Drug Treatment vs. Prison

I recently read an article that New York is considering a law that would allow judges the option to place people who are arrested, on non-violent minor drug offenses, to drug rehab facilities in lieu of prison sentences. This new law would also make punishments for adult drug dealers who sell drugs to children and drug kingpins more harsh.
This is a great step in the right direction. There should be a difference in how the law views someone who is addicted to drugs and those who are making a career on distributing these drugs. Many people who are arrested on drug charges are addicts who struggle daily with their addictions, would like help but don't know where to turn, and would gladly accept the help they would be provided in overcoming addiction vs. going to prison.
It is proven that prisoners who get treatment for their addictions are less likely to get out and repeat the same offenses. It is also much more cost effective to provide drug treatment than it is to house a prisoner for any length of time. People who receive treatment for their drug addiction also have a better chance of reintegration into society and actually becoming a contributing member of the work force.

Cheese and Liquid Heroin

I felt I was finished with blogging about heroin for a while and was going to move on to something else. However, today I was reading a few news articles about heroin and thought I would share a bit more information.
The first article was about a 17 year old girl in Texas who died from an overdose of "cheese". I had to continue reading to find out how someone could overdose on cheese to find out that "cheese" is a street name for heroin. Cheese is heroin that is cut with tylenol and typically snorted. Many people do not view this as dangerous or addictive because they are not shooting it up. The fact is, it IS heroin and heroin is very addictive no matter what form it comes in. The fact that cheese is cut with tylenol does not make it less addictive. As mentioned before, your body will build up a tolerance to the drug requiring you to use more and more each time to be able to achieve the same high.
The other article I read was about students using "liquid heroin". In this news story there had been an increased number of arrests and hospitalizations of high school and college students who had been using liquid heroin. This is a watered down version of heroin that students keep in eyedroppers or 1 inch tall glass containers with droppers that are about the width of a marker. The symptoms of liquid heroin are similar to other forms of heroin including constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, slow speech, slow reflexes, facial itching, dry mouth and lower blood pressure. Many of the kids taking this did not even know they were experiencing withdrawal symptoms because they did not view liquid heroin as addictive because they were drinking it and not injecting it. They knew their muscles were sore and their body ached and when they took more that feeling went away but they were not even associating it with withdrawal symptoms.
Remember heroin is heroin, no matter which way you ingest it into your body it is addictive, and most of the time a drug rehab will be necessary to help treat this addiction.

Binge Drinking

Spring break season is upon us. All of the stores are now stocked with sunscreen, the tanning salons are booked up, and the liquor stores sales are on the rise. Spring Break often becomes a binge fest for many underage teen drinkers and college students. The definition of binge drinking varies a little bit but overall it is considered to be the consumption of 4-5 drinks within a 2 hour period. Many students admit to drinking 15-18 drinks a day on average during their spring break. A lot of students have figured out that "bar crawling" or "bar hopping" can get very expensive and have turned to pre-drinking before they head out for the evening. Pre-drinking is getting together (usually at someones house) and consuming large amounts of alcohol within a short period of time, sometimes by playing drinking games, to avoid spending too much money on drinks from the bar. Then, one of them often drives to the bar.
Every day/night of Spring Break is filled with the consequences of binge drinking. If you are a college student of legal drinking age, and have been working extremely hard to do well in school, you may feel it is only fair you get a break to party and get away from your stresses for a while. As harmless as it may seem, by binge drinking, statistically you may be putting yourself at risk of more stress and issues.
According to a report from the Annual Review of Public Health, 1,700 U.S. college students die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including vehicle crashes. Nearly 700,000 U.S. students are the victims of booze-induced assaults; and 97,000 students between 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. The social scars of binge drinking include: unsafe sex (which can carry huge long term issues), suicide attempts, black-outs, drunk driving, vandalism, altercations with police and alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.
Many colleges and universities are encouraging students to participate in alternative sober activities. Several have designed programs where students can get involved in local, state, national, and even international service projects. With many travel advisories issued recently by the State Dept. many students have chosen to stay closer to home.
Whether you decide to travel abroad, stay close to home, or participate in alternative programs it is important that you decide BEFORE you go:

• What your drinking limit is going to be, and stick to it.
• You will not drive after drinking, or get in a vehicle with anyone who has been drinking.
• If you are not going to "hook-up" use a buddy system and do not go off by yourself.
• If you intend to "hook-up" make sure you take protection, this may not protect you from some things, but will at least lessen chance of STD's and unwanted pregnancy.
• You will stay away from illegal drug use.
• To help protect yourself, your friends, and others by setting a good example and offering assistance if they are making poor choices.