Cartels Moving Drugs in Tanker Trucks Containing Industrial Hazardous Waste

By Join Together Staff | March 22, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs & Government

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is hiring contractors who can deploy hazardous waste contamination teams to two sites in Texas, to extract drug packages buried in toxic waste, according to Wired.

Cartels are moving drugs in tanker trucks containing various types of industrial hazardous waste, CBP says. The agency acknowledged its agents are not trained to safely extract the drugs and decontaminate them for use as evidence.

The waste includes drilling fluids, oil and wastewater from gas and oil wells. Wastewater from drilling wells may include benzene, which can cause leukemia and bone marrow disease, the article notes. It also includes calcium hydroxide powder, which can cause blindness if enough of the substance gets into the eyes.

The agency wants experts for two checkpoints about 70 miles north of the Texas-Mexico border. At the checkpoints, 18-wheel trucks are scanned by drive-through X-ray machines. If the scans find anything that looks like a drug shipment inside an industrial tanker truck, the contractors will use vacuum trucks that suck out hazardous chemicals. Contractors wearing protective suits and respirators will step inside the tanker and remove the drugs.

The hazardous waste will be taken to a disposal or recycling facility that is allowed to accept the material.

Because of increased Border Patrol enforcement in Arizona, drug cartels are increasingly looking to cross the border in remote parts of south Texas, Wired states. Cartels have stolen and copied trucks owned by energy companies in the area.

Good Morning!

I wanted to send a friendly reminder to please help spread the word about The Council’s upcoming “Celebrating Families” program for women in recovery and their children (ages 3-18).  Please pass along the attached flyer to anyone you feel would benefit from this amazing and FREE program.  Space is limited!

“Celebrating Families” consists of 13 weekly sessions and includes a FREE family meal.  There will also be lots of giveaways and incentives throughout the program cycle, as well as FREE social activities outside the program sessions.

“Celebrating Families” is a program to help strengthen families and break the cycle of addiction to the next generation.  Some of the topics include: Healthy Living, Communication, Feelings & Defenses, Chemical Dependency Affects the Whole Family, Goal Setting, Healthy Boundaries, and more!

If you have any questions, please contact me any time.

Thank you,

Jessica Schwartz

Community Development Coordinator

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

252 West Swamp Road, Unit 12

Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901

Phone: (215) 345-6644 ext. 3122

Fax: (215) 348-3377

(800) 221-6333 - 24 Hour Information Line

jschwartz@councilsepa.org

 

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Some Toddlers of Women Who Used Meth in Pregnancy Show Abnormal Stress Response

By Join Together Staff | March 21, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs, Parenting, Research & Youth

Toddlers of women who used methamphetamine in pregnancy, who live in an unstable home environment, appear to have an abnormal response to stress, a new study suggests.

Methamphetamine stimulates the nervous system, and prenatal exposure to the drug could affect the development of a child’s stress-response system, HealthDay reports. If the child is repeatedly exposed to severe stress at an early age, it can further affect the stress-response system.

The study included 123 two-year-olds whose mothers used methamphetamine during pregnancy. The researchers evaluated the toddlers’ reactions when they were briefly separated from their mothers. Children who lived in stressful conditions at home—such as having a mother who drank heavily or suffered from depression or other mental health problems—did not experience normal increases in levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

“The lack of hormonal stress response that we observed in these children has serious implications, such as a greater risk for depression, anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,” lead researcher Namik Kirlic of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma said in a news release.

Children who had a more stable home environment had normal increases in cortisol levels when they were separated from their mothers. “It’s not the meth alone,” said researcher Barry Lester, Ph.D., Director of the Brown Center for Children at Risk at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. “It’s the combination of meth exposure and adversity after birth. We see other things coming into play—the mother’s psychological health, alcohol use, exposure to violence at home or in the community. The postnatal environment is hugely important.”

The study appears in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Report Finds Child Poisoning Often Results From Pills Found in Purses and on Floor

By Join Together Staff | March 20, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Parenting, Prescription Drugs, Prevention & Youth

A new report finds small children who end up in the emergency room after being accidentally poisoned from medication are more likely to find the pills in a mother’s purse or the floor than the family medicine cabinet.

Children also find pills in other easy-to-reach spots such as sofa cushions and countertops, USA Today reports. The report was released by the nonprofit group Safe Kids Worldwide.

Most accidental medication poisonings in children result from ingestion of medication belonging to a child’s mother or grandparents, according to the report.

The group evaluated 2,315 emergency department records for children up to age 4. In 2011, approximately 67,000 young children ended up in the emergency room after being accidentally exposed to medication. Accidental poisonings in young children rose 30 percent in a decade, they found.

Of the records that stated the source of the medication, 27 percent were on the floor or had been otherwise misplaced, while 20 percent came from a purse, bag or wallet. An additional 20 percent were left on counters, tables, nightstands or dressers, 15 percent were found in a pill box or bag of pills, 6 percent were found in a drawer or cabinet, and 12 percent came from other places.

In 86 percent of cases, the medications belonged to adults. Mothers accounted for 31 percent, while grandparents accounted for 38 percent.

“You have some grandparents who have their whole pharmacy on the kitchen counter or the bathroom counter, and it is there for the taking,” Salvador Baeza, a pharmacist who directs the West Texas Regional Poison Center in El Paso, told the newspaper.

Safe Kids advises parents and other caregivers to store medications out of sight and out of reach. SafeKids CEO Kate Carr recommends that parents ask grandparents and other relatives to secure medications when their children are visiting. “That can be an awkward conversation,” Carr said. “But you can just say that ‘I have a very curious child who is just at that age where they get into everything.’”

Heroin Use on the Rise in Southern California

By Join Together Staff | March 19, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Young Adults & Youth

An increasing number of teens and adults in southern California are using heroin, according to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials.

“Heroin use has become a particular concern for the DEA because we’re seeing people using heroin at such a young age,” Agent Sarah Pullen told NBC Los Angeles. High school counselors in Orange County are reporting a rise in heroin use, the article notes.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported initiations to heroin have increased by 80 percent among teens ages 12 to 17. The increase in heroin use is largely attributed to the drug’s low cost and easy availability, both in southern California and around the country.

A study published last year found OxyContin abuse has decreased now that the painkiller has been reformulated to make it more difficult to misuse. Many people who abused the drug have switched to heroin.

The study included more than 2,500 people who were dependent on opioids, who were followed between July 2009 and March 2012. During that time, there was a 17 percent decrease in OxyContin abuse. In 2010, the company that makes OxyContin introduced a new version of the drug that is more difficult to inhale or inject.