Most Interesting Drug Stories Of The Year

January 4th, 2011  

2010 has passed and you are probably, like me, struggling to write or type “11” at the end of the year.  We saw a lot of interesting things happen in 2010 when it comes to drug-related news.  In some cases use took off and in some cases it dropped; drugs were banned, celebrities went in and out of rehab, drawing attention to certain kinds of drug abuse, and marijuana legalization was voted on across the US.  What in your opinion were the most interesting drug-related stories of the year?

Here are a few of ours:

January – Drug Testing the Center of Debate in Kansas

Many states are suffering due to the recession, and looking for places to cut their budgets.  One particularly controversial idea was to drug test welfare recipients to determine their eligibility for benefits.  Missouri, Kansas, and more recently, Florida, are still making headlines on this issue in one way or another.  So far no such bill has passed but the issue looks like it will be taken up again by newly elected Florida Governor Rick Scott.

The Olympics tend to always be a time when drug use and drug testing are discussed.

The Olympics

February – The Olympics

Time flies, ski jumpers do too.  It seems like just yesterday I was trudging home in the cold to watch the Olympics in Vancouver.  This story is included because the Olympics always brings up issues of doping and drug testing – Winter Olympians in particular seem to get in trouble with marijuana (Ross Ross Rebaglti, Bode Miller).

March – U.S. the Illegal Drug Capital of the World

“Hooray.”  The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) declared the United States the largest market for illegal drugs in the world.

Cigarette Companies Still Not Playing By The Rules

Although the actual event discussed in this story happened in 2008, it was a study in 2010 that made it a “story.”  This study suggested that a series of conventionally feminine Camel ads influenced as many as 174,000 underage girls to start smoking.  The makers of Camel cigarettes pushed back and said they followed restrictions on cigarette marketing from 1998.  As to whether that’s true, you be the judge.

May – Lindsay Lohan, Generally

It’s hard to find just one link for this story.  Celebrity drug gossip is not one of my favorite topics, but Lindsay Lohan has provided very public evidence all year of how scary and messy dealing with drug/alcohol problems can be.

June/July – Washington Fights OxyContin Prescription Fraud

You know how people (at least in movies) add a few extra zeros to a check?  This is what some people have done with their painkiller prescriptions.  To combat this the state of Washington came out with new, harder to tamper with prescription paper.  It’s a major hurdle, and a solution we’ll definitely check in on later to see how well it worked.

Alcohol and drug abuse rose among teen girls according to a study from this year.

Alcohol

Alcohol & Drug Abuse Rises Among Teen Girls

A new study xanaxonlinebuy indicated that “self-medication” among teen girls has increased at a greater pace than it has among teen boys.  Released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the MetLife Foundation, it showed that about 70 percent of girls agreed that “using drugs helps kids deal with problems at home.”

August – Adderall – Upper, Downer, Leveler?

August kicked off for us with a bizarrely misleading statement of Michael Lohan’s, in which while denying his daughter had a methamphetamine problem pointed to Adderall as a “methamphetamine base.” While somewhat true, chemistry doesn’t really “work” that way.  In other words, while two chemicals can be extremely similar, that 1% difference between the two can create extremely disparate effects.  Gas is a “base” for napalm, but obviously we don’t all drive around in fireballs.

However, Adderall when used without a prescription DOES have undesirable effects.  It seems to “level out” the symptoms associated with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), such as hyperactivity, while fostering said symptoms in those without ADD.  It’s an interesting issue and was brought up in the case of Ms. Lohan by a doctor who suggested that in fact, when ADD is misdiagnosed, the use of Adderall can cause many problems and cocaine-like highs.  It is, after all, more or less like speed, and you can home drug test for it for good reason.  And with that, we end our recap coverage of Ms. Lohan and her drug issues.

Four Loko got the axe this year as it was said to cause hospitalizations and raised concerns among parents and school administrators.

Four Loko

October – Loco for Four Loko

This fall Four Loko attracted a lot of attention, enough to get it swiftly taken off the market by the FDA.  We covered both the initial furor and the controversial ban.

November – Bye, Bye Spice – For Now

We covered Spice and whether it could be drug tested for, and then provided coverage on what Spice is, really.  The FDA and DEA put an emergency ban on the sale of Spice/k2 at the end of the year, however, so that it could be studied to see if its use was/is safe.

December – More Teens Smoke Pot Than Cigarettes

Rounding out the year, the NIDA put out a study that showed that there are more 12th graders that smoke pot than there are 12th graders that smoke cigarettes.  There are many possible explanations for this result – the general popularity of cigarettes is decreasing, plus at their age neither pot nor cigarettes can be purchased legally, so it depends on what you can buy from friends.  In such a situation it’s not hard to imagine that more 12th graders smoke pot than cigarettes.

Whew!  That about wraps it up for us.  What was your favorite or least favorite drug related story of the year?  Let us know too what you would like to see in the coming year.  And finally, have a Happy New Year!

-Robyn

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Dealing With Federal Laws: Figuring Out How To Drug Test Your Employees

December 23rd, 2010  

[This is the third in a series of articles by Kim Wilbur, operations manager for a local company.  To view all of Kim’s blogs please visit the Blog Series:  Employee Drug Testing homepage.]

Federal Laws

Now that I want to start drug testing our employees what do I do?  Maybe the question is, “what do I HAVE to do?”  I thought I had better first find out what the laws and requirements are, so I started doing some research.  The federal laws that your business must adhere to will vary depending on the amount of employees you have on staff and the type of business you have.  See below for a brief summary of applicable laws and how they relate to creating a drug-free workplace policy.

Fifteen or More Employees

American with Disabilities Act of 1990

A federal law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.   The importance of the ADA is to ensure that employers evaluate an individuals’ ability to do the required job tasks and that they make employment decisions based on an individual’s qualifications and performance not the person’s history of drug or alcohol abuse.  For more information see the Department of Labor’s ADA page.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

This landmark bill prohibits private employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, sex, religion, or nationality.  Employers are required to ensure that their drug free workplace policy and programs treat all workers equally and avoid singling out any particular racial, ethnic, or gender group for drug or alcohol testing or disciplinary action. _____________________________________________________________________________________

Fifty or More Employees

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

This act enables employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a 12 month period, due to a serious health problem or a substance abuse problem as long as they have worked for an employer for at least 1 year.   For more information see the Department of Labor’s FMLA page. _____________________________________________________________________________________

Unionized Industries

National Labor Relations Act

This act requires that a drug testing policy that affects union workers, must be negotiated and agreed upon with the union itself.  Even if the employer is mandated to have a policy because of the type of industry it is in, such as a transportation company, the employer must still work closely with the union to determine the specifics of the policy.  For more information see the National Labor Relations Board site here.

Federal Government Contractors and Grantees Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988

This requires Federal contractors and all Federal grantees to agree that they will provide drug-free workplaces as a condition of receiving a contract or grant from a Federal agency.   For more information see this page from the Department of Labor.

Transportation Industry The Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act of 1991

States that any employee performing safety-sensitive transportation functions, including ones in the “aviation, trucking, railroads, mass transit, and pipelines industries” are required to be drug and alcohol tested.  Employee drug testing must be done pre- employment, in the event of reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return to duty and follow up, and at predetermined random rates.  For more information see the Department of Transportation’s page.

Department of Defense

All contractors working for the Department of Defense who have access to classified information must create, maintain and enforce a drug free work place policy.  The policies must be consistent with state laws and be agreed to by any relevant labor union.  For more information see this official PDF from the military.

Other Federal Safety Sensitive Organizations

Other organizations that have similar drug testing policies to the US Department of Defense are the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  More information about their policies can be found on each agency’s Web site or in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Again these are basic overviews of the Federal laws that may apply to your business.  To ensure that you are following the appropriate laws and regulations for your business so that you can avoid fines or being sued, you should consult a lawyer.

We hope this helped and that you found it interesting!  Stay tuned for our next installment!

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More Teens Smoke Pot Than Cigarettes: So Says New Monitoring The Future Study Out Today

December 14th, 2010  

In a remarkable study published today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it was found that among 12th graders more report past-month marijuana use than they do cigarette use.  This is the first time this has happened since 1981.

The new statistics are found in this year’s Monitoring the Future survey.  The study comes out every year.  The exact finding was that 21.4% of 12th graders used marijuana in the past 30 days, compared to 19.2% who smoked cigarettes.

Other interesting findings include that general past year drug use among 8th graders rose over the past year by 1.5% to 16%.  Use of ecstasy increased, most drastically among 8th graders, where use almost doubled.  Prescription drug abuse stayed generally the same (although use of Vicodin decreased among 12th graders).  One bright spot is that teen binge drinking appears to be decreasing.  Among high school seniors, 23.2% met the requirements of a binge in the past two weeks (5 or more drinks in a row).  This is two percentage points less than in 2009 and far below the high for binge drinking in 1998, which was 31.5%.

What does this really tell us?  Is decreased alcohol use among teens “worth” increases in marijuana use?  Can we even say that it works like that (probably not!)?  Some experts are contributing the increase in marijuana usage among teens to mixed messages being sent about whether marijuana is generally medicinal or not.  It may also have to do with the fact that marijuana use is decriminalized in parts of the United States.  Perhaps this will make families and employers more inclined to screen with a marijuana drug test kit.  In any case, as usual these statistics will attract attention and cause those on both sides of the pro/anti drug debate to reflect on our culture today – what is the best way to handle teens’ curiosity about drugs and how can we best keep kids safe?

For more please see the LA Times or HealthDay.

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Book Review: “Intoxicating Minds” by Ciaran Regan

December 8th, 2010  

For anyone interested in drugs, no matter the aspect (substance rehabilitation, public policy, cultural studies, etc.), it seems wise to learn at least a little bit about pharmacology. Pharmacology is the study of how drugs work in the body and the brain. It’s a rapidly developing field that could be the key to solving all sorts of problems – Alzheimer’s Disease, schizophrenia, depression, and so on. It tells us how drugs work in terms of their effects in our brains and on our behavior.

For a wide-ranging and colorful introduction to pharmacology, you can rely on Professor Ciaran Regan’s book “Intoxicating Minds: How Drugs Work.” I learned quite a bit about drugs both legal and illegal. Alcohol, for example, unlike many other drugs, does not have a specific receptor in the brain that it acts upon. It basically affects the entire nerve cell system. Benzodiazepines, on the other hand, have very specific effects. They bind on what is known as the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor and enhance the binding ability of the GABA neurotransmitter. Though both alcohol and benzodiazepines are colloquially known as “downers,” it’s obvious that they work in extremely different ways.

Intoxicating Minds, a book on pharmacology.

"Intoxicating Minds: How Drugs Work" by Ciaran Regan.

Although I understand pharmacology better than I did before reading this book, it’s still a challenging and complicated field of study. If you really want to understand pharmacology, you’re going to have to study and read far more academic texts than this one. (Keep in mind that I came to the book with zip knowledge of pharmacology, though.) For some people, Russian novels make them wish they had a list of the characters’ first, middle, and last names; in my case, this book made me wish for an illustrated list of key definitions that I could buylevitra refer back to as the book moved from drug class to drug class.

While you won’t get a degree in pharmacology from reading the book, you will learn a lot about the development of drugs and their use, both ancient and modern. A great deal of time is spent on mood disorders and schizophrenia, which yields some insights and draws attention to the upsetting fact that still, we just don’t get it – a full understanding of schizophrenia and depression still elude our grasp. My favorite sections covered how psychoactive drugs may’ve been involved in mankind’s first cave paintings, how the placebo effect may (or may not) work, and how plants themselves naturally contain benzodiazepines and other psychoactive substances and how those substances may regulate a plant’s own functions and in turn have influenced natural selection when it comes to human development.

The last bit is the most fascinating to me, and most reflect the author’s goals for this book. How in evolutionary history have drugs influenced our social organization and affected the development of our genetic code? Professor Regan is clear from the very beginning that he has no answers, just questions, and a lot of information (my favorite tidbit – did you know you can get benzodiazepines from cows’ milk, as a result of the way their body processes certain grasses? Presumably not enough to blame a failed urine drug test on milk, though – it’s no poppy seed bagel). Any of the chapters in the book could easily be expanded into a full book and be worth reading. For the curiosity it inspires alone, “Intoxicating Minds” is well worth your time.

Check out the book’s homepage at the Columbia University Press site.

Learn more about the author by visiting Professor Ciaran Regan’s page at the University College Dublin.

–  Book review by Robyn Schelenz.

Vitamin d – is more better?

November 30th, 2010   1 Comment

The Institute of Medicine’s 14 member panel has released the findings of their two year study of vitamin D and increased the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D to 600 international units per day from the previous level of 400 international units per day. This is the second increase since the 1997 levels which were 200 international units per day.

The panel was formed at the request of the governments of the United States and Canada. The panel examined thousands of publications and studies in order to determine how much vitamin D and calcium people needed for good health, how much was too much and what is the level for deficiency.

Vitamin d testing has exploded over the last few years and labs have started reporting that levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter is a deficiency. The Institute of Medicine’s new study states that a level of 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter to be the level that is needed for good bone health for practically all individuals, therefore, a deficiency would exist only below 20 ng/mL.

When labs use the below 30 nanograms level as a deficiency then an estimated 80 percent of the population is deemed vitamin d deficient. However, the Institute of Medicine is lowering that bar to 20 nanograms which would mean that we don’t actually have a vitamin d epidemic in the United States.

The medical community has released thousands of studies over the last several years supporting an increased need for vitamin d supplementation to levels between 1000 – 2000 IU and citing increased diseases in people with low levels of vitamin d. The media has highly publicized vitamin d as a panacea for the common cold to cancer. So how do we make sense of the new government study?

The government is required to issue one number which is supposed to be for everyone in the United States. Certainly, the government would not recommend one level for the people of Vermont and another for the people of Florida, but that is how vitamin d works based on your distance from the equator. And certainly there would be an uproar if our government made one recommendation for whites and one recommendation for blacks, but again that is how vitamin d works based on the color of your skin and its ability to absorb the sun’s rays and convert them to vitamin d.

“the committee emphasizes that, with a few exceptions, all North Americans are receiving enough calcium and vitamin D. Higher levels have not been shown to confer greater benefits, and in fact, they have been linked to other health problems, challenging the concept that “more is better.””

So the Institute of Medicine has to walk this very narrow line of making a recommendation that will work for every man, woman and child in this country – as their tagline on their website says “Advising the Nation”. So while medical evidence exists that where you live or the color of your skin will effect your vitamin d level, the committee had to ignore these facts in their recommendations and find a cautious level to establish for all.

Even with the recommended lower level of 20 ng/mL many people are still vitamin d deficient. If you want to heed the cautionary levels recommended by the IOM then test your vitamin d level and if it is below 20 ng/mL then take the recommended supplement of 600 IU per day. Test your vitamin d again in three months and see if there has been improvement. Many in the medical community will tell you that you cannot raise your vitamin d level on 600 IUs per day.

The one thousand page report issued by the IOM will be read in full by few and rehashed by many. Personally, I will not read the entire 1,000 report since I had trouble getting all the way through Dr. Holick’s 336 page book on vitamin d. However, I do know that I can have my vitamin d level tested and know that I need to be at minimum in the 20 – 30 ng/mL range. My recent vitamin d level came in at 14.6 ng/mL and I live in the sunny south and am white. Just to get to the cautiously safe level of 30 ng/mL means doubling my vitamin d level which will take additional supplementation and additional sun exposure. The good news is that I can test again and find out if I am making progress.

While the IOM report sounds like a cautionary warning, the truth is we still have the tools available to find out what works for each of us individually and this is not something the government will ever be able to do – determine what is best for you.

The FDA Ban on Four Loko – Why The FDA Isn’t Going To Take Your Rum And Coke Away

November 23rd, 2010   2 Comments

It’s been exactly a week since my last article on Four Loko (“Wilmington Takes A Harder Look At Four Loko”) and in that time a lot has changed. In fact, Four Loko went from being a potential menace (especially if you drink more than one) and college party favorite to a banned drink. How exactly did this happen so fast?

Well, actually, it didn’t happen that fast. According to Discover Magazine (in 2009) the FDA requested proof that the caffeinated alcohol drinks were safe back in 2009. The list of companies notified to look into their products’ safety is here. State regulators did not wait for the FDA – Michigan, New York, and Utah among other states banned the sale of Four Loko in their state before the FDA sent their warning letter on November 17.

Four Loko can cause violent behavior in students due to its high powered blend of alcohol and caffeine.

Students that drink Four Loko are more likely to engage in dangerous behavior, according to Federal officials.

These facts, and other developments (hospitalizations of binge drinking students, a study that showed that caffeinated alcohol drinks cause more sexual violence and more dangerous behavior in general) led to a not so rosy outlook for Four Loko and its kind. In fact, on Nov. 16 Phusion Products, the makers of Four Loko, presumably anticipating the FDA’s letter, announced they were removing caffeine, guarana, and taurine from their drinks.

The reaction to this was somewhat predictable.  Philly Post writer Jeff Billman in his article “Leave Four Loko Alone” said:

“But: Do you really think that banning Four Loko, or anything else for that matter, is going to stop kids from figuring out that if they chug a Red Bull in between sessions of Coors Light or Jose Cuervo or whatever cheap vodka comes in plastic jugs and in bulk from the BJ’s across the state line in Delaware, they’ll be able to stay awake longer and, consequently, drink more? I had that figured out well before the advent of Four Loko, and I can assure you that, in this, the information age, the kids today are much better informed on these things than I was as a college frosh in 1997. If I want a particularly late-night bender—a rarer and rare occurrence these days—downing one of those five-hour energy shots does the trick. Oh, and those are totally legal. So is downing one, and following it with six shots of Jack Daniel’s.”

Er, yes, that is true.  But comparing a five-hour energy shot with Four Loko is unfair.  After all, a five-hour energy shot does not contain alcohol.  Nor is it packaged with alcohol, and my guess would be if the packaging expressed that it works well with six shots of Jack Daniel’s that they would be receiving a letter from the FDA as well.  Vague comparisons of dissimilar products aren’t going to get you very far.

Meanwhile, over at the Miami New Times, you could hear Kyle Munzenrieder make the “nanny state” argument:

“In a treacherous blow to the personal freedoms of Americans and Capitalism itself the FDA is expected to ban the sale of caffeinated alcohol drinks as soon as next week. Yes, alcohol and caffeine, two perfectly legal and widely available substances will not be allowed to be sold together in one can. The move comes after in the midst of the Four Loko craze.”

You may have a point when you make that argument (I wouldn’t say the ban is necessarily a good or bad thing) but it’s not really fair to make that argument in this manner:

“Researchers are concerned that caffeine counterbalances some of the effects of alcohol and may lead drinkers to believer they are less drunk then they are. That’s a valid point, yet the mixing of the two substances isn’t going away any time soon. While the pre-made mixtures will apparently now be banned, it’s unlikely Americans will stop drinking these find mixtures of caffeine and booze:

Rum and Coke
Vodka and Redbull
Irish Coffee
Espresso martinis
Shots followed by a Five Hour Energy chaser
Cafecito and Cisco”

Yes, Americans are still going to drink rum and coke, but no, that’s not really the same thing. Irish coffee has not been the scourge of college campuses lately. Nor have rum and cokes. Why is that? Because they contain vastly different quantities of caffeine and alcohol. Make a 6.5 oz rum and coke with 40% ABV rum and your drink will contain 0.6 oz of alcohol and 14.5 mg of caffeine. Make a version of it more generously sized and you are still nowhere near Four Loko. This recipe calls for 4 oz of Bacardi white rum (37.5% ABV) and 8 oz of Coca Cola (35 mg of caffeine in a 12 oz can). This drink will probably cost you more at the bar, and still only have 23.3 mg of caffeine and 1.5 oz of alcohol (4 oz x .375). This is compared to Four Loko, which has one serving size (23.5 oz) and contains 156 mg of caffeine and 2.82 oz of alcohol. Even two of those hefty rum and cokes wouldn’t have as much caffeine as a Four Loko. I don’t that anyone ever binges on Irish Coffees, but if you are drinking an average sized Irish Coffee (a 7.5 oz serving, plus cream on top) you’re only going to consume about 0.6 oz of alcohol and 90 mg of caffeine. Again, just not the same.

Four Loko does not stack up against other mixed drinks in terms of caffeine - it stacks over.

Four Loko, towering over the competition.

The other problem in Four Loko land (as we’ve pointed out before) is the serving size. It’s a carbonated beverage so once you crack open the can, you’re more or less forced to consume/get rid of it or have it go flat. Unlike vodka (which Arrested Development’s Lindsay Bluth memorably and mistakenly believed “goes bad once it’s opened”) Four Loko cannot really be consumed in moderation. Fortunately we can cap our whiskey, rum, and vodka bottles. In fact, that’s part of the design – if vodka was packaged to “go bad” within a few hours, you can bet it wouldn’t be on the market.

Was the ban the smartest thing ever? That seems to me to be another debate. It also seems to me that comparing a mixed drink like a rum and coke to Four Loko does not have a place in that debate. After all, Four Loko is a real product on a real shelf – nobody is selling rum and cokes in a can. The FDA’s job is to regulate real products. And again, if they did sell rum and coke in a can, that would probably have not caught the FDA’s attention – if the can was 12 oz instead of 23.5. Caffeine and alcohol together are not necessarily going to send you to the hospital or make you have a violent freak out, but moderation when consuming the two simultaneously is more even important than when consuming one or the other separately. Phusion Products ended up creating a product that fell a little far outside the lines of moderation. Four Loko is just oversized in almost every sense (except price, which Cord Jefferson thinks may’ve played a role in its being banned). My guess is that if Phusion Products had not tried to create the craziest thing on the market, their product would probably still be on the market.

Post by Robyn Schelenz. Have any thoughts, comments, or disagreements you wish to share? Send me an email over at robyn at homehealthtesting.com and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Headline photo by Ted S. Warren/Associated Press.

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