Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

I know there’s a difference between mental and physical addiction. For example, while sex is a biological need, as is sleep and food, there are sex addicts out there. Hell, there are masturbation addicts out there, as well. Without sex or masturbation, they go through mental withdrawals, unable to focus, and having their thoughts consumed with sex/masturbation. Worst of all, they’re unable to perform daily functions.

On the other hand, there are tobacco and designer drug (cocaine, meth, etc.) addictions, in which physical symptoms manifests itself when one stops consuming the drug.

Now, if you don’t mind, along with giving me your definition between a mere physical and mental addiction, can you tell me under which category (physical or mental) does marijuana addiction fall? I have a friend, who has been smoking pot everyday for the past 3-years, tell me that, because he filters out the THC in his marijuana, the marijuana he smokes is non-addictive, and, therefore, he can stop smoking anytime he wants devoid of withdrawals, be it physical or mental. What I tell him is that he still wouldn’t be able to stop smoking by virtue of mental addiction.

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Voting Question: I have 12 good reasons why I’m against weed. Give me 10 good reasons why I should support it?

Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

and I’ll consider changing my mind…

1) Children should not have to be exposed to adults getting high. Children should learn be happy by innocently playing with toys, drawing and making friends. When a child is down a parent should cheer them up and teach them how to deal with problems. Not by teaching them to escape from it by giving them weed. How will they learn to deal with problems that way? Adults who do weed near children are a bad influence.
2) It stinks. – I smelled someone who smelled like weed one time (and I didn’t even know it was weed at first until later) and I thought it smelled awful. I think other people think it smells too. If you don’t like to smell bad. Is this the smell you want on you?
3) It costs money. – I agree if you have money you should have the right to spend it on what you want. However, if you just lost your job and have a spouse and children to feed, it’s very selfish to let them starve while you get high (or other situations that require you to have money, but you spend it on weed instead). You could be spending your money on better stuff.
4) It can be a gateway drug. – People say this isn’t true, but it’s statically proven that people who do weed are more likely to do harder drugs. If you don’t believe me, use logic. If you try something that people told you was “bad” and you try it and find out it’s actually “not bad”, wouldn’t you be more tempted to try something else that’s “bad”? (i.e. a harder drug like cocaine?) Maybe it’s not physically a gateway drug, but I think it is mentally.
5) (for religious people) It’s a sin. – God clearly says, he doesn’t want people getting drunk. He doesn’t say anything about getting stoned; but the Bible makes it very clear that God want’s us to be fully alert at all times. Weed takes that away from you. God wants you to be yourself, not mind-altered in anyway.
6) It can be dangerous. – Dealing with illegal drugs ususally means you (or your friends) dealing with illegal drug dealers and/or dangerous people. Do you trust smoking something that was obtained by an illegal drug dealer? You don’t know where it’s been or how it was made. It’s deffinietly not FDA approved either.
7) Since you got it illegally. You don’t know if someone laced it with a dangerous chemical that can kill you (it may be rare, but there are stories on this).
8) It is illegal. – People say it’s safer than alcohol (I think it should be illegal too though), but whether you like it or not, it’s still illegal which means you can lose your job or go to jail for it. People also get a divorce over it too and lose respect from certain family members.
9) It may be a plant, but that doesn’t make it good. – Poison ivy is also a plant, would you smoke that? There are many things in nature that are dangerous.
10) People say, “if God made it, it must be good?” – God created many things that are against mankind. Look at wild animals for example. God created them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to hurt us. Also, it says in the bible that good created the marajuana plant to USE. Use as in, making rope out of it, not smoking it and getting high. Gof created everything with a good intention, he didn’t intent on getting on high.
11) This maybe kinda a bad reason because it’s a personal opinion, but I’m just going to throw it in here anyway; but I personally think rolling up a dead plant in a cheap piece of paper, putting it in your mouth, setting it on fire and breathing it in is kinda digusting.
12) It can be addictive. – Maybe physically people don’t get addicted to pot, but they deffinietly do mentally. Some people are actually in need of serious help trying to fight the addiction and some people get cranky until they get their weed. It’s stupid to think you can’t get addcited because you can get addicted to anything you like. My friends are addicted to a TV show now, and those don’t have addictives in it, so people can get just as easily addicted to pot.

I’ve never done weed in my life nor do I plan to. Give me GOOD reasons why you support it. I have many more reasons why I’m against it, but it doesn’t all fit.
People say I’m closed-minded, but I’ll only be open-minded if I get some good reasons here.

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Resolved Question: Certain celebrities have checked themselves into rehab for sex addiction?

Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

I haven’t personally seen any medical research on this? Where would it compare(just for the heck of it) against things like heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and other addicting substances? Are they just bad people? Or could they have a problem?
Should I Rozell? Thanks for the advice. :)

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A video describing why everyone should want marijuana legal, regardless if you would use it or not. I encourage everyone to locate the sources for this information and begin learning the lies begind cannabis prohibition. Song by: The Last of the Mohicans Disclaimer: I own nothing. hemp marijuana pot weed hash prohibition legal legalization illegalization smoke lung cancer 420 joint marihuana alcohol drug cocaine addiction ron paul jesse ventura joe rogan cnn abc news prop 19 crime medical medicine revolution 2012 president GOP republican

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MATForce invites physicians, pharmacists to join monitoring program

Filed under: physical signs of cocaine abuse

MATForce is attacking the prescription drug abuse epidemic by launching its "Sign Up to Save Lives" Campaign. The campaign is directed at physicians and pharmacists in Yavapai County, asking them to register for and use the Arizona Prescription Drug …
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UNC students face charges

Filed under: physical signs of cocaine abuse

All cocaine possession charges are felonies, and trespassing and paraphernalia charges are misdemeanors, Mecimore said. Police encountered the three early Friday while checking a West Rosemary Street parking deck where no trespassing signs are posted.
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Police Blotter: Cocaine Delivery Thwarted, Pedestrian Hurt, Break-ins and More

Filed under: physical signs of cocaine abuse

30: Hospital security notified Royal Oak officers that they had intercepted some crack cocaine being delivered to a patient. The suspect left the hospital before the officers arrived. 1880 Rochester, Feb. 1: Someone notified police that a white vehicle …
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Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

J Org Chem. 2012 Feb 2;
Davis FA, Gaddiraju NV, Theddu N, Hummel JR, Kondaveeti SK, Zdilla MJ

The first examples of cocaine analogs having substituents (methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-pentyl, and phenyl) at the C-1 position of the cocaine tropane skeleton were prepared by heating sulfinimine-derived alpha,beta-unsaturated pyrrolidine nitrones. In the presence of the Lewis acid Al(O-t-Bu)3 the nitrones undergo an intramolecular [3+2] cycloaddition to give tricyclic isoxazolidines which were transformed in three steps to the cocaine analogs. In the absence of the Lewis acid, lactams were formed resulting from rearrangement of the nitrone to an oxaziridine. A novel Pd and base-promoted rearrangement of methanesulfonate salts of isoxazolidine to bridge bicyclic[4.2.1] isoxazolidines was discovered.
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Agonist replacement therapy for cocaine dependence: a translational review.

Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

Future Med Chem. 2012 Feb; 4(2): 245-65
Rush CR, Stoops WW

Cocaine use disorders are prevalent throughout the world. Agonist replacement therapy is among the most effective strategies for managing substance use disorders including nicotine and opioid dependence. This paper reviews the translational literature, including preclinical experiments, human laboratory studies and clinical trials, to determine whether agonist-replacement therapy is a viable strategy for managing cocaine dependence. Discussion is limited to transporter blockers (i.e., methylphenidate) and releasers (i.e., amphetamine analogs) that are available for use in humans in the hope of impacting clinical research and practice more quickly. The translational review suggests that agonist-replacement therapy, especially monoamine releasers, may be effective for managing cocaine dependence. Future directions for medications development are also discussed because the viability of agonist-replacement therapy for cocaine dependence may hinge on identifying novel compounds or formulations that have less abuse and diversion potential.
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Pharmacokinetic strategies for treatment of drug overdose and addiction.

Filed under: Cocaine Addiction

Future Med Chem. 2012 Feb; 4(2): 227-43
Gorelick DA

The pharmacokinetic treatment strategy targets the drug molecule itself, aiming to reduce drug concentration at the site of action, thereby minimizing any pharmacodynamic effect. This approach might be useful in the treatment of acute drug toxicity/overdose and in the long-term treatment of addiction. Phase IIa controlled clinical trials with anticocaine and antinicotine vaccines have shown good tolerability and some efficacy, but Phase IIb and III trials have been disappointing because of the failure to generate adequate antibody titers in most participants. Monoclonal antibodies against cocaine, methamphetamine and phencyclidine have shown promise in animal studies, as has enhancing cocaine metabolism with genetic variants of human butyrylcholinesterase, with a bacterial esterase, and with catalytic monoclonal antibodies. Pharmacokinetic treatments offer potential advantages in terms of patient adherence, absence of medication interactions and benefit for patients who cannot take standard medications.
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Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Feb; 24(1): 38-55
Beaulieu S, Saury S, Sareen J, Tremblay J, Schütz CG, McIntyre RS, Schaffer A

Mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder (BD), frequently are associated with substance use disorders (SUDs). There are well-designed trials for the treatment of SUDs in the absence of a comorbid condition. However, one cannot generalize these study results to individuals with comorbid mood disorders, because therapeutic efficacy and/or safety and tolerability profiles may differ with the presence of the comorbid disorder. Therefore, a review of the available evidence is needed to provide guidance to clinicians facing the challenges of treating patients with comorbid mood disorders and SUDs.We reviewed the literature published between January 1966 and November 2010 by using the following search strategies on PubMed. Search terms were bipolar disorder or depressive disorder, major (to exclude depression, postpartum; dysthymic disorder; cyclothymic disorder; and seasonal affective disorder) cross-referenced with alcohol or drug or substance and abuse or dependence or disorder. When possible, a level of evidence was determined for each treatment using the framework of previous Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments recommendations. The lack of evidence-based literature limited the authors’ ability to generate treatment recommendations that were strictly evidence based, and as such, recommendations were often based on the authors’ opinion.Even though a large number of treatments were investigated for alcohol use disorder (AUD), none have been sufficiently studied to justify the attribution of level 1 evidence in comorbid AUD with major depressive disorder (MDD) or BD. The available data allows us to generate first-choice recommendations for AUD comorbid with MDD and only third-choice recommendations for cocaine, heroin, and opiate SUD comorbid with MDD. No recommendations were possible for cannabis, amphetamines, methamphetamines, or polysubstance SUD comorbid with MDD. First-choice recommendations were possible for alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine SUD comorbid with BD and only second-choice recommendations for heroin, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and polysubstance SUD comorbid with BD. No recommendations were possible for opiate SUD comorbid with BD. Finally, psychotherapies certainly are considered an essential component of the overall treatment of SUDs comorbid with mood disorders. However, further well-designed studies are needed in order to properly assess their potential role in specific SUDs comorbid with a mood disorder.Although certain treatments show promise in the management of mood disorders comorbid with SUDs, additional well-designed studies are needed to properly assess their potential role in specific SUDs comorbid with a mood disorder.
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Rapid and on-site analysis of illegal drugs on the nano-microscale using a deep ultraviolet-visible reflected optical fiber sensor.

Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

Analyst. 2012 Feb 3;
Li Q, Qiu T, Hao H, Zhou H, Wang T, Zhang Y, Li X, Huang G, Cheng J

A deep ultraviolet-visible (DUV-Vis) reflected optical fiber sensor was developed for use in a simple spectrophotometric detection system to detect the absorption of various illegal drugs at wavelengths between 180 and 800 nm. Quantitative analyses performed using the sensor revealed a high specificity and sensitivity for drug detection at a wavelength of approximately 200 nm. Using a double-absorption optical path length, extremely small sample volumes were used (32 to 160 nL), which allowed the use of minimal amounts of samples. A portable spectrophotometric system was established based on our optical fiber sensor for the on-site determination and quantitative analysis of common illegal drugs, such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), ketamine hydrochloride, cocaine hydrochloride, diazepam, phenobarbital, and barbital. By analyzing the absorbance spectra, six different drugs were quantified at concentrations that ranged from 0.1 to 1000 ?g mL(-1) (16 pg-0.16 ?g). A novel Matching Algorithm of Spectra Space (MASS) was used to accurately distinguish between each drug in a mixture. As an important supplement to traditional methods, such as mass spectrometry or chromatography, our optical fiber sensor offers rapid and low-cost on-site detection using trace amounts of sample. This rapid and accurate analytical method has wide-ranging applications in forensic science, law enforcement, and medicine.
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Mephedrone (“bath salt”) pharmacology: insights from invertebrates.

Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

Neuroscience. 2012 Jan 20;
Ramoz L, Lodi S, Bhatt P, Reitz AB, Tallarida C, Tallarida RJ, Raffa RB, Rawls SM

Psychoactive bath salts (also called meph, drone, meow meow, m-CAT, bounce, bubbles, mad cow, etc.) contain a substance called mephedrone (4-methylcathinone) that may share psychostimulant properties with amphetamine and cocaine. However, there are only limited studies of the neuropharmacological profile of mephedrone. The present study used an established invertebrate (planarian) assay to test the hypothesis that acute and repeated mephedrone exposure produces psychostimulant-like behavioral effects. Acute mephedrone administration (50-1000 ?M) produced stereotyped movements that were attenuated by a dopamine receptor antagonist (SCH 23390) (0.3 ?M). Spontaneous discontinuation of mephedrone exposure (1, 10 ?M) (60 min) resulted in an abstinence-induced withdrawal response (i.e. reduced motility). In place conditioning experiments, planarians in which mephedrone (100, 500 ?M) was paired with the non-preferred environment during conditioning displayed a shift in preference upon subsequent testing. These results suggest that mephedrone produces three behavioral effects associated with psychostimulant drugs, namely dopamine-sensitive stereotyped movements, abstinence-induced withdrawal, and environmental place conditioning.
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Senator Clark Takes Vote on Legislation to Combat Prescription Drug Abuse

Filed under: signs of a cocaine addict

To promote awareness, the Department of Public Health will be required to produce informational pamphlets explaining addiction risks, signs of dependency, where to go for treatment, and ways to safely store and discard drugs.
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DEA Finds Doormen Linked To Cocaine Smuggling Racket Led By Lulzim Kupa and …

Filed under: signs of a cocaine addict

The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating a cocaine smuggling racket that involves doormen employed at upscale residential buildings in Manhattan who allegedly accepted bribes to sign for packages containing cocaine.
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The BP Broadside Josh Hamilton and His Persecutors

Filed under: signs of a cocaine addict

On Thursday evening, reports began circulating that Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, had been seen consuming alcohol. At this writing, we don't know any specifics or even if the reports are substantially correct.
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Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

Neuroscience. 2012 Jan 20;
Mejías-Aponte CA, Kiyatkin EA

Cocaine’s multiple pharmacological substrates are ubiquitously present in the peripheral and central nervous system. Thus, upon its administration, cocaine acts in the periphery before directly acting in the brain. We determined whether cocaine alters ventral tegmental area (VTA) neuronal activity through peripheral actions, and whether this precedes its central actions. In urethane-anesthetized rats, we recorded VTA neuron responses to intravenous injections of two cocaine analogs: cocaine-hydrochloride (HCl, 0.25 mg/kg) that readily cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cocaine-methiodide (MI, 0.33 mg/kg) that does not cross the BBB. Both cocaine analogs produced sustained changes in discharge rates that began 5 s after the initiation of a 10-s drug infusion. Within the first 90 s post-injection the magnitudes of neuronal responsive of both cocaine analogs were comparable, but later in time the effects of cocaine-HCl were stronger and persisted longer than those of cocaine-MI. The proportion of neurons responsive to cocaine-HCl was twice to that of cocaine-MI (74% and 35%, respectively). Both analogs also differed in the response onsets. Cocaine-MI rarely evoked responses after 1 min, whereas cocaine-HCl continued to evoke responses within 3 min post-injection. VTA neurons were either excited or inhibited by both cocaine analogs. Most units responsive to cocaine-MI, regardless of excitation or inhibition, had electrophysiological characteristics of putative dopamine (DA) neurons. Units inhibited by cocaine-HCl also had characteristic of DA neurons, whereas excited neurons had widely varying action potential durations and discharge rates. Cocaine-MI and cocaine-HCl each produced changes in VTA neuron activity under full DA receptor blockade. However, the duration of inhibition was shortened, the number of excitations increased, and they occurred with an earlier onset during DA receptor blockade. These findings indicate that cocaine acts peripherally with a short latency and alters the activity of VTA neurons before its well-known direct actions in the brain.
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QSAR study and synthesis of new phenyltropanes as ligands of the dopamine transporter (DAT).

Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

Bioorg Med Chem. 2012 Jan 18;
Mavel S, Mincheva Z, Méheux N, Carcenac Y, Guilloteau D, Abarbri M, Emond P

The dopamine transporter (DAT) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of dopamine neurotransmission, and is involved in a number of physiological functions and brain disorders. Furthermore the DAT analysis by molecular imaging techniques is a useful tool for the diagnosis and follow up treatment of diseases involving the DAT. In order to predict the affinity of new derivatives for the DAT, different QSAR molecular modeling models based on cocaine were compared. We have evaluated in these models tropane derivatives synthesized with original synthons which coupled properties of both fluorine and iodine atoms. One compound showed a high in vitro affinity and selectivity for the DAT (K(i)=0.87±0.04nM). This compound should be radiolabeled with radioiodine for further investigations by SPECT.
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“Cocaine Decreases Expression of Neurogranin via Alterations in Thyroid Receptor/Retinoid X Receptor Signaling”

Filed under: Cocaine Rehab

J Neurochem. 2012 Feb 2;
Kovalevich J, Corley G, Yen W, Kim J, Rawls SM, Langford D

Mounting evidence suggests a potential link between cocaine abuse, disruptions in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis signaling, and neuroplasticity, but molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Neurogranin (Ng) is a gene containing a thyroid hormone responsive element (TRE) within its first intron that is involved in synaptic plasticity. Transcriptional activation requires heterodimerization of thyroid hormone receptor (TR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) bound by their respective ligands, triiodothryonine (T3) and 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis RA), and subsequent binding of this complex to the TRE of the Ng gene. In this study, the effects of chronic cocaine abuse on Ng expression in euthyroid and hypothyroid mice were assessed. In cocaine-treated mice, decreased Ng expression was observed in the absence of changes in levels of thyroid hormones or other HPT signaling factors. Therefore, we hypothesized that cocaine decreases Ng expression via alterations in 9-cis-RA availability and TR/RXR signaling. In support of this hypothesis, RXR-? was significantly decreased in brains of cocaine-treated mice while CYP26A1, the main enzyme responsible for neuronal RA degradation, was significantly increased. Results from this study provide the first evidence for a direct effect of cocaine abuse on TR/RXR signaling, RA metabolism, and transcriptional regulation of Ng, a gene essential for adult neuroplasticity. © 2012 The Authors Journal of Neurochemistry © 2012 International Society for Neurochemistry.
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