What the White House says about Legalizing Marijuana – Full E-mail: “What they Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug’s effects. According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world’s largest source of drug abuse research – marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health — especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20’s. Simply put, it is not a benign drug. Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or …

CSPI Warns Consumers About 5-Hour Energy Web Ads

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

Last year, trend data released by the Drug Abuse Warning Network showed a sharp increase in the number of emergency room visits involving energy drinks. In 2005, there were 1,128 visits, and in 2009 there were 13,114 visits, representing a tenfold …
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Increasing number of children hospitalized for synthetic drugs

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

Some people's reactions to the synthetic drugs were so serious they ended up in the emergency room. The Drug Abuse Warning Network just published a report studying ER visits for synthetic marijuana in 2010. It says patients between the ages of 12 and …
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Miracle drug saves lives of heroin users

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

Crimpson Shroyer, who's brother has battled a heroin addiction for five years, talked about the Drug Abuse Warning Network program in Portsmouth that passes out vouchers for Narcan to be used at home. “Every household could have one on hand in case of …
Read more on Marion Star

Prescription painkillers 'like loaded guns' for teens

Filed under: drug abuse warning network

This group made 1,607 visits, or 22.4 percent of all such visits, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network. People 18 to 24 had the highest rate of such visits — 465.6 visits per 100,000 population — and 54.5 percent of emergency department visits …
Read more on Health policy solutions

From Twitter:

RT @thencja: 11,000+ people ended up in the ER due to synthetic marijuana in 2010 according to report from Drug Abuse Warning Network…. – by ProfBushHCC (Professor Bush)

From Twitter:

11,000+ people ended up in the ER due to synthetic marijuana in 2010 according to report from Drug Abuse Warning Network…. – by thencja (The NCJA)

From Twitter:

The new report, from the federal government’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, is the first to analyze the impact of… http://t.co/0moCPYf5 – by carly_averill (Carly Averill)