A new trend among young drinkers called Vodka eyeballing entails poring hard liquor directly in the eye for a quicker high. Videos of this disturbing trend are spreading on YouTube and Twitter. Two experts talk about its repercussions.

 http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/41293620#41293620

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There are currently 15 states where marijuana is legal. The increased legalization of marijuana is not helping children “say no.” Youth are using marijuana illegally, and in their defense saying “but it’s medicine, so it’s ok.” Now they are making marijuana fun and delicious? What happened to using it as a medicine? Yeah, those who have been prescribed it say they don’t like to smoke it, but last I checked they weren’t making other drugs easier to take, at least not to this extent.

While Canna Cola may claim there is nothing wrong with their product, they use the tag line “12 Mind Blowing Ounces” on each label. They also use bright colors and animated characters on top of the fact that it is a soda, which makes it sound like they are targeting children.

Canna Cola’s makers plan to sell it to medical-marijuana dispensaries in Colorado starting next month, and hope to launch it in California by the spring.

What do you think?

According to the British medical journal The Lancet, “as many as 40 percent of children, 35 percent of women, and 33 percent of men [who] are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke indoors” will become sick because of second hand smoke.

Studies further show that 80% of tobacco smokers live in under developed areas where the effects of smoking and second hand smoke are more severe and detrimental.

“The study authors estimate that 165,000 children under the age of 5 die each year from lower respiratory infections caused by second-hand smoke – and most of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia.”

This is a problem that plagues most of the world. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that more than half of the children in the United States between the ages of 3 and 11 have signs of second hand smoke in the blood.

A huge part of the problem is that people don’t know how their smoking affects the people around them. John Samet and Heather Wip fli,  public health experts from the University of Southern California, believe that if parents were educated on the health risks that are presented to their children, they would not smoke inside the house. They did a study that showed that 80% of parents who smoked, smoked near their children and/or inside the house.

By eliminating smoking indoors, a child’s exposure to cigarette smoke is reduced immediately and the negative medical effects of second hand smoke are decreased substantially.

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/26/secondhand-smoke-kills-600000-worldwide-annually/

From CNN Health

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain’s Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.

“Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game,” said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.

When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.

But experts said it would be impractical and incorrect to outlaw alcohol.

“We cannot return to the days of prohibition,” said Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and one of the study’s authors. “Alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won’t go away.”

King said countries should target problem drinkers, not the vast majority of people who indulge in a drink or two. He said governments should consider more education programs and raising the price of alcohol so it isn’t as widely available.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2028530,00.html

The compound, known as K2, interacts with brain receptors in a way that is said to be very similar to marijuana. But unlike marijuana, little is known about the chemical makeup of the compound.

Officials said more and more people who smoke “synthetic marijuana” have reported to emergency rooms and poison-control centers with symptoms ranging from anxiety, hypertension, and vomiting to severe paranoia and hallucinations.

U.S. poison-control centers received 13 calls related to K2 a year ago, while 766 cases have been reported in the first half of 2010, said Anthony Scaizo, medical director for the Missouri Poison Center.

The concern, according to Scaizo, is that the surge “may represent the tip of an iceberg.”

Trinity of Chemung County wants to know if you feel enough is being done to warn kids against the dangers of this product, and what you would do if someone you knew were using synthetic marijuana.

Scientists do not know yet whether a similar gene variant, with a similar effect on alcohol consumption, exists in humans.

Trinity of Chemung County is interested in what you believe contributes to addiction. Is it genetic, environmental, or both. Please let us know. Thanks for your support.

Retailers who refuse to display the signs within 2 feet of tobacco displays and cash registers could face fines of $100 to $300.

A retail industry group reacted yesterday with dismay, arguing that cramped corner stores are already burdened by too many regulatory dictums.

The initiative needs the approval of the state Public Health Council — an appointed panel of doctors, disease trackers, and consumer activists — but board members yesterday expressed unequivocal support. Since the 1990s, Massachusetts has been at the vanguard of US efforts to reduce tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

Do you think that posting these graphic signs in stores will be effective to consumers changing their mind about buying cigarettes? And if so should it be put in place for all states?

Is this a useful prevention method for smokers, non smokers, even adolescents?

To read the full article please click here

Respondents were skeptical that crime would spike if marijuana is decriminalized or that it would lead more people to try harder drugs like heroin or cocaine. There also was a nearly even split on whether government spends too much money or the right amount enforcing marijuana laws. Almost no one thinks too little is spent.

Marijuana use — medically and recreationally — is getting more attention in the political arena. California voters will decide in November whether to legalize the drug, and South Dakota will vote this fall on whether to allow medical uses. California and 13 other states already permit such use.

The balloting comes against the backdrop of the Obama administration saying it won’t target marijuana dispensaries if they comply with state laws, a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which sought to more stringently enforce the federal ban on marijuana use for any purpose.

In the poll, only 33 percent favor legalization while 55 percent oppose it. People under 30 were the only age group favoring legalization (54 percent) and opposition increased with age, topping out at 73 percent of those 65 and older. Opposition also was prevalent among women, Republicans and those in rural and suburban areas.

Some opponents worried legalization would lead to reefer madness.

To read the rest of this article, please click here

What is your viewpoint on legalizing marijuana? Why or why not should it be legalized? How and why would this benifit or be detrimental society?

An article published on April 15, 2010 talked about the proposed budget cuts of slashing more than 23 million dollars from in-prison treatment programs.

The article explains the story of John Patrick Barton, who was in prison for his 3rd drunken driving conviction. During his sentence, he was never ordered to undergo treatment. After fifteen months, John was released from prison and ended up hitting and killing a woman and her teenage daughter, yes he was drunk. This story is not being used as an example or what could happen if these treatment cuts are made.

Click here to read the full article

Do you think cutting substance abuse and chemical dependency treatment should be enforced? Would it really save money, or do you think it would cost more money in the long run if you cut the treatment programs?