Oxycontin Express
The main source of the illicit prescription drug pipeline is in Florida, especially South Florida (Broward County) where there are doctors who are licensed and basically writing prescriptions for money. It is incredibly saddening that these "Pain Clinics" are continually writing drug addicts prescriptions for ridiculous amounts of narcotics. Basically, as described in the documentary, some of these "Pain Clinics" are established by non physicians and bring in (most of the time retired) licensed doctors to come and write prescriptions. These clinics do not accept insurance and simply sell narcotics to addicts for cash only. In my opinion, this whole operation is not only unethical but also sketchy and unlawful.
Until recently there was no database that tracks these pain drugs in Florida, allowing addicts to go from doctor to doctor and get more and more pain pills because there is no way of seeing if they have been prescribed pain pills already. The doctors at these pain clinics in Florida will write prescriptions to addicts, and due to the demand for these narcotics, addicts come from all over the pipeline stretching from Ft. Lauderdale to Appalachia in Kentucky.
This is insane to think that Kentucky leads the nation in narcotic overdoses and it is all coming from Florida, especially these Broward County "Clinics". When watching this documentary I was just so shocked that this issue hasn't erupted into a nationwide effort banning these clinics in Florida that are supplying addicts and dealers all the way in Kentucky with drugs!
Policies need to be made in an effort to close these clinics in Broward Country and throughout Florida. There is no reason why "Pain Clinics" that are basically legal drug pushers should even exist. The DEA and nationwide efforts need to be enforced to stop the pipeline of these narcotics.
While watching the documentary I asked myself: what is spending taxpayers money to dispatch and arrest small time users for the possession of these narcotics about to stop? Probably nothing because the people that are spending a couple of years in prison are simply users that were selling to support their own habit and are not the source of the large scale narcotic distribution leading to many overdoses. Instead of going after small time users, in my opinion law enforcement needs to crack down on the real source of this "Pipeline" and that would mean monitoring and regulating these "Pain Clinics". One policy I would suggest being enacted immediately to begin the fight against this issue would be to create a database that tracks these pain pills in Florida that REQUIRES the doctors to check this database and enter in prescriptions IMMEDIATELY after being prescribed. That way, if a licensed physician is still prescribing narcotics to someone who has already been prescribed them from elsewhere, law enforcement can punish the physicians who are supplying these addicts with more drugs for the money and begin shutting down these "Pain Clinics".
In class we have not talked about prescription pills too much yet, but
the demand for prescription narcotics like Xanax and does not surprise
me after I did a past assignment on the "Xanax epidemic" which has
become one of the most abused and addictive drugs among teenagers
entering treatment centers currently.
All in all, this concept of legal drug suppliers in forms of licensed physicians completely shocked and scared me. These are physicians who took an oath to help people but instead have used that license to in fact hurt people and cause much more harm then good. The documentary was extremely eye opening and disheartening. It's truly unbelievable that these terrible and immoral "Pain Clinics" have affected so many people across state lines.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Activity 5
"Cocaine Kids"
In Cocaine Kids, the author Terry Williams provides an ethnographic research perspective on the urban drug culture of the 1980s. He does so by submersing himself in the culture, which he is studying. He does so by befriending and observing a group of drug dealers and their everyday life for an extended period of time. By doing so, Williams is able to offer the readers insight into the lives of these cocaine dealers on a personal level as well as describing the drug culture of that time from a first hand experience.
Three aspects of the drug culture really stuck out to me as I read Williams' ethnography on the cocaine trade. The first thing that caught my eye was how these cocaine dealers looked down on the use of freebase. This is also something we discussed in class, defining freebase as a combination of a solvent and ammonia in order to remove any hydrochloride and create a base. I thought it was interesting as I read Cocaine Kids that the drug dealers would look down on the use of particular forms of the same drug they produce and sell. In this case, freebase was looked down upon and Max (the leader of the crew) even tested one of his guys out before making him part of the crew by offering him partying with girls and freebasing to see if he would accept the offer.
Another concept within the drug culture, which I had never even heard of until reading this book, was the idea of after-hour clubs. I had no idea these clubs even existed until reading this book. This is definitely a concept of the drug culture that intrigued me; that there was an actually club where drug users/dealers would go to chill out and use these products and exchange these drugs completely under the radar of law enforcement.
Lastly, while reading this book I noticed the concept of how the wives/fiances/girlfriends of these drug dealers are expected to remain at home, caring for the children and staying loyal and committed to their men, while these guys are out on the streets dealing drugs and partying with other women constantly. This notion of ill treatment of women described in the book as an accepted part of the drug culture was saddening to me. This is evident to me when the author speaks one on one with Suzanne, Max's fiance. Terry Williams' noted in the book, "Suzanne protests the double standard that permits Latin males to absolute sexual freedom", yet as I read this I can't help but wonder why women like Suzanne whose significant others are drug dealers and not loyal decide to stick around with that lifestyle.
Terry Williams describes the drug culture and the different forms of cocaine such as crack and freebase throughout his ethnography, which we as a class have discussed. Williams also notes how much how the cocaine being sold on the streets is "cut" with different solvents such as baking powder in order to maximize the drug dealers profit and increase the quantity of the product. This is something we have also talked about in class; mostly all drugs sold are "cut" with other products and pretty much never pure!
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
In Cocaine Kids, the author Terry Williams provides an ethnographic research perspective on the urban drug culture of the 1980s. He does so by submersing himself in the culture, which he is studying. He does so by befriending and observing a group of drug dealers and their everyday life for an extended period of time. By doing so, Williams is able to offer the readers insight into the lives of these cocaine dealers on a personal level as well as describing the drug culture of that time from a first hand experience.
Three aspects of the drug culture really stuck out to me as I read Williams' ethnography on the cocaine trade. The first thing that caught my eye was how these cocaine dealers looked down on the use of freebase. This is also something we discussed in class, defining freebase as a combination of a solvent and ammonia in order to remove any hydrochloride and create a base. I thought it was interesting as I read Cocaine Kids that the drug dealers would look down on the use of particular forms of the same drug they produce and sell. In this case, freebase was looked down upon and Max (the leader of the crew) even tested one of his guys out before making him part of the crew by offering him partying with girls and freebasing to see if he would accept the offer.
Another concept within the drug culture, which I had never even heard of until reading this book, was the idea of after-hour clubs. I had no idea these clubs even existed until reading this book. This is definitely a concept of the drug culture that intrigued me; that there was an actually club where drug users/dealers would go to chill out and use these products and exchange these drugs completely under the radar of law enforcement.
Lastly, while reading this book I noticed the concept of how the wives/fiances/girlfriends of these drug dealers are expected to remain at home, caring for the children and staying loyal and committed to their men, while these guys are out on the streets dealing drugs and partying with other women constantly. This notion of ill treatment of women described in the book as an accepted part of the drug culture was saddening to me. This is evident to me when the author speaks one on one with Suzanne, Max's fiance. Terry Williams' noted in the book, "Suzanne protests the double standard that permits Latin males to absolute sexual freedom", yet as I read this I can't help but wonder why women like Suzanne whose significant others are drug dealers and not loyal decide to stick around with that lifestyle.
Terry Williams describes the drug culture and the different forms of cocaine such as crack and freebase throughout his ethnography, which we as a class have discussed. Williams also notes how much how the cocaine being sold on the streets is "cut" with different solvents such as baking powder in order to maximize the drug dealers profit and increase the quantity of the product. This is something we have also talked about in class; mostly all drugs sold are "cut" with other products and pretty much never pure!
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Monday, February 16, 2015
Activity 4
"Go Pills"
After completing the reading of the three articles, "Go pills: A war on drugs?" "Bombing error puts a spotlight on pilots' pills", and "Military looks to drugs for battle readiness" I could not believe what I read. I had no idea that the military especially pilots, were using amphetamines in order to enhance their perform during battle and increase alertness.
Although I was shocked at first, I began to understand and see the rationale behind the military use of these drugs. I was a bit conflicted when reading the articles though, because although I can see why the military would decide to distribute amphetamines to maintain their pilots' alertness during long flights and battles, I also realized that the increase in the use of these amphetamines not only lead to the dependency on these drugs, but also the side effects of these drugs could be detrimental in some users. Basically I concluded my internal debate by realizing that although the use of these amphetamines are being distributed by the military for the SHORT TERM benefits of the military as a whole, it is neglecting the LONG TERM negative effects the use of these drugs have on the men as individuals.
With that being said, I believe the military distribution of these "go pills" or amphetamines is not an ethical practice. By distributing these drugs to men who have not tested positive for the attention deficit disorders that actually require the use of these drugs, they are solely benefiting the military at the detriment of the negative long term effects these drugs have on the individual men.
After these pilots have become accustomed to performing under the use of these drugs, I believe their careers could possibly suffer if they stop taking these drugs because their performance has become so enhanced while taking them, the withdrawal could cause their performance to falter. Of course, this is relative due to how individual bodies react to taking the drugs.
Clearly by taking these drugs, opens the doors for greater liability and risk in terms of accidents. If something were to happen, such as the bombing error that resulted in Canadian deaths discussed in one of the above articles, of course the first thing looked at is the use of drugs and how that most likely caused the issue. This makes a complicated situation even that much more complicated because what would have been considered an accident becomes an issue of drug use and will most likely be blamed on the drugs, even if the drugs weren't the cause of any accident; it becomes the easiest explanation.
As these men become hooked on the amphetamines to perform, the rest of their lives after the use of the amphetamines become hard to maintain. With that being said, sedatives become part of their regular routine to assist them in going to sleep and counteract the consequences of the amphetamines.
Although the use of these drugs "enhance" or "better" their performance for that short term benefit, it causes not only dependency and dangerous side effects for the user, but it opens the door for an unhealthy routine of amphetamine and sedative use to counteract each other. In my opinion, the short-term benefit of these drugs are not worth the long-term costs it produces for the users.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
After completing the reading of the three articles, "Go pills: A war on drugs?" "Bombing error puts a spotlight on pilots' pills", and "Military looks to drugs for battle readiness" I could not believe what I read. I had no idea that the military especially pilots, were using amphetamines in order to enhance their perform during battle and increase alertness.
Although I was shocked at first, I began to understand and see the rationale behind the military use of these drugs. I was a bit conflicted when reading the articles though, because although I can see why the military would decide to distribute amphetamines to maintain their pilots' alertness during long flights and battles, I also realized that the increase in the use of these amphetamines not only lead to the dependency on these drugs, but also the side effects of these drugs could be detrimental in some users. Basically I concluded my internal debate by realizing that although the use of these amphetamines are being distributed by the military for the SHORT TERM benefits of the military as a whole, it is neglecting the LONG TERM negative effects the use of these drugs have on the men as individuals.
With that being said, I believe the military distribution of these "go pills" or amphetamines is not an ethical practice. By distributing these drugs to men who have not tested positive for the attention deficit disorders that actually require the use of these drugs, they are solely benefiting the military at the detriment of the negative long term effects these drugs have on the individual men.
After these pilots have become accustomed to performing under the use of these drugs, I believe their careers could possibly suffer if they stop taking these drugs because their performance has become so enhanced while taking them, the withdrawal could cause their performance to falter. Of course, this is relative due to how individual bodies react to taking the drugs.
Clearly by taking these drugs, opens the doors for greater liability and risk in terms of accidents. If something were to happen, such as the bombing error that resulted in Canadian deaths discussed in one of the above articles, of course the first thing looked at is the use of drugs and how that most likely caused the issue. This makes a complicated situation even that much more complicated because what would have been considered an accident becomes an issue of drug use and will most likely be blamed on the drugs, even if the drugs weren't the cause of any accident; it becomes the easiest explanation.
As these men become hooked on the amphetamines to perform, the rest of their lives after the use of the amphetamines become hard to maintain. With that being said, sedatives become part of their regular routine to assist them in going to sleep and counteract the consequences of the amphetamines.
Although the use of these drugs "enhance" or "better" their performance for that short term benefit, it causes not only dependency and dangerous side effects for the user, but it opens the door for an unhealthy routine of amphetamine and sedative use to counteract each other. In my opinion, the short-term benefit of these drugs are not worth the long-term costs it produces for the users.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Current Event
Synthetics & Marijuana
On January 13, 2015 the National Conference of State Legislatures produced an article, "Synthetic Drug Threats". The article explained the recent regulation of these drugs due to the threats these drugs pose.
Synthetic drugs are chemically produced used to either take the place of or magnify the effects of natural drugs. Some examples of synthetic drugs most are familiar with and have been around for quite sometime would be Ecstasy and Meth. Yet, in the past 5 years or so synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones have become extremely prominent in our country.
The article provides an overview of these synthetic drugs. Synthetic cannabinoids produce effects similar to those of the natural drug marijuana because it is composed of a chemical that mimics the THC that is found in marijuana. What is interesting about this synthetic cannabinoids is that it produces more intense reactions than the actual drug it is trying to mimic (marijuana). Examples of synthetic canabinoids who name some might be familiar with, that used to be able to be sold in convenient stores prior to recent legislation, are spices, K2, and Genie.
In addition to the synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones have also been popular within recent years and could be easily obtained prior to new legislation. These synthetic cathinones, commonly referred to as bath salts, are a chemical byproduct of the psychoactive substance cathinone. Example of common consumer names of these products consisting synthetic cathinone are white dove, purple wave, or ocean burst.
The article discussed how initially state legislation would aim to get rid of these products by banning specific versions of these synthetic drugs with the establishment of "Individual Bans". The individual bans entailed adding specific substances to their controlled substance acts but realized by doing so, producers would just change the chemical composition of the synthetic drugs to produce the same effects on users just with chemicals that had not yet been legally banned. This has been a serious issue regarding the fight against synthetic drug production, resulting in legislation within recent years to become more broad, and not specifying certain substances to be banned, in "General Bans". Another form of legislative action that has been carried out to prevent the distribution of synthetic drugs is the use of "Analogue Laws". These laws basically ban drugs that are not controlled substances but those that are similar to controlled substances that are already illegal. Some states have even amended their Analogue Laws to specify prominent new synthetic drugs.
Other regulation has been enacted as well to end the synthetic drug threat. States have begun delegating the authority to schedule the drugs and temporarily ban these drugs as they are presented by pharmacy boards and other agencies, refining consumer protection laws creating penalties for misbranding and false advertising by distributors, as well as using existing laws to prosecute the distributors of these synthetic drugs.
The federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 was made law and added specific classes of synthetic cannabinoids and mephedrone and MDPV, which are two synthetic cathinones to the controlled substances act.
As we spoke about in class, scheduling of certain drugs classify them in terms of medical use, abuse liability, and safety. Due to the high amount of emergency visits among adolescence after smoking these synthetic drugs which was evident to the class after we had to read the case studies of Schneir et al (2011) and Mir et al (2011), the Federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 included the ban of synthetic compounds that are found in synthetic weed (K2/Spice) and scheduled these compounds as a schedule 1 drug.
After learning about the scheduling credentials in class, it is easy to understand why these synthetic drugs have been classified as a schedule 1 drug. I personally have known someone who has over dosed on fake weed as well as a person who drove their car into a brick wall after smoking synthetic cannabinoids. There are no apparent medical use of these synthetic drugs at all, and have been shown to cause more severe reactions that the natural banned drugs they mimic.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Link to Article:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/synthetic-drug-threats.aspx#1
On January 13, 2015 the National Conference of State Legislatures produced an article, "Synthetic Drug Threats". The article explained the recent regulation of these drugs due to the threats these drugs pose.
Synthetic drugs are chemically produced used to either take the place of or magnify the effects of natural drugs. Some examples of synthetic drugs most are familiar with and have been around for quite sometime would be Ecstasy and Meth. Yet, in the past 5 years or so synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones have become extremely prominent in our country.
The article provides an overview of these synthetic drugs. Synthetic cannabinoids produce effects similar to those of the natural drug marijuana because it is composed of a chemical that mimics the THC that is found in marijuana. What is interesting about this synthetic cannabinoids is that it produces more intense reactions than the actual drug it is trying to mimic (marijuana). Examples of synthetic canabinoids who name some might be familiar with, that used to be able to be sold in convenient stores prior to recent legislation, are spices, K2, and Genie.
In addition to the synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones have also been popular within recent years and could be easily obtained prior to new legislation. These synthetic cathinones, commonly referred to as bath salts, are a chemical byproduct of the psychoactive substance cathinone. Example of common consumer names of these products consisting synthetic cathinone are white dove, purple wave, or ocean burst.
The article discussed how initially state legislation would aim to get rid of these products by banning specific versions of these synthetic drugs with the establishment of "Individual Bans". The individual bans entailed adding specific substances to their controlled substance acts but realized by doing so, producers would just change the chemical composition of the synthetic drugs to produce the same effects on users just with chemicals that had not yet been legally banned. This has been a serious issue regarding the fight against synthetic drug production, resulting in legislation within recent years to become more broad, and not specifying certain substances to be banned, in "General Bans". Another form of legislative action that has been carried out to prevent the distribution of synthetic drugs is the use of "Analogue Laws". These laws basically ban drugs that are not controlled substances but those that are similar to controlled substances that are already illegal. Some states have even amended their Analogue Laws to specify prominent new synthetic drugs.
Other regulation has been enacted as well to end the synthetic drug threat. States have begun delegating the authority to schedule the drugs and temporarily ban these drugs as they are presented by pharmacy boards and other agencies, refining consumer protection laws creating penalties for misbranding and false advertising by distributors, as well as using existing laws to prosecute the distributors of these synthetic drugs.
The federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 was made law and added specific classes of synthetic cannabinoids and mephedrone and MDPV, which are two synthetic cathinones to the controlled substances act.
As we spoke about in class, scheduling of certain drugs classify them in terms of medical use, abuse liability, and safety. Due to the high amount of emergency visits among adolescence after smoking these synthetic drugs which was evident to the class after we had to read the case studies of Schneir et al (2011) and Mir et al (2011), the Federal Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 included the ban of synthetic compounds that are found in synthetic weed (K2/Spice) and scheduled these compounds as a schedule 1 drug.
After learning about the scheduling credentials in class, it is easy to understand why these synthetic drugs have been classified as a schedule 1 drug. I personally have known someone who has over dosed on fake weed as well as a person who drove their car into a brick wall after smoking synthetic cannabinoids. There are no apparent medical use of these synthetic drugs at all, and have been shown to cause more severe reactions that the natural banned drugs they mimic.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Link to Article:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/synthetic-drug-threats.aspx#1
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Activity 3
Spices and Ecstasy
Schneir et al (2011) is a case report that discussed two women who called 911 after each using synthetic cannabinoid also known as "Spice". The case study explained that shortly after smoking a product called "Banana Cream Nuke", a product purchased legally in a local smoke shop; each girl experienced disorientation and anxiety and reported to not know where they were. The study concludes by proposing possible explanations for the appeal and desire to use spices; the legality of the product, the inability to show up on drug tests, and the lack of literature and studies done on the product to prove negative effects.
Mir et al (2011) is a case report discussing three users of synthetic cannabis in K2, what they call a "designer drug". All three patients were 16-year-old boys who reported chest pains after using K2 recently but also having smoked marijuana within weeks prior. These cases resulted in myocardial infarction after smoking K2; heart attack. The conclusion does state that there has been some literature to link marijuana to MI in adolescents yet the more recent use of K2 by the boys implicates a possible correlation with synthetic marijuana as well.
I personally have known someone who has over dosed on synthetic cannabinoid, unlike actual marijuana, which you cannot over dose on. It is interesting because in class we have discussed how E-Cigs were created to lessen harm and help wean smokers off, yet have had reverse affects and how now E-Cigs have become a fad and have encouraged younger children to begin smoking who were not before. This is a perfect example of the issue with Spices. Both E-Cigs and Spices have been used to replace a harmful drug yet instead have posed an even more dangerous outcome.
Halpern et al (2011) was a field study analyzing the neurocognitive performance among ecstasy users and non-users. The findings showed no results that proved extensive use of the drug cause any sort of residual effects on the user. This is pretty interesting because, just like we spoke about in class the studies showing these residual negative neurocognitive effects were on animals, yet because ecstasy is a schedule 1 drug it cannot be used, many research options are extremely limited in the U.S.
After reading all these articles, its interesting to compare the use of spices to ecstasy. Ecstasy is a schedule 1 drug, yet in my opinion spices such as K2 can be just as dangerous and possibly more dangerous than ecstasy, yet is nowhere near Ecstasy in terms of scheduling. In fact, up until the past couple year's synthetic cannabis was completely unregulated.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
Schneir et al (2011) is a case report that discussed two women who called 911 after each using synthetic cannabinoid also known as "Spice". The case study explained that shortly after smoking a product called "Banana Cream Nuke", a product purchased legally in a local smoke shop; each girl experienced disorientation and anxiety and reported to not know where they were. The study concludes by proposing possible explanations for the appeal and desire to use spices; the legality of the product, the inability to show up on drug tests, and the lack of literature and studies done on the product to prove negative effects.
Mir et al (2011) is a case report discussing three users of synthetic cannabis in K2, what they call a "designer drug". All three patients were 16-year-old boys who reported chest pains after using K2 recently but also having smoked marijuana within weeks prior. These cases resulted in myocardial infarction after smoking K2; heart attack. The conclusion does state that there has been some literature to link marijuana to MI in adolescents yet the more recent use of K2 by the boys implicates a possible correlation with synthetic marijuana as well.
I personally have known someone who has over dosed on synthetic cannabinoid, unlike actual marijuana, which you cannot over dose on. It is interesting because in class we have discussed how E-Cigs were created to lessen harm and help wean smokers off, yet have had reverse affects and how now E-Cigs have become a fad and have encouraged younger children to begin smoking who were not before. This is a perfect example of the issue with Spices. Both E-Cigs and Spices have been used to replace a harmful drug yet instead have posed an even more dangerous outcome.
Halpern et al (2011) was a field study analyzing the neurocognitive performance among ecstasy users and non-users. The findings showed no results that proved extensive use of the drug cause any sort of residual effects on the user. This is pretty interesting because, just like we spoke about in class the studies showing these residual negative neurocognitive effects were on animals, yet because ecstasy is a schedule 1 drug it cannot be used, many research options are extremely limited in the U.S.
After reading all these articles, its interesting to compare the use of spices to ecstasy. Ecstasy is a schedule 1 drug, yet in my opinion spices such as K2 can be just as dangerous and possibly more dangerous than ecstasy, yet is nowhere near Ecstasy in terms of scheduling. In fact, up until the past couple year's synthetic cannabis was completely unregulated.
That's all I got for now!
Tootles~~
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