The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) provides several useful resources for individuals seeking help and/or information about alcoholism and alcohol abuse. The following are just some of the contact information for medical and non-medical addiction specialists:

American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
www.AAAP.org
1-401-524-3076
 
American Psychological Association
Call 1-800-964-2000 and ask for your state’s referral number to find psychologists with specialties in addiction within your area.

NAADAC Substance Abuse Professionals
www.NAADAC.org
1-800-548-0497

National Association of Social Workers
www.HelpsStartsHere.org
Conduct searches for social workers with specialties in addiction.

September is Recovery Month in the United States; a month dedicated to highlighting the benefits of substance abuse programs. So, it should come as no surprise that the good people at InTheRooms.com decided to pick September to hold their first annual “Rally for Recovery”.

1) The Walk – Show your support for recovery and stand up for what you believe in!  Be an advocate and walk with InTheRooms.com to show what recovery is; that today, individuals in recovery are healthy and productive members of society!

2) The Festival – All day in Bicentennial Park, the Rally for Recovery will have wonderful food, great speakers, recovery music, exhibits, special guests and surprises.

3) The Concert – At the end of the day, the Rally for Recovery will feature Richie Supa, who will perform his PRISM Award winning song, In The Rooms.

The 2009 “Rally for Recovery”, hosted by InTheRooms.com, will take place this September 12, 2009, in Downtown Miami. For more information about InTheRooms.com you can click on our In The Rooms banner on our home page. To check out more information about the first annual Rally for Recovery in South Florida, visit the official Rally for Recovery website at www.RallyForRecovery.com

With marked days in the history of Alcoholics Anonymous the annual Sobriety Calendar makes a great gift for sponsors, members or anyone interested in the Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship and living sober. The calendar follows the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, features original images, days in the history of Alcoholics Anonymous and much more. 

“The Sobriety Calendar was created in 1990 by Charlie Bishop, AA archivist, author, publisher, and founder of The Bishop of Books. Born Nov. 10, 1938, Charlie graduated Wheeling Jesuit University in 1960 with an A.B. in English. He taught high school English for one year in Wheeling, WV, and 3 years in Maryland. After that, he wrote for the Associated Press in Bluefield, WV, and then reported for The Wheeling News-Register for about six years, becoming city editor.”

To read more about the Sobriety Calendar or to order your very own, visit the Sobriety Calendar online at www.SobrietyCalendar.com

A Doctor who operated a medical clinic in San Fernando was found guilty on May 6, 2009, of federal narcotics charges for writing prescriptions for the addictive and extremly powerful painkiller oxycodone for people he did not examine in exchange for as much as $300.

Masoud Bamdad, 55, of Granada Hills, was convicted of 13 felony counts for writing prescriptions for oxycodone outside of the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.

As part of the investigation into Bamdad, DEA agents conducted undercover operations in which they posed as people seeking drugs. In encounters captured on undercover videotape that was shown to the jury, Bamdad wrote prescriptions after brief visits, calling one undercover agent a drug addict and receiving cash payments that he simply put into his pocket. During the undercover meetings, Bamdad either did not examine or made only cursory examinations of the undercover agents, nor did he take thorough medical histories from them.

“Doctors have a important responsibility to ensure that their patients receive the best medical treatment,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “Dr. Bamdad scorned this basic principal by writing prescriptions to people who clearly were addicted to powerful narcotics or who were simply seeking a way to get high.”

A national alliance of families, the pharmaceutical industry, patients, consumer groups, and drug abuse prevention advocates released a national strategy proposal to counter the continued rise in prescription drug abuse.

“Rising rates of prescription drug abuse are the result of a combination of factors and can only be countered successfully by a coordinated, multi-sector strategy,” said Michael Barnes, executive director of CLAAD, the Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence.

 CLAAD’s National Prescription Drug Abuse Strategy, co-written with the Human Resources Development Institute, advocates a balanced public policy approach.
Recent reports note that prescription drug abuse surpasses the public abuse of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines, coming in “second” only to marijuana. Controlling the abuse of prescription medications is complicated by the need to keep such medications available for lawful use by patients and prescribes.

“Prescription medications are tragically under-prescribed for certain segments of society,” said Andrea Barthwell, M.D., chief executive officer of HRDI, the Human Resources Development Institute, one of the nation’s leading African American behavior health and human services organizations. “Women and minorities are dramatically less likely to receive prescription pain relievers than white men.”

The 2009 National Prescription Drug Abuse Strategy is available online.
Website: http://www.claad.org

Other terms used for Khat: Abyssinian tea, African salad, oat, kat, chat, and catha. It is also referred to as qat in Yemen, tschat in Ethiopia, and miraa in Kenya.

How do people use Khat?

- Khat is typically chewed like tobacco.
- The fresh leaves, twigs, and shoots of the Khat shrub are chewed, and then retained in the cheek and chewed intermittently to release the active drug.
- Dried plant material can be made into tea or a paste that can be chewed.
- Khat can be smoked and sprinkled on food.

What does Khat look like?

Khat is a flowering evergreen shrub native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Khat that is sold and abused is usually just the leaves, twigs, and shoots of the Khat shrub.

What are the consequences of using Khat?

- Widespread frequent use of Khat impacts productivity because it tends to reduce worker motivation.
- Khat can induce manic behaviors, hyperactivity, and hallucinations.
- There are reports of Khat-induced psychosis.
- Common side effects include anorexia, tahycardia, hypertension, insomnia, and gastric disorders.
- Chronic Khat abuse can result in symptoms such as physical exhaustion, violence, and suicidal depression.

What are Predatory Drugs?

Rohypnol, Ketamine, and GHB have gained notoriety as drugs used to facilitate sexual assault, adding an urgency to law enforcement efforts to pursue traffickers of these drugs. Rohypnol, Ketamine, and GHB are the main drugs known as “Predatory Drugs”.

The Dangers of Predatory Drugs

Predatory Drugs render the victim incapable of resisting sexual advances. Sexual Assaults facilitated by these drugs can be difficult to prosecute or even recognize because Victims may not be aware that they ingested a drug at all. Predatory Drugs are invisible and odorless when dissolved in water. They are somewhat salty tasting, but are indiscernible when dissolved in beverages such as sodas, juice, liquor, or beer.

Fast Facts: Predatory Drug
Due to memory problems induced by Predatory Drugs, the victim may not be aware of the attack until 8-12 hours after it occurred.

More Information on Predatory Drugs

Predatory Drugs are metabolized quickly, so there may be little physical evidence to support the claim that the drugs were used to facilitate an assault. Memory impairment caused by the drugs also eliminates evidence about the attack. Learn more about what you can do to protect yourself and those you care about from predatory drugs at www.rainn.org or www.911rape.org

Codeine is the most widely used, naturally occurring narcotic in medical treatment in the world. This alkaloid is found in opium in concentrations as much as 2.5 percent. However, most codeine used in the United States is produced from morphine. Codeine is also the starting material for the production of two other narcotics, dihydrocodeine and hydrocodone.

For use in suppressing coughs, codeine is found in a number of liquid preparations. Codeine is also used to a lesser extent as an injectable solution for treating pain. Codeine products are diverted from legitimate sources and are encountered on the illicit market.

Codeine is prescribed for the relief of pain as well as cough suppression. Compared to morphine, codeine produces less analgesia, sedation, and respiratory depression, and is usually taken orally. It is made into tablets either alone (Schedule II) or in combination with aspirin or acetaminophen (i.e., Tylenol with Codeine, Schedule III).

Cocaine Demand

The quantity of cocaine available in domestic drug markets seems to meet user demand in most markets, without observable shortfall. But in recent ONDCP analysis of data from February through September 2005 shows that the purity of available cocaine could be diminishing at the retail level–reflecting decreases in potential worldwide cocaine production and significant increases in cocaine interdiction.

Cocaine Wholesale Markets

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups control most wholesale cocaine distribution in the US, and their control is growing. According to federal, state, and local law enforcement reporting, Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the predominant wholesale cocaine distributors in the Great Lakes, Pacific, Southeast, Southwest, and West Central Regions, and although Colombian and Dominican criminal groups control most wholesale distribution in the Northeast and Florida/Caribbean Regions, wholesale distribution by Mexican DTOs and criminal groups is increasing.
 
Cocaine and The Mexican/US Border

Management over wholesale cocaine distribution by Mexican DTOs and criminal groups has been increasing for several years and is likely to continue to augment. Cocaine transportation data indicate that most cocaine available in U.S. drug markets is smuggled into the country via the U.S.-Mexico border. As Mexican DTOs and criminal groups control an increasing amount of the cocaine smuggled into the country, their influence over wholesale distribution will rise even in areas previously controlled by other groups, including areas of the Northeast and Florida/Caribbean Areas.

Cocaine in Florida

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New York Field Division reported in 2005 that in some areas of New York City, Mexican criminal groups have supplanted Colombian criminal groups as the primary source of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine. Similarly, the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) recently reported that in some areas of Florida, Mexican DTOs and criminal groups have supplanted Colombian and Dominican criminal groups as the predominant wholesale cocaine distributors and are establishing new distribution networks.