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20/10/2008 by admin.
Anyone caught carrying cannabis for a second time could face an on-the-spot fine of £80 instead of a warning under a new proposal from the Home Office.
Cannabis is expected to be re-classified in the UK as a class B drug from early 2009 (january 2009)
Stronger strains of Cannabis such as skunk are becoming more wide spread and the Government is concerned that this is associated with increasing chances of mental health effects in regular users.
Posted in Cannabis, drugs | No Comments »
17/10/2008 by admin.
Just read this surprising article from last weekends Sunday Times about teenagers and drugs in rural areas. It seems that drug use amongst teenagers has even reached the quaint village of Tobermory in North West Scotland.
Tobermory is the capital of Mull, a beautiful and idyllic island on the west coast of Scotland. I spent many a happy summer there as a child, camping with my family.
Click here to read the full story
Posted in Teenagers, drugs | No Comments »
17/10/2008 by admin.
Just read this interesting article online by Kate Devlin Medical Correspondent for The Telegraph. The article was published 10/10/08.
Here is an extract from the article:
The number of patients admitted to mental health wards because of drug or alcohol abuse has risen by almost one third in three years, latest figures show.
More than 47,000 patients were admitted in 2006, 10,000 more than in 2003, due to the effects of drink or drugs.
The rise come despite a drop in the overall number of patients in psychiatric units, from a high of 214,000 in 1998 to just over 180,000 in 2006.
Opposition parties said that the increases were “worrying” and accused the Government of failing to get to grips with a growing drugs problem.
Official figures released earlier this year show that one in three British adults admits to having tried illegal drugs.
More than three million adults were estimated to have taken at least one banned substance last year, according to the figures from the NHS Information Centre.
Doctors have warned that high strength types of cannabis are increasing mental health problems.
Earlier this year a study showed that people who use skunk cannabis, which can be up to 10 times stronger than other types of the drug, were 18 times more likely to develop psychosis than those who smoke milder forms.
Click here to read the full article
Posted in Drugs & Mental Illness, Cannabis, Alcohol, drugs | No Comments »
14/10/2008 by admin.
Just read this article today by and thought I would share it with you.
It is a very personal & sad story of how a daughters heroin addiction has affected not only her, but her whole family. Gripping reading and very honest.
If you are the parent of a teenager or a healthcare worker involved in helping heroin addicts and their families you should definitely read the full article.
Highly recommended.
Here is an extract from the article
In April last year Kate and Hannah Mayne made quite a splash across these pages. It was a story that they wanted told but dearly wished that they were a million miles away from. Hannah was a gaunt but beautiful 19-year-old heroin addict who, despite a loving family and a life of privilege, had been sucked into the world of habit-feeding. Her mother Kate, a specialist interior designer, was desperately battling for help for a daughter who was slowly killing herself.
In the 18 months since I met them many things have changed, but not for the better. Hannah has collected her first criminal conviction (for shoplifting) and is illegally squatting, having moved addresses six times in the past year.
Kate’s marriage to Hannah’s father, a financial director, has collapsed as the reality of their daughter’s addiction and illness took its toll on the family. And, perhaps inevitably, Kate has suffered a nervous breakdown.
Click here to read the full article
Posted in Heroin, Teenagers, drugs | 1 Comment »
13/10/2008 by admin.
The ability for concerned parents to drug test at home has now been an option for almost 20 years.
Despite this, little research is available on the effectiveness or harm this home test has had, with many assuming the test to be destructive to the relationship, invasive and many claiming it breaches a childs human rights to privacy, (of self destruction, depending on your perspective )
Our view has always been that the best and only person able to decide on the merits and pitfalls of home drug testing is the parent contemplating it.
The commonest home drug test performed in the UK is Cannabis drug testing. This is most commonly performed as a voluntary urine sample test, but there is a growing movement towards saliva or oral fliud testing. Neither can be performed covertly and require a sample to be volunteered by a donor. Results are 97-98% reliable when compared to laboratory methods and results are available in under 10 minutes on site. the technology is really no more complicated than a home pregnancy test.
Most parents implement random testing for only short periods of time following the realisation that drug experimentaion has occured. If implemented properly the testing can motivate avoidance behaviour in the young person who gains a legitmate excuse to say no in peer group settings where experimentation and sharing occur.
If home testing has a negative affect it should be reviewed quickly and professional help for the percieved drug problem sought. Home drug screening will not work for all parents, but for many it has enabled confirmation of their concerns, a quantification of the extent of the problem and a useful monitoring and motivational tool to assist them in managing the problem at an early stage.
More on home drug testing options
Posted in Drug Testing, Teenagers, drugs | No Comments »
07/10/2008 by admin.
Men who smoke marijuana (cannabis) frequently have significantly less seminal fluid, a lower total sperm count and their sperm behave abnormally, all of which may affect fertility adversely.
The Study was first conducted at the department of reproductive physiology at the University at Buffalo 2003.
Marijuana contains the cannabinoid drug THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is its primary psychoactive chemical, as well as other cannabinoids.
”The bottom line is, the active ingredients in marijuana are doing something to sperm, and the numbers are in the direction toward infertility,” said Lani J. Burkman, Ph.D., lead author on the study. Burkman is assistant professor of gynecology/obstetrics and urology and head of the Section on Andrology in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. UB’s andrology laboratory also carries out sophisticated diagnosis for infertile couples.
Men involved in actively trying to concieve a child should avoid THC, probably for at least a month prior to TTC.
Posted in Cannabis, drugs | 1 Comment »
06/10/2008 by admin.
Just read this article by in The Times
A culture of long hours and stress are driving increasing numbers of lawyers to drink and drugs, both within and outside the workplace.
A survey to be published this week shows that alcohol abuse is “endemic” and use of hard drugs such as cocaine is becoming more prevalent, particularly in big City law firms.
The survey, by the magazine Legal Business, also says that there is evidence of “cocaine clubs” in law firms’ basements and of partner-led games of poker and taking cocaine with clients. But it also finds that law firms are ignorant or indifferent to the problem. One lawyer is quoted: “I spanked £100,000 on cocaine in one year and no one noticed.
“The legal profession, unlike other classic professions such as medicine and teaching, does not give a damn, as long as you are profitable.”
Two thirds of the 100 firms surveyed about their policies on drug or drink abuse refused to answer some of the questions, he said. Only half had a formal drug or alcohol policy, and 9 per cent had taken action against an employee for being under the influence of drink or drugs.
The survey also found that 84 per cent of firms do not have a random drug-testing policy, with 16 per cent refusing to answer the question.
Posted in Alcohol, drugs | No Comments »
03/10/2008 by admin.
Posted in Methadone, drugs | 1 Comment »
27/09/2008 by admin.
Ecstasy really is in the news this weekend. Read this article today in the Guardian
Sales of ecstasy in powder form make it increasingly difficult for drug takers to know what mind-altering substance they are consuming, a senior government adviser warned yesterday.
A rise in the importation of high-purity powder or crystal ecstasy has led to clubbers confusing it with cocaine, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACDM) heard at an open session reviewing legal classification.
Prof David Nutt, the council’s incoming chairman, said: “If you are buying white powders from someone, how do you know if you are getting MDMA [ecstasy’s main ingredient], methamphetamine or cocaine? It’s potentially very dangerous.” Powdered ecstasy was “massively more powerful” than tablet form.
Dr Paul Dargan, head of the poisons unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospital, told the meeting: “We see a lot of patients who have taken powder they think is cocaine but was actually MDMA.
Click here to read the full article
Posted in Cocaine, ecstasy, drugs | 1 Comment »
27/09/2008 by admin.
Read this interesting article online by Colin Blakemore that I thought may be of interest to you. It is about the classification of drugs including ecstasy (ecstasy is currently a Class A drug ) and he concludes that ‘No drug is completely safe, but ecstasy does not destroy the brain and is not exceptionally toxic’
Click here to read the full article about Ecstasy
Posted in ecstasy, drugs | 1 Comment »