Ohio could join six other states in banning Salvia

Let's hope Strickland signs this.
COLUMBUS — Purchasing a psychoactive herb known as Salvia divinorum for a mind-bending trip soon could be illegal in Ohio.

Gov. Ted Strickland is reviewing a bill passed by the General Assembly at the end of its lame-duck session.

If he signs it, Ohio will become at least the sixth state to ban the obscure Mexican herb in the mint family, putting it on a par with marijuana as a plant that is illegal to purchase, possess or sell in any quantity. The ban would go into effect in 90 days.

The active ingredient in the plant -- known as Salvinorin A -- is widely regarded by biochemists as one of the strongest natural hallucinogens, but it is not considered addictive.

Lawmakers said they were prompted to act by the death of a Loudonville boy who was killed by a friend who had smoked the herb. But users of the plant have said it's unlikely the drug played a role in the killing because its effects are so debilitating.

Small packages of the herb are sold at head shops across Ohio under various names, including Holy Smoke, and are available on the Internet in varying degrees of potency.

The plant, used for centuries by medicine men of the Mazatec Indian tribe in Mexico, produces potent and intense hallucinations in which users report feeling as if they had been separated from their bodies and were entering another reality. The effects are said to last only for a short time, compared with synthetic hallucinogens such as LSD.

University of Mich: Monitoring the Future Survey 12/11/08

For the last 33 years, the University of Michigan has conducted a survey called Monitoring the Future. It measures use of drug, alcohol and cigarettes among adolescents nationwide. It also measures the attitudes of our young people about those same items. Over forty-six thousand students from 386 public and private schools in grades 8, 10, and 12 participated in this year's survey. The survey is funded by the NIDA, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted by the University of Michigan.

We are winning in some areas with our students and losing in others. There are still some suburban folks who think this is only about young people in inner city high schools, but according to this survey white middle class suburban parents are the ones who need to take notice.

If you are interested in looking at the whole report try this URL http://www.nida.nih.gov/newsroom/08/NR12-11.html.

First the good news about cigarette and alcohol trends, they continue to decline. The use of marijuana decline has started to level off (10.9 percent of eighth graders, 23.9 percent of tenth graders, and 32.4 percent of twelfth graders reporting past year use). The concern seems to be there is an increase of eighth graders who are proportionately starting to think about marijuana as not as bad.

Some bad news, the survey sees a continuing high rate of prescription drug use. There is little change in the past six years.
"Nearly 10 percent of seniors reported past year nonmedical use of Vicodin, and 4.7 percent report abusing Oxycontin, both powerful opioid painkillers. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs abused by twelfth graders in the year prior to the survey were prescribed or purchased over-the-counter."



Good news:Cigarette smoking is at the lowest rate in the history of the MTF survey. "... there continues to be a gradual decline in alcohol use in all grades, with a significant decline from 2007 to 2008 among tenth graders on all measures of use (lifetime, past year, past month, daily, and binge drinking). Nevertheless, given the devastating related health costs, tobacco and alcohol use by teens still remain at high levels. More than one in ten high school seniors say they smoke daily; 5.4 percent smoke more than a half pack a day. While drinking continues a slow downward trend, close to 25 percent of seniors report having five or more drinks in a row sometime in the two weeks prior to the survey."

Bad news: Attitudes are shifting. Among 12th graders it seems that the LSD is not considered to be as much of a risk as it was before. Our teachings are losing its strength. The same is for the eighth graders. A shift of perception is softening about the harm that marijuana and inhalants can cause.

Methadone-Turning into a Killer?

I looked this up again to make sure I was reading the article from Bedford, IN Times-Mail correctly.

Methadone Maintenance Therapy
A type of treatment for individuals who are addicted to heroin or other opiate drugs (such as Percodan or OxyContin). Methadone is a safe and effective medication that acts as a stabilizer so people can return to daily life. Methadone does not make people high and does not replace one drug addiction with another - methadone's effects are very different from opiates. Most people receive methadone daily from a clinic, where counseling and group meetings are also available. (Join Together)

Okay, so this isn't suppose to get people high and it is safe. Well not according to a recent article from this city outside of Indianapolis. The coroner in this town has said that 10 of the 58 deaths he has investigated were related to overdose. Plus 10 more were related to drugs. These deaths were the result of prescription drugs with "methadone leading the way."

Methadone tablets, mostly what’s being abused on the area, is prescribed for chronic pain. Other prescription drugs being abused include hydrocodone and Xanax.


Isn't what the coroner saying the opposite of what the treatment is suppose to do?

Here is another fact I found in the article:
Nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of methadone-related deaths increased by 390 percent from 1999 to 2004: 786 deaths in 1999 compared to 3,849 deaths in 2004 (the most recent year for which statistics are available).

Now, if the individuals are getting methadone to assist them with their already existing habit, why are not these people being closely monitored? I know that prescription drugs are easily taken,but how are they getting the multiple doses?
Doctor shopping, robbery...those are current answers. Kids are selling their drugs for gas money is another comment. But 16 - 20 pills is what overdoses consist of. Sometimes even more. It boggles my mind.

Parents and Boys

If you read my bio, you know I am a teacher. This last week my school had parent conferencing. Once again, my heart went out to parents of boys. I see and hear about how these parents are angry, sometimes cry at the conferences. Teachers who have had these parents at the conference table speak about feeling so badly for the family and also feel at a loss to help. They want advice and we would love to give it if the answers were simple to give.

It is a shame really. These boys will some day want to be head of their own households and they will work to make their dreams come true. But some will permanently be a burden to their parents. And their parents will most likely feel guilty for the rest of their lives for what they will feel is their fault. When you think of the joy once felt by the family unit at the birth of these boys and now the sadness and frustration they are causing each other, it is sad....mournful. It just shouldn't have to be.

A spiral seems to start early. I am not sure when. Sometimes in elementary school, when the paretns realize their progeny will not meet their standards or their expectations. It may be because their son is not smart as they would like or may have a learning disability that rears its head and not caught in time to cause a delay in his learning.

It also may start at the middle school level when peers, girls and hormones become distractions and the discipline that was established is rebelled against or the discipline that wasn't needed now becomes necessary.

It is hard to forget the little boy who hugged his mommy, wrapping his chubby arms and legs around her at every turn. It is hard to not to yearn for those times when this new baggy-pant or smelly or strange haired or quiet, sullen boy was little.

It is hard for the dad who wanted his son to be the football (baseball, basketball,etc)
hero, the success he never was. it is hard for a dad to give up the idea that his son will not make the same mistakes he did.

It is hard to put all that aside and let this boy earn his own embarrassment of his adolescent years, wonder why he screwed up, and burn his teenage pictures.

It is hard to do the right things for this boy, to figure out the right combination of choices to help this boy be pulled through to his version of successful manhood. But I do know that you need to hang in there and use the strength of your love that you felt on that first day of his life to do whatever it takes to pull him through.

Five invitations a day

I have a gmail address. Like everyone else I receive so much spam that it would choke the
system if I did not on a weekly basis dump the junk mail.

I decided about three weeks ago to check the junk for prescription drug offers. In three weeks I have
recieved over 100 offers of saving money on drugs that need no doctor script.

Check your spam. If you are getting the spam for drugs, so are your kids.

Syracuse creative kids

Kids sure are creative when they want something and this article from Syracruse demonstrates this.
Teens are actually going to strangers' homes and asking to use their bathroom. While they
are in those strangers' homes, they rifle through these good hearted people's medicine
cabinets for prescription drugs. A new twist this nervy practice is teens will go to a realtor's
open house and tell the representative that their parents are soon to follow them and again to ask
to use the bathroom. You got it. They rummage and walk away with whatever drugs the owners
have in their medicine cabinet.

Syracuse law enforcement are still finding cocaine and marijuana use down. But kids as young
as 12-13 are abusing Prescription drugs. If they don't get them at home, they get them from relatives.
Plus in deals better than Krogers, they can also obtain pills for $3 to $5 from peers.

They still don't get these pills can hurt them.

Something good in the Economic Bail Out Plan!

A discussion in the Washington Post this week revealed something I missed in the bail out plan . It included a passage of a new law “that would require parity or equal coverage for mental health and addiction services, usually limited under most insurance policies.” Hey this is good news for people who have insurance! The most generous insurance coverage to date for opiate addiction inpatient 30 days, 90 extended care and another six months of transitional living with multiple detox treatments for relapses.

According to Michael Gimbel, an addiction specialist, the economic bail out bill contained a parity bill for addictions and mental health. He said that what that means is that insurance has to treat addictions and mental health problems the same as medical problems.

If you have read the Rabbit Trap, Lexie's mom decided she did not need further help because their insurance had run out for Lexie's treatment. I am not sure that Lexie's mom would have had made that decision if insurance coverage was more extensive. Money issues I am sure help make decisions like this in everyone's lives.

Sarah - a real life story

This entry is dedicated to the parents out there who are so self absorbed in their own pasts and selves that they do not see that if they allow their children to continue to experiment with drugs “because they did when they were teens and it didn’t hurt us” that this attutude will not only hurt them but also could potentially destroy the world that their teenage drug fun supposedly did not hurt. Okay, enough ranting.

Sarah here told her story to the Burlington Free Press on Oct . 5. She tells how at 11 she started using her dad’s prescribed drugs. She is now 19 but her world and the world of her family had changed in the last 8 years. She says “she is through with abusing drugs and wants to become a substance abuse councilor to help other kids get off drugs.”

Both she and her brother were hooked on drugs in their early teens. Their drug use was partly responsible for their father’s teaching career ending and the break up of their parents’ marriage.

So parents- this drug use or any other drug use that your children could be involved in will affect them and if that is not important - it could adversely affect you.

I am checking the authenticity on this one.

Incident has been confirmed. In Katy , TX


A man came over and offered his services as a painter to a female putting gas in her car and left his card. She said no ,but accepted his card out of kindness and got in the car. The man then got into a car driven by another gentleman. As the lady left the service station, she saw the men following her out of the station at the same time. Almost immediately, she started to feel dizzy and could not catch her breath. She tried to open the window and realized that the odor was on her hand; the same hand which accepted the card from the gentleman at the gas station.

She then noticed the men were immediately behind her and she felt she needed to do something
at that moment. She drove into the first driveway and began to honk her horn repeatedly to ask for help. The men drove away but the lady still felt pretty bad for several minutes after she could finally catch her breath. Apparently, there was a substance on the card that could have seriously injured her.
This drug is called 'BURUNDANGA' and it is used by people who wish to incapacitate a victim in order to steal from or take advantage of them.

This drug is four times more dangerous than the date rape drug and is transferable on simple cards.
So take heed and make sure you don't accept cards at any given time alone or from someone on the streets. This applies to those making house calls and slipping you a card when they offer their services .
PLEASE SEND THIS E-MAIL ALERT TO EVERY FEMALE YOU KNOW

Federal Regulations for Prescription Drugs

Who knew the president's executive committee would have time to regulate this?

Office of National Drug Control Policy
ONDCP, Washington, D.C. 20503
p (202) 395-6618 f (202) 395-6730
Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs
Office of Nati onal Drug Control Pol i cy February 2007
www.WhiteHouseDrugPolicy.gov
Federal Guidelines:
Take unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs out of their original
containers and throw them in the trash.
Mixing prescription drugs with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee
grounds or kitty litter, and putting them in impermeable, non-descript containers,
such as empty cans or sealable bags, will further ensure the drugs are not diverted.
Flush prescription drugs down the
toilet only if the label or accompanying

patient information specifically instructs
doing so (see below).
Take advantage of community
pharmaceutical take-back programs
that allow the public to bring unused
drugs to a central location for proper

disposal. Some communities have
pharmaceutical take-back programs
or community solid-waste programs
that allow the public to bring unused
drugs to a central location for proper
disposal. Where these exist, they are
a good way to dispose of unused
pharmaceuticals.

The FDA advises that the following drugs be
flushed down the toilet instead of thrown in
the trash:
Actiq (fentanyl citrate)
Daytrana Transdermal Patch (methylphenidate)
Duragesic Transdermal System (fentanyl)
OxyContin Tablets (oxycodone)
Avinza Capsules (morphine sulfate)
Baraclude Tablets (entecavir)
Reyataz Capsules (atazanavir sulfate)
Tequin Tablets (gatifloxacin)
Zerit for Oral Solution (stavudine)
Meperidine HCl Tablets
Percocet (Oxycodone and Acetaminophen)
Xyrem (Sodium Oxybate)
Fentora (fentanyl buccal tablet)
Note: Patients should always refer to printed material
accompanying their medication for specific instructions.

Tramadol-the new Preteen High

Tramadol, a drug chemically related to codeine and on the FDA's list as a "drug of concern" caused 4 middle school students to be sent to the hospital this week in Utah. All the girls have recovered.

Tramadol is causing concern "to law enforcement and addiction experts who say children as young as 8 are experimenting with the painkiller."

These four Utah girls were sent to the hospital after one of them overdosed on Ultram which teens call "ultras."

Ultram, the market name for Tramadol, is prescribed for mild pain due the addictive qualities of Oxycontin.

Talk to teens about drugs and alcohol

In Vegas this past week, a young athlete lost his life. The stepmother of the young man was distraught, of course, because of his accidental death, but also because he died of an overdose of hydrocodin, a painkiller. She said she had talked to him about drugs and alcohol. His friends confirm that he was "adamant against the use of alcohol and illegal drugs". He would refuse to be with friends who did use.

She was not aware of the threat of another killer. He, like many other teens, must have assumed that because the drugs are prescribed they are safe. She never covered the subject with him.

The Daily Citizen in White County wrote an article that claimed that kids who hear about the dangers of drugs and alcohol at home are up to 50% less likely to use. Yet only 32% of teens report their parents talk to them about the risks of drug use. This is from Partnership Attitude Tracking Studies (PATS).

WISE (White County Invested in Substance Abuse Eradication) through Pat Hambrick, Coordinator says that parents need to talk to their teens about stress management. "In the 2007 PATS, 73% of the teens said that coping with the pressures and stresses of school was the number one factor teens might choose to use drugs, with "the feeling cool" and "feeling better about themselves" being tied for second place. (Both of these issues are stressed in The Rabbit Trap.)

Parents underestimate the stress on their kids in school. And they also underestimate the pressures of family issues have on their kids. Parents also do not understand how their actions stand as a benchmark on their teens.

Self publishing

Just a note about self publishing. I self-published because I wanted to get the word out about the dangers of prescription drugs and I really did fall in love with Lexie. I have asked published friends, and a president of a publishing company (academic) if it will be harder to be published because I crossed the line of traditional methods. Both said it would increase my chances of being published traditionally.

This month's Writer Digest said the opposite. Of course, right? The average sales of a self-published book? 75. If you sell too many the publishers believe you could have gone through your audience. If you sell to few, well you are not really dedicated to
being an author or your book well it is not very good.

Just as in anything else....I think it is hard work and luck. I will keep you posted. By the way, I have sold more than the average.
But fewer than what they say would burn out my book.

Bad parenting? I’m not so sure

It is one thing for a parent to offer a child a prescription drug like xanax to sooth the child’s nerves or marijuana just for fun; but it is another for a child to go into a parents’ medicine cabinet - stealth- and remove a pill from a bottle with the parent’s name on it. Then take the pill(s) and place it in his or her mouth without ever asking permission.

I assume (I know what the word means) that we as parents do teach our children early that if their names are not on something it is not theirs to take. At this point the kid knows (s)he is doing wrong. Or they would have asked for permission.

I am watching as articles appear in several newspapers the latest The Newsleader.com from Springfield, Missouri.
I agree that if a teen is out late at any time not just during the week without parents’ knowing where they are; okay we have issues. Quoting the Columbia study is shocking enough, but the blame has to be equally distributed. Teens are not babies. Sure, they do not have total faculties to make all judgement calls, but they do grasp the basics. No stealing, sneaking, and snorting their own meds, I think they can grasp that some of this is wrong.

As to how they were obtained, teens who are admitted prescription-drug abusers said 31 percent got them from friends or classmates; 34 percent got them from their parents or by raiding the parents' medicine cabinet; and only 9 percent said they got them from drug dealers.
The disturbing findings led Joseph Califano, CASA chairman and former U.S. health and education secretary, to complain that "by leaving abusable and addictive medications like OxyContin and Vicodin around the house ... parents become passive pushers."
Knowledge of the study is important. A few reasons are above. We have all not thought of dangers to ourselves and our kids. If we had thought of all the dangers and somehow created prevention for those dangers, we would have quite a few less accidents. We can only call it bad parenting if parents are made aware and then they do not heed the warnings.

ColumbiaUniversity report claims kids can get marijuana in an hour or less.

In its 13th edition, the 73 page report, gleaned form a survey of 1,002 teens and 312 of their parents state that 50% of the kids who come home after 10 p.m. say they are involved with drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, or taking drugs. It also states that 29% of those returning home between 8 and 10 p.m. say they are using such substances, yet only 14% of parents say their teens usually leave the house to hang with friends on school nights.

Here is the clincher:
The report also says that 42% of 12-to 17-year-olds can buy weed in a day or less, while 23% can buy it in an hour or less. It also says that 25% of teens know a parent of a classmate or a friend who smokes it and 10% of parents say this adult smokes marijuana with people the teen’s age.

Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic

My blackberry alert goes off constantly with new articles. From Oakland, California to Connecticut, medical personnel and chapters of DrugFree America are stymied by the all inclusive problem that this trend is extensive.

Oakland’s KTVU reports that addiction specialists say “a disturbing trend has overtaken teenagers, especially those in affluent communities..” Again and again the drugs mentioned in the articles are Vicodin, Percocet and Oxycontin.

The Bulletin out of Philadelphia says that new data out of the federal government suggests younger and younger children are being attracted by the ads on television and the internet.

It quotes the Columbia’s CASA study (mentioned here Aug 14, that many of the “problem parents” whose actions (or not) increase the abuse of illegal and prescription drugs are to blame.

Westport CT

This article is even more specific to parents. It says that parents who have been brought up in the 60s don’t feel this issue important. (I guess their indulging in the 60’s didn’t hurt them much. How about the judgement part of their brains?)

Black Tar Heroin on the rise in Central Ohio

CentralOhio.com out of the Lancaster Eagle Gazette from Lancaster, Ohio reported today that The Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network conducted research and found three key drug trends in Ohio - heroin abuse, prescription drug abuse in combination with alcohol among young people plus prescription drug abuse in combination with alcohol abuse among the elderly.
‘Black tar’ heroin use in several OSAM reporting areas have been noted. There has also been a higher rate of treatment admissions for heroin abuse in suburban young adults.

Juni Frey, associate director of the Paint Valley ADAMH has said that there is increased abuse and addiction of black tar heroin in the central Ohio counties particularly along (US) 23.

Paint Valley ADAMH serves as the mental health, alcohol and drug addiction planning agency for Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike and Ross counties.
Law enforcement recognizes that U.S. 23 is a mainline for drug trafficking within Ohio, a fact that led to the creation of the U.S. 23 Pipeline Major Crimes Task Force. In addition to undercover work and search warrants, the task force also has worked in Ross and Pike counties on Multi-Agency Police Saturation operations with a goal of collecting on warrants, specifically secret drug indictments.
http://www.centralohio.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B8/20080819/NEWS01/808190305/1002

Teens Cite Ease of Access to Drugs

Originally posted August 14, 2008

By Holly Watt
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, August 14, 2008; A02

A growing number of teenagers say it's easier to illegally obtain prescription drugs than to buy beer, according to a survey published today.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University asked: "Which is easiest for someone your age to buy: cigarettes, beer, marijuana, or prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or Ritalin, without a prescription?" Nineteen percent of teenagers found it easier to purchase prescription drugs than cigarettes, beer or marijuana, compared with 13 percent a year ago. A quarter of the teens said it is easiest to buy marijuana, with 43 percent of 17-year-olds saying they could buy the drug in less than an hour.
The study also found that a large group of parents do not know where their children are in the evening and identified a group of "problem parents" whose actions increased the abuse of illegal and prescription drugs among 12-to-17-year-olds.
Joseph Califano, chairman and president of the center, said there are basic steps parents could take to avoid being "passive pushers." The statistics showed that 34 percent of teenagers abusing prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Vicodin, obtained them at home or from their parents. "Fifty years ago, people would lock up the liquor," he said in a telephone interview. "Maybe there should be a lock on the medicine cabinet now."
Elizabeth Planet, the center's director of special projects, who coordinated the study of 1,002 12-to-17-year-olds from April to June, highlighted the difference in behavior reported by parents and their children. "Half of the teenagers were saying they were out on school nights, but only 14 percent of the parents knew that they were out," she said. "There are lots of factors at play here. Parents are not paying attention. There are parents who are out in the evening themselves. There are parents out at work."
The correlation between allowing teens out late on school nights and the likelihood that people in their presence would be smoking and drinking was dramatic. Half of all teenagers allowed out after 10 p.m. said that they spent time with people smoking and using drugs, while 29 percent of those who returned home between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. reported the same behavior.
Califano recommended family dinners as a simple way of decreasing the chances of drug abuse, noting that 23 percent of teens who ate fewer than three dinners a week with their family had used marijuana, compared with 10 percent when the family ate together five or more times a week.
Stephen Pasierb, the president of Partnership for a Drug-Free America, cited a lack of understanding between the generations, with parents not understanding the risks surrounding prescription drugs, in particular. "This is a very different generation of children," he said. "Prescription drugs are entrenched, and they have not moved for five years, and this generation of parents simply do not understand the problem."
Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said that drug abuse has declined over the last six years, but the abuse of prescription medicine is a serious concern.
"Kids think that because these are medicines that are prescribed, they are safe," she said. "The problem is that there is very little difference between the amount they take for a high and the amount that causes an overdose."

Pharm Parties

Originally posted July 12,2008

Picture a kid (boy or girl your choice) coming into a house, parents in absentia, going into the kitchen or family room to a bowl. Laughing taking ribbing because this particular kid is late as usual. The kid takes a pill bottle out of her pocket and pours the contents into a large bowl of multicolored tablets and capsules. This child likes green so she picks a light green pill. She thinks she is being careful so she only takes one. She swallows it. Since there is an 80 on it, she has just swallowed 80 mg. of Oxycotin. This pill is time released so she will be feeling the effects for quite a while. Where did this pill come from? Another child visited his grandparents today. They were thrilled to see him. Teens are so busy these days that they don't get to see their grandson too often. During the visit, the child takes his grandfather's Oxycotin that he still has from his gallbladder surgery a year ago. He won't miss it because he does not need it anymore. This young girl and boy have just participated in a pharm party. Makes the "hairy buffalo yore" of frat parties pale by comparison, doesn't it?

Updating in my adventures

Since I have published The Rabbit Trap, I have had many different experiences. One of the most rewarding is the continued learning about the subject that is the core of the book. The problem of teens and prescription drugs. I will be adding the posting that I have been doing on my website www.sandrakhorn.com.

Originally posted April 28, 2008.
The percentages of high-school students surveyed who reported using OxyContin in the previous year.

12th grade - started at 4% in ’02 5.2% in ’07

10th grade - 3% in ’02 3.9% in ’07

Source: The Columbus Dispatch as reported from The University of Michigan’s “Monitoring the Future”