Sunday, May 10, 2015
“Flakka” is Latest Synthetic Drug to Worry Experts
April 14th, 2015/
A drug known as “flakka” is the latest synthetic compound to raise concern among public health experts, Fox News reports. Flakka is a tweaked version of bath salts.
In some cases, Flakka can cause heart palpitations and aggressive, violent behavior, the article notes. Use of the drug can affect the kidneys, leading to kidney failure or death.
Flakka use has recently been reported in Florida, Ohio and Texas. The name is derived from the Spanish word “flaca,” which means “skinny.” The drug is sold in other parts of the country as “Gravel.”
In Florida, Flakka contains alpha-PVP, a substance that provides an instant sense of euphoria, according to Jim Hall of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. The drug also gives a boost in physical strength that is similar to other stimulants, such as Ecstasy and cocaine, he said.
Hospitals in South Florida are admitting 20 new patients a day for Flakka abuse, Hall told Fox News. “One of the reasons we think alpha-PVP is such a problem is because it is extremely dose-specific, and even just a little dose will give a person the desired effect they want,” he said. “Just a little more can create a number of serious adverse effects to the point the user doesn’t even know.”
Flakka, which comes in crystalline rock form, can be snorted, swallowed, injected or vaped in an e-cigarette. While its effects are generally felt for three or four hours, they can continue for days. It is being sold in Florida for $5 for one-tenth of a gram.
“It’s cheap like crack cocaine,” Hall said. “This is as close as we’ve come to a crack cocaine problem since 1995 in terms of the severe reactions, low prices, and that it’s available to young kids, and even homeless populations are now impacted.”
Home / Join Together / Colorado Tries to Prevent People From Overdosing on Marijuana Edibles
Colorado Tries to Prevent People From Overdosing on Marijuana Edibles
April 14th, 2015/
Colorado health officials are trying to find a way to prevent people from overdosing on marijuana edibles. The products have been implicated in two suicides and one murder in the past 13 months, according to The Denver Post.
Almost five million edibles were sold in Colorado stores last year. The Denver Post commissioned lab tests of 10 popular brands, and found edibles’ highs are more delayed and long-lasting than smoking or vaporizing marijuana. Some brands severely mismeasure the potency of their products, the newspaper found.
“There’s a learning curve for consumers of edibles,” Art Way, Colorado’s state director of the pro-legalization group Drug Policy Alliance, told the newspaper. “We cannot escape the issue of personal responsibility. That said, the industry should do all that is reasonable in the formative years of marijuana legalization to combat concerns around edibles.”
The state has standardized edibles’ warning labels, and mandated that 10-milligram doses of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, be individually wrapped. Colorado is also running educational campaigns about proper use of edibles. A mandatory lab-testing program requires edible companies to test each batch for potency.
New rules for edibles are due January 1. While they may help reduce accidental ingestions, it is unclear if they will stop people from eating too much, too fast, critics contend.
Edible marijuana products have become a popular alternative to smoking marijuana in Colorado, since retail sales of the products became legal. Adults 21 and over can legally purchase marijuana edibles at state-licensed stores. Marijuana is now available in products ranging from candy to soda and granola. The amount of marijuana in edible products varies widely. In some cases, products contain levels so high that people experience extreme paranoia and anxiety.
_____________________ Hello WFS Members, We have the 2015 WFS Conference Registration Flyer on our website and for those that didn't see it, we've attached the pdf (the attachment is located at the bottom of this email). We hope you can join us on June 5, 6, & 7, 2015 for a great weekend getaway with 4C women! An added bonus is that you can arrive a day early -Thursday - and spend some quality time with your WFS sisters at the dormitory. The registration price includes staying in the dormitory.... the price will NOT be lowered if you choose to stay OFF CAMPUS. Believe me, you will have a lot more fun staying in the dorm with all of your new friends! ***WFS AUCTION*** Don't forget about WFS's Annual Fundraiser! It will be held on Saturday of the conference and we need your support... handmade items, crafts, quilts, artwork, jewelry, baskets of goodies... it all adds up to lots of exciting bids and friendly competition to raise much needed funds for our organization. If you are bringing auction items with you to conference, we will have a pre-auction set up table on Friday to sort through all the goodies... SUGGESTION: ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS garner more bids than multiples of the same item. That being said, we welcome 'multiples' too! ***REGISTRATION DISCOUNT*** Every year we provide a $20 discount for the early birds who register by April 1st. The registration for the WHOLE weekend with a double room is only $265 (includes 2 nights at the dormitory, 5 meals, and all workshops on Saturday & Sunday). After April 1st, the regular cost of $285 for a double room will apply. Fill the form out today and join us for a great weekend retreat! We already have 2 ladies registered!! Registration Deadline is May 11th, 2015 WFS Conference will be held at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. Campus map and directions are available at their site: http://desales.edu/home/about/ You can FAX (215-538-9026) or MAIL (PO Box 618, Quakertown, PA 18951) your registration form to the WFS office - we will not be able to take registrations over the phone due to the Personal Responsibility Form needing to be signed.  IMPORTANT - IF YOU HAVE ANY ....ANY!... QUESTIONS - CALL OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT THE OFFICE...NOT THE ONLINE FORUM. We appreciate your support of WFS! I am so looking forward to seeing you! Warm regards, Becky Fenner, WFS Director PS: Here's a peek at our new conference totes! | ||||
| Email: newlife@nni.com * Tel: 215-536-8026 * Fax: 215-538-9026 | ||||
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Friday, May 8, 2015
Feeling The Feelings
Grieving My Brother's Death in Sobriety
I had not been drinking this particular Sunday, which was unheard of for me. I can't remember a Sundayprior to this that you wouldn't have found me at a local terrace café that offered bottomless mimosas for $10. I was usually in a blackout by3 p.m., but this day I didn't go and I hadn't been drinking.
Fair and Balanced? NOT EVEN CLOSE!
Film Brutally Attacks Rehab Industry
 Greg Horvath teamed with a documentary filmmaker, Adam Finberg, to investigate the $35 billion treatment industry. The result of their partnership, "The Business of Recovery," which premiered on Sunday at the Newport Beach Film Festival, is an extraordinary look into the secretive and unregulated world of alcohol and drug rehab. |
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
May 6 CHP 112 v 7 v 8 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS
They do not fear bad news ; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them .
They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.
(GODS BIG BOOK)
STEP 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
To live a life full of addictions , is a life of fear and failures. Let me rephrase that ! Afraid , sad , alone , and lost was my life ! Living and scrambling every minute of everyday . Dreading what was gonna happen next and not very sure I was gonna make it through , or every time passing out uncertain I was gonna see the sun again. I can honestly say after fourteen years of brutally honest twelve step work I am not afraid of my present , past , and future. I have discovered a God who is a loving patient and merciful Father. He loves me in spite of me !He has pulled me from the darkness and removed my chains .Through my prayer and meditation on His words (GODS BIG BOOK) I am no longer afraid or ruled by my Ego. Addictions no longer dictate the everyday grind of life. True freedom is a gift GOD has for all of us but addictions , fear , and sadness are chains that will hold you in the darkness .
More States and Cities Consider Needle-Exchange Programs to Reduce Spread of Infection
March 31st, 2015/
More states and cities are considering needle-exchange programs as a way to fight the spread of HIV and hepatitis C among intravenous drug users, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed a bill into law last week that will allow local health departments to set up needle exchanges after obtaining approval from local governments.
In Indiana, Governor Mike Pence declared a state of emergency in response to a growing number of HIV cases linked to intravenous use of the painkiller Opana. He authorized a short-term program in one county to allow people to exchange used needles for sterile ones, to reduce the risk of contaminated needles being shared.
There are about 200 needle-exchange programs in 33 states and the District of Columbia, according to the North American Syringe Exchange Network.
In recent years, Nevada has allowed needle-exchange programs. Two Ohio cities on the Kentucky border, Cincinnati and Portsmouth, have established programs. In Florida, legislators are considering a proposal that would allow a pilot needle-exchange program in Miami-Dade County.
Supporters of needle-exchange programs say they reduce disease transmission, and can connect intravenous drug users with treatment programs. Critics say the programs sanction drug use, and discourage people from seeking treatment.
Public health officials are especially concerned about the spread of hepatitis C among people who use intravenous drugs. Hepatitis C can survive outside the body for at least 16 hours, and potentially up to four days.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Court Rules Police Cannot Prolong Traffic Stops to Wait for Drug-Sniffing Dogs to Work
April 23rd, 2015/
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that police cannot extend a routine traffic stop to allow a drug-sniffing dog to inspect the vehicle unless they have reasonable suspicion of finding contraband. The vote was 6-3, The New York Times reports.
“A police stop exceeding the time needed to handle the matter for which the stop was made violates the Constitution’s shield against unreasonable seizures,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority.
The case, Rodriguez v. United States, was brought by Dennys Rodriguez, who was pulled over for driving on the shoulder of a state highway in Nebraska. The police checked his license and issued a written warning for erratic driving. The officer asked permission to walk his drug-sniffing dog, Floyd, around the vehicle. Rodriguez declined, and the officer ordered him out of the car and made him wait until a backup officer arrived.
Floyd led the officer to a large bag of methamphetamine. Rodriguez was indicted for possessing meth. He later moved to suppress the evidence.
In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “If a driver is stopped by a particularly efficient officer, then he will be entitled to be released from the traffic stop after a shorter period of time than a driver stopped by a less efficient officer. Similarly, if a driver is stopped by an officer with access to technology that can shorten a records check, then he will be entitled to be released from the stop after a shorter period of time than an individual stopped by an officer without access to such technology.”
Palcohol” Maker Says His Product is No More Dangerous Than Liquid Alcohol
April 7th, 2015/
The maker of the powdered alcohol product “Palcohol” says it is no more dangerous than liquid alcohol, The New York Times reports. Palcohol, recently approved for sale by a federal agency, has been banned in six states. A bill to ban powdered alcohol’s sale and manufacture nationwide has been introduced by Senator Charles Schumer of New York.
“I am in total disbelief that our federal government has approved such an obviously dangerous product, and so, Congress must take matters into its own hands and make powdered alcohol illegal,” Schumer said in a statement when he introduced the legislation. “Underage alcohol abuse is a growing epidemic with tragic consequences and powdered alcohol could exacerbate this.”
While Palcohol was approved for sale last month by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, it is still subject to regulation by the states, the article notes. The product could be on store shelves by this summer. It will be available in five versions: rum, vodka, Cosmopolitan, Lemon Drop and a margarita version called Powderita. Each single-use packet is designed to be mixed with six ounces of liquid to make one drink. Each drink will contain 10 percent alcohol by volume, similar to a glass of wine.
Critics of powdered alcohol say it will appeal to children, and its powdered form will make it easier to hide.
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