We should legalize all drugs and regulate them, right? Yeah – good plan!!!

#recovery #demandreduction

Murderous rampages, superhuman strength, and a high more potent than crystal meth: As deadly drug claims its first British victim, RICHARD PENDLEBURY investigates the insanity of taking flakka

By RICHARD PENDLEBURY FOR THE DAILY MAIL  8 February 2020

In March 2018, police were called to Balla’s home in Royal Palm Beach. There, they found the 32-year-old covered in blood, with large cuts to her fingers and palms. In the property’s garage they came across her mother Francisca, lying dead in a pool of blood.

• Factory worker Andrea Horvathova, 23, died after taking flakka with a cocktail of other illegal substances in the UK 
• Camille Balla, 32, allegedly smoked a flakka-laced marijuana joint before killing her mother at their home in Royal Palm Beach, Florida

Her eyes had been gouged out, seemingly by some of the shards of broken glass which lay around her…apparently by her own daughter.

Francisca’s eyeballs had been placed on a cardboard box a few yards from her corpse. While officers were contemplating this horror, Balla reportedly veered between icy calm and shrieking hysteria. When formally arrested she allegedly began to chant, ‘I’m a murderer’!

Later she is said to have told police that before she killed her mother she had been smoking marijuana, which she believed had been laced with the designer drug flakka.

This will have surprised no one in the Sunshine State, because in the last half dozen years Florida has been hit by a flakka epidemic. It has manifested itself in dozens of overdose deaths and suicides, as well as a number of disturbing public incidents

Flakka gets its street name from the Spanish slang phrase la Flaca. This loosely translates as ‘a slim attractive woman’. But there is nothing beautiful about the effects of the drug or the circumstances of those who abuse it. They are often poor, if not desperate, individuals.

In the UK a hit of flakka can be purchased for as little as £2.30 – and it is said to be more potent and addictive than crystal meth.

Alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone is flakka’s scientific name, or more simply alpha-PVP. It is a synthetic version of the natural chemical cathinone, the active ingredient in khat leaves that are chewed for their stimulating effects in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

But other side-effects are grim, even deadly. Flakka can cause paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, aggression and psychotic behaviour, leading some abusers to think they have superhuman powers, such as flying or prodigious strength.

Sweating and dilated pupils are common indicators. Heart attacks and strokes are a risk under its influence. First-time users are said to take three to four days to return to a normal state of mind. Repeat users can take more than two weeks to be restored to equilibrium.

In 2017, Derren Morrison was sentenced to life imprisonment for beating to death Louise Clinton on her 83rd birthday. He told police he believed the grandmother, a total stranger, was a blood-covered demon who had been trying to kill him. He had been smoking flakka before the assault, he said.

Last year, another alleged flakka user gouged out his own eyes and attempted to chop off his penis. The 35-year-old medical student from Brazil had been depressed after splitting from his girlfriend.

Flakka use by people with existing mental health issues can have explosive consequences. But such is the drug’s reputation for inducing spectacular psychosis that it has been blamed for shocking crimes without solid proof of a connection.

for complete story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7979693/As-deadly-drug-claims-British-victim-RICHARD-PENDLEBURY-investigates-flakka.html

\’When I grow up I\’m going to be a terrorist\’: As a dope-smoking boy in the suburbs, Sudesh Amman fantasised about killing police and had an ISIS flag in his room… on Sunday he went on knife rampage (after a final mutton biryani from mum)

• Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot dead as he embarked on Streatham knife rampage
• He wrote that he wanted to ‘die as a martyr’ under a list of goals found by police
• Amman boasted that he wanted to play war game Call Of Duty ‘in real life’
• Former classmates talked of a ‘weird’ loner who was obsessed with knives
• Mother Haleema Khan described him as a ‘polite boy’ who was ‘always smiling’ 

By SAM GREENHILL CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL  4 February 2020

As a schoolboy, he struck gangster-style poses and vowed to classmates: ‘When I grow up I am going to be a terrorist.’

They thought Sudesh Amman was joking, but he meant it.

On Sunday, the 20-year-old was shot dead as he embarked on the Streatham knife rampage — days after asking his mother to cook his favourite mutton biryani.

It had been Amman’s twisted ambition to ‘die as a martyr’, as he once wrote under the heading Goals In Life, in a notebook found by police.

He was an obsessive online gamer who loved playing violent shoot-’em-ups such as Call Of Duty — even boasting he wanted to play the war game ‘in real life’.

Former classmates in the London suburbs talked of a ‘weird’ loner who was obsessed with knives, constantly smoked marijuana and even claimed that he was carrying around grenades.

Amman spent the days leading up to the stabbing frenzy alone and praying in a bail hostel, having been released early from a terrorism sentence at Belmarsh prison.

For complete story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7963185/Sudesh-Amman-fantasised-killing-police-Sunday-went-knife-rampage.html

The \’fourth wave\’ of drug addiction: Surge in meth could bring drug overdose death rates back up

by Kimberly Leonard  January 31, 2020

A top Trump administration health official is worried that meth-related deaths will counterbalance the progress the United States has made in reducing drug-overdose deaths.

Dr. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health, said in an interview Thursday that early data from 2019, which goes into June, indicates that meth-related deaths are increasing by about 25-30%. The trend is particularly concerning because meth is highly addictive, and people cannot be treated for meth with medicine in the same way they can for opioid addictions.

\”We are seeing meth sweep across the country,\” Giroir said, referring to the trend as the \”fourth wave\” of drug addiction seen in America after prescription painkillers, heroin, and fentanyl.

Giroir\’s comments came just hours after the release of a trove federal data indicating that in 2018, the number of people who died from drug overdoses had fallen, a first in roughly two decades. That data showed that meth had increased fivefold since 2012, but it did not contain the information about 2019 that Giroir was referring to.

Meth is being manufactured in hundreds of thousands of pounds by Mexican drug cartels. The West first saw a jump in meth use that is now hitting the Midwest. Giroir said he was concerned the drug would become more prevalent in the East Coast next and could even overtake heroin and cocaine in the number of deaths.

\”We anticipate in the next few months, it will overtake heroin and cocaine,\” Giroir said. Drug deaths will be hard to parse out, however, because people use meth and fentanyl, a highly potent opioid, together. Often, Giroir said, people don\’t know their drugs have been tainted. The same problem has been observed with cocaine. People who are addicted to drugs tend to use several different kinds at a time or take whatever they can get access to.

About half of the deaths from meth also involve fentanyl, Giroir said.

The 2019 data could signal that the good news from 2018 will be short-lived. Earlier in the day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that deaths from drug overdoses dropped from 70,237 in 2017 to 67,367 in 2018. Of those, 46,802 were caused by opioids, versus 12,676 by meth.

Giroir said new data indicated prescriptions of opiates were down nearly 35% from 2017 and said he has been holding webinars with doctors to make sure they carefully wean people off opioids rather than abruptly cut them off. There has also been a wider distribution of naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug that people can get over the counter in many states. An estimated 1.3 million people in America are on medication that helps fight the symptoms of withdrawal, an increase of just under 40% since 2017.

\”We are extremely pleased, but we are not taking our foot off the gas,\” Giroir said.

For complete story https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/the-fourth-wave-of-drug-addiction-surge-in-meth-could-bring-drug-overdose-death-rates-back-up

Eight years ago, this obituary of  Dr Gabriel Nahas appeared in Reason.com by a pot advocate. https://reason.com/2012/07/12/gabriel-g-nahas-who-warned-us-to-keep-of/

“Nahas led a group of researchers who testified that marijuana may cause lung damage, birth defects, genetic abnormalities, shrinkage of the brain, impairment of the immune system, reduction in testosterone levels, and sterility. With the exception of lung damage related to smoking (which is not a serious risk for occasional users and can be avoided through oral ingestion or the use of vaporizers), all of these alleged hazards proved to be exaggerated or unfounded.”

The author was somewhat charitable to Dr. Nahas by acknowledging he “was telling what they believe to be the truth in the service of goals they consider noble. Although reformers have long viewed Nahas as a leading villain in the drama of the drug war, he was a hero in the fight against the Nazis, a demonstrably courageous man with strong convictions that were sadly mistaken.”

That is high praise from an adversary.  The interesting part is that Dr. Nahas was not mistaken. In fact, almost all of his ideas that were ridiculed have been replicated by recent research. I included hyperlinks in the text above that connect to recent research that shows how right Dr. Nahas was. He was way ahead of his time, and he did most of his research before CB receptors were discovered.

BMJ Obituary

Submitted by Dr R.K… New York State

Mike Crapo wisely puts children before cannabis profits

Washington Examiner – January 28, 2020

The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act has prompted a green rush in the halls of Congress.

In the first nine months of 2019, the marijuana industry spent more than $3.8 million lobbying Congress, according to OpenSecrets – employing a total of 80 lobbyists. That put the industry on track to spend far more on lobbyists in 2019 than in the previous two years combined.

Yet it’s a modest investment considering the potential payout. If enacted, the SAFE Banking Act is expected to drive billions of dollars of new investment into this rapidly evolving sector.

That investment will bring high investor expectations for big, sustained profits. We’ve learned from Big Tobacco and the nation’s tragic opioid crisis that intense investor pressures can result in aggressive and deceptive marketing tactics that threaten the health of consumers.

It was a buzzkill for industry advocates when Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, said in December he is uncomfortable moving the bill forward without stricter safeguards for children, among other protections.

Marijuana promoters have been loudly expressing their displeasure.

As a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from the harms of marijuana commercialization, we want to thank Crapo for his courage in standing up for the health and welfare of youths, whose interests too often have been ignored in this important debate.

Crapo’s specific concerns include “the high-level potency of marijuana, marketing tactics to children, [and] lack of research on marijuana’s effects.”

America’s children can’t afford millions of dollars in lobbying. But they just have one chance to grow up, and if we adults don’t look out for them, our nation will pay the price for generations to come.

SAFE Banking Act promoters say the bill will make marijuana dispensaries safer by reducing their reliance on cash. That’s a worthy goal, but while we’re protecting industry workers, let’s make sure we also protect children.

Our nonprofit organization doesn’t weigh in on the question of whether marijuana should be legal for adults. But we think everyone, including the marijuana industry, should agree that we must do everything in our power to keep it away from children.

We’ve seen the harm it can cause firsthand.

In Colorado, the first state to legalize and commercialize recreational marijuana, children now are barraged with ads for ultrapotent marijuana distillates used in vape pens (often flavored) and dab rigs, which can contain nearly pure THC. Unsurprisingly, the state has recorded statistically significant increases in youths using intensely potent products.

Quite simply, this is not their parents’ marijuana.

That\’s why it was especially important that Crapo highlighted the threat of rising potency to children. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that frequent marijuana use during adolescence is associated with:

Changes in the areas of the brain involved in attention, memory, decision-making, and motivation

• Impaired learning, including declines in IQ and school performance
• Increased rates of school absence, dropping out, and suicide attempts
• And the risk for psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia

Whatever you think of adult use of marijuana, this threat to children can’t be ignored.

Yeah, we get it. Raising concerns about marijuana’s risks to children may seem uncool when \”ganjapreneurs\” are seeing a new kind of green with huge potential paydays. But this is a moment when the adults have to be the responsible ones. That’s why we’re grateful for Crapo’s leadership at this key juncture.

We firmly believe that, when we look back at this moment years and decades from now, history will honor Sen. Crapo for putting children before marijuana industry profits.

Diane Carlson is co-founder and national policy director of Smart Colorado, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the youth as marijuana becomes increasingly available and commercialized.

For complete story go to https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/mike-crapo-wisely-puts-children-before-cannabis-profits

WILL JESSE BULLARD’S DEATH WAKEN THE PUBLIC TO DANGERS OF LEGAL POT?

Toddler’s death highlights how marijuana use becomes abuse

Jesse James Bullard’s sweet smile lit the world of all those with whom he came in contact, but he lost his life abruptly on January 22.   His father, Isaac, smoked a marijuana “dab” that morning, backed his car out and ran over the baby boy.  Jesse was was about a month shy of his second birthday.  But this was Colorado, and health officials don’t find parents’ marijuana habits unusual.

Popular magazines and newspapers publish articles which promote marijuana for moms and dads.  Newspapers — with some notable exceptions – are reluctant to report about the true dangers of marijuana.

For five years, we’ve warning that parents’ and caregivers’ pot use puts young children in danger.  Two weeks after Colorado opened recreational pot shops in 2014, Levi Welton’s parents smoked pot with friends, while their two-year-old was in another room.  Levi died in a fire, which he tried to escape by hiding in the closet.

Parenting and pot use don’t mix. One joint impairs far more than a glass of wine or beer. Wake n bakers lose track of time, people and responsibility.  Isaac Bullard remembered the dog and diaper bag, but he forgot to put his son in the car to go to the sitter.  When asked how “high” he was, the father said he said he was only 2 or 3 on a scale of 10.

Legalization encourages wake ‘n bake

After a state legalizes marijuana, some casual marijuana users become diehard abusers.  The commercial industry manufactures stronger and more potent products.   Many of those suffering from addiction have no idea how impaired they are.   So if Isaac Bullard was only a 2 or 3, we shudder to think how impaired he’d be as a 10.

When Bullard was arrested, police discovered an elaborate marijuana grow operation of 79 plants and a butane hash oil extraction lab.

Jesse’s mom won’t let his memory die

Last March, Tamlin Bullard realized her husband was not going to put the family ahead of his drug.  Isaac Bullard moved to Colorado to follow his marijuana dream.  She separated from the father, but a lawyer advised her that she must allow visitation, even while he was in Colorado.

Keeping drugs illegal is a “harm reduction” policy.  Legalizing a drug legitimizes its use, and turns good people into problem users.  For that reason, we will always fight against legalization. Since the first votes to legalize marijuana in 2012, we’ve found news accounts of 220 child fatalities related to marijuana.  It’s a problem throughout the country, but more pronounced in legalization states.

Comparisons with alcohol

Marijuana advocates love to stress dangers of alcohol when arguing in favor of marijuana legalization.  However, the number of drivers impaired by both marijuana and alcohol increases with legalization.  Because stoned drivers are more likely to drive during the day, children, pedestrians and bicyclists face a greater risk.

Recent reports issued by Texas, Florida and Arizona show that marijuana, by far, is the leading substance associated with child abuse death cases. In states that track the substance associated with child abuse and neglect, marijuana leads the pack, ahead of alcohol and all other drugs.  A number of the hot car deaths in recent years resulted from parents’ neglect when they were high on marijuana.

Pediatric exposures to marijuana in states with legalization produce dangerous altered mental states in children. The article describes three cases in Washington.

Dr. Ed Gogek, author of Marijuana Debunked says upwards of 70% of child abuse cases are related to substance abuse. Colorado, Washington, California and other legalization have opened up a Pandora’s Box of problems.  How can anyone believe that an individual’s freedom to use a drug is more important than the life of a child?

See Article “Yes, Pot Does Kill!”

‘Access to psychoactive substances fuelling increase in mental cases’

February 2, 2020

DR Jide Raji, a psychiatric consultant (with specialty in Forensic Psychiatry) works with the Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. He is of the opinion that mental health disorder is on the rise in our society because of access to psychoactive substances.

He stated: “In the time past, there were no access to psychoactive substances, but these days, the rate and manner young people and adults alike access psychoactive substances is on the increase. Secondly, there are so many unrest due to violence, war…; people are coming down with mental disorder ranging from acute stress reaction etc due to displacement, having to leave their traditional home, loss of means of livelihood, loss of loved ones, having to start all over again, economic hardship whereby people don’t have access to good nutrition, good food, education, adequate healthcare system etc.

According to Raji, “The issue of children with mental health disorder is on the rise globally and Nigeria is not left out. Compared to about ten years ago when the Child/Adolescent section of this hospital was set up, patronage has risen so much that doctors there are presently overworked. But again, looking at the environment, out of every 3-4 families, one has been able to identify 1-2 children with mental health disorder ranging from autism, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder etc. Hence, the rate of increase in mental health disorder among children is high. Easy accessibility to these drugs by young ones is also high; even the very rich are not exempted.

“According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, 1 out of 4 Nigerian has mental disorder and about 1 in 4 will still experience mental illness in their lifetime. In addition, mental illness accounts for 13% of the total disability experienced in the world; and it is expected to increase to 15%  this 2020.”

For complete article go to https://thenationonlineng.net/access-to-psychoactive-substances-fuelling-increase-in-mental-cases/