Monthly Archives: September 2008

A treatise on psychoactive drugs

Thanks to Andy via the ADCA Update list for this:

“Psychoactive drugs are everywhere. Any discussion of drug use needs to take this into account. The broad category of “psychoactive drugs” consists of natural and synthetic substances that alter a person’s thoughts or feelings. There exist hundreds of plants, which, if eaten, smoked, snorted, or injected, will affect the mind—whether acting as a stimulant, depressant, or psychedelic. Thousands of known chemicals will do the same. Used recreationally, medicinally, or for work, some are illegal and others not: They include coffee, wine, and tobacco; prescription pain medications, sleep aids, and antidepressants; as well as cannabis, LSD, and heroin. Psychoactives are in the kitchen, in the hardware store, in the greenhouse, in home medicine cabinets, and in fuel tanks across the country.

Everyone uses them. Would you believe that nearly 90% of 45-year-olds in the United States have tried an illegal drug in their lifetime?[1] As of 2006, more than 35 million Americans had taken an illicit drug in the previous year.[2] Monitoring the Future (MTF), the best current survey about illegal drug use in the United States,[3] reports that one in five college students used an illicit drug in the past month. Nearly all adults in the U.S. have tried alcohol, while over 80% use caffeine daily.[4] Last year there were over 180 million prescriptions written for opiates alone,[5] and a diverse assortment of psychoactives are increasingly used by older Americans from coast to coast.[6]

They are not going away. Humans have used psychoactive substances for as long as we have records[7] and some of the largest corporations in the world are actively developing new ones for the future. There is no magic bullet that will suddenly make these compounds disappear from our society. If there were, the past century of ever-increasing penalties for possession and sale of recreationally used drugs, along with massive anti-drug “education” campaigns, would have reduced use. But they have not.

The United States has implemented random drug testing of junior high and high school students who participate in chess club. No-knock warrants allow police to invade private homes with guns drawn in case a suspect might try to flush illegal drugs down the toilet. Taxpayers spend 8 billion dollars each year to incarcerate drug law offenders,[8,9] and pay for ideologically driven, abstinence-only education programs that are so factually misleading that they often fail to acknowledge the pleasurable or useful effects of the substances they teach about.

Despite these extreme measures, a majority of the population age 18-65 has chosen to try an illegal drug.[10] The mainstream reaction is to continue the calls for “getting tougher.” Instead of working towards unrealistic, naïve goals such as a “drug free century,” our response has been to step back and reassess, asking: How can society adapt to the realities of the communication age and develop more sophistication and balance regarding the use of psychoactive drugs?

Modern humans must learn how to relate to psychoactives responsibly, treating them with respect and awareness, working to minimize harms and maximize benefits, and integrating use into a healthy, enjoyable, and productive life. But above all else, in a world filled with materials and technologies that affect the mind, adults must have the robust education and accurate, pragmatic information necessary to help them take charge of their relationships with psychoactives and teach their children how to do so from an early age.

Rest at: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/09/08/earth-and-fire-erowid/towards-a-culture-of-responsible-drug-use/ ”

I couldn’t disagree with a lot there – psychoactives have only ever been on the perimeter of mainstream drug education, usually due to a somewhat legitimate fear of widening the use options for young people. WHat do you think – how would you mainstream education on psychoactives?

News of substance – drugs in the worldwide news

1. Deutsche Welle (Germany) – EU Aims to Fight Drug Use with New Action Plan. “With a brand new drug-free campaign, the European Union hopes to keep young people substance free — and improve cooperation between the bloc’s member states. Two million people in the European Union are dependent on drugs and roughly 7,500 die every year as a consequence of their addiction – statistics which are reason enough for the EU to fight drug consumption and the spread of drugs.”

2. The Sun Daily (Malaysia) – Film competition on beating drug dependency. “THERE are some 250,000 registered drug addicts in Malaysia today. But Dr Steven Chow, president of Addiction Medicine Association of Malaysia, said this is only the tip of the iceberg. According to him, only one in four drug addicts are detected and the emergence of newer designer drugs in the social scene means the numbers could have increased.”

3. Straight.com (Canada) – Researcher condemns Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s war on drugs. ”
When retired SFU psychology professor Bruce Alexander starts thinking about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s $63.8-million National Anti-Drug Strategy, he “goes ballistic”. The policy promotes cracking down on illicit drugs, mandatory minimum sentences, media messages to youth, increasing abstinence-based treatment capacity, and funding more police officers. In other words, a classic drug-prohibition stance—one the Conservatives are repeating heading into the October 14 election.”

4. Metro (Canada) – Tackling ‘sex addiction’. “I wonder how David Duchovny’s doing in rehab. As you no doubt know by now, the former X Files star and husband of actress Téa Leoni checked himself into rehab for “sexual addiction” at the end of August. No word on how he’s doing but you have to wonder. When one goes into rehab for alcohol or drug addiction, they don’t generally let you bring in a flask or a joint or two for when the temptation gets to be too much. But, what do they do when a so-called sex addict feels the urge. Keep his hands tied behind his back? Frankly, the whole idea of “sex addiction” is problematic.”

5. New York Times (USA) – Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate? Wrong. “We’ve heard it before. “Drug abuse is an equal opportunity destroyer.” “Drug addiction is a bipartisan illness.” “Addiction does not discriminate; it doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, famous or unknown, a man or woman, or even a child.” The phrase “addiction doesn’t care” is not meant to remind us that addiction casts a long shadow — everyone knows that. Rather, it is supposed to suggest that any individual, no matter who, is vulnerable to the ravages of drugs and alcohol.”

6. The Daily Times (Pakistan) – Students highlight hazards of drug abuse. “In connection with International Day against Drug Abuse, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in collaboration with Iqra University organised a painting competition titled ‘Say no to drugs’ at university campus here on Thursday. Ambassador of Italy Vincenzo Prati was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr Jamil Ahmed, Dean Iqra University, and Anwar Hafeez, ANF director, were also present on the occasion.”

7. Newsday (USA) – Survey: Drug use among older adults hits all-time peak. “Drug use among older adults in the United States has hit its highest point ever, according to data from the federal government’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In the government’s latest report – reflecting drug use in 2007 – 1 in 20 Americans ages 50 to 59 told researchers they had used illicit drugs in the last month. More than one-half of these older users still like their street drugs, including marijuana and cocaine.”

8. Medical News Today (USA) – National Institute On Drug Abuse Unveils “Innovations” In Addiction Research. “The first annual NIDA Notes “Innovations” issue, released today, features examples of benchmark NIDA research advances that have profound implications for addiction science. Highlights include deep brain exploration made possible by new optical technologies; remote control of animal behavior in real time; and novel approaches to pain treatment. Articles in this issue shed light on mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases and will explore the role of memory in addictive behavior. ”

9. AlterNet (USA) – It’s Time for the Federal Government to Abandon the Drug War. “As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition. But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. The other candidates for president prefer not to address this issue, but ignoring the failure of existing policy exhibits both a poverty of thought and an absence of political courage. The federal government must turn the decision on drug policy back to the states and the citizens themselves.”

Interesting ruling on drug testing in the workplace

This is a fascinating decision as it shows the long way the industry has to go in offering comprehensive testing solutions. At best a company can assume it’s usually ok to do oral fuid testing and that some urine testing might be acceptable when testing regimes are up to par.

The summary of the decision:

AIRC Decision on “Implementation of random drug testing: use of oral fluids or urine as specimen for testing”

On 25 August 2008 in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Senior Deputy President Jonathan Hamberger, handed down his decision in the case of Shell Refining (Australia) Pty Ltd, Clyde Refinery versus the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union regarding the matter of “Implementation of random drug testing: use of oral fluids or urine as specimen for testing”.

In a private arbitration, which both parties agreed to waive confidentially, and consented to the decision being made public, Senior Deputy President Jonathan Hamberger, said the question at stake was:

“… Whether it would be unjust or unreasonable for the company to implement a urine-based random testing regime with its wide ‘window of detection’, with all that implies for interfering with the private lives of employees, when a much more focussed method is available, where a positive test is far more likely to indicate actual impairment, and is far less likely to detect the use of drugs at a time that would have no consequential effect on the employee’s performance at work.”

In his conclusion “… that the implementation of a urine based random drug testing regime in these circumstances would be unjust and unreasonable … ” , Senior Deputy President Hamberger gave two qualifications to his decision. The first was that no Australian laboratories were yet accredited for oral fluid testing under the relevant standard [not-for-profit company RASL gave evidence that it would shortly seek accreditation], and Shell could not be expected to implement its system until they were.

The second was that there were drugs (such as benzodiazepines) for which the relevant standard did not contain target concentration levels. Shell, he said, again could not be expected to implement an oral fluids based regime until it had the agreement of the union and the laboratory it would use on what other drugs it wished to test for and what would be an appropriate target concentration level.

Senior Deputy President Hamberger said that once these two issues were satisfactorily resolved, any random drug testing should be conducted using oral fluids. Until then, it would not be unreasonable for the company to implement a urine-based testing regime on an interim basis.

The full ruling can be found here.

Thanks to ADCA for the heads-up.