Cocaine

Emerging drugs under the guise of everyday products like “bath salts,” “glass cleaner,” “plant food,” “jewelry cleaner,” and “spice” have caused a public health concern during the past few years. Use of these drugs that are absorbed by the body like marijuana and cocaine has skyrocketed all over the country, especially by youth, who find this new class of drugs easily accessible in many stores and online.

New research by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse indicates that, just like MDMA (Ecstasy), the active compounds in “bath salts” — mephedrone and methylone — bind to monoamine transporters on the surface of some neurons. This, in turn, leads to an increase in the brain chemicals serotonin, and, to a lesser extent dopamine, suggesting a mechanism that could underlie the addictive potential of these compounds. The study was published last week in Neuropsychopharmacology.

Emerging drugs under the guise of everyday products like “bath salts,” “glass cleaner,” “plant food,” “jewelry cleaner,” and “spice” have caused a public health concern during the past few years. Use of these drugs that are absorbed by the body like marijuana and cocaine has skyrocketed all over the country, especially by youth, who find this new class of drugs easily accessible in many stores and online.

CQ Roll Call reported that lawmakers endorsed a ban on a host of “designer drugs” being marketed as the means to a safe, legal high.

Medical News Today reports a disturbing new trend: Contaminated, flesh-eating cocaine.

A University of Maryland, College Park's Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) report revealed recently that unintentional drug overdose deaths now account for 24 percent of all unintentional deaths and surpass falls as the second leading cause of unintentional deaths.

Erica Leary, Program Manager for the North Coastal Prevention Coalition in San Diego County, was part of a panel of experts who testified before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics on Wednesday to discuss the dangers of synthetic drugs. The hearing was called by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in response to the growing use among youth of synthetic marijuana products such as "K2" and "Spice" and synthetic stimulants such as "bath salts."

Officials in 25 states are growing concerned about alarming numbers of adolescents and others ending up in emergency rooms and mental hospitals after intentionally snorting, injecting or smoking "fake cocaine," a powder legally sold as "bath salts," and are proposing bans.

Officials in 25 states are growing concerned about alarming numbers of adolescents and others ending up in emergency rooms and mental hospitals after intentionally snorting, injecting or smoking "fake cocaine," a powder legally sold as "bath salts," and are proposing bans.

Have you ever forgotten to post an important letter or let an appointment slip your mind? A new study from UK researchers suggests that for those who regularly use ecstasy or other recreational drugs, this kind of memory lapse is more common. Their research, which uncovered potential links between memory deficits and cocaine for the first time, appears in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE.
 

While there were slight decreases in the use of cocaine and methamphetamine among youth, teen marijuana use showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, according to the 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among adolescents has increased gradually over the past two years after years of declining use; and past year rates of Vicodin and OxyContin abuse increased during the last 5 years among 10th graders and remained unchanged among 8th and 12th graders. The MTF Survey, which surveys youth in 8th, 10th and 12th graders, was released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the University of Michigan.

College athletes who use performance-enhancing substances may be at greater risk of abusing alcohol and using other drugs as well, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The study, of 234 male athletes at one university, found that those who used performance enhancers – ranking from steroids to stimulants to weight-loss supplements – were more likely to admit to heavy drinking and using drugs like marijuana and cocaine. They also had elevated rates of alcohol- and drug-related problems, such as missing classes, failing tests or getting into fights.