K2, Spice, Posh, Blaze

It is known by many names: K2, Spice, Posh, Blaze, bath salts

Whatever one chooses to call it, synthetic marijuana is becoming an increasing danger for the area’s youth, according to Dr. Gerry Ebel, program director for the alcohol and drug department at Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health, South Dakota.

“It has the ability to get a person high like marijuana does, but it also has the severe side effects of creating psychotic behaviors, paranoia, things of that nature,” he said.

The substance, which is legally sold as an incense at various retailers such as tobacco shops and gas stations, has been around for quite some time, but it wasn’t until recently that individuals began to ingest it, Ebel said.

“The packaging says not for human consumption, but young adolescents and young adults discovered it gave you a euphoric feeling that was not able to be detected,” he said. “Now it is able to be detected.”

Ebel said one of main issues with the drug is that it is not manufactured in a way that is “evenly mixed.”

“One day you could take a couple of hits out of a bag of it, and you’ll get just that euphoric feeling. The next day, you could take a couple of hits out of the same bag, and you are gone, because it’s not a uniform mixture,” he said. “And that’s the danger of this drug. Some drugs you take, you know they’re going to get you up. Some drugs you take, you know they’re going to get you down. With this substance, you don’t know which way it’s going to take you.”

K2 is labeled as an herbal blend, marketed for home incense, but it is being used for much different purposes and could have potentially dangerous effects.

Although K2 is sometimes marketed as synthetic marijuana, the effects can be 10 times more intense than those from marijuana. The dried herbs come in 3-gram package of various flavors, including “Blonde,” “Pink,” “Citron” and “Summit.”

K2 samples test positive for synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-073, developed in the mid-1990s by Clemson University researchers conducting lab experiment on mice to test the compounds’ effects on the brain.

Authorities are very concerned . . . Some Asian and European countries, including

France, Austria and Germany, already banned these products. Now the U.S. has taken action as well.

Many states and municipalities banned these substances prior to the nationwide ban.

Teenagers have been hospitalized, suffered severe hallucinations, increased heart rate, seizures, and even death.

The military has banned possession and use of K2.

K2 or “spice” is an herbal blend, sprayed with synthetic compounds and sold as incense.

But, it’s being marketed to teens as a way of getting high.

Bath Salts…

Bath salts are designer or synthetic drugs often containing amphetamine-like substances such as mephedrone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) which are similar to the amphetamine-like substance metcathinoine found in Cat or Qat.  Concentrated bath salt products are widely available on the internet and can be found in stores, truck stops and gas stations.

Ivory Wave,
 Ivory Snow,
 Ocean Snow,
 Vanilla Sky, Lunar Wave, Purple Wave, 
Zoom  2
, Aura  Bliss, 
Charge Plus,
 Red Dove,
 Blue Silk ,
Cloud 9, Blizzard ,
White Lightning,
 White Rush,
 Hurricane Charlie,
 Scarface.

Bath-Salts‘ Injection Leads to Flesh-Eating Disease

MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) –

The use of street drugs known as “bath salts” can lead to flesh-eating disease, a new study warns. It describes the first known case of necrotizing fasciitis caused by an intramuscular injection of bath salts .

So-called bath salts are sold as synthetic powders that “often contain various amphetamine-like chemicals,” according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, which in February warned that injections might cause the ravaging skin condition.

Study authors Dr. Russell R. Russo, a third-year orthopedic surgery resident at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, and colleagues, saw the effects firsthand.

They treated a 34-year-old women who developed forearm pain and redness after she attended a party. She didn’t have any other symptoms but did have a small red puncture wound on her arm. The women eventually admitted that she injected bath salts two days before her symptoms began.

The doctors reexamined her and determined that she had necrotizing fasciitis. The disease progressed so rapidly that the doctors had to amputate the woman’s arm, shoulder and collarbone and perform a radical mastectomy.

The women later underwent skin grafting and rehabilitation.

 

 

Most of the “bath Salts” are manufactured in China.

Tangshan Hengxinda Trading Co., Ltd. China.

Yiwu Dearbody Cosmetic Co., Ltd.China.

Guangzhou Qisheng, China.

THANK YOU, CHINA…

Which Kind of Parent Are You?…

During my recent research into the world of huffing among adolescents, I have found that there seems to be very little interest in this deadly issue.  Parents, teachers and family are either unaware, too busy to notice, too frightened of the truth or just do not care. As for the adolescents, they are too ignorant to realize the dangers, under too much peer pressure to not use or like most young people, have this idea that they are invincible and all those really bad things always happens to those other people that they don’t know.

I guess my question here is: What is more important than you children? Your own addictions, your need for self gratification, your work, resignation, fear…..what??? As a parent, a person who has taken on the highest responsibility of mentor, teacher, disciplinarian and role model, why are you not covering all bases?  Providing only a roof over their heads, food on the table and clothes to keep warm IS NOT being a parent.  Trying to be their “friend” and purchasing all those little gadgets that are popular IS NOT parenting.  Communicating with your kids, getting to know them and doing everything possible to teach them right and wrong so they make good choices in life is also your primary responsibilities.

  

A disturbing study prepared by CASA suggests that adults have become resigned to teen drug use. In fact, nearly half the parents from the “baby-boomer” generation expect their teenagers to try illegal drugs. Forty percent believe they have little influence over teenagers’ decisions about whether to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs. Both of these assumptions are incorrect. Parents have enormous influence over the decisions young people make.

A MUST read if you are a parent or work with children

 

Jeff Williams is a police office in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. On March 2, 2005, Kyle Williams, age 14, was found dead in his bed by his mother, Kathy. Kyle died from asphyxiation resulting from inhaling Dust Off, a popular brand of compressed air used in cleaning electronic components.

First, I am going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff, I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn’t allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they wont.

I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn’t have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.

On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn’t move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.

I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It’s called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn’t hurt you. Its just compressed air. It cant hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle’s Death

Kyle was wrong. It’s not just compresses air. It also contains a propellant I think its R2. Its a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That’s why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It cant hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It’s not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. ITS NOT AN OVERDOSE. Its Russian roulette. You don’t die later. Or not feel good and say I’ve had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing “the hit.” That’s why the straw was still in Kyle’s mouth when he died. Why his eye’s were still open.

The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don’t believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn’t fit here. And that’s why its more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. no strong odour. It doesn’t follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.

Its easy to say hay, its my life and I’ll do what I want. But it isn’t. Others are always effected. This has forever changed our family’s life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I cant describe it. There’s nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don’t ever cry. I do what I’m supposed to do but I don’t really care. My kids are messed up. One won’t talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I cant even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.

After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don’t have a drug problem there. They don’t even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this “new” way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle’s death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn’t have been in my house.

We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs.

Using Dust Off isn’t new and some “professionals” do know about. It just isn’t talked about much, except by the kids. They know about it.

April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I cant help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.

Jeff

 

This Could Be Your Daughter…

How Do Inhalants Harm You?…

Because the immediate after-effects are usually mild and last only a short time, many abusers believe that inhalants are essentially harmless. They are wrong. Inhalants can be very dangerous, both in their immediate effects and their long-term consequences.

Short-term effects

During the high itself and the period of reaction afterward, physical coordination and mental judgment are impaired, much as they are by excessive drinking. Abusers often suffer falls and other accidents and cannot drive safely. They may engage in irresponsible or dangerous behavior, such as reckless violence.

Inhalants irritate the breathing passages, sometimes provoking severe coughing, painful inflammation, and nosebleeds.

Nitrite inhalants often cause intense facial flushing, feelings of severe weakness and dizziness, and heart palpitations.

Inhalants, particularly in heavy doses, may not produce a pleasant high but mental confusion, hallucinations, and delusions of persecution (paranoia) instead.

By depressing the central nervous system, inhalants may dangerously hinder the activity of the nerves that control breathing. The resulting respiratory depression may cause unconsciousness, coma, or even death. The danger is especially great if inhalants are taken along with other nervous-system depressants, such as alcohol or barbiturates (sleeping pills).

Inhaling for an extended time from a bag or balloon may cause a dangerous shortage of oxygen in the lungs. Like respiratory depression, oxygen deprivation (asphyxia) may lead to unconsciousness, coma, or death.

Even first-time users run the risk of sudden sniffing death (SSD). The mechanics are not well understood, but abusers may suffer fatal irregularity of heartbeat (arrhythmia) or complete heart arrest. The risk of SSD seems to be higher if the abuser engages in strenuous physical activity or is suddenly startled. 

Long-term effects

Repeated use tends to produce increased tolerance to the drugs and larger doses are needed to achieve the same results. Heavy doses in turn increase the risk of permanent brain damage, with effects such as poor memory, extreme mood swings, tremors, and seizures. Heavy, continuous use also increases the risk of heart arrhythmia and respiratory depression.

Nitrite inhalants tend to raise the pressure of the fluid within the eyes. The raised pressure may eventually lead to glaucoma and blindness. Regular nitrite abuse may also cause severe, pounding headaches.

Organic solvents are the most dangerous of all inhalants. They are poisons that break down organic compounds of all kinds including those that make up living cells. Once absorbed into the body, they tend to concentrate in the liver and kidneys, where they are processed for disposal. Repeated, heavy abuse may cause fatal damage to these organs, as well as to the heart and nervous system.

Your brain after huffing...Brain Tissue Atrophy.

Time To Wake Up, Parents.

Lesson 2…huffing

What are the Main Types?

There are three main types of inhalants:

Organic solvents are liquid compounds of carbon that have the power to break down, or dissolve, other carbon compounds. Organic solvents are also highly volatile; they readily evaporate from a liquid to a gas or aerosol, which can be inhaled.

Many common products are either based on organic solvents or contain high concentrations of them. They include gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighter fuel, spray paint, paint thinners and removers, transparent glue, rubber-cement thinner, hair spray, nail polish remover, degreasers, and cleaning fluids. Organic solvents are the easiest inhalants to obtain and the most dangerous to abuse.

Nitrites are compounds of nitrogen and act mainly as vasodilators, causing the walls of blood vessels to relax so that the vessels enlarge, or dilate. They are used medically to relieve attacks of angina chest pain caused by insufficient blood flow in the vessels serving the heart. They also tend to depress the activity of the central nervous system, producing the giddiness and euphoria of a high.

The most commonly abused are amyl nitrite and butyl nitrite. Amyl nitrite is usually packaged in small, crushable glass or plastic capsules, known as poppers or snappers. Butyl nitrite often comes in a bottle or spray can and is sold as an air freshener under names such as Rush, Locker Room, or Jac-Aroma.

Nitrous oxide, commonly called laughing gas, was the first inhalant used for recreational purposes. Introduced as an anesthetic in the 1850’s, this compound of nitrogen and oxygen is still used medicinally, particularly by dentists. It doesn’t completely block pain, but it does alter the perception of pain, so that there is no distress. Nitrous oxide tends to produce a pleasant, dreamy state of consciousness, somewhere between waking and sleep.

For medical use, nitrous oxide is compressed and stored in metal tanks, to which a hose and inhalant mask are attached. The compressed gas is also used to make whipped cream. When packaged in small cartridges, called whippets, and enclosed in a container of cream, the gas mixes with the cream when the nozzle is depressed.

Huffing: First Lesson

“Approximately 2 million young people ages 12 to 17 has used an inhalant; overall, more than 18 million people have had experience with an inhalant in their lifetime. Before the 6th or 7th grade, inhalants are the third most popular substance of abuse after alcohol and tobacco; after the 7th grade, inhalants decrease to fourth place on the abuse list after alcohol, tobacco and marijuana ? but their use far exceeds that of all other substances. With an initiation age of about 12, inhalants are often the first substance of abuse a child will use.   giving rise to the notion that inhalants are “gateway” drugs. It is also important to remember that inhalants are unique because even first time use or experimentation of an inhalant could be a fatal episode.”  So What are these inhalants that your children are using?  Look inside your kitchen and bathroom cabinets, or your garage.  They are everywhere and there is nothing you can do to eradicate them from  life. Tour only weapon is education.  And once you learn you must then actually talk to your children.  The younger the better.

Your first lesson.  How to tell if your child is huffing:

A sweetish chemical smell on their clothes or body.

Inflammation of the nostrils, frequent nosebleed, or a rash around the nose and mouth.

Poor appetite and loss of weight.

Pale, bluish skin.

Watery, bloodshot eyes with dilated pupils.

Slow, slurred speech.

Clumsy, staggering gait, and drunken appearance.

 

 

 

 

The Beginning…

It is hard to understand addiction unless you have experienced it.
Ken Hensley

Such is life.  Those that know, understand the deep recesses of addiction where life is a shadow world and those who have never experienced these deep recesses only speculate what it could be.  For myself, I know.

This past week I spent many hours talking with youth.  I earn a paycheck by being a CD Counselor.  Chemical Dependency.  Alcohol, drugs, chemicals, abuse and addictions.  Those hours I spent talking with these young users is not a new road.  I have worked with youth for 15 years, give or take a few weeks and it is the one type of work of many I have experienced that gives me purpose.  It validates that my existence is not in vain.

Sometimes, it is hard work.  Listening to words such as abuse.  Emotional, physical and sexual types. Something a child never needs to know.  And violence, abandonment and loneliness.  Sometimes I carry those words home with me and wake in the middle of the night, searching for the right words or actions that I can use to make their world a little bit softer, to dull the sharp edges that at their age, they should never feel.  But it does happen.  Too many times for too many children.

Many of the youth I have met recently, and also those in the past, follow a similar pattern.  Home life is not positive and the drugs and alcohol and the cutting helps them deal with the pain.  For many, they have dreams of destinations, of a successful and confident future,  but they also carry with them the self-doubt or the resignation that they will never achieve these goals, so why bother.  Feed the pain and it goes away…. for a little while.

Where am I going with this?  I actually do not know.  Maybe a place I can write my thoughts, share resources, stories, successes and a place to lament those battles I lost.  Time will tell and having no road map, this Drug Road will follow it’s own direction like that of water flowing over dirt.

If you want to share personal stories of your battles on either side of this war, you will be most welcome.  Your thoughts, resources, insight, fear, pain or wisdom just might make a difference to someone’s life…