According to the Crestview News Bulletin, “A majority of Okaloosa County’s convenience stores reportedly has joined an effort to combat synthetic cocaine sales.

“Sixty of some 80 convenience stores, including area Tom Thumb stores, have accepted the ‘Gold Star’ retailer designation, declining to sell so-called bath salts.

“They can display a ‘Sheriff’s Gold Star Retailer’ placard, which features the warning, ‘Synthetic drugs kill’ in large letters.”

This shows that it is important to go at the drug problem from different angles including legislative, law enforcement and educational at the same time.

According to GovExec.com, “The researchers studied rats that were chronically addicted to cocaine. Their need for the drug was so strong that they would ignore electric shocks in order to get a hit. But when those same rats received the laser light pulses, the light activated the prelimbic cortex, causing electrical activity in that brain region to surge. Remarkably, the rat’s fear of the foot shock reappeared, and assisted in deterring cocaine seeking. On the other hand, when the team used a different optogenetics technique to reduce activity in this same brain region, rats that were previously deterred by the foot shocks became chronic cocaine junkies.

“Clearly this same approach wouldn’t be used in humans. But it does suggest that boosting activity in the prefrontal cortex using methods like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is already used to treat depression, might help. In fact, clinical trials at the NIH are scheduled to begin soon. The researchers plan on using TMS to bump up activity in the prefrontal cortex and see if it decreases addictive behaviors in people.”

So, there you have it. Hope and help for cocaine addicts in emerging science may just prove to be viable in the near future.

According to the Guardian, “The number of heroin and crack cocaine users in England has fallen below 300,000 for the first time, according to the new figures published by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA).

“The decline in the use of the most harmful drugs comes as the NTA claims that its drug treatment programme, which reaches 63% of heroin and crack cocaine users, has prevented an estimated 5m drug-related crimes a year, such as burglary, shoplifting and robbery.”

In 2001, the UK government expanding funding for drug treatment as an anti-crime measure. And the results that are now in is that this has worked in reducing crime and reducing those addicted to these two hard drugs.

According to UT San Diego, “Twelve of the defendants were arrested on Wednesday, officials said. Seven are from Vista; two are from San Marcos; and the other three are from Oceanside, Spring Valley and Los Angeles.

“One defendant was previously arrested. Six others named in a criminal complaint are fugitives. The arrests follow a yearlong investigation by the DEA and the Major Mexican Traffickers Strike Force. The drug ring brought methamphetamine and cocaine into San Diego County from cartels based in Tijuana and Guadalajara, Mexico …”

Meth users and abusers seldom think of (or don’t know about) the group of people that their habit passes through when ingesting a drug. Many don’t think of addiction as a moral issue, though in fact it often does have a moral component when talking about illicit drugs.

The aim of this post is not to preach but to point out a real life example of where addiction and morality issues do intersect.

According to the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington, “Residents of the house admitted to authorities after the death that they used drugs, Troyer said. He said there were no signs of drugs or drug use when deputies arrived. The hospital called law enforcement after the boy was examined and deputies arrived hours after he was initially transported …”

The deputies on duty have been called to the home for drug use in the past. Enough said?

According to the L. A. Times, “Rogue pharmacists have a symbiotic relationship with physicians who prescribe drugs for addicts. Neither can flourish without the other.

“Their cooperation is usually unplanned. Through trial and error, addicts whose doctor writes prescriptions for narcotics will discover a pharmacist willing to dispense the drugs without the appropriate scrutiny. Then word gets around.

“Both pharmacist and doctor can reap a windfall by writing and filling large numbers of prescriptions for cash.”

In one case one of these pharmacies failed to account for over 12,000 OxyContin tablets. And the price on the street for these tablets is over $1 million.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio has had a synthetic-drug law on the books since last year, but chemists who make the drug compounds have found ways around it by simply tweaking the chemical compound to make it slightly different — and legal. The new proposal would make the base compounds illegal, regardless of chemical modifications …

“…Dr. Dennis Mann of Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton said the hospital began seeing an increase in patients using bath salts and other synthetic drugs about two years ago. He said sometimes the hospital emergency room would be inundated with ‘combative, out-of-control, fairly psychotic people’ who posed a danger to emergency medical technicians and hospital personnel.”

Over the past few years there has been an epidemic of bath salts being sold and used as drugs nationwide. A study over the summer suggests that bath salts may be as addictive as cocaine.

There is another contest this year held by the National Family Partnership. The prize is nearly the same as a student can win an iPad (upgrade from the iPad2 of last year) for themselves and $1,000 for their K-12 school. Contest details are on the Red Ribbon Blog.

Red Ribbon Week was inspired after the 1985 kidnapping, torturing and killing of a DEA agent named Enrique Camarena. This horrible event happened in Guadalajara, Mexico where Camarena spent four years dealing with drug cartels.

Residents of Camarena’s hometown in California wore red ribbons after this event and this has since become a symbol of drug prevention in order to cut down on these types of crimes.

The 11Alive News crew has discovered how easy it is to buy prescription medication and non-prescription illicit drugs online with the help of Craigslist. This is a problem that needs publicity so that it can be addressed. Just like Craigslist used to publish adult ads and finally took those down, similar filters should also be in place with regard to drugs.

Besides addicts seeking drugs for their own use, there are also others seeking prescription medication for a variety of reasons. And counterfeit medications is a big issue here. For instance, when you buy from an anonymous source, how to you know what you’re getting is authentic and won’t hurt your health?

Like I said, the cat is already out of the bag. Write your lawmakers so they will take notice and take action.

According to CNN, “Witnesses heard the roar of a motorcycle and two gunshots Monday afternoon, Medellin police spokesman Diego Chavarria said. By the time authorities arrived at the scene in Belen, a residential neighborhood in Medellin, they found Blanco lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

“Blanco, also known as ‘the godmother’ and ‘mafia’s mother,’ gained notoriety in the 1970s and ’80s when, authorities say, she was responsible for shipping multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Miami. She was also the mastermind, investigators say, of countless murders. She was also linked to drug lord Pablo Escobar.”

Florida authorities estimate Blanco was involved in at least 40 murders in Miami, Queens and Broward County.