Have any questions about different drugs or alcohol? We bet you do and we’re glad to see you back at All About Addiction ! You should browse our content and check out the information on alcohol, heroin, marijuana.  It is a great source for a quick 30 minute information session.

“Traditional” Drugs

BBC– A man in England was killed after consuming heroin that contained anthrax in it. This was the fifth case of a drug user in England who became ill due to anthrax. It appears that drug users are becoming increasingly vulnerable to having their contraband contaminated with anthrax.

Join Together– Do you think Marijuana should be legalized? That was the question on the minds of many individual’s as they went to the polls on Election Day, yet despite the concerted efforts of some people Proposition 19 was defeated. Some of the arguments for supporting the legalization of marijuana was so that it would be treated like alcohol and tobacco and would not be criminalized along with drugs like heroin, meth, and cocaine. Apparently the majority of voters thought those benefits didn’t outweigh the possibility that legalizing marijuana would increase social problems. By the way, this is not the first time Californians have rejected the legalization of marijuana, it also occurred in 1972, which likely means that some of the people who voted against it this time supported it in the past.

Synthetic Drugs and new drug combinations

KTLA-How does a drink of prescription cough syrup, soda and jolly ranchers sound to you?  Although this may be unappealing to some it is actually a drink bar-goers are getting in to. The drink is also known as Sizzurp (I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Snoop Dog say that in song) and can produce quite a high thanks to the codeine that is found in it. Unfortunately, the combination of alcohol and codeine also increases the chance that the drink will be deadly deadly. Apparently this drink is often promoted by individuals in the music industry and the DEA is worried and wants to crack down on it.

Addiction Inbox– If you would like to learn about a new drug called Mephedrone then this article is for you ! Mephedrone is a new synthetic drug found mostly in England. For more on this topic check out Dirk’s article!

Alcohol: Working Mothers and Energy Drinks

Marin Institute- There has been a growing recognition of the risks of alcoholic energy drinks and officials across the country are starting to take action against them (who hasn’t had a RedBull and Vodka?). Often times these energy drinks are marketed to youth but those individuals do not know the stress that high amounts of alcohol and caffeine can have on the body. Since 2008 major companies such as MillerCoors, Anhueser-Busch, and InBev have removed caffeine from their brands, but smaller companies have begun marketing even more dangerous products that come in larger sizes with higher alcohol content. The news media is attempting to educate the public on the dangers of these products and legal action may even be taken. Check out this article for a great read!

CNN– Working mothers have a lot to balance in their daily lives from running kids to school to doing errands and keeping houses and lives in order – it’s a tough job (just ask my wife). The magazine Working Mother found that 40 percent of working mothers turn to alcohol to try to alleviate stress and 57 percent reported misuse of prescription drugs. Check out this article to find out more and to watch a video which discusses this fuller details and don’t forget to look at some of our content on moderate alcohol intake.

Mental Health and Addiction Treatment

Breaking the cycles– It has often been reported that individuals who have certain mental health problems such as bipolar disorder have a greater chance of developing substance abuse problems (to alcohol or drugs). This article is very helpful in providing the families of individuals with bipolar disorder information to understand the disorder better as well as the alcohol and or drug abuse than may come with. With this understanding the families of these individual can help reduce the stigma of both the bipolar disorder and their addiction.

Addiction Information– Do you remember a couple weeks ago when All About Addiction reported that Michael Lohan wanted to open up his own rehab center? Well the apple does not fall to far from the tree because Lindsay Lohan now wants to open up her own rehab center.  Lindsay has been in and out of rehab five times in the past two years – Is this too early for her to open up a rehab center? I think that’s probably true and that she should focus on getting herself healthy first.