Posts Tagged cocaine

Women and Drug Addiction: Any Correlation?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 14th, 2009

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Drug addiction is a serious problem that has been affecting both the genders without any bias. Women have been known to play the multiple roles of home makers as well as bread earners. But the common notion about the fairer sex is that they are emotionally stronger than males and have a strong shoulder to bear all the responsibilities that their counterparts fail or resign from doing. But the truth is that the more you are tough the easier it is to break you.

The underlying vulnerability is masked by the toughness and the burden of responsibilities and constant stress make them internally vulnerable and a physical or emotional disturbance might cause a turmoil triggering drug abuse leading to drug dependency.

Women drug abusers face serious challenges to their well-being during their lives. Researches show that a large number of them present a history of physical and sexual abuse. The condition worsens when such women get into flesh trade just to earn the money to sustain their drug taking habit. The result is obvious – sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS.

Often it is found the initiation of the habit is through her male counterpart – spouse or boyfriend- who is also an addict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the women to abstain from drugs since the lifestyle of the partner supports it.

Research indicates that women become more easily dependent on certain drugs like cocaine even after experimental or casual use. Thus by the time she seeks treatment she may be severely addicted.

A problem with female addicts is that most of the time they do not seek treatment due to fear of rejection from their family members, community. But treatment is an absolute necessity for them. A comprehensive treatment approach that takes care of the special needs of women together with support and encouragement from the family and community is essential to help them in refraining from addiction.

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Some good blog sites on drug addiction and prevention

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Other, Prescription Drug Abuse on September 26th, 2009

Medical-MarijuanaDesign

Let us explore today some blogsites that I found to be informative and interesting. Hope our readers will like them too.

The first I found is Drug Addiction Support (http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-blog.html). The site discusses common issues related to drug addiction, drug addiction syndromes, most common causes behind drug addiction, effects of drug addiction, and treatment modalities.

You will find nice, information rich articles that are easy to read and understand. It has a section on various drugs like cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, suboxone, marijuana, etc.

Next I found Narconon of Georgia (http://narcononofga.wordpress.com/alcohol-awareness/) quite interesting. Nice topics and good, authoritative content may help you if you are seeking information on drug and alcohol addiction. The site has added some videos which you may find to be very appealing.

You may also see Recovery Connection (http://www.recoveryconnection.org/) website that focuses on drug, alcohol, and substance abuse recovery and treatment plans. It has published a state-wise database of addiction treatment centers and information on the types of treatments offered in specific centers. You will find lots of information on Addiction Treatment Programs and Drug and alcohol Rehab Programs, Drug/alcohol Detox Programs, Dual Diagnosis Treatment Programs, Eating Disorder Programs, GLBT Addiction/rehab/detox Treatment and Detox Programs, etc.

Drug Rehabs.Org (http://www.drug-rehabs.org/) is dedicated toward rehab programs. You can have specific information if you are searching rehab programs for yourself, friend, family, spouse, children and you can search their database depending on the age of the person. The site has option of searching on the basis of the type of drug as well.

See Alcohol/Drug Help Line (http://www.adhl.org/) is an exclusive help line–based service provider. They run their service during Sunday through Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (previously it was 24-hrs helpline). The site presents some useful links if you wish to be a part of the rehab services or volunteer for some counseling.

We request our readers to write to us if you find some interesting sites/resources. This would help us in fighting the menace more comprehensively.

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Dirty Money: Traces of Cocaine on 90% of US Dollar Bills

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Facts, Drug Testing on August 25th, 2009

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The next time you deal with paper currency, be aware of the fact that a large percentage of U.S. bills contain traits of cocaine. Yuegang Zuo, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, conducted a research which revealed that 90% of the bills circulated in the U.S. are contaminated with cocaine.

This startling information is a confirmation of the findings of previous studies on the issue. In 1985 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration study showed that a third to a half of all the randomly tested currency in a Federal District Bank had traces of cocaine. In another study, more than 135 bills were tested in seven cities of the country and all except four, were contaminated. Cocaine binds in the green dye in the bill.

Zuo said that the contamination was 100% in cities like Detroit, Boston, Orlando and Los Angeles, 85% in Toronto, 77% in Salt Lake City, Utah, 75% in Brasilia and 20% in Tokyo and Beijing. He also found that $5, $10, $20 and $50 had greater chances of contamination. 

The quantity of contamination could vary between a nanogram (one-billionth of a gram) to milligram. Thus it actually does not pose any health risk. But those who have to handle an extremely large number of bills everyday – in bank tellers or soft rooms of casinos- repeatedly inhale cocaine involuntarily and has a chance of being positive on a drug test report.

Money gets contaminated if a cocaine user snorts with it and also during drug deals. But not all money gets infected that way. In powdered form cocaine is extremely fine. So when a dirty bill is processed or sorted through the machines, traces of the drug are easily passed on to the other bills in the same batch. Thus bills also get infected through ATMs, counting machines in banks and casinos. Whatever be it, the fact remains that the initial contamination was through the drug users and dealers.

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Does Cigarette Smoking Initiate Drug Use?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on August 8th, 2009

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Is cigarette a drug? The obvious answer is “NO”. But cigarette smoking has a direct influence on alcohol and other drug use. Can you ever think of a marijuana or a heroin user who has never smoked cigarette? Drug abuse and alcoholism has been a source of major concern for ages. Today young people are being exposed to drugs at a very tender age. Most of us are concerned with addiction to marijuana, heroin, cocaine, prescription drugs and others. But why do we overlook nicotine? It is high time that we deal teenage and adolescent smoking professionally. Since nicotine exposure at an early age increases the vulnerability of other drug use.

Tobacco has often been termed as a “GATEWAY DRUG” since it is the first substance consumed by the teenagers.

Studies conducted to find the origins of alcoholism and addiction to other drugs have indicated that smoking facilitates drug abuse. According to National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), nicotine makes adolescents vulnerable to alcohol and drug addiction by affecting the structural and chemical changes in the brain. As compared to teenagers who do not smoke, smokers are 9 times more likely to meet the medical criteria for past year drug alcohol abuse and 13 times more likely to meet the criteria for drug abuse. In a press release, the Jr. Chairman and President of CASA said, “Smoking by teens may well signal the fire of alcohol and other drug abuse and mental illnesses like depression and anxiety disorders”. One of the studies found that those who started smoking before 12 years of age were 3 times more vulnerable than non-smokers to binge drink, 13 times more likely to smoke marijuana and 7 times more prone to use heroin, cocaine.

Spread the message. Reach out to children. Talk to them about the ill-effects of smoking. Help them in making healthy choices.

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