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What it is:
Cocaine is also known as coke, blow, snow, whitecoat, powder, etc. It is
a fine white powder. The leaves are converted into coca paste by
combining them with kerosene, water, sodium carbonate, and sulfuric acid.
Long term effects of cocaine use:
Long term effects are broken down into three categories, as follows: Effects
of prolonged use of cocaine itself, effects of long term use of crack, and
effects of adulterants and paraphanalia associated with cocaine.
1.) Effects of prolonged use itself:
- inflamed mucous membranes
- sneezing
- nosebleeds
- perforation of the nasal septum
- potential heart attack
- damage to the heart muscle
- irregular heartbeat ("cardiomyopathy")
- decreased desire for sex
- inability to ejaculate in males.
- cocaine suppresses appetite so long-term use can result in weight loss.
- fatal seizures can result from long term use of cocaine, as
uncontrolled releases of electrical discharges in the brain can induce convulsions.
- cocaine always reduces one's threshold for seizures.
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Note: when attempting to stop cocaine use, or suffering withdrawal, one
may suffer from "anhedonia," or the inability to feel pleasure (mostly
physical).
1.5.) Long term Effects of Crack:
"crack lung," which comes from smoking cocaine or crack, is characterized by:
- chest pains
- shortness of breath
- and the coughing up of blood
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It resolves itself spontaneously, and is thus usually ignored,
but is a serious problem.
2.) Results from adulterants/cuts, and use of cocaine paraphernalia:
Non-sterile NEEDLES used to shoot cocaine into the bloodstream can put
one at risk for many infections and diseases, including HIV and
Hepatitis. Bacteria can also enter the lymphatic channels and
bloodstream via a needle. Endocarditis, an infection of the heart valve
due to such bacteria, is often mistaken for withdrawal symptoms and
ignored, but should not be.
In addition, sexual dysfunction caused by long-term
cocaine use is often thought to be "curable" by placing the drug
directly on the genitalia. This is not correct, however, and
placing cocaine on the genitals can result in the drying and ulcerating
of these areas, as cocaine reduces blood flow to any area it is applied
(hence its use as an anesthetic).
What it might be cut with:
Cocaine sold on the street could be anywhere from 30-60% pure,
the rest being a "cut" of something else. Cuts can be flour,
PCP, anesthetics, baking powder, or other substances.
Immediate bodily effects on the user:
Cocaine is usually snorted. Peak levels occur about 25 minutes
after snorting. Cocaine raises blood pressure, heart rate, respiration
rate as it is a stimulant.
Overdose scenario:
An overdose, not much larger than the recreational dose, often can cause
seizures. Seizures are more likely with cocaine than other stimulants.
Seizures may occur at any point in a user's career, but it is true that
most long-term users do eventually have a seizure. There is always a
risk of death even at what a person considered to be a recreational dose
of cocaine, and since cocaine accumulates in the blood with repeated
doses an overdose can occur from using "too much too fast." Symptoms are
at first an exaggeration of the drug's normal effects. Eventually
overdose leads to seizures and death from heart failure.
What it does in your brain:
Cocaine works in your brain by mimicking the effects of the
neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is especially associated
with reward and pleasure. Cocaine mimics the effect of dopamine
by binding to receptor sites of the neurons normally involved
in dopamine reuptake (removing excess dopamine).
Withdrawal:
Symptoms of cocaine withdrawal include exhaustion, depression,
a sudden return of appetite (previously suppressed by the cocaine),
and strong cravings for more cocaine. Also common is a temporary
inability to feel pleasure since the pleasure centers of the
brain have been artificially stimulated for so long.
Interactions with other drugs:
Cocaine, when mixed with other stimulants including some
over-the-counter cold medications, can dangerously raise the
blood pressure. MAO Inhibitors (certain antidepressants) also
add to the danger because they increase the effect of the cocaine.
There is a danger in taking cocaine with any drug that is intended
to affect heart rhythm, or with drugs that make people more sensitive
to seizures (buspirone, high doses of caffeine). This is because
cocaine interferes with the natural rhythms of the heart. Thus,
if taken with another drug that functions to do the same thing,
the heart will receive either contradicting or excessive impulses
to beat. This causes heart attack.
Cocaine and Heroin:
Cocaine is sometimes used in combination with heroin or other
opiates. In this case, the effect on the brain and behavior is
somewhat like the addition of the two. The user feels the dreaminess
of opiates and arousal caused by cocaine (minus the jitteriness).
This combination can be very dangerous: often people who are
using cocaine slow down their intake of the drug when the jitteriness
gets too great, but in the presence of heroin, these feelings
are not so obvious, increasing the risk of an overdose (on either
cocaine or heroin). This is the combination of drugs that John
Belushi was taking when he died.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS INFORMATION IS HIGHLY ABBREVIATED.
for more information, see our page on cocaine:
cocaine.html
Or send us a question at: askthesource@hotmail.com
To subscribe to this newsletter, email sourcenews@hotmail.com
Sources:
- Weiss, MD, Roger and Steven Mirin, MD. Cocaine 2nd ed.. Washington
DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc., 1994.
- Wilson, CEDC, Jan, and Judith Wilson, CAP. Addictionary
New York: Fireside/Parkside, 1992.
Ecstasy (MDMA)... the 5 minute run down
aka X aka E aka XTC aka Roll aka Pill aka Bean aka ADAM aka Clarity aka
Essence aka Eve
Ecstasy is a drug in a class of its own (enactogens). However, it has
properties of both stimulants and hallucinogens. It usually comes in a pill
form and is swallowed or crushed and snorted. It can also come in powder
form or in a gel capsule. A standard pill usually contains between 75-150
mg of MDMA. In most cases half that dosage has very noticable effects. It
usually takes between 20 to 90 minutes set in, but it can take up to two
hours in some cases. The user then comes up for between 5 to 20 minutes and
the effects plateau or peak for 2 to 3 hours. After the peak the user
generally comes down for 1 to 2 hours until the after effects kick in.
These effects can last anywhere for 3 to 24 hours. However, feelings of
depression or tiredness can last for up to seven days after ingestion of the drug.
Mixing Ecstasy with ANYTHING is DANGEROUS!
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS REALLY IN A PILL.
The general physical effects consist of feelings of empathy, euphoria,
strong or clear communication with others, an increase in energy and a
tingling sensation throughout the body. Be careful though just cause you
feel safe and comfortable with someone while you are on the drug you may
not feel so close to them in the morning! Furthermore the user may experience
muscle twitching, rolling of the eyes, jaw clenching, and visual
distortion.
Some of the possible negative side effects are nausea, vomiting, seizures
(especially if you have a predisposition to seizures or if you mix drugs),
trouble regulating body temperatures (especially when dancing makes the
user too hot), and dehydration (drink water, boys and girls).
Mixing Ecstasy with ANYTHING is DANGEROUS!
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS REALLY IN A PILL.
Be aware that pills can be cut with many different things such as heroin or
speed.
The dreaded next day. :(
There is a possibility of depression for up to seven days due to the
depletion of neurotransmitters and brain cell damageyou may also feel
regretful about things that you have done or the way you acted. Be aware
that your inhibitions will be lowered so you should question your impluses
the world may be fuzzy so donıt plan on doing homework.
In the long run, Ecstasy is addictive, kills brain cells, damages memory
and can cause long term depression.
If at any time a user is unconscious, unresponsive, vomiting to excess, or
convulsing call EMS.
Don't take Ecstasy with ALCOHOL. It causes extreme dehydration and kidney
failure.
Ecstasy + prescription drugs = VERY MANY BAD THINGS - know your
medications.
Ecstasy + cocaine = serious risk of seizures or heart attack
Ecstasy + other types of Ecstasy = extremely dangerous cause the pills
vary. It extremely increases the risk of overdose.
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Studies show that someone who smokes five joints a week may absorb as
many cancer causing chemicals (carcinogens) as a person who smokes a pack a
day of cigarettes.
more information...
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Long term use of marijuana may cause "gynecomastia", the development of
breast tissue in men.
more information...
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The drug Special K (ketamine) is so similar to Angel Dust
(PCP)chemically and in terms of effect on the body, that they are
classified as the same drug in most drug information books.
more information...
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Marijuana suppresses the body's gag reflex. This can be dangerous for a
person who has drunk enough to put them at risk of alcohol poisoning as it
will inhibit their body's natural life-saving reflex to expel
alcohol (vomit).
more information...
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Studies show that regular use of Ecstasy may be related to the
development of Parkinson's disease.
more information...
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The combination of alcohol and Ecstasy can be lethal. Both raise body
temperature and dehydrate the body. Together they can cause the body to
dehydrate or overheat to such an extreme to necessitate hospitalization or
cause death.
more information...
-
Withdrawal from alcohol can be lethal.
more information...
-
A female of about 130 lbs is at risk of long term damage from alcohol
poisoning after consuming 7.5 drinks in one hour.
more information...
-
A male of about 130 lbs is at risk of long term damage from alcohol
poisoning after consuming 8.5 drinks in one hour.
more information...
The Source Email Newsletter No. 4
18 April 2000
GHB is on Vassar campus. It is cheap and easy to make and is therefore becoming
popular with college kids. We feel that since it is relatively new, most
people don't know some of its dangers. There is not much information out
about GHB, but this is what we found. A very important note is that GHB
mixed with alcohol can be LETHAL.
GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate)
What is GHB?:
GHB is a central nervous system depressant abused for its
ability to produce euphoric and hallucinatory states and its alleged ability
to release a growth hormone and stimulate muscle growth. Although GHB was
originally considered a safe and "natural" food supplement and was sold in
health food stores, the medical community soon became aware that it caused
overdoses and other health problems. It can be used as a general
anesthetic, a treatment for insomnia and narcolepsy, an aid in childbirth
(decreasing pain and increasing dilation and strength in contractions) and
as a treatment for alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
How it effects the Brain:
New studies suggest that GHB may itself be a
neurotransmitter in the brain. GHB is synthesized in the brain, it has
specific receptor sites and specific receptor locations, and its effects can
be blocked by specific antagonists. Thus it may have a very specific role
in the brain, although we don't quite know what it is yet. An unusual
characteristic of GHB is that it crosses easily from the blood to the brain.
Under normal circumstances, the brain is remarkably insulated from the
rest of the body by the blood brain barrier. To get into the brain,
substances must dissolve easily in fat to move through tissues. Most
neurotransmitters will not cross the blood brain barrier, and so no matter
how much of them one takes in, they never reach the brain. Although we do
not know what role GHB plays in normal brain functions, the role is going to
be modified by adding GHB moving into the brain. Instead of having a normal
circuit that is wired and functioning in an orderly manner, the circuit
could become disordered as the GHB receptors get randomly activated as the
drug courses through the brain. This is a bit different from other
sedatives that simply increase the activity of a receptor, more or less
preserving the orderliness of the network.
How it effects the Body:
Duration usually last about 1-3 hours. It produces
relaxation, mild euphoria, then headache, perhaps nausea, drowsiness,
dizziness, loss of consciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression,
coma or even death.
Is GHB Addictive:
GHB has been tested on monkeys and found not to be considered an
addictive drug. But results from human studies are not available. However,
given that GHB is a sedative, prolonged use almost certainly will cause
tolerance, and abrupt withdrawal would result in hyper excitability of the
central nervous system.
What it looks like:
GHB is available in pure powder form (white) or an
odorless, colorless liquid form perhaps with a salty taste. GHB can be
lethal, it is easy to manufacture, and it is difficult to detect in a drink.
Commonly found at nightclubs and raves.
Legal Issues:
In 1990, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues an advisory declaring
GHB unsafe and illicit except under FDA-approved, physician-supervised
protocols. In March 1999, the DEA recommended that Congress place GHB under
the Controlled Substances Act. Legislation to include GHB in the Controlled
Substances Act is currently being considered.
New York Times, 2/19/2000
Federal Law Toughened on 'Date Rape' Drug
President Clinton signed a bill on February 18, 2000 toughening federal laws
for possession and distribution of GHB. GHB has been linked to 58 deaths
since 1990, and more than 5700 overdoses. According to the new law, anyone
who possesses, manufactures, or distributes GHB could face a prison term of
up to 20 years.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 3/21/2000
6 Pass Out, 1 Nearly Dies from New 'Party Drug' at PSU
5 students were left unconcious and one other student almost died from
overdoses of the drug GBL. GBL is a sedative drug which turns into its more
famous cousin GHB when digested. Although GHB has been labeled a 'date
rape' drug, the students at PSU had taken it willingly for fun.
Cocaine at Vassar:
Of the 414 students who answered the question about cocaine on the drug
survey, 382 or 92.3% said they had never used cocaine, ten (2.4%)
indicated they used cocaine one a year, 14 (3.4%) indicated they used
cocaine six times a year, 4 (1.0) indicated they used cocaine once a
month, three (.7%) indicated they used cocaine twice a year, and one
(.2%) indicated he or she used cocaine once a week. These data were
collected as part of the Vassar College Drug and Alcohol Survey which
was adminstered by me under the auspices of the Drug and Alcohol
Education Committee.
information from Randy Cornelius
Recently in the News:
From "The New York Post" June 2nd 1999.
"Heart Risk Soars with Cocaine".
Author: Cathy Burke.
"Cocaine users are 24 times more likely to have a heart attack during
the first hour after taking the drg, medical researchers have found.
"The researchers, at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center, also found that coke can trigger heart attacks in people
who are otherwise at a relatively low risk for the nation's No. 1
killer. "'It's larger than all of the other triggers that bring on the
onset of heart attack', sais Dr Murray Mittleman, who led the study
published in yesterday's issue of Circulation, a journal of the American
Heart Association. 'Previous reports have shown the physical and
psychological stress can trigger [a heart attack', the scientists wrote.
'In this report we have documented pharmacological triggering showing
that cocaine can abruptly increase the risk of heart attack in patients
who are otherwise at relatively low risk.' The scientists urged
educators to take note, and that 'drug education campaigns ought to
include information regarding the magnitude of the cardiac risk
associated with cocaine use.' Dr Dan Fisher, director of inpatient
services for cardiac rehabilitation at New York University Medical
Center, said the findings didnt surprise him. 'It's a tremendous
number,' he said of the increased risk. 'But it's not surprising if,
knowing what cocaine does [to the heart and arteries].' The Harvard
reasearch was based on interviews at 64 hospitals across the country,
involving 3,946 patients, ages 20 to 92, who had suffered heart attacks
between 1989 and 1996. Coke users who had heart attack were 44 years old
on average. By comparison, the average age for all heart-attack patients
in the United States is 61.
From "The New York Post" August 25, 1999.
"Prez and Rudy Deny Using Coke."
Authors: Deborak Orin and Tom Topousis.
The White House yesterday said that President Clinton has never used
cocaine and that denial is "both authorized and accurate" - even though
Clinton has never personally answered the question. And at City Hall,
Mayor Giuliani said he has never smoked marijuana nor used cocaine - but
defended the right of politicians to refuse to say whether they've used
illegal drugs in the past. The cocaine question has flared since
Republican 2000 front-runner George W. Bush was hit for days with
queries on whether he did coke. He says he has not used it in thee last
25 years, but wont say whether he used it before 1974. Ex-Clinton
girlfriend Gennifer Floweres last week told Fox News Channel that
Clinton smoked marijuana in front of ehr when he was Arkansas governor
and told her he used coke and could get it for her. In 1992, Clinton
hedged on marijuana use before finally saying he tried it while at
School in England but "didn't inhale." If Flowers is tellign the truth,
Clinton lied when he denied ever smoking pot int he United States.
Clinton scandal spokesman Jim Kennedy said that Clinton has never used
coaine but didnt directly answer Flower's charges on marijunana, saying
only that Clinton had addressed the pot issue in the past. Kennedy
aknowledged he hadnt spoken directly to Clinton about cocaine, but said
his denial of Flowers' cocaine charges was "authorized and accurate"
though he wouldnt say how. Giuliani addressed the drug topic during a
City Hall press conference, saying: "I never used marijuana, I've never
used cociane and I've answeres that before and I regret actually having
answered it. It's really none of your business if I did or didnt, but
there were extended circumstances for why I didnt because from the time
I was very young, was an assistant US attourney and stuff like that," he
said, explaining his own choices against drug use. "I respect the
decisiona that Gov. Bush has made about his own privacy," said Giuliani,
who has all but formally endorsed Bush. The mayor, who noted he
prosecuted many drug cases, blasted reporters for even asking about the
issue. "I think this is voyeurism, not a legitimate persuit of issues
that have anythign to do with anythign other than hounding people who
are in public office," Giuliani said.
From the New York Times, 21. September 1999
News about Cocaine - "In two new studies released last week, researchers
documented still more detrimental effects of the drug, both immediate and
long-term...The Archives of Internal Medicine found that cocaine causes
blood to thicken by increasing the number of red cells and by touching off
an increase in a protein that causes platelets to stick together. This
study may explain why cocaine users have heart attacks at 24 times the rate
of the general population in the first hour after taking the drug..."
Resources for more information:
Source: Village Voice, 01/11/2000, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p53, 2p, 1bw Author(s): Szalavitz, Maia
MEDICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES KEEP OVERDOSE ANTIDOTE OUT OF USERS' HANDS
Valerie S. was getting high in her Brooklyn apartment when a friend
"went out." She says, "I wasn't really close to the guy. He was a
neophyte, a married, college-educated professional, about 30. I made
connections for him and he sampled the product at my house. "It happened
in stages. I was nodding also, but I looked back and I saw that his legs
were in a weird position, spread on the floor. Something got my
attention, maybe the syringe falling. The first thing I saw when I
looked closely was that he was on the floor and blue.
"There wasn't time to think," she says. "I tried mouth-to-mouth, I tried
CPR, but I realized, 'Wow, he's going.' By the time I realized I should
have called [an ambulance], it was too late. I had the naloxone in the
house, so I found a vein and injected him. He took a sharp inhalation of
breath and sat up."
Valerie's experience using naloxone, a prescription drug, to
save a fellow user from opiate poisoning makes a strong case for
training others to do the same and making the antidote more widely
available.
Raising awareness is just what the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy
think tank in New York City, and 19 other agencies and organizations
intend to do. Later this month, they are sponsoring an international
conference in Seattle, "Preventing Heroin Overdose: Pragmatic
Approaches." Attendees will include scholars, service providers,
outreach workers, and others who deal with or are affected by heroin
overdose.
Unfortunately, the need for naloxone is growing. Nationwide, according
to statistics from the U.S. government's Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, there were 217,868 admissions to
treatment facilities for heroin addiction in 1997, up 24 percent from
1992. Between 1988 and 1997, heroin-related emergency room visits nearly
doubled, from 18,100 to 36,000, according to the government-funded
surveillance study Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). In New York, DAWN
trends are confounded by the HIV epidemic, but approximately 700 people
die from opiate overdose annually, according to the study's figures,
which are compiled by local medical examiners.
With heroin use up, inevitably, the incidence of overdosing rises. Among
those who take heroin, an overdose experience is the rule, not the
exception. Valerie has overdosed at least three times over the last
several years. Research studies from several countries consistently show
that about two-thirds of long-term heroin addicts report that they've
overdosed at least once. Nearly 80 percent have seen someone else do it.
At least one overdose a week is reported to New York's Positive Health
Project needle exchange. Though most overdose episodes aren't deadly,
they can be.
It is impossible to overdose on naloxone, and there is no potential for
abuse. The drug can, however, produce unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if
given to an opiate addict in high doses. These symptoms are not
life-threatening. The medication is far more likely to cause dysphoria
than euphoria.
While conceivably adrenaline, cocaine, or speed could be used
to treat overdoses, each of these drugs has a significant chance of
doing more harm than good. About two-thirds of opiate overdoses involve
a mixture of drugs, according to DAWN, so adding a stimulant is risky
because an "up" drug like cocaine might be the real cause of the
overdose. Unlike stimulants, however, naloxone isn't likely to do harm.
And if heroin is one of a cocktail of "downs," removing the opiate
effect alone is usually enough to save the person's life.
So why aren't service providers handing out naloxone at needle
exchanges and training addicts in CPR and other aspects of overdose
treatment? One obstacle, according to naloxone advocates, is that the
medical profession is wary of allowing those with no medical training to
treat overdoses. Although naloxone generally is not dangerous, it's
certainly medically more prudent to take anyone who is unconscious and
not breathing to a hospital where doctors can deal with any
complications.
n ordinary circumstances, if the poison weren't an illegal
drug, almost no one would disagree with such a recommendation. But
expecting addicts to risk arrest and the contempt often meted out to
them by medical professionals is naive, according to Dr. Karl Sporer, an
emergency room physician at San Francisco General Hospital.
Sporer says that even in Australia, which has a much more humane
attitude toward addicts, only 14 percent of users call an ambulance first. "We can't get the police to
promise not to arrest them, and the police often need to be there," he says. A recent article in the Santa
Cruz County Sentinel cites needle exchange officials who report that 65 percent of participants in the Santa
Cruz Needle Exchange Program who have overdosed or witnessed an overdose "did not call 911 because
they feared criminal charges."
"[Naloxone will] work," says Dr. Clifford Gevirtz, chief of
anesthesiology at New York's Metropolitan Hospital and a leading addiction specialist. "But our society is a
little too litigious." Family members of addicts who died despite naloxone might sue prescribers, claiming
that the addict would have gone to the hospital and had a greater chance of survival if the naloxone hadn't
been available.
A related concern is that making naloxone more accessible could encourage users
to take more drugs. Dan Bigg, of the Chicago Recovery Alliance, which has trained several dozen users in
administering naloxone, says this is unlikely. "Using naloxone is always unpleasant even for those without
opiate tolerances," he says. "I have never seen nor heard of such increased reckless reactions to its
availability. This is similar to the myth that sterile syringes incite more use."
Around the world
and in small underground programs in San Francisco and Chicago, people have begun to resarch (albeit,
somewhat informally, sources say) whether naloxone can actually reduce deaths. Italy has the most
experience. In 1987, the Italian health ministry decided that naloxone could be sold without a prescription.
In 1995, researchers in Torino began distributing the drug with instructions on its use at needle exchange
programs. Susanna Ronconi, coordinator of the Torino Outreach Project, says that there is no data yet
showing a decrease in the number of deaths, but naloxone is widely accepted and no problems have been
reported.
ER physician Sporer believes the advantages of providing naloxone far outweigh the
disadvantages. When naloxone works, an addict's return to consciousness is dramatic and almost
instantaneous. However, he mentions a final potential complication. "Narcan [the brand name for naloxone]
is not totally benign," he says. "There are a small number of people, about 1 percent, who have seizures.
They are short-lived and not fatal. Compared to near-certain death, it's an easy choice."
The
mother of one 16-year-old girl, who found her daughter dead of a heroin overdose this summer, says it
best, her voice shaking: "Never give up on your child. Never." She insists, "I don't think [providing
naloxone] would encourage people to use drugs, but it would help families to save the lives of drug users. I
think it's a great idea.'
Valerie has decided to give up heroin. As of late December, she had gone 48
days drug free.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Date: July 18, 1998
Heroin: our $1.6bn habit
By GREG BEARUP
Australia's heroin epidemic appears to have peaked but the effects will
be felt for years, with thefts to buy the drug estimated at up to $1.6
billion a year. This week the Australian Bureau of Statistics released
figures revealing a surge in heroin-related crimes, especially armed
robbery, which saw an additional 2,000 robberies in NSW alone. In a
yet-to-be-released study obtained by the Herald, titled Running the
Risks, four of Australia's leading drug researchers estimate that
regular heroin users steal a total of between $500 million and $1.6
billion a year to support their habit.
In interviews for the study in south-western Sydney, 202 heroin
users reported earning $237,291 from crime in the previous week, an
average of $1,175 each. The main author of the study, Dr. Lisa Maher,
said she believed that the epidemic, at least in Sydney, appeared to
have peaked in 1995 and 1996 and that the take-up rate looked to be
slowing. "Like most epidemics it moves in cycles and this one appears to
be past its peak," she said. While less that 2 per cent of Australians
had tried heroin, Dr. Maher said, a 1996 survey of schools in
south-western Sydney showed that in one school 11 per cent of
13-year-old boys had tried heroin in the previous year. The effects of
the 1995-96 peak is now being felt through increased break-and-enters,
armed robberies and car thefts because it takes up to two years from
initiation to the drug to dependency, which is when the criminality
begins in earnest.
Professor Ian Webster, head of public health at the University
of NSW and a member of Prime Minister's drug advisory council, said that
the study was an "extremely important" one. It highlighted the need for
an integrated approach to dealing with the problem involving not only
law enforcement but education, grass roots support and the health
system. Australia had led the world in reducing harm "to both the
individual and the public" but there was a political shift back towards
law enforcement to solve the problem and "this emphasis could cause us
to lose ground we have gained".
A spokeswoman for the Acting Police Minister, Mr. Knowles, said
the problem with heroin in NSW was a direct result of the Federal
Government cutting funding to the Australian Federal Police and Customs.
She said that all heroin was imported and that 80 per cent of it came to
Sydney. Until Mr. Howard got serious about stopping the problem at the
border it would continue. The reason Australia suffered such an
epidemic in the first place appears to be related to a flood of
high-grade and cheap heroin which effectively halved its cost, Dr. Maher
said. Since the end of the study in 1997 there has been further drop in
price from $30 to $20 a cap. This was combined with some "pretty
aggressive and strategic marketing" of the drug.
"There also seemed to be some targeting of the poor and
disadvantaged areas," Dr. Maher said. She said the reason for the
apparent slow down in initiation rates appeared to be a wary younger
generation having seen their "older brothers and sisters and, in some
cases, their parents" become addicted. While there had been a targeting
of certain areas the idea of the "drug pusher" was inaccurate and most
users were offered the drug by friends. The study also showed that
aggressive policing may actually cause harm on the health front as well
as driving users to commit other crimes. "One of our participants, a
17-year-old Vietnamese-Australian, had supported her habit through
street level selling but was unable to sell because of the police
presence," she said. "She held a knife to a shopkeepers throat to get
her money." Dr. Maher said that rather than a "get tough on junkies"
policy there needed to be an expansion of methadone programs and needle
exchanges.
The Source Email Newsletter No. 1
22 September 1999
Campus Alert: There has been a situation reported on campus in which a
female student was slipped Rohypnol. The following is an excerpt from a
website, which is cited below it:
Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) has rapidly become a popular and easily accessible
"date rape drug" in the United States. It is known by
several street names: Roachies, La Roche, Rope, Rib, Roche, Rophies,
Roofies, Ruffies, Mexican valium, or the "forget (me) pill." It
is especially a problem on college campuses and on the club/ rave scene.
Rohypnol is famous for causing memory "blackouts," periods of memory loss
that follow ingestion of the drug with alcohol. Women
who have been raped with Rohypnol have reported waking up in strange rooms,
with or without clothing, sometimes with a used
condom on the bed, occasionally with strange bruises... but they have no
memory of the previous night.
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~i9538999/violence/rohypnol.html
We feel it's important that students know this is around.
From the Observer-Reporter in Washington, PA 30. July 1999
In rural communities in the U.S., methamphetamine, known as "meth,"
"crank," and "ice" is quickly becoming a common drug. Methamphetamine
abuse has "reached epidemic proportions in some parts of the South and
Midwest...In Missouri many women in isolated areas have turned to meth
production as a source of income...Smoked in its crystal form, it produces a
more intense and longer-lived high than cocaine and is just as dangerous.
Meth use can cause paranoia, hallucinations, convulsions and psychological
disorders."
From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette 8/27/99
Studies are being done to determine whether D.A.R.E. is an effective drug
prevention program or not. Some studies show that it is the least effective
drug prevention program, and moreover, in Pennsylvania, students who had
been through the D.A.R.E. program were more likely to try marijuana than
those who had not been through the program."
From the New York Times, 21. September 1999
Washington Backs Medical Use of Marijuana - "More than 10 months after
they cast ballots, residents of D.C. were told today that they had
overwhelmingly voted in favor of a measure that would allow marijuana to be
used for medical purposes...68.6% of voters approved the use of medical
marijuana." Marijuana helps to relieve the pain and nausea related to
glaucoma, AIDS, and cancer, without the side effects of pharmeceutical
drugs. Congress still has 30 days to block the measure from becoming law,
however.
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