Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Party Drug Exacts Price Days Later, UConn Researcher Says

The Hartford Courant, March 24, 2014:

"Well-known risks of MDMA — the drug that often goes by 'molly' and 'ecstasy' — include dehydration and heat stroke, but a study out of UConn also found that the euphoric effects of the drug can turn to depression a few days later.
'If they do it on a Saturday, somewhere around Tuesday or Wednesday, they feel really depressed,' said Dr. Michael C. White, head of the pharmacy practice department at the University of Connecticut. 'There's a price to pay for feeling so good in the short term.'
For his study, published Monday in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, White reviewed 36 studies on the drug published from 2003 to 2013. He began his research in September, shortly after several MDMA-related deaths occurred at electronic music events in the nation." Read More

Glastonbury Police Break Up Teen Drinking Party

The Hartford Courant (Glastonbury, CT) March 24, 2014:

"Police said they broke up an underage drinking party at a home at 49 Nuthatch Knob early Saturday.
Several people were found to be younger than 21 and were charged.
Samraweit C. Maxwell, 19, of 49 Nuthatch Knob, was charged with possession of alcohol by a minor, permitting minors to possess alcohol and failure to halt possession of alcohol by minors. She was released on a written promise to appear in court April 9 in Manchester." Read More

New app could be tool for cyberbullying

Greenwich Time (Greenwich, CT) March 24, 2014:

"A new social-media app is the talk of Greenwich High School -- but much of the "yakking" is raising students' and educators' concerns.
Yik Yak allows users to anonymously send posts, known as "yaks," to others nearby. While the service has similarities to other social networks, it seems particularly effective for harassment or gossip.
Neither a profile nor a password is needed to yak. Communication is made based on proximity: Using phones' GPS capabilities, yaks go out to the 500 closest users within a five-mile radius of the sender.
'It's basically this area where anyone really can post about people, and it's really unregulated and unfettered,' Guillermo Perez, Greenwich High's student government president, said at last Thursday's Board of Education meeting. 'If you probably think that it's a recipe for disaster, considering the tragedy that happened on the first day of school, we're very concerned that this could spiral out of control.'" Read More

Monday, March 10, 2014

Prescription Drug Abuse Can Lead to Rise in Heroin Addiction

NBC Connecticut, March 6, 2014:

"The first time Michael took a prescription pain killer it wasn’t because he was in pain. The prescription didn’t come from his doctor.
'The first time I took a Percocet I was in high school,' said Michael. 'I was just at a party with a bunch of people, I got offered one, and that was it.'
That was the start of a spiral into years of addiction to pain killers and what eventually led him to a group called ‘My Bottom Line.’ Once a month, a group that usually consists of about 25-40 people meets in Southington to talk about successes, survival, and heartbreak. They come from all different walks of life. What binds them is addiction. Some have loved ones who are addicts and some, like Michael, are addicts themselves.
'It takes time to get to that point,' said Michael. 'I didn’t decide one day that I wanted to be addicted to pain killers. It just happened.'" Read More

Monday, March 3, 2014

Anti-Bullying Program Mixes Canton and New Britain Students

The Courant (New Britain, CT) February 27, 2014:

"For Rozalynn Smith, anti-bullying programs have often entailed sitting and listening.
But the program on Thursday at Gaffney Elementary School had her singing and dancing. Students from Canton High School presented a multi-disciplined, interactive anti-bullying program they do around the state for fifth-graders that incorporates music, dance and performance.
'Most of the time they give you a talk but with this they did skits,' said Smith, a fifth-grader. 'And we got to talk with the students from Canton and some of them are really fun.'
The presentation on Thursday was done for all the fifth-graders at Gaffney and was in the works for a year. The word 'fun' was commonly used when Gaffney students were asked what they thought about the program. But they said a serious message came with the fun. Maria Khan, another fifth grader at Gaffney, said one point that stuck with her was the importance of not doing something simply because friends want you to do it." Read More

Zohydro: The FDA-Approved Prescription for Addiction

Huffington Post, February 26, 2014:

"In a few weeks, a powerful new opioid painkiller called Zohydro is expected to hit the market. Zohydro's easily crushed capsules will contain up to 50 milligrams of pure hydrocodone; that's 10 times more hydrocodone than a regular Vicodin. One capsule will pack enough hydrocodone to kill a child. An adult lacking a tolerance to opioids could overdose from taking just two capsules.
Many folks on the front line of our nation's opioid-addiction epidemic were shocked that the FDA approved Zohydro despite the strong objection of an FDA advisory committee, which voted 11-to-2 against it. This may be the first time in history that the FDA will allow a drug to be released despite a landslide vote to keep it off the market." Read More