Vaporizers Gain Popularity Among Marijuana Smokers
By Join Together Staff | March 18, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Drugs
A growing number of marijuana smokers are choosing to use vaporizers, which are similar to e-cigarettes, according to USA Today. The popularity of the devices is changing the way marijuana is packaged and sold in states where it is legal.
The vaporizers, known as “vape pens,” are compact and portable. Steve DeAngelo, a marijuana entrepreneur and activist who founded the Harborside Health Center medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, California, says his dispensary does about half of its business in raw marijuana leaf or flowers. The rest are sold as edibles or concentrates, some of which are prepackaged for use in vape pens. “The percentage of raw (pot) flowers we sell has been dropping steadily,” he said. “The percent of extracts and concentrates … has been rising steadily.” Some vape pens use concentrated marijuana extractions, while others use marijuana leaves and flowers.
“This really portends the next generation of marijuana use,” John Lovell, a Sacramento attorney and lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers’ Association and California Police Chiefs Association, told the newspaper. His group is concerned about the high-strength concentrates used in vape pens. Concentrates can be composed of as much as 80 percent or 90 percent THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
Others are concerned that vape pens allow teens to smoke marijuana without being detected, because the pens leave no odor.
OxyContin Manufacturer Tests Tamper-Resistant Form of Hydrocodone
By Join Together Staff | March 18, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs & Prevention
The maker of OxyContin announced promising results from a study of a tamper-resistant form of hydrocodone, The Washington Post reports. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been criticized for approving Zohydro ER (extended release), a pure form of hydrocodone that is not tamper-resistant.
Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin, said it will soon seek FDA approval for its version of an extended-release form of hydrocodone. The company says its version is difficult for a person to crush, in order to inject or snort the drug. In 2010, the company reformulated OxyContin to make it harder to crush or dissolve.
The new study showed a majority of patients with chronic low back pain treated once daily with the hydrocodone drug experienced at least a 30 percent improvement in pain intensity, compared with a placebo. Almost half achieved a 50 percent improvement.
“This is another step forward in our efforts to develop therapeutic options for use by chronic pain patients that are designed to be unattractive to drug seekers,” Gary L. Stiles, the company’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development, said in a statement.
Last week, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin called on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to overrule the FDA decision to approve Zohydro ER. Late last year, Manchin and three other senators wrote to the FDA, saying they disagreed with the agency’s decision to approve the drug. In October, the FDA approved Zohydro for patients with pain that requires daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment that cannot be treated with other drugs. Drugs such as Vicodin contain a combination of hydrocodone and other painkillers such as acetaminophen.
In December, the attorneys general from 28 states asked the FDA to reassess its decision to approve Zohydro.
Study Finds Alcohol Deaths Most Likely to Impact Working-Age Adults
By Join Together Staff | March 18, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol
The majority of alcohol-related deaths in the United States occur among working-age adults, a new government study concludes. Adults ages 20 to 64 account for more than two-thirds of these deaths.
The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in the 11 states studied, alcohol caused a median of 1,650 deaths annually between 2006 and 2010, HealthDay reports.
“It’s really important to drive home that excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death,” lead author Katherine Gonzales said. “It really is right up there with tobacco and physical inactivity, especially among working-age adults.”
The study included accidental alcohol-related deaths such as car crashes, firearm injuries, drownings and occupational injuries, as well as illnesses such as liver disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
The CDC researchers found men were much more likely than women to die of alcohol-related causes. While the most alcohol-related deaths occurred among whites, deaths linked to excessive drinking were more likely among blacks, American Indians and Alaska natives.
Teens’ Definition of “Designated Driver” Can Be Loose, Survey Finds
By Join Together Staff | March 19, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol & Youth
Teens’ definition of a “designated driver” can be loose, according to a new survey. About one in five teens say their designated person is allowed to have “a little” alcohol or other drugs, as long as they aren’t too impaired to drive.
The survey found 4 percent of teens describe their designated driver as the most sober person in the group, Bloomberg News reports. One in 10 teens who said they have never driven under the influence of alcohol admitted to driving after having a drink.
The survey, conducted by Liberty Mutual and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), calls attention to risky behaviors by young people, the article notes. Teens “seem to think that unless they’re really falling-down drunk, that it’s OK for them to drive,” David Melton, Managing Director for Global Safety at Liberty Mutual, told Bloomberg News.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the driver was intoxicated in about 18 percent of fatal crashes involving drivers ages 16 to 20 in 2011.
The survey included 2,537 students in 11th and 12th grades. U.S. drivers with a blood alcohol concentration above .08 grams per deciliter are considered alcohol-impaired. “Long before you’re at .08, you’re definitely impaired in terms of your judgment,” Melton said. “You may not be over the legal limit, but you are driving with a buzz on and that’s not a good thing.”
In a statement, Stephen Gray Wallace, Senior Advisor for Policy, Research and Education at SADD, said, “With teens reporting these lax definitions of what it means to be ‘under the influence,’ a zero tolerance approach is the only answer to prevent potential tragedy. The parents and community have a responsibility to initiate and maintain an open dialogue with teens about exactly what driving under the influence means.”
Monthly Number of Federal Drug Defendants Drops to Lowest Level in 14 Years
By Join Together Staff | March 19, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs, Government, Legal & Legislation
Soon after Attorney General Eric Holder began making changes to drug laws, the number of drug defendants charged by the federal government dropped in January to its lowest monthly level in almost 14 years, according to a new report.
The report, by Syracuse University, found there were 1,487 new drug prosecutions in January 2014, down 7.8 percent from December, and down 11.5 percent from January 2013. “The number observed during the most recent six month period appears to be the lowest seen since the end of the Reagan Administration,” the researchers noted.
The drop in prosecutions follows the launch of Holder’s “Smart on Crime” initiative, The Huffington Post reports. The initiative’s goals include prioritizing prosecution to focus on the most serious cases, reforming sentencing to eliminate unfair disparities and reduce overburdened prisons, and pursuing alternatives to incarceration for low-level, non-violent crimes.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department, Ellen Canale, told The Huffington Post, “It makes sense to reserve the harshest sentences for the most serious drug offenders. The department’s charging policies are aimed at empowering federal prosecutors to consider the individual circumstances of each defendant in order to determine what outcome best improves public safety.”
Last week, Holder testified before the United States Sentencing Commission in favor of changing federal guidelines to reduce the average sentence for drug dealers.
FDA Commissioner: Zohydro Offers Unique Option to Treat Pain
By Join Together Staff | March 19, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Government & Prescription Drugs
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg defended the agency’s decision to approve the pure hydrocodone drug Zohydro ER (extended release). At a Senate hearing, Hamburg said, “If appropriately used, it serves an important and unique niche with respect to pain medication and it meets the standards for safety and efficacy.”
Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Hamburg acknowledged Zohydro is a powerful drug. She noted that unlike other hydrocodone drugs, Zohydro does not contain acetaminophen, which can be toxic to the liver.
Zohydro is designed to be released over time, and can be crushed and snorted by people seeking a strong, quick high. “I would love if we had abuse-deterrent formulations that were actually meaningful and effective at deterring abuse in all instances. We are moving in that direction,” Hamburg said. “Right now, unfortunately, the technology is poor.”
The FDA’s decision to approve Zohydro has been criticized by some legislators and public health groups, Reuters reports. Hamburg has received letters protesting the decision from 28 state attorneys general and four senators, among others.
Law enforcement agencies and addiction experts predict approval of the drug will lead to an increase in overdose deaths.
Zohydro was approved for patients with pain that requires daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment that cannot be treated with other drugs. In December 2012, a panel of experts assembled by the FDA voted against recommending approval of Zohydro ER. The panel cited concerns over the potential for addiction. In the 11-2 vote against approval, the panel said that while the drug’s maker, Zogenix, had met narrow targets for safety and efficacy, the painkiller could be used by people addicted to other opioids, including oxycodone.
