Privacy Being Tightened for Prescription Drug Monitoring Databases

By Join Together Staff | May 7, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Legal,Legislation, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

The privacy of information contained in prescription drug monitoring databases is being tightened, The Wall Street Journal reports. Privacy advocates hail the trend, while law enforcement officials say it is hampering their attempts to curb prescription drug abuse.

Some courts and lawmakers are beginning to restrict access to the databases, citing a violation of privacy rights. A U.S. court in Oregon ruled in February that federal agents needed a warrant to search the state’s database. Rhode Island has made it more difficult for law enforcement to search its database. In Florida and Pennsylvania, lawmakers are considering measures that would limit access to its prescription drug data.

“The public and lawmakers are really starting to understand what kinds of threats to privacy come when we start centralizing great quantities of our sensitive personal information in giant electronic databases,” said Nathan Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. The group represented patients and a doctor who challenged the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Oregon case.

Forty-eight states have prescription monitoring databases for drugs that have a high potential for abuse. Law enforcement officials in 17 states must have court approval before they search their state database. While Vermont does not allow law enforcement access to its database, other states generally make it fairly easy for investigators to access the data.

The number of law enforcement searches of Utah’s database increased from 2,288 in 2007, to more than 19,000 last year. Police must show they have a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime in order to gain a search warrant.

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"When someone is suffering deeply within themselves, their suffering spills over and they start making others suffer as well. What they truly need is our help, not punishment." - Thich Nhat Hanh

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10 Percent of Older Teens Had Major Depressive Episode in Past Year: Report

By Join Together Staff | May 7, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol,Drugs, Mental Health & Treatment

A new government report finds 10 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds had a major depressive episode in the past year. Almost 20 percent of young adults, ages 18 to 25, had any mental illness in the past year.

Four percent of young adults had a serious mental illness, according to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report also found 3 percent of older teens had both a major depressive episode and a substance use disorder; 6.4 percent had any mental illness and a substance use disorder; and 1.6 percent had a serious mental illness and a substance use disorder.

Older teens and young adults with emotional and behavioral health problems are much more likely to have significant problems with school, employment and housing, the report found. Almost 8 percent of older teens who suffer from depression and have a substance use disorder do not have a stable place to live. They moved an average of three or more times in the past year. Among older teens with depression and a substance use disorder who were enrolled in school, 13.5 percent struggled academically, with a “D” or lower average.

Young adults with a serious mental illness and a substance use disorder are less likely to graduate high school, compared with those without both disorders. They are also 1.4 times more likely to be unemployed. Young adults with a serious mental illness who receive treatment are more likely to graduate high school than those who do not receive any treatment.

“This new report demonstrates the critical need for treatment and other services that focus on older adolescents and young adults with mental and substance use disorders,” SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in a news release.

Less Than Half of College Students Say Misuse of Prescription Stimulants is “Cheating”

By Join Together Staff | May 7, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs, Young Adults & Youth

Only 41 percent of college students say misusing prescription stimulants for academic purposes should be considered cheating, according to a survey at an unnamed Ivy League institution. The survey found 18 percent of students said they misused stimulant drugs in an attempt to gain an academic advantage at least once in college.

Of students who used stimulant drugs, 24 percent said they had done so eight or more times, Inside Higher Ed reports. While 33 percent of students did not think using drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin was cheating, 25 percent were unsure, and 41 percent considered it cheating.

“While many colleges address alcohol and illicit drug abuse in their health and wellness campaigns, most have not addressed prescription stimulant misuse for academic purposes,” researcher Andrew Adesman of Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, said in a news release. “Because many students are misusing prescription stimulants for academic, not recreational purposes, colleges must develop specific programs to address this issue.”

The study included 616 college students without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who completed an anonymous online questionnaire. More students who played a varsity sport and were affiliated with a Greek house said they misused stimulants, compared with students affiliated with only one or neither.

The findings were presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting.

MAY 7 v 24 v 25 v 26 v 27 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB 

So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
Her house is the road to the grave.
Her bedroom is the den of death.

STEP 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

The proverb is talking about an adulterous woman but when I read the verses all I can think is this describes addiction to a T .There is not much more , I can say , except there is hope and you don't have to die to get sober . The next person who reaches out to you to help accept it . God always sends us help but we are so busy doing for us that we miss his voice in every situation . God has a plan , and you dieing a premature death is not it .
Matthew 11 :29 - Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

By :Joseph Dickerson

FDA Should Block Approval of Powdered Alcohol: NY Senator
By Join Together Staff | May 6, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol, Government, Marketing And Media, Prevention & Youth


U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent federal approval of the powdered alcohol product called Palcohol. He said it could become “the Kool-Aid of teen binge drinking,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved labels for Palcohol last month, but then said the approval was a mistake. Lipsmark, the company that makes Palcohol, says it will resubmit an application. Legislators in Minnesota and Vermont have introduced measures that would ban powdered alcohol.

Lipsmark, the company that makes Palcohol, says it plans to offer powdered alcohol in six varieties, including rum, vodka, Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Powderita and Lemon Drop. According to the company, a package of Palcohol weighs about an ounce and can fit into a pocket. It warns people not to snort the powder.

The FDA has the power to overrule the TTB in regulating alcohol products when there are significant health concerns, Schumer said. “Palcohol can be easily concealed and brought into concerts, school dances and sporting events, it can be sprinkled on food and can even be snorted,” he said in a news release. “Given that the federal TTB can only judge and approve new alcohol products based on labeling and taxation, it’s clear the FDA must utilize their authority to intervene when alcohol products create significant health risks — as they did with Four Loko — and stop this potentially deadly product in its tracks.”

In 2010, the FDA notified four companies — Charge Beverages Corporation, New Century Brewing, Phusion Projects Inc., and United Brands Company, Inc. — that the addition of caffeine to their alcohol drinks was unapproved and unsafe, effectively making the manufacture and distribution of caffeinated alcoholic beverages such as Four Loko illegal.