Tabloid Edition

Where to find drug treatment

The pressures of this modern world are such that some of us, rather more of us than there probably should be, find ourselves sinking into either addiction or dependency. Neither are conducive to the living of a happy or productive life and thus the rise in the need for drug treatment. It isn't though just those pressures which lead to the increase of those addicted: it's more complex than that.

For example, the huge increase in wealth over recent centuries has made it much easier to be such an addict: whereas once, just as an example, the cost of getting seriously drunk every day was such that very few could afford it, these days just about anyone can. But then that hugely increased wealth also means that the costs of being an addict are, in a different manner, much higher.

For a medieval peasant the costs of being a drunkard were that he slept in the pig sty, not all that different from the mud floor of his shack. Now addiction leads to us missing on the complex and varied joys of the modern world. So addiction is easier and cheaper to achieve, more expensive once we've managed it and well, I think we're beginning to see the rise in the need for drug treatment, no? 

The final part of the puzzle is that we've actually found a number of things that actually work in drug treatment as opposed to what we used to do which was essentially pray and hope. We know that there can be underlying problems which lead to the addiction and these should be treated alongside the addiction itself: what is known as dual diagnosis treatment. The 12 step program we know works, there are drugs that when used carefully can reduce the impacts of withdrawal. Perhaps most importantly we can see that others have been able to recover from their addictions, just the solace that we might need ourselves.

The Pat Moore Foundation offers all of these and more: might be worth clicking through the links to see what they might be able to offer you.

In the rooms

In the rooms is a phrase from the drug, alcohol and other addictions treatment world. Instead of stating, when meeting someone that you met in such a program or meeting "Hey, I met you at AA" or the like you are supposed to say that you met them "in the rooms". Just one of those little linguistic stylings which help to make the world go around really. However, InTheRooms is also the name of a website dealing with the same issues. And they've come up with a very cunning plan to use this new internet technology.

If you're moving about, or even if you're in a big city, it can be very difficult to find out when the various meetings actually are. The support groups, the AA meetings, the AlAnon, NarcAnon and so on. So what they've decided to do is to set up a wiki site so that we the public can add meetings that we know about. The more do this the better the resource becomes for those who either want or need to fnd a group in a specific place and time. If this is all part of your world why not add what you know to InTheRooms Meetings: you may well help someone in need and it could also be that you'll be aided at some point by the resource.

E cigarette

Oh boy, this row over e cigarettes is really annoying me. Look, yes, we know that smoking tobacco kills people. So, someone comes up with a way that you can get the nicotine without all the things that kill you: the e cigarette. So, what do the probnoses and the puritans do? Try to ban the e cigarette.

Sheesh, you'd think they'd be happy for goodness sake! People are damaging themselves less by using an e cigarette than smoking a regular cigar of ciggie. And that's what they keep saying they want, that people stop damaging themselves, isn't it?

But the fact that they want to ban e cigaettes rather reveals that this isn't what they're interested in at all. No, it's control over people, allowing them only to do what the bureaucrats decide to allow them to do.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration isn’t so sure. E-cigarettes have not been approved as a quitting method like the nicotine patch or gum, or as an alternative to smoking like chewing tobacco.

“FDA has reviewed several ‘electronic cigarettes’ and determined that those products were making ‘drug’ claims,” said Susan Small, a public affairs technician in the New England District FDA, in a written statement. “We have detained and refused several such products on the grounds that they were unapproved new drugs.”

The FDA considers e-cigarettes to be “adulterated devices” and is reviewing the products on a case-by-case basis, Small said.

The World Health Organization in a statement last year said e-cigarettes are not a legitimate therapy for smokers trying to quit and questioned the product’s safety.

The American Cancer Society has also weighed in.

“There is no strong evidence that shows they improve one’s chances of quitting,” said Kate Rogers, state director for the American Cancer Society.

See, they don't care that e cigarettes are less dangerous than tobacco. They still don't want you to use them.

Amy Winehouse - brain damage!

Amy Winehouse's doctors fear she could be brain damaged after a mammoth pot smoking session in July 2008.  July!  A month later and the doctors still can't tell if she has brain damage!  Why not?  Are they still trying to find it?

Winehouse brain damage fears
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 3 hours ago
Brain damage fears ... Amy Winehouse / AP THE extent of troubled pop star Amy Winehouse's drug use has been finally revealed and it is feared she has ...

Report: Winehouse may have brain damage
amNewYork, New York
Though we haven't heard much about problem-plagued Amy Winehouse lately, the troubled singer has reportedly suffered brain damage from two drug overdoses ...

Report: Amy Winehouse Could Be Brain-Damaged
FOXNews
Shocking details of Amy Winehouse’s drug use emerged Sunday night — including a report that she binged on crystal meth and may have brain damage after a ...

Amy 'brain damaged' after two overdoses
Metro, UK
Amy Winehouse is at risk of brain damage if she continues her drug taking lifestyle. Friends of the troubled star are fearing the worse after she binged on ...

Amy Winehouse 'may have brain damage
This is London, UK
Amy Winehouse may have brain damage after suffering  two major overdoses in the past 12 months where she binged on crystal meth, heroin and cocaine, ...

'Amy Winehouse May Be Brain Damaged After Drug Overdoses'

Entertainmentwise, UK
Amy Winehouse may have brain damage from her excessive use of cannabis and crystal meth, it emerged last night. Her first overdose, in August of last year, ...

Heath Ledger investigation dropped

The investigation into how Heath Ledger came into the possession of two powerful painkillers has been dropped.  The DEA suspect the drugs were obtained with false prescriptions.

The case has been dropped as the prosecutors believed there was no "viable target"

This follows on from Mary-Kate Olsen refusing to answer Drug Enforcement Agency questions.

I'm sure Heath Ledger's family will be disappointed with this outcome.

Was Criminal Probe of Ledger Star Mistreatment?
E! Online
I don't want to sound jaded, but why is there a criminal investigation into Heath Ledger's death? Thousands of people overdose every year, but I don't see a ...

Mary-Kate Not Entirely Free
E! Online 
Federal prosecutors, of course, have dropped their investigations into the nature of Heath Ledger’s death, as well as attempts to subpoena Mary-Kate Olsen ...

Heath Ledger drug investigation 'dropped'
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
US prosecutors investigating how Heath Ledger obtained drugs that contributed to his accidental overdose in January have decided not to pursue a criminal ...

Mary-Kate Olsen won't be forced to talk to DEA. But it is case closed?
Los Angeles Times, CA
Mary Kate Olsen will not have talk to the nasty DEA about where her close friend Heath Ledger may have gotten the drugs that killed him in January. ...

Heath Ledger criminal probe dropped
The Australian, Australia
US prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the painkillers that contributed to his overdose death. ...

Heath Ledger drug investigation 'dropped'
Times Online, UK
An investigation into how Heath Ledger obtained drugs that contributed to his fatal overdose has been dropped, according to a law enforcement official. ...

Ledger Drug Death Probe Dropped
Sky News, UK
A criminal investigation into how actor Heath Ledger obtained ...

Heath Ledger drug inquiry dropped
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
The investigation into Heath Ledger's death has been closed after prosecutors decided not to pursue a criminal case. By Chris Irvine Prosecutors in the US ...

Ledger inquiry 'is to be dropped'
BBC News, UK
US investigators are to drop a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained two powerful painkillers that contributed to his death, an official has said. ...

Ledger death investigation ends - report
RTE.ie, Ireland
It has been reported that federal prosecutors in New York have closed their investigation into the death of actor Heath Ledger. ...

Tatum O'Neal Arrested

Eek, things seem to have gone downhill for Tatum O'Neal. O'Neal was arrested for buying crack cocaine in New York.

Actress Tatum O'Neal was arrested on Sunday night accused of buying drugs outside her Lower East Side apartment. Cops say they found one back of crack and one bag of cocaine on the Academy Award-winning actress when she was picked up.

O'Neal evidently told cops she was "researching for a part," but later changed her story when the officers found the drugs and a crack pipe.

"I've been clean for a long time!" O'Neal begged cops, "Today was the first time I was relapsing, but you guys saved me! Can you let me go?"

Of course Tatum O'Neal has had a long and protracted relationship with drugs over the years. It would have been better if she had stayed clean of course.

Academy Award-winning actress Tatum O'Neal was arrested Sunday for buying crack cocaine in New York, police said.

The 44-year-old actress, who penned a 2004 memoir about her long road to sobriety, was arrested around 7:30 p.m. on the Lower East Side of Manhattan after she was seen making a purchase from a drug dealer, police said.

She's even written about her addictions:

O'Neal won an Academy Award at age 10 for Best Supporting Actress in the movie "Paper Moon." Her book "A Paper Life," published in 2004, dealt with abuse and neglect in her childhood and her struggles with addiction.

Tatum O'Neal was formerly married to John MacEnroe, with whom she has three children:

Daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal and actress Joanna Cook Moore Tatum O'Neil remains the youngest actor, at the age of 10, to win an Oscar  for her performance in Paper Moon.

Tatum O'Neil married tennis superstar John McEnroe in 1986. The couple had three children: Kevin, Sean, and Emily.

The couple divorced in 1992. She began spiraling downward after the divorce, developing an addiction to heroin. Her drug abuse cost her the custody of her children. John McEnroe obtained full custody of their kids in 1998.

dx4

The dx4 vaporizer gun is the latest casualty in the war on drugs. The dx 4, like other vaporisers, can be used to  smoke tobacco, and it's especially favoured for use with flavoured tobaccos, rather like those smoked in hookah pipes. As hookah smoking is gaining in popularity, so are vaporizers like the dx4.

OK, so far so good. But the problem is that the dx4 and similar vaporisers also can be used to smoke illegal substances, like marijuana or hashish. They are thus "dual use" items in the technical jargon. And this is where the controversy over things like the dx4 comes in.

If someone buys a vaporiser to smoke tobacco, this is clearly legal, both to buy and to sell. If someone buys it to smoke pot, well, it's the smoking of the pot that's illegal, but is the selling of the equipment to enable them to do so also illegal?

Currently the law is a little confused. If it's knowingly sold for pot smoking, yes, illegal. But what if the buyer lies about why they want a dx4?

Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee said Tuesday he hopes to force what he asserts to be a downtown drug paraphernalia shop, Old School, to operate within the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) by filing a civil complaint in Malheur County Circuit Court.

“Where we would like to get is to a point where what she’s doing is authorized by the law” he said. “It’s all I can do.”

The owner of Old School and the defendant in the complaint, Victoria Miller, said she has always operated within the law. And, she said, she thinks of her business as a tobacco accessory and art shop, not one that sells drug paraphernalia.

“I sell nothing illegal,” Miller said. “I don’t understand this. I have done nothing illegal. Everything I sell here is for tobacco use only.”

The difference of opinion may boil down to a few key words in the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). The civil complaint asserts Miller sold, delivered and possessed with intent to sell numerous products constituting drug paraphernalia.

And that's what the problem is all about: how do you determine intent when someone buys a legal product? As to why someone might want a vaporiser like the dx4, here it is:

Vaporizer guns are increasingly popular among people who want to smoke but don't want the toxic by-products from the burning plant. A vaporizer gun may be used to smoke tobacco or any number of herbs or plants, including marijuana. With alternative medicine attracting more and more followers, a vaporizer or vaporizer gun can possibly be an effective way to deliver the benefits of many herbal and plant remedies. As this article on the Web site Vapornation says, vaporizers produce little if any smoke while creating enough heat to release the substances in tobacco or other plant or herb products, but not reaching the temperature at which the plant matter burns. The article says that "the active compounds contained in the plant melt and phase into an aromatic vapor, not smoke. This vapor ideally contains reduced amounts of particulate matter and carcinogens."

You get the THC but not the carcinogens, the nicotine but not the burning.

Seth Tobias

The Seth Tobias case is shaping up to be a humdinger. It's got everything to make the newspapers salivate: drugs, gay sex, possible murder, a fight over the will: just what will be needed to keep Seth Tobias' memory alive, even if not in quite the way that he might have wanted.

A New York Times piece investigating the life and death of Seth Tobias wove a lurid tale of drug-fueled sexual decadence and lifestyle excesses culminating with the alleged murder of the hedge-fund hotshot by his scheming wife.

The article ran Tuesday. Meanwhile, a legal battle for the $25 million Tobias estate between his volatile spouse Filomena and his family is ongoing. The astounding account centered on the accusation by the Tobias clan that Filomena lured her intoxicated husband into the swimming pool of his mansion with the promise of sex with a male stripper in order to cause his death.

Oh yes, this one is going to run and run, there'll be no end of stories on ol' Seth.

An unfolding drama over Seth Tobias's estate is providing a lurid account of fast money and faster living in the volatile world of hedge funds. Tobias's four brothers and Mrs. Tobias are locked in a legal battle over the estate, which is worth at least $25 million

Here's the actual NYT story:

A life of private jets and black-tie balls ended with Seth Tobias, a wealthy investment manager and a familiar presence on CNBC, floating face down in the swimming pool of his mansion here.

It was just after midnight on Sept. 4 when Mr. Tobias’s wife, Filomena, frantically called 911. “Please send somebody, please!” Mrs. Tobias screamed. “He’s not breathing!” By the time the police arrived, she had pulled her husband’s body to the edge of the pool, where she cradled his head in her arms, sobbing.

Mr. Tobias, who was 44 years old, had apparently suffered a heart attack, his brother Spence said at the time. The police did not consider his death suspicious.

But now an unfolding drama over Mr. Tobias’s estate is providing a lurid account of fast money and faster living in the volatile world of hedge funds. Mr. Tobias’s four brothers and Mrs. Tobias are locked in a legal battle over the estate, which is worth at least $25 million. And, in a civil complaint, they have gone so far as to accuse her of murder.

What's making the argument over Seth Tobias' will so much fun is that it was signed before his marriage. And as any lawyer knows (and as anyone getting married should), marriage is a contract that over rides your will. So the Mrs. Tobias is indeed entitled to the $25 million. Thus, perhaps, the accusation of murder. In Florida, a murderer cannot inherit from the person they murder, so if she were convicted, then the earlier will (might) stand.

It does seem that Seth Tobias had some, umm, interesting, habits:

They also secretly frequented a gay bar called Cupids in West Palm Beach, in a strip mall along a main thoroughfare. It was there, according to Mr. Ash, that Mr. Tobias first met Tiger.

“Seth used to come in here back when it was crazy,” said Adiel Hemingway, the longtime manager of Cupids. As a flat-screen television blared hard-core gay pornography, he said that Mr. Tobias often came to the club with his wife. Mr. Hemingway took out a picture of Tiger in his office. Tiger is blond and covered with tattoos that look like stripes.

Jenkem

Jenkem is apparently the new drug of choice amongst certain of America's youth.

Fecal matter and urine are placed in a bottle or jar and covered most commonly with a balloon. The container is then placed in a sunny area for several hours or days until fermented. The contents of the container will separate and release a gas, which is captured in the balloon....Once ingested the onset of the high takes approximately 10 seconds with the most severe hallucinations happening in approximately 20 minutes.

Now you can indeed make a gas in this manner and it will indeed cause halloucinations: that's because you'd be inhaling methane. Be simpler to go get a tank of propane and start sniffing on that.

Several people appear to be taking it seriously:

The online site for The Social History of Drugs and Alcohol calls the new drug "jenkem". It's a hallucinogen drug which was first used in Africa. Users inhale the fermented gas from feces and urine. They describe the high as magical and say they feel as though they can talk to dead people.

And:

It's called Jenkem - the ingredients may shock you. 

"That's gross. I'm sorry, but when you think about people using this to get high, what do you think? That they're idiots," said a high school student WINK News Now spoke with.

Basically, the new drug is a mixture of solid human waste and urine, turned into a gas that can be huffed.

WINK News Now found the memo discussing the drug on Snopes.com, a website devoted to investigating urban legends. Tonight, the Collier County Sheriff's Office confirms they sent it out.

Further:

Yes, you read that right: human waste. The county's Criminal Intelligence Bureau has issued a report that "several students at Palmetto Ridge High school are experimenting with a new drug called "Jenkem." The bulletin, dated Sept. 26, states that so-called "Jenkem" -- the etymology is unclear -- originated in Africa and other third world countries where there is an abundance of its main ingredient: "raw sewage."

The DEA thinks it's true (although given that all these reports come from just the one source, with just the one set of pictures, I'm not so much sceptical as certain that this is all a corck of, umm, shit):

Still, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency insists that "there are people in America trying [Jenkem]." The DEA has yet to test Jenkem, he said -- a lot of volunteers for that job! -- but he said it is possible to experience hallucinations from methane fumes.

But imagine if it is true? As a commenter at Gawker pointed out, be tough to get a grip on the supply now, wouldn't it?

Pete Doherty Not On Heroin!

Pete Doherty might, contrary to the previous post, not actually be on heroin again. Or, at least, the proof might not be there that he is.

To recap, the Sun claims that they have video of Pete Doherty shooting up with heroin last Frday, only a few days after he left rehab.

Over at Perez Hilton, things are a little different. People are pointing out that there's no neck tatoo, that he looks very thin in the video while he isn't currently actually very thin.

So, err, could this video have come from some earlier time? And if so, is Pete Doherty about to make a few hundred grand out of The Sun?