Posts Tagged drug test

Cocaine Addiction Escalates in London

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 10th, 2009

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Britain has the highest number of cocaine abusers than any other country in the European Union – a report furnished by the Home Office (interior ministry) declared this.

The official figures showed that 12,354 adults were now receiving treatment for dependency on cocaine. The figures also indicate that 3 percent of all 15-69 years olds used cocaine in the previous year meaning that almost a million people had taken the drug – the highest number since data was first collected in 1996.

The workers of the finance sector have been worst affected and the major responsibility for this critical situation has been attributed to the constant stress and depression that has resulted from recession. Don Serratt, the Chief Executive of Life Works, said he has noticed a 25 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for alcohol or cocaine abuse in the past few months. American born Mr. Serratt was addicted to drug and alcohol but has maintained sobriety for the past 27 years.

“It has a lot to do with the current economic environment,” voiced Serratt. “Either they have been made redundant or (they have) fears around being made redundant or fears around lowered income because many of these people have high personal overheads,” he said. “Even if you keep your job but you are looking at making a fraction of what you made, it adds quite a bit of stress.”

The users generally did not admit that they were having a problem until their performance was affected. Thus it took nearly nine months for the problem to surface. He accused the firms for not being able to handle the problem and for not treating it seriously. “Most of them do not even have a drug or alcohol policy,” he said. A lot of firms even have no training to identify and to deal with addiction.

Britain’s economic crisis might be easing now but the situation regarding drug use might not improve with that ease.

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Beware of Brownies: They may be laced with Drugs

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing on September 10th, 2009

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I was just going through some interesting news and happened to read one of them which I think is worth sharing. It happened on 7th April in Los Angeles. According to reports, a pre-school teacher bought brownies from a street vendor who claimed that he was selling the sweet treats as a means of raising funds for the church. Each brownie was wrapped in plastic wrappers.

The teacher bought the brownies for $ 1.50 each and took the sweets to her workplace for her colleagues to share. During the break hours five teachers ate one brownie each while the sixth one took a bite and spit it out complaining that it had an “unusual taste”. The teachers fell ill after sometime complaining of dizziness and “tingling of the face, forehead, arms and hands”, according to reports submitted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The lady who had bought the brownies did not have any but her son ate one before she brought them to school. Some of the people who had had the brownie later reported that the food had a “medicine like aftertaste or smell.” But the people who were affected had an entire brownie. 

The pre-school director contacted the pastor to verify the genuineness of such a fundraising program. She was informed that there was no such fundraiser.

The pastor informed the police who in turn called the public health department. An investigation of the matter revealed the fact that the teachers had unknowingly taken brownies laced with pot. Two of the teachers required medical care at an urgent-care center one of whom was a breast feeding mother.

The lesson to be learned from this incident is that drug pushers are always trying out various innovative ways to trap people into their network. It is your responsibility to be cautious and save yourself from their influence. So be on the guard.

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18 Killed in a Drug Rehabilitation Center

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing on September 8th, 2009

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Shocking but true – gunmen killed 18 under treatment drug abusers in a rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city, bringing to light the current scenario of illicit drug trade and drug abuse in the country. On 2nd September at around 7.15 am a group of 8 gunmen broke open one of the doors of the center, lined up the victims against the wall and fired them.

This is the third time that a drug rehabilitation center has been attacked in Ciudad Juarez. In one of the attacks the gunmen killed 8 patients and injured 6 others. Mexico has been struggling with domestic consumption of drugs and trafficking for quite some time. According to reports of a government survey released last year, there are 460,000 drug users in the country which is 51% higher than the number of users six years back. As a response to this intensification of the problem, several rehabilitation centers have sprung up many of which are not regulated properly. The center in which the incident occurred is located near the border where drugs and prostitution is rampant.

The state authorities of Chihuahua are of the opinion that rehab centers have turned to hideouts for drug smugglers who are being sought by the police and the other rival gangs. The drug cartels also use them as training and recruitment centers.

Such incidents are absolute confirmation of the fact that the escalating problem of violence and crime related to trafficking of drugs is going beyond control. Rehabilitation centers are places where hapless people come with some hope of overcoming their crisis. It is strange how such incidents could happen repeatedly in a place where security of the patients should be the topmost priority of the authorities. Is it just the end of another drug addict or is it the end human lives who had the right to live like any other fellow beings?

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Use Internet to Combat Drug Abuse

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Prescription Drug Abuse on September 4th, 2009

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Access to drugs has become so easy nowadays with computer savvy teenagers purchasing drugs online. Internet pharmacies are now preferred by most teenagers since they can access any dangerous prescription drug as well as other street drugs like heroin, without any question. But parents now can take a sigh of relief. The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) in collaboration with Unyos, a Maryland – based software developing company, are helping parents, professionals and others by developing a software which will deal with the dangers that the internet pharmacies pose to the teenagers.

The resource will be available at the website www.websafeparent.com from September, 2009. “Drug addiction is a major problem of our society. It destroys human potential and community and has led to an overburdened criminal justice system. We are excited by the opportunity to help TRI address this misunderstood health care problem and continue the shift to prevention and treatment” said Mr.Carey Krez, CEO of Unyos.

TRI is a non-profit making research and development organization. It conducts researches in the field of addiction and transforms the findings into products that can be of use to service providers, policy makers, etc. The innovative approach taken by the alliance will provide science-based information and other multimedia resources as well as an online network. The site will be extremely beneficial for professionals and parents who are concerned about drug abuse, in understanding and dealing with threats of internet pharmacies. The information available in the site will be downloadable as well.  

Constance Pechura, Executive Director of TRI said “TRI conducts some of the best addiction research in the nation and is committed to increasing the impact of our findings by communicating them as broadly as possible.” She also added that “the TRI – Unyos collaboration has the potential to extend the reach of our discoveries to the very people who need but otherwise might not get them.”

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HIV/AIDS and Drug Addiction: Vulnerability of Street Teenagers

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Prescription Drug Abuse on August 29th, 2009

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The developing countries in the eastern part of the globe are facing a new challenge – controlling the spread of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS amongst street teenagers. Such children, who are on the street deprived of any guidance and affection, are at a risk of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS contraction. The difficult circumstances under which they live make drug abuse and sexual exploitation inevitable parts of their lives.

Street children are abjectly neglected and are mostly considered as a nuisance to the society. They are an extremely mobile population who are abused at different levels. The threats of street life force them to conform to gangs where drug abuse and sexual activity are desired sources of pleasure. Lack of information regarding the issues is yet another curse which makes them even more vulnerable.

The Government and Non-government agencies have been trying hard to bring the situation under control. Dr.Nghyen Dang Phan of the Binh Dan hospital in Vietnam said that in 2004 and 2006 he had witnessed 85 HIV/AIDS patients die in Mai Khoi Charity Medical Centre of whom 93% were male drug users. Phan said 66% of the HIV positive people are infected through drug abuse and 18% through unsafe sexual practices. He was attending a seminar organized by the Centre for Applied Social Work of HCM City Open University to promote a healthy life for street teenagers. This was a part of the project launched by the university to help addicts quit their habit. The Director of the Department said that last September a group was formed with 15 former drug users who work as peer motivators encouraging other users to kick the habit.

Different NGOs in India are also working for the cause. Homes have been set up for these children. Education and Life Skills Training form integral parts of the different projects that are being run by different organizations that have proved to be extremely successful.

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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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