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Notícies :: educació i societat |
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What Are Synthetic Drugs? Are They Harmful?
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per Paola Martinez |
12 nov 2015
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“Spice,” “K-2”, “Bath Salts,” and literally hundreds of other names. Ecstasy was one of the first, coming onto the streets in the early 1980s. Over the last two years they have multiplied and can be found on school campuses across the country. |
WHAT ARE SYNTHETIC DRUGS? ARE THEY HARMFUL?
“Spice,” “K-2”, “Bath Salts,” and literally hundreds of other names. Ecstasy was one of the first, coming onto the streets in the early 1980s. Over the last two years they have multiplied and can be found on school campuses across the country.
They are sold online, in smoke shops and gas stations. As fast as federal, state and local governments outlaw a chemical formulation, it is slightly altered and back on the streets. Because of their constantly changing formulation, they are extremely difficult to detect and identify in toxicology labs. And they are seriously harming people of all ages, causing death by overdoes and by erratic behavior by the users. The various “cannibal attacks” described in the media over the past year are ascribed to the use of designer drugs.
In 2008, according to the most recent records of the Drug Awareness and Warning Network, 17,865 persons in the US were admitted to hospital emergency rooms related to the use of ecstasy. In 2010, poison control centers responded to roughly 3,200 calls related to other designer drugs. In 2011, that number jumped to more than 13,000 calls. The majority involved persons aged 25 years or younger, according to the DEA.
The number of calls to poison centers concerning "bath salts" rose from 304 in 2010 to 6,138 in 2011, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
In June of 2012 Florida Attorney General Pam Biondi and Governor Rick Scott ushered through the Legislature and enacted a new law which prohibits and makes illegal 90 “new types” of synthetic drugs.
Federal legislation was passed in 2011 outlawing five compounds and again in July this year President Obama signed a law banning the sale of 31 compounds used in the synthetic drugs
Using the new federal law, in July the first-ever joint federal and state task force conducted raids and arrests of underground labs and distribution networks executing 265 search warrants in 90 cities in 30 States.
During the operation 48 search warrants were executed in ten Florida cities including West Palm Beach, Tampa, and St. Petersburg, and Gainesville. Florida was a focal point of the operation which resulted in 90 arrests, the seizure of more than $60 million in cash, over 3.5 million packets of synthetic drugs, thousands of kilograms of raw chemicals, 17 firearms and assorted vehicles.
Despite the increased activity on the part of law enforcement, they are severely hampered by the underground labs which just slightly change the chemical nature of the drug to skirt each new law as it is passed.
So who exactly started this trend and what is the solution?
While the problem is rampant and is now a lucrative trade run by criminal gangs and underground drug labs around the world, there is an underlying short and simple answer: irresponsible psychiatrists, psychologists and pharmacologists who have no concept of or care about the destructive consequences of their work.
The Foundation for A Drug Free World is an education program for youth as well as adults on the harmful effects of illicit drugs. In regards to the new designer drug craze the Foundation points to its informational booklet on LSD and Ecstacy, the original synthetic drugs with similar effects similar to the more recent.
Here is an excerpt of the instructional booklet on LSD which is distributed by the Foundation:
“The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken, the person’s mood and personality, and the surroundings in which the drug is used. It is a roll of the dice—a racing, distorted high or a severe, paranoid low.”
“Taken in a large enough dose, LSD produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user’s sense of time and self changes. Sizes and shapes of objects become distorted, as do movements, colors and sounds; even one’s sense of touch and the normal bodily sensations turn into something strange and bizarre. Sensations may seem to ‘cross over,’ giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.”
For more information visit the Foundation’s website- www.drugfreeworld.org. Knowledge is powerful.
And for the person with a drug problem, there are real solutions to addiction. Narconon, a drug rehabilitation program that utilizes the methods of L. Ron Hubbard, has a success rate of more than 75% (www.narconon.org) |
This work is in the public domain |
