As bath salts are gaining popularity as a street drug, healthcare workers are rushing to accommodate the dangers associated with use. Though bath salts are technically legal, they are highly toxic and their use can result in a rush to the emergency room.
There is a new wave of street drugs whose use appears to be growing, but whose effects are proving disturbing enough for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to ban their use until further investigation is conducted.
What happens when you hear words like “drug use” and “drug addiction” in news stories night after night for years on end? As with anything else, endless repetition of certain phrases tends to cause the mind to blur or gloss over what’s really being said or the intent of the message to begin with. Case in point is the touted War on Drugs, a worthy initiative that somehow never really accomplished what could be classified as a victory. And drugs on the street today are deadlier than ever, boasting concentrations that are higher than ever before. From various forms of heroin to marijuana to methamphetamine and other drugs, the pure and deadly drugs are all over our streets.
Read more about The Pure and Deadly: Concentrations Higher in Today’s Street Drugs
Russia has a new, deadly drug called krokodil (aka crocodile) and it is killing young people in droves. Introduced in Siberia about a decade ago, it has made a splash in more populous areas in the past few years. Approximately fifty percent of all addiction and drug-related deaths in Russia can be directly attributed to crocodile.
The ratios of men to women who use particular substances vary greatly and generally statistics show a significant trend toward more substance use by males for all classes of substances. For example, the ratio of men to women who use heroin is close to 3: 1 while the proportion of men to women users of cocaine tends to be two males for every one female. Methamphetamine, however, is significantly different and appears to be a substance of abuse and addiction that appeals to both men and women equally. That ratio of use along gender lines is close to 1:1. Similarly, admissions to treatment facilities for the use of methamphetamine are also approximately 50% women and 50% men.
While the numbers of men and women who use meth are similar, there are significant differences between men and women who use methamphetamine, however. Women who use methamphetamine are more likely to have certain characteristics and life circumstances that male users of meth do not. Some of these issues that women who use methamphetamine typically have are:
• unemployment
• a live-in partner who abuses substances
• a history of physical and sexual abuse
• a history of multiple suicide attempts
• introduction to methamphetamine by an intimate partner
• motivation to use methamphetamine by the desire for weight control
• more negative medical and role functioning consequences of use than men
• more frequent use
• habitual smoking of methamphetamine rather than use by inhalation or injection
• psychiatric methamphetamine-related symptoms, issues and conditions
For women, methamphetamine use and recovery seem intricately tied to relationship issues. It is typical that a woman addicted to meth will also have a partner who is similarly addicted. This social dynamic significantly complicates recovery efforts for women. For example, women who complete treatment for methamphetamine use, and return to partners who continue to use meth, are more likely to relapse than women who do not return to such relationships after treatment. On the other hand, women who successfully complete treatment and return to partners who are also in early recovery from methamphetamine use have fewer incidents of relapse.
A methamphetamine addiction can do a number of things to your physical health, while it can also impact your ability to function in normal society. For Sharon Denise Steely, this addiction led to a string of identity thefts that terrorized a school district.
Tennis superstar Andre Agassi reveals in his new autobiography that he used crystal meth while playing professional tennis in 1997, and then lied about it to officials after testing positive for drugs.
Agassi, 39, says he hit rock bottom in his career due to a wrist injury that year—and was having serious doubts about his upcoming marriage to actress Brooke Shields—when his assistant, “Slim,” offered him the drug, according to an excerpt in The Times of London.
There are a number of things that can happen to an individual when they begin to use and then become hooked on methamphetamine. A recent study examined former methamphetamine users and their ability to maintain basic functions after giving up use of the drug.
Science Daily recently published a piece that shared the results of this study. One notable finding of this study included the fact that it takes at least a year for former methamphetamine users to regain impulse control. For many recovering abusers, it can take an extended period of time for the brain functions critical to recovery to improve.
Methamphetamine is the second leading drug threat in the U.S., according to the U.S. National Drug Threat Assessment 2009, released by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC). Cocaine, another stimulant, is number one. Over the past 10 years, methamphetamine has become one of the most widely abused street drugs. Treatment for meth addiction is complex and evolving. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is currently funding research to develop medications for treating stimulant addiction (cocaine and methamphetamine). But there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for meth addiction. And the treatment process requires a long-term commitment.
In a report issued by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), the National Drug Threat Assessment 2009, heroin is listed as the number four leading drug threat in the U.S. The good news is that, according to the report, Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin availability and distribution are limited. The bad news is that now some Nigerian criminal groups that are distributing the Southwest Asian heroin are trying to increase the drug’s distribution in some markets where Southwest Asian heroin had not previously been available.