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A new drug trend appears to be sweeping across part of Canada. Reports of Ketamine use, a fast-acting and powerful anesthetic and painkiller used in veterinary and human surgery have become far more frequent. In Hamilton, which is just across the border from Buffalo, New York, Ketamine may be replacing Cocaine as the street drug of choice according to authorities. Not only does Ketamine provide different effects than cocaine, it also has a smaller price tag at $10 to $20 a vile compared to Cocaine at $50 a gram. Younger people with limited financial resources may be swayed to buy Ketamine based on price alone. Another concern is that kids taking the drug may be under the opinion that they are doing Cocaine, failure to dose the drug properly could end tragically.
The price of Cocaine has skyrocketed in the past ten years, in the last three years the price of a kilogram of coke went up $30,000. At $59,000 a "key" it is not surprising that drug dealers have decided to sell a drug that they can acquire for cheaper and sell just as much. Ecstasy, like Ketamine or "K" as it has been dubbed, is another popular designer drug that has become very popular in the wake of inflated Cocaine prices. A pill of Ecstasy cost $5 now, high school students looking to do drugs are more inclined to buy cheaper drugs that at the end of the day are far more dangerous than Cocaine. Cocaine is and will always be more popular than designer drugs, it was the original club drug and will stay that way; however, there should be some concern when kids are messing with new drugs that they have really no way of knowing the actual contents.
According to statistics, Ketamine still ranks low in popularity amongst high school students, only about 2.2 percent report having used it. More than likely the percentage is higher than that, probably not much though; exposure to Ketamine has always been limited to raves and clubs, it generally has not been a "corner drug". Hopefully, this trend does not start to spread outside of Hamilton; Ketamine is a completely different drug than Cocaine. A person on Ketamine can be summed up in one word, "helpless"! You are not in charge of your body anymore, which if you are not at home taking the drug it can be quite dangerous because you cannot walk, talk, or take care yourself. "The effects begin about 30 seconds after an intravenous injection, 2 to 4 minutes after an intra-muscular injection, 5 to 10 minutes after snorting or intra nasal use and about 20 minutes after an oral dose on an empty stomach", stated Drug Text. Overdose can easily happen when people take the drug and think that it is not working and take more; what's worse, they get behind the wheel and think that they will drive somewhere only for the drug to take effect on the road. The drug acts very fast, it acts faster than most drugs that you can swallow.
Parents in New York City and in other areas around the country have begun to drug test their kids. Home drug tests can be found at any pharmacy in the United States for a reasonable price. Discovering that there is a drug problem early can make a huge difference regarding how severe a drug problem gets. The quicker the problem is recognized the sooner it can be addressed; many drug addicts go undetected, by the time a problem is realized the addiction has gone completely out of control. It is for this reason that there are many adolescent drug treatment facilities available for parents to consider sending their children to for treatment.
Teenage years are the most critical years, the more drugs that are consumed in those years means the more developmental damage done. Parents suspecting their children of using drugs should test their kids; it could be that test that saves their life. In some places you can even get home drug tests for free from the police. ABC News reports, "Heroin is an epidemic here in Suffolk County [Long Island]," Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said. "I see the pain in parents' eyes. They're looking for something to combat their children's drug use". On Nov. 19, Suffolk County announced that it had purchased 16,000 drug testing kits, available for free for parents who want to test their children. The kits use litmus paper to test urine for six different drugs including methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, Vicodin and Xanax. Since the program started parents have picked up nearly 450 of them".
It's never too early to intervene, but, sometimes it's too late. Your kids may think you're over parenting, that's simply not true; you are protecting your child's life. I encourage you to watch the Dr. Nancy Video dealing with this subject:
"Dec. 1: As drug testing for children gains in popularity nationwide, some parents in New York City are getting free at-home kits from the police. Are the testing kits really the best way to prevent drug use in kids?"
About 37 percent of people who need and seek out drug and alcohol treatment do not get it because they cannot afford it. Sadly, many people end up in jail or prison before they ever go to treatment. In a lot of cases getting caught up in the legal system is a direct result of states not providing adequate drug treatment availability. In the last year a number of states have even cut spending on drug treatment. What is interesting about cutting spending on drug treatment is that sending someone to treatment is significantly less expensive than prison. New York has become a testing ground for the potential to expand treatment programs.
The Rockefeller drug laws enacted in the 70's were reformed this year, this is a huge step in the right direction and will save more lives. Now, nonviolent offenders who would have faced long, mandatory prison terms will be provided treatment and New York will be injecting $50 million in the treatment programs state wide. "An estimated 80 percent of the 60,000 offenders in New York's prisons have substance abuse problems", according to the Associated Press. Expanding drug treatment is the most logical decision and makes clear that the disease concept of addiction is starting to make sense to politicians.
Unfortunately, California recently cut $250 million designated for rehabilitation services throughout the prisons and jails. This has done nothing but cost California more money in the long run by contributing to recidivism, in a prison full of addicts there is only one solution that has proven to work - treatment. Congress recently passed a bill that will in the near future prohibit insurance companies from denying insurance based on pre-existing health conditions. This will allow more people to get health insurance thus giving more addicts the option of life saving drug treatment - hopefully. Sadly, many insurance companies do not cover the cost of detox or treatment despite it being classified and accepted as a disease; perhaps, when this bill in Washington is completely worked out, that will no longer be the case. It is time to give people the care they deserve, treatment is always a better choice than prison.
10,000 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to raise awareness about drug and alcohol recovery on Saturday. The idea was to send the message that that there is help if you want it and that the disease of addiction is treatable. Only ten percent of the 22 million people suffering from the disease ever get the treatment they need despite there being several options available. New York State has repealed the harsh Rockefeller drug laws and is trying to replace incarceration with treatment; Governor Paterson was at 'The A & E Recovery Project ' to show his support for such a wonderful cause. "We are giving individual judges the opportunity to choose what will be a treatment protocol for defendants when they are sentenced," said Paterson. "We are giving people a second chance."
Smokey Robinson performed at the free concert for all the recovering addicts because he himself is one. According to WPIX TV, "My message to them is to get help immediately," said Robinson. "I don't care what source you use or where you go. Get help immediately."
Remember, September is National Recovery Month. And this September is the 20th Anniversary of the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Recovery events like this are happening across the United States. We invite you to watch this video from WPIX and celebrate your or your loved one's recovery.
