inhalants can cause intoxication, usually lasting only a few minutes.

However, sometimes users extend this effect for several hours by breathing in inhalants repeatedly. Initially, users may feel slightly stimulated. Repeated inhalations make them feel less inhibited and less in control. If use continues, users can lose consciousness.

Sniffing highly concentrated amounts of the chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can directly induce heart failure and death within minutes of a session of repeated inhalations. This syndrome, known as “sudden sniffing death,” can result from a single session of inhalant use by an otherwise healthy young person. Sudden sniffing death is particularly associated with the abuse of butane, propane, and chemicals in aerosols. read full article…

Discussion Questions:
What have you seen, if anything, around Wesleyan in regards to inhalant use? 
What concerns you about it…or not?