Researchers Suggest Internet Availability Contributes to Rx Abuse

As internet availability has grown, so has treatment for prescription substance abuse, researchers found.

Anupam B. Jena, a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Dana P. Goldman, director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, said the public health fear that Internet availability of commonly abused prescription drugs would increase drug abuse may be well founded.

The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, demonstrated a 10 percent increase in the availability of high-speed Internet service in a state was associated with an approximately 1 percent increase in admissions to a treatment facility center for prescription drug abuse.

U.S. households with internet access increased from 18 percent in 1997 to 61 percent in 2007. During this time, admissions for abuse of alcohol, cocaine and heroin—not readily purchased online— had minimal or negative growth.

However, from 2000 to 2007, states with higher internet growth experienced an accompanying rise in admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities, the study said.

"Our findings provide a first glimpse that growing Internet use may partially explain why U.S. prescription drug abuse rates have risen dramatically while other substance abuse rates have not," the researchers said in a statement.

Doctors Find that Synthetic Marijuana Causes Psychosis

The Los Angeles Times reported this week that synthetic marijuana, known on the street as Spice, can cause a lengthy bout of psychosis in some users, according to research presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting held this week in Honolulu.

Doctors at the Naval Hospital San Diego reported on 10 patients who were hospitalized for psychosis after using Spice. The synthetic cannabis is also known as K2, Blaze or Red X Dawn. The drug consists of plant material coated with synthetic chemicals meant to produce a high similar to marijuana.

However, symptoms in the 10 patients, who were ages 21 to 25, included auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoid delusions and thoughts of suicide. Most of the patients recovered from the psychosis in five to eight days but symptoms lasted as long as three months in some people.

Synthetic marijuana has become an issue in the military, in substance-abuse treatment facilities and other settings because it cannot be detected in standard, urine-based drug tests.

Last year, the DEA banned five chemicals found in K2. However, the ban will last only one year with an option to extend the ban for an additional six months. A bill introduced by Senators Grassley and Feinstein would permanently schedule 15 of the source chemicals identified in K2 and similar products, and place them as Schedule I narcotics. Coalitions across the country have been working to permanently ban the chemicals, as well.

W.Va Targeting Underage Drinking

The West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program and the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration are uniting with local law enforcement agencies to conduct statewide enforcement operations throughout the month of May aimed at reducing the access of alcohol to those who are underage.

During the months of May and June, many high school students are celebrating graduations and attending proms. Unfortunately, during this festive time, some students fall prey to the lure of alcohol, never considering or planning on its dramatic and oftentimes tragic effects. Car crashes, alcohol poisoning, fights, vandalism, sexual assaults and other crimes can all begin with the irresponsible and illegal use of alcohol.

Alcohol-related crashes, deaths and DUIs occur at an alarming rate and are the leading cause of death among people 16 to 21 years old.

To educate the public and to ensure compliance among businesses that serve and sell alcohol, various enforcement operations will be scheduled at ABCA-licensed establishments. Funding for the project is provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through a grant administered by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.

Officials encourage parents to engage in a frank discussion with their children about the dangers of alcohol and to make them aware of criminal penalties that may result from the illegal consumption of alcohol.

For more information, contact Natalie Harvey at 304-926-3836, Gig Robinson at 304-558-2481 or gary.l.robinson@wv.gov.

Colleges Band Together to Reduce Binge Drinking

In an effort to curb the high rates of alcohol use on college campuses, 14 national colleges and universities have launched an initiative entitled, the Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking. The initiative was created by Dartmouth University to address alcohol use and the 40 percent of college students who binge drink.

The collaborative is an information exchange partnership that will track the progress of initiatives designed to reduce harmful alcohol-related incidents and binge drinking on their campuses. The institutions involved include: Dartmouth University, Boston University, Cornell University, Duke University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, Princeton University, Purdue University, Stanford University, Wesleyan University, the University of Wyoming, Stony Brook University, Frostburg State University and Sewanee: The University of the South. The Collaborative will continue to accept member schools until May 20.

The collaborative’s member schools will attend three “learning sessions” every six months, which will require that schools collect, analyze and present data on any programs targeting high-risk drinking on their campuses with Dartmouth hosting the first one next month. The collaborative’s findings will be published at the conclusion of the meetings.

The Government Plans to Restrict E-Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration announced it will act to ensure its right to impose marketing, manufacturing and safety restrictions on "electronic cigarettes."

In a letter posted to the FDA's website Monday, Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said the agency will act to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. The agency will propose new regulatory language that would specifically define e-cigarettes as a tobacco product.

Electronic cigarettes do not burn tobacco directly, but allow a user to inhale heated nicotine derived from tobacco and suspended in a fluid canister. Instead of emitting tobacco smoke with a consumer's use, electronic cigarettes and their users release only water vapor. While those who make and sell electronic cigarettes maintain the devices are far safer than smoking cigarettes, the FDA contradicts that, noting that half of the 19 brands of e-cigarettes it sampled contained nitrosamines, a carcinogen found in real cigarettes, and many contained diethylene glycol, a poisonous ingredient in antifreeze.

Between 2008 and 2010, the FDA determined that certain electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were unapproved drug/device combination products and detained and/or refused admission to those offered for import by Sottera, Inc. and other manufacturers. Sottera, Inc. challenged that determination in court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in Sottera, Inc. v. Food & Drug Administration, 627 F.3d 891 (D.C. Cir. 2010), recently issued a decision with regard to e-cigarettes and other products “made or derived from tobacco” and the jurisdictional line that should be drawn between “tobacco products” and “drugs,” “devices,” and combination products, as those terms are defined in the FD&C Act. The court held that e-cigarettes and other products made or derived from tobacco can be regulated as “tobacco products” under the Act and are not drugs/devices unless they are marketed for therapeutic purposes.