Synthetic Drug Packages with Cartoon Character Attract Kids, Minister Warns

By Join Together Staff | September 17, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Drugs & Youth

Synthetic drug packages featuring Scooby Doo are attracting youth in the Baltimore area, warns a local minister. He is trying to get these “Scooby Snax” out of the hands of the city’s young people.

Cortly “C.D.” Witherspoon notes a sticker on the package says the contents have a blueberry flavor, although the packages contains dried herbs, not candy. He is concerned that young people are using the product to get high.

Although President Obama signed legislation this summer that bans synthetic drugs, federal officials say the new law is difficult to enforce, because of limited resources. Maryland does not have a law banning synthetic marijuana.

Synthetic drug packages are found in many gas stations and small neighborhood stores, The Baltimore Sun reports. The newspaper found a series of YouTube videos of teens and young adults smoking Scooby Snax, while talking about the product’s effects.

Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Joshua Sharfstein said people may think synthetic drugs are safe because they are easily available. “Just because something is sold at a gas station does not mean it is safe for kids,” Sharfstein told the newspaper. “Synthetics have been linked to some very serious side effects: catatonia, seizures, hallucinations.”

He unsuccessfully lobbied the state legislature earlier this year to impose a statewide ban on synthetic marijuana. He praised the federal law, which not only bans chemicals known to mimic marijuana, but also their chemical analogs. This makes it more difficult for drug makers to slightly alter their product to evade the law.

Methamphetamine Makers Develop Sophisticated New Business Model

By Join Together Staff | September 14, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related & Drugs


Methamphetamine makers are importing raw powdered meth from Mexico, and refining it at “conversion labs” into the crystal form of the drug, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the past, the drug was produced in small U.S. labs, or shipped in its finished form from Mexico.

Drug groups smuggle large amounts of meth powder or liquid, often disguised as antifreeze or other products.

According to law enforcement officials and academic experts in drug trafficking, Mexican drug groups are adapting to changing markets and legal strategies. Like other businesses, drug traffickers have found it is more efficient to do final processing of their product close to their customers, instead of importing finished products, according to John Donnelly, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in Fresno, California. “Anything that any good businessman does, these guys will do,” he noted.

Conversion labs have been found in California, Georgia and Texas in the past two years. The number of conversion lab busts is growing, as is the size of meth seizures. “We never saw those kinds of seizures before,” Erasmo Carrizosa, the head of anti-meth strategy for the California Department of Justice, told the newspaper. “Before, if you popped a guy for five pounds, it was a lot of meth.”

City of Angels New Jersey

There'll be plenty of food, fun and good cheer. All are welcome. For more details, contactCityofAngelsNJ@Hotmail.com.    New COA Video More COA Successes If you missed the Volunteer Appreciation Picnic on Saturday, you can watch the testimonials online!      These speakers powerfully describe how COA helped get them or their addicted loved one into treatment, and support recovery when they returned home. They show that although addiction is a terrible disease, hope is always possible. If you would like to volunteer with COA, simply click here to complete our online Volunteer Form.

Tidbits   COA hosts support group meetings for both addiction sufferers and their families every day of the week at the Dwier Center (392 Church Street, Groveville, NJ). To check out our online calendar, click here.     For directions to the Dwier Center, click here.      The COA website now offers an Addiction News Feed with the latest studies, reports, new and other info on addiction. It's updated in real time with top 30 articles. To read the feed, click here.  New videos are up on the COA YouTube channel. To watch, click here.      Join COA's Pinterest community! To visit the boards, click here.     Yoga is excellent for the body, mind and spirit...and classes at COA are offered weekly at no charge. For the schedule, click here.      Keep current on COA activites - join the COA group on Facebook!  COA news is posted first on Facebook, and this page often has photos not available elsewhere.Click here to visit.   City of Angels NJ, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides many services to addicts and their families including interventions, recovery support, Family Program, counseling services and more. All of our services are provided at no charge.

DEA Revokes Licenses to Dispense Controlled Substances for Two CVS Pharmacies

By Join Together Staff | September 13, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Government, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has revoked the licenses to dispense controlled substances for two CVS pharmacies in Florida, after accusing them of dispensing excessive amounts of oxycodone.

Earlier this year, the DEA said the two pharmacies were “filling prescriptions far in excess of the legitimate needs of its customers.” While the average pharmacy in the United States in 2011 ordered approximately 69,000 oxycodone dosage units, these two pharmacies, located about 5.5 miles apart, together ordered more than three million dosage units during the same year, according to the DEA.

USA Today reports that in an administrative hearing in April, CVS Vice President Will Abbott said the company had retrained its pharmacists, and cut 21 physicians who prescribed large amounts of oxycodone. According to the DEA, the company did not take those steps until after the agency served warrants as part of an investigation of the stores.

“These actions are part of the DEA Miami Field Division’s continuing efforts to combat the state’s prescription drug abuse epidemic and its role as a major source of diverted pharmaceutical drugs to other states,” the DEA said in a news release.

FRAT

The First Responders Addiction Treatment Program reaching out to police, firefighters, emergency personnel and combat veterans.

Alcoholism or other dependencies complicate the stress and physical and emotional trauma of dealing with life-threatening situations. Addiction is no stranger to "those who go in first."

A dependency might actually destroy a person's health, family life and career. On top of that, an individual also has to bear the unfair stigma that the addicted person "doesn't have enough will power," or "made the wrong choices." But we know (as does all of the medical community) that addiction is a disease with a medical and behavioral basis, requiring care, understanding and professional treatment.


Post-traumatic stress disorder is a major challenge for vets and responders. Prescribed pain medication can easily lead to dependency. There are so many factors, influences, and potential negative results. And addiction can also lead to suicide as an "option." (Police officers are found to be twice as likely as the general population to take this desperate course.)

Treatment works.Get help NOW for yourself, loved one, or somebody on the job.Meet the experienced program managers.



FRAT is based at Livengrin Foundation, founded in 1966 as a nonprofit treatment center in Bensalem, PA (outside Philadelphia). Livengrin provides a complete range of services for alcoholism and drug dependency, at a wooded rehab campus and six outpatient locations throughout the region. More than 100,000 people have come through its doors to begin a journey to recovery. Visit Livengrin

“Rally for Recovery!” to Take Place This Weekend Around U.S. and U.K.

By Join Together Staff | September 12, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inRecovery

Tens of thousands of people are expected to participate in “Rally for Recovery!” on Saturday, September 15, as part of Recovery Month. Events in the United States and the United Kingdom will include rallies, marches, runs and walks.

Events in Detroit, Michigan; Hartford, Connecticut; and Dublin, Ireland will be streamed live. Participants will call for an end to discriminatory policies, and for support for people seeking or in addiction recovery.

“Over 20 million Americans are in long-term recovery from addiction, benefiting themselves, their families and communities,” said Dona Dmitrovic, Chair of the Board of Directors of Faces & Voices of Recovery, which is coordinating the events. “We thank everyone who’s standing up for recovery, offering hope and opportunity for people who still need help to recover.”

Participants in the sixth annual Rally for Recovery! will conduct voter registration and education, contact members of Congress about how recovery saves health care dollars and lives, and share their recovery stories.