Popular Synthetic Drug Simple to Obtain From China, Experts Say

By Join Together Staff | July 23, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Drugs &Legislation


The popular synthetic drug methylone, a key ingredient in “bath salts,” is simple to order online from China, experts tell The Virginian-Pilot.

In one recent case that ended up in federal court, two Virginia men emailed a lab in China, wired several thousand dollars to an English-speaking customer service representative and received 100 pounds of the drug in the mail, according to the newspaper.

“It’s probably easier than buying a case of wine online,” said Richard Yarow, an attorney for a man who pleaded guilty to assisting one of the importers wire money to China. “When you buy wine you at least have to show ID” upon delivery, he added.

Methylone is a white crystalline powder. In addition to being used to make bath salts, it also can be snorted, swallowed or mixed into drinks. The drug costs about $350 per ounce on the street. Importers charge $2,600 to $4,000 per pound.

Methylone was legal in most places in the United States until recently, and was sold online and in some gas stations and head shops. Some states began banning synthetic drugs last year, and more have followed suit this year.

Earlier this month, President Obama signed legislation that bans synthetic drugs. The law bans harmful chemicals in synthetic drugs such as those used to make synthetic marijuana and bath salts.

Bath salts are marketed under names such as “Ivory Wave,” “Purple Wave,” “Vanilla Sky” or “Bliss.” The drugs mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD, Ecstasy and/or methamphetamine. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, users have reported impaired perception, reduced motor control, disorientation, extreme paranoia and violent episodes. Bath salts have become increasingly popular among teens and young adults.

Packages sent to the United States are subject to inspection, but drug-sniffing dogs usually cannot detect methylone and other synthetic drugs, according to federal agents. A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the newspaper they cannot prevent people from ordering things off the Internet

Sage Stallone Was not an addict

By SHEILA MARIKAR (@SheilaYM)
July 19, 2012




Authorities do not believe Sage Stallone was a drug addict, a source familiar with the case told ABC News, in part, because his weight did not indicate drug addiction.

At the time of his death last Friday, Stallone was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighed 188 pounds, and wasn't the rail-thin figure often associated with addiction.

The family of the 36-year-old actor and son of action-star Sylvester Stallone met with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office Tuesday and expressed worry that Sage Stallone may have been overmedicated before his death. The meeting focused on the status of the investigation.

The Los Angeles Police Department's robbery-homicide division had been brought into the investigation, but officials said it remained primarily a coroner's investigation and that there were no signs of foul play.

Sage Stallone's mother had hinted at the pain her son was in in the weeks before he died after undergoing extensive dental surgery.

Sasha Czack, Sylvester Stallone's first wife, told the New York Post that her 36-year-old son had been on pain pills when he died after having had five teeth pulled. The extractions took place two weeks before he was found dead in his Los Angeles-area apartment Friday.


Sylvester Stallone released a new statement Monday, calling for an end to "the speculation and questionable reporting" about his son's death.
It could take weeks to learn Sage Stallone's official cause of death. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner said Sunday that the results of the 36-year-old actor's toxicology tests would not be known for approximately six weeks. An autopsy was completedSunday.
When the Post asked whether he was taking painkillers afterward, she said, "Wouldn't you be?"Czack said she advised him not to get the surgery, telling the Post, "I've heard about people dying having multiple procedures done to your mouth. Do not have more than one tooth [pulled]."

"When a parent loses a child there is no greater pain," he said in a statement to TMZ. "Therefore, I am imploring people to respect my talented son's memory and feel compassion for his loving mother, Sasha. This agonizing loss will be felt for the rest of our lives. Sage was our first child and the center of our universe, and I am humbly begging for all to have my son's memory and soul left in peace."

On Sunday, Sage Stallone's attorney said his client "never had any serious health problems" and no "history of drug or alcohol abuse."

"Sage was a really young, very sensitive, and very talented kid," attorney George Braunstein told People magazine. "There has been no indication that there was anything wrong in his life."

Sage Stallone's body was found by a housekeeper, who called authorities. While there was no suicide note found at the scene, authorities said there were bottles of prescription drugs.

Sage Stallone played Rocky Balboa's son in "Rocky 5" in 1990 and appeared in the movie "Daylight" with his father. He also directed the 2006 short film "Vic."

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Bill Would Require Most Painkillers to Have Safeguards to Prevent Abuse

By Join Together Staff | July 19, 2012 | 3 Comments | Filed in Legislation,Prescription Drugs & Prevention


A bill to be introduced Thursday in the U.S. House would require most painkillers to have safeguards to prevent abuse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Under the provisions of the bill, most prescription painkillers would have some form of abuse deterrence, such as being more difficult to crush or inject. The exact details of how drug manufacturers could meet the new standards are vague, the article notes. The bill does not set time lines for compliance.

If pain medications did not adopt the safety features outlined in the bill, they would be removed from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approved list of generic drugs. While several brand-name painkillers, such as OxyContin and Opana, have tamper-resistant formulations, most generic painkillers do not.

Patents for OxyContin and Opana are set to expire in 2013. The FDA has not yet ruled whether abuse-deterrent features will be required on the generic versions of those drugs.

“This bill should help protect first-time users and younger people who gain access through relatives or their own family’s medicine cabinets,” the measure’s lead sponsor, Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts, told the newspaper. Congress is “understanding the scope of this and looking at it as a major public health epidemic,” he added.

He said there is broad bipartisan support in the House for the measure. The bill’s cosponsors are Republicans Mary Bono Mack of California and Hal Rogers of Kentucky, and Democrat Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts.

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association opposes the bill. “The proposed legislation would be detrimental to patients and could potentially remove FDA-approved safe and effective generic medicines from those who rely on them,” said the group’s president, Ralph G. Neas. “Addressing prescription-drug abuse is of utmost importance to the generic pharmaceutical industry. Policy makers should let the medical evidence guide actions in addressing this critical issue.”

NJ Governor Signs Measure Requiring Treatment for Low-Level Drug Offenders

By Join Together Staff | July 20, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Legal, Legislation & Treatment

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Thursday signed a measure that requires treatment for low-level drug offenders who otherwise would go to prison, according to The Star-Ledger.

The law establishes a $2.5 million pilot program that will expand drug courts in three New Jersey counties. It also expands the types of crimes that make inmates eligible for drug court, which will now be mandatory for those inmates. The article notes drug court programs require inmates to undergo intensive outpatient or inpatient treatment. In order to qualify, inmates must have a drug addiction, be receptive to treatment and be deemed able to be helped by treatment. The inmates appear regularly before judges, who determine whether they are meeting the terms of the five-year program.

“When I outlined this proposal six months ago, I made it clear that our commitment to our most vulnerable was not just a matter of dollars and cents, it was about reclaiming lives. No life is disposable and every life can be redeemed, but not if we ignore them,” Governor Christie said in a news release. “Once again by putting people before partisanship, we are providing optimism and hope to individuals and families torn apart by addiction. Once fully phased in over five years, this program will provide mandatory drug treatment to appropriate offenders who are not a threat to society and who suffer from the disease of addiction—redeeming lives and healing families.”

New Jersey spends $42,000 to house an inmate for one year, compared with $11,300 for drug courts, according to the newspaper. Governor Christie wanted inmates in every county to qualify for mandatory drug treatment, but Democratic legislators objected to the cost. The governor agreed to their suggestion of a five-year period to phase in the program to all counties, to allow the state time to fully fund the program, while giving private treatment facilities time to expand.

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Commentary: Illegal Online Pharmacies: A Potentially Fatal Threat to Consumers

By Marjorie Clifton | July 20, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related & Prescription Drugs


Over 96% of websites claiming to sell prescription medications are out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards—a statistic that may come as a surprise to the average American consumer.[1] While this statistic may seem irrelevant to Americans who have never considered using the Internet to purchase products such as antibiotics or allergy medications, prescription drugs are among the most sought after e-commerce products — the 13th most purchased product online behind categories such as furniture, baby products and household supplies.

Getting a prescription filled online is not necessarily bad; it can be convenient and sometimes cheaper. However, there are important factors to consider when purchasing pharmaceuticals over the Internet: (a) the sellers of online medications are atypical; (b) medicine from unsafe sources can be toxic; and (c) the criminal networks behind these websites don’t care about your health – only your money. The newly formed Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP) is working hard to address all three factors, and underscoring the importance of knowing who you are buying from.

While most consumers think they can spot a “good” versus a “bad” pharmacy website, they are often indistinguishable. Internet-based prescription drug dealers (or “illegitimate online drug sellers”) are very good at mimicking legitimate online pharmacies — even going so far as to display forged, seemingly authentic pharmacy licenses on their websites — which is why intuition alone is not enough. Most importantly, one should know a legitimate online pharmacy will always require a valid prescription. This means a prescription obtained by a practitioner who has examined the patient at some point. Illegitimate online drug sellers may require a prescription, but source the drugs from unverified supply chains, unregulated for safety or authenticity. Alarmingly, some physicians are not trained to make this distinction and unknowingly promote illegitimate online drug sellers to patients.

So who buys medication online? Although the “typical” online medication buyer is over the age of 55, there are growing numbers of young adults buying online without a prescription. 1 in 6 American adults, approximately 36 million people, are estimated to have bought medication online without a valid prescription.[2] This can be a deadly or life-altering prospect. Craig Schmidt, a 30-year-old plastics salesman, purchased Xanax (an anxiety drug) and Ultram (a pain drug) from an online pharmacy without ever seeing or speaking to the doctor that prescribed the medications. The Xanax tablets that Schmidt received contained quadruple the active ingredient that a doctor would prescribe. As a result of this overdose, Schmidt nearly died and has been left permanently impaired with widespread brain damage that inhibits him from driving or even walking without stumbling.[3] Unfortunately, stories like Craig Schmidt’s are not as uncommon as one would hope.

In 2010, the U.S. market alone accounted for an estimated $75 billion in sales for counterfeit drug makers; a lucrative prospect for criminal networks. There has also been a rising trend of malware appearing on illegal pharmacy sites – designed to steal your information and used for credit card or identity theft. GoDaddy.com took action on 47,000 illegal pharmaceutical sites last year alone and 27,000 of them contained malware.

How can this problem be fixed? The prevalence of illegal online drug sellers has made it virtually impossible for the law enforcement community to address the problem alone. So, in late 2010, CSIP was created to provide a first-ever private sector solution, and among the first public-private partnerships, formed to protect consumers from rogue Internet pharmacies. The mission of the organization is four fold: to educate consumers about the threat of illegal pharmacies, to work with law enforcement to eliminate the criminal networks, to share information among companies about illegal sites and to aid in building a “white list” of safe sites.

Currently, CSIP members include 11 corporations who are part of the Internet ecosystem. These companies will be announcing their partnership with U.S. Government agencies to tackle the problem of illegal online drug sellers at the White House on July 23, 2012. The event will kick off CSIP’s public education campaign, which will include a website with: a URL checker where consumers can confirm the legitimacy of online pharmacy websites, search engine advertising and public service announcement videos.

To learn more, visit the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies’ website at www.safemedsonline.org.

Marjorie Clifton, Executive Director, Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies

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NY Officials Call State’s New Prescription Drug Monitoring System a Model for Country

By Join Together Staff | July 17, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Legislation, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

New York’s new prescription drug monitoring system, which will show pharmacists in real time whether patients have been “doctor shopping” for drugs, is a model for the rest of the country, state officials said Monday.

The Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing, or I-STOP, was recently approved by both houses of the state legislature, according to the Associated Press. It is awaiting the signature of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and will go into effect next year, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

Under the new system, physicians and pharmacists will be required to monitor a patient’s prescription history before they write or dispense prescriptions for painkillers that contain oxycodone, such as OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan.

Since the new system will operate only in New York, there is no way to ensure that patients are not getting prescriptions filled in other states, Schneiderman said. He is urging other states to adopt the system, and added that the best solution would be a federal drug monitoring database.

“With I-STOP, we are creating a national model for smart, coordinated communication between health care providers and pharmacists to better serve patients, stop prescription drug trafficking, and provide treatment to those who need help,” Schneiderman said in a news release.

Earlier this year, several state medical groups said they opposed the system, including the Medical Society of the State of New York, which represents 30,000 doctors. The group said it was concerned that the system would create a burden on physicians’ practices. The Pharmacists Society of the State of New York also said it opposes I-STOP because of added demands the system would create for pharmacies.

Advocates Seek to Exclude Death Penalty for Defendants With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

By Join Together Staff | July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol,Community Related, Legal & Mental Health

A growing number of murder cases nationwide seek to exclude the death penalty for defendants with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), The Seattle Times reports.

In one such case, advocates are trying to prevent the death penalty for Mark Anthony Soliz, a convicted murderer on death row in Texas. His mother drank heavily, used drugs and sniffed paint while she was pregnant, the article notes.

Those who favor eliminating the death penalty for people with fetal alcohol syndrome point to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to abolish the death penalty for defendants with mental retardation. “The damage to the executive functioning of the brain is as severe as someone who is intellectually disabled,” said John Niland, Director of the Capital Trial Project with the Texas Defender Service.

Victims’ advocates and prosecutors say such a decision would let killers off easy. “FAS should not be used as an excuse for intentionally and knowingly murdering another person,” victims’ rights advocate Andy Kahan told the newspaper. “Clearly, the defendant has been able to make law-abiding decisions on a daily basis, and they obviously know right from wrong. FAS is yet another hurdle for surviving family members of homicide to overcome to secure justice for the coldblooded murder of their loved ones.”

Another Texas death-row inmate, Yokamon Laneal Hearn, who was also diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, is set for execution Wednesday. He was convicted in the shooting of a stockbroker during a robbery. Amnesty International is urging a letter-writing campaign for clemency to Texas Governor Rick Perry. The article notes the U.S. Supreme Court has already rejected a request to review a fetal alcohol case, which involved Louisiana death-row inmate Brandy Holmes, who was named after her mother’s favorite liquor.

Commentary: Affordable Care Act Does Little to Increase Addiction Care Access

By Dr. Stuart Gitlow | July 13, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Government,Healthcare, Insurance, Legislation & Treatment


The demand for addiction treatment is high. The supply of addiction specialists is comparatively low. Yet unlike traditional economic models where money is the obstacle, in our field, the obstacle is time.

There are two factors involved: the time required to provide reasonable quality of care, and the time required to produce a specialist who has the ability to provide that care. These limitations restrict the number of patients that can be seen per day by all available addiction specialists. While increasing pay for care would result in an increased interest in the field, development of appropriate training and the years of training necessary would result in only slow growth of available treatment.

Because addiction specialists are not currently sitting idly at their desks surfing the Internet, access to treatment is not limited by financial factors but rather by availability factors. There simply isn’t a great enough supply of specialists to meet the demand of patients.

In 20 years of practice, I have worked in an academic setting as a staff physician in an addiction specialty unit, as a medical director of a community mental health center (CMHC) and as a private practice physician specializing in addiction. In each setting, I have turned no patient away. At the private practice, as is the common practice here, we do not take insurance but always work out a fee arrangement that is compatible with a patient’s needs. The CMHC also utilized a sliding scale for patients, and in the academic center, patients who could not pay were seen by a fellow with oversight from faculty. Patients have roughly equal access to at least one part, if not all parts, of the system. But availability of service, not fiscal issues, always proved the greatest constraint. “We’re happy to see you, Miss Smith, but our next opening is in 2015.”

That’s not to say there is no fiscal issue: my CMHC lost money on physician-provided care for nearly 20 years. Expenses were more than my hourly wage, and included collection costs, billing, insurance reviews and audits, with the revenues limited to copays and insurance payments. Things got much worse a few years ago. Collections dropped, audit rates increased and ultimately the CMHC could no longer afford my services. Did I mention that the CMHC I worked for is in Massachusetts? The community no longer has an addiction specialist and was recently featured in the news due to increased problems associated with substance use.

But the fiscal issue does not represent an access constraint because we clinicians can easily practice outside the employed environment. Looking at my case above, I left the CMHC and took most of my existing patients with me into my private practice in an adjoining state. Because I do not take insurance yet charge a reasonable rate, my expenses are quite low and patients do not have a significant financial burden in comparison to the CMHC model. Thus payment again did not end up being a significant limitation to access.

Now let’s come to the headline of the hour: the recent Supreme Court ruling. In many ways, the ruling was a non-event in that it simply supports, largely, what had already passed in Congress. The Affordable Care Act does very little to increase access to addiction care because it does not solve the primary obstacle we’ve discussed. It promises to increase the number of those who have insurance coverage, but as I’ve pointed out, coverage has not represented a significant obstacle in long-term outpatient addiction treatment. And long-term outpatient treatment is the key to avoiding higher levels of care. Outpatient care is where addiction treatment truly takes place since the higher levels of care are limited to the acute manifestations of substance use (e.g. detox, rehabilitation, and medical/psychiatric sequelae) and not the chronic issues related to addictive illness.

The Act promises that substance use disorders will be covered at parity as part of the essential health benefit. But any expectation that this will lead to coverage of long-term outpatient treatment is misguided. Because the primary limiting factors – time – is not being addressed, we will see no significant improvements. Given my experience in Massachusetts, however, we may see a significant alteration in how services are provided, with greater numbers of independent clinicians moving away from an employed model and into private practice and fewer clinicians accepting insurance. Too, there may be higher charges because of the higher taxes in place now due to the very Act that is supposed to increase access. This is a good thing as costs are much lower in private practice due to the reduced administrative burden and overhead. The overall cost of health care will drop.

Remember pendulums swing both ways. Just as the past decade saw a decline in private practice, the Affordable Care Act, should it not be repealed, will likely prove an economic force in the other direction insofar as bio-psycho-social-spiritual treatment of addiction is concerned.

Stuart Gitlow MD MPH MBA is a member of the American Medical Association’s Council on Science & Public Health, and Acting President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. This Op-Ed represents his personal opinion and does not imply any position or policy taken by either the AMA

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Simulation Program Teaches Teens About Drunk and Distracted Driving

By Join Together Staff | June 21, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol,Prevention, Young Adults & Youth

A new simulation program is teaching young drivers about the risks of drunk and distracted driving. The program is designed to demonstrate what can happen if they have an accident while they are driving under the influence or texting while driving.

One Simple Decision, made by Virtual Driver Interactive (VDI), combines simulated driving with video footage of interactions with law enforcement, judges and emergency medical personnel, USA Today reports.

The Ohio Department of Transportation bought four VDI simulators, at a cost of $42,000. It uses them at schools, football games and county fairs, the article notes. “We recognized that there is an issue, especially among young drivers, with paying attention to the road,” spokeswoman Melissa Ayers told the newspaper. “We started using it last year. We’ve gotten really good feedback. The kids realize after they’ve used it, ‘I really can’t do two things at once (while driving).’”

A government report issued in December found an estimated 31 percent of driving deaths were linked to alcohol in 2010, compared with nine percent of deaths caused by distracted driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report found that overall, highway deaths fell last year to the lowest level in six decades, even though Americans are driving more

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“Drug Tourists” Increase States’ Challenges in Fighting Prescription Drug Abuse

By Join Together Staff | July 13, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Legal, Prescription Drugs & Prevention


States’ efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse are being made more difficult by people who travel to states such as Florida and Georgia to obtain painkillers, the Associated Press reports. These so-called “drug” or “prescription” tourists are transporting huge amounts of drugs across state lines, according to the AP.

Trying to stop drug tourists involves complicated prosecutions that cross a number of state lines, the article notes. Drug tourists travel to states with many “pill mills,” where they obtain a large amount of painkillers and then return home to sell them for as much as $100 per pill.

Florida was long known as a prime destination for drug tourists. Now that the state is cracking down on pill mills, Georgia is becoming a more popular destination for those who want to find easy access to painkillers. They come from adjacent states, and from more distant states such as Nebraska and Arizona.

“They’re like a swarm of locusts,” said Richard Allen, Director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency. “Once they have a script, they’ll hit every pharmacy in the state trying to get them filled.”

Earlier this year, the Drug Enforcement Administration announcedsales of oxycodone fell 20 percent last year in Florida. Officials said the drop was mainly due to the closure of some of the state’s biggest pill mills and the arrest of some of the clinics’ operators and doctors. Florida pharmacies and doctors sold about 498 million doses of oxycodone in 2011, compared with a record 622 million doses the previous year.

In June 2011, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law a bill designed to cut down on prescription drug abuse by controlling pill mills in the state. The law authorized the creation of a prescription-drug monitoring database to reduce doctor-shopping by people looking to collect multiple painkiller prescriptions. The legislation also imposed new penalties for physicians who overprescribe medication and imposes stricter rules for operating pharmacies.

Bill Aims to Reduce Teen Abuse of Cough Syrup

By Join Together Staff | July 12, 2012 | 3 Comments | Filed in Drugs, Legal,Prevention & Youth


Two senators introduced a bill this week designed to prevent the abuse of cough syrup by teenagers. The bill restricts the sale of products containing the cough syrup ingredient dextromethorphan (DXM) to those older than 18, Drug Store News reports.

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska sponsored the measure, known as the Preventing Abuse of Cough Treatments (PACT) Act of 2012. The PACT Act also places limits on the purchase of bulk (unfinished) DXM, so that only manufacturers registered with the Food and Drug Administration or relevant state agencies have access to DXM in its raw form. Currently, there are no national restrictions on sales or purchase of DXM in this form.

The 2011 Monitoring the Future survey found that 5 percent of teens report abusing cough medicine. Abuse of DXM can cause hallucinations, confusion, blurred vision and loss of motor control.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) notes that DXM is a safe and effective cough suppressant found in more than 100 cough and cold medicines. The legislation “will give parents an additional tool to prevent abuse, while ensuring access for the millions of adults and families who responsibly use products containing DXM to relieve cough symptoms,” CHPA President and CEO Scott M. Melville said in a news release.

“By addressing easy access to purchasing cough syrup for teens, the main cause of the harmful trend of its abuse, my bill will help keep our children safe and lessen the strain cough syrup abuse has put on families, hospitals and law enforcement,” Senator Casey said in astatement. “My common-sense legislation will prevent kids from purchasing a drug that has dangerous consequences when abused to get high, while also ensuring it is available to those with a legitimate need for it.”

CDC: One-Third of Prescription Painkiller Overdose Deaths Caused by Methadone

By Join Together Staff | July 9, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Addiction,Drugs, Prescription Drugs & Treatment

Methadone causes 30 percent of prescription painkiller overdose deaths, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some doctors are now prescribing methadone to treat chronic problems such as back pain, which is making the drug more widely available.

According to the CDC, methadone and other extended-release opioids should not be used for mild pain, acute pain, “breakthrough” pain, or on an as-needed basis. “For chronic noncancer pain, methadone should not be considered a drug of first choice by prescribers or insurers,” the report noted.

In an effort to cut down on abuse of drugs meant to treat addiction, Titan Pharmaceuticals plans to file for Food and Drug Administration approval for an implant of buprenorphine, which eases withdrawalsymptoms. The Wall Street Journal reports that buprenorphine currently comes in pills or strips, which can be used to get high, or used more heavily than they should be to relieve symptoms of withdrawal. The pills are crushed and then injected or snorted.

The implant, called Probuphine, is inserted just under the skin in the upper arm. It releases continuous, small amounts of the drug over six months. “You cannot easily remove these implants from the arm,” Titan Senior Vice President Katherine L. Beebe told the newspaper.

A study conducted by Titan and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010 found that among people with opioid dependence, users of Probuphine had significantly less illicit opioid use, and fewer symptoms of withdrawal and craving, compared with those who received a placebo implant.

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• San Diego, California 92108

Phone	1 (619) 339-9932
Email	kiley@trueteenrecovery.com
Website	http://www.trueteenrecovery.com

About
Working as a family to overcome addiction.
DescriptionThe heart of True Teen Recovery lies in the treatment of not just the individual adolescent suffering from behavioral issues and addiction, but the entire family. The consistent success of our program is directly linked to incorporating family treatment as part of our Intensive Outpatient Program.

3737 Camino del Rio S. Suite 205
San Diego, California 92108


Phone 1 (619) 339-9932
Email kiley@trueteenrecovery.com
Website http://www.trueteenrecovery.com

ANCHOR RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTER

Peer-to-Peer Support Services

249 Main Street
Pawtucket, RI 02860

401-721-5100
info@anchorrecovery.org
Company OverviewThe Anchor Recovery Community Center is a safe, supportive environment for people in all stages of recovery. At the Anchor, you will find a community of people who have changed their lives for the better and want to help other people find a new way of living through meaningful relationships, activities and a sense of community. The Anchor doesn’t just help people maintain their recovery, it helps people build a new life.

Stay tuned for a schedule of activities at the Anchor!

Obama Signs Legislation Banning Synthetic Drugs

By Join Together Staff | July 10, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs,Legislation & Prevention

President Obama on Monday signed legislation that bans synthetic drugs. The law also expedites the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of new drugs and medical devices.

The law bans harmful chemicals in synthetic drugs such as those used to make synthetic marijuana and “bath salts,” according to the Star Tribune. While more than 30 states have banned various compounds in synthetic drugs, new ones are continually being created, the newspaper notes.

“In Minnesota and across the country, we are seeing more and more tragedies where synthetic drugs are taking lives and tearing apart families,” Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said in a statement. “Today’s action means that this critical legislation to give law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on synthetic drugs is finally the law of the land.” Senator Klobuchar co-sponsored bills banning synthetic drugs, which were included in an amendment to the FDA’s Safety and Innovation Act.

Synthetic drugs are readily available online. The law outlaws sales of synthetic drugs by both retail stores and online retailers.

In December, the National Institute on Drug Abuse released new information indicating that one in nine high school seniors had used “Spice” or “K2” over the past year, making synthetic marijuana the second most frequently used illicit drug, after marijuana, among high school seniors. Poison control centers operating across the nation have also reported sharp increases in the number of calls relating to synthetic drugs.