Day: 12/31/2014

Here’s What Each State Googled More Than Any Other State This Year

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-each-state-googled-more-than-any-other-state-this-year-2014-12?utm_content=bufferc338d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The map they compiled using the data shows not what each state searched for the most overall, but what they Googled more than any other state…

NEW MEXICO: Zombies, LG G3 phone

SOUTH DAKOTA: “The Dr. Oz Show”

TEXAS: Join I.S.I.S., How to get rid of stretch marks?, Are zombies real?, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

I declare that New Mexico beat South Dakota and Texas in this… ranking. 😀

The Story of Kush

For chronic pain patients, it’s very important to choose a cannabis strain that’s strong enough for your level of pain.  (Unintentional rhyme.)  So far, my experience says that indicas — like kushes — are where you can find the most THC strength.

My guess is that for my level 7 pain, I need at least 20% THC.

http://www.hightimes.com/read/story-kush

Nowhere are Kush strains more prevalent than in Southern California. Many medical-marijuana dispensaries specialize in carrying as many varieties of Kush as they can get their hands on, and there are literally hundreds to chose from (OG, Larry, Tahoe, Russian Master and Lemon come to mind)… True Kush strains have also spread far and wide throughout Northern California and beyond. The OG is actually rumored to have come to Cali through the Lake Tahoe area from a Chemdog clone from the East Coast…

http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/02/14/tahoe-og-marijuana-review-uplifting-contemplative-but-anxiety-under-pressure/4656/

2/4/2014, Tahoe OG (marijuana review)

Pot Doesn’t Even Rank in U.S. Poisonings, But Pills Do

http://the420times.com/2014/12/

Marijuana, that scourge of America, didn’t even earn a mention in the National Poison Control Center’s new research paper on poisonings in the United States. The center’s report, Poisoning in the United States, was published this month in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine.

The biggest death-causing drug in the land, responsible for 83 percent of poisonings that ended in death, the study found, was prescription painkillers, namely opioids. Cadiovascular and antidepressant pills also contributed to that finding, the paper states… Most of the reported, 2.2 million poisonings looked at it one recent year, by the way, didn’t even require hospitalization, the study found. 

4/25/2014, In Plano [TX] as in New York City, Heroin Is a Killer

http://reportingtexas.com/in-plano-as-in-new-york-city-heroin-is-a-killer/

In 2013, seven people died of heroin overdoses in Plano – the same number as in 1997, when the Dallas suburb gained notoriety for a sudden uptick in heroin deaths among its youth. Today, heroin deaths remain grimly steady but with a difference: The average victim is now 30, according to Plano police.

There were 371 heroin overdose deaths in Texas in 2012 compared to 111 deaths in 1999, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services…

Hoffman’s death also spotlighted the increased age of heroin users in America, as well as the difficulty in kicking the habit. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of heroin users grew 80 percent, from 373,000 to 669,000, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 3,094 people died of a heroin overdose in the United States in 2010, up 55 percent from 2000…

The Drug Enforcement Administration said one reason heroin use is on the rise is because of its increased availability and the fact that it is cheaper than prescription painkillers, which can create initial dependence…

Under comments:

The fallacy of “Heroin Overdose” is repeated by both journalist and those in the field of drug abuse and addiction . Inspite of research more than 40 years ago debunking the the myth.“Heroin overdose is almost nonexistent. Rather, heroin users who concurrently take tranquilizers, alcohol, and cocaine are those at risk for sudden death. But the promotion of the idea of heroin overdose (seen most recently in the well-off Texas suburb of Plano and the urban ghetto of Strathclyde, Scotland) likely encourages people to use heroin along with other drugs or alcohol.”l “The Persistent, Dangerous Myth of Heroin Overdose” DPFT News (Drug Policy Forum of Texas), August, 1999, p. 5 © Copyright 1998 Stanton Peele. All rights reserved.””http://www.peele.net/lib/overdose.html

“Hype Overdose, Why does the press automatically accept reports of heroin overdoses, no matter how thin the evidence?” National Review, November 7, 1994, pp. 59-60 © Copyright 1994 Stanton Peele. All rights reserved. http://www.peele.net/lib/overdose.html

“The Consumers Union Report – Licit and Illicit Drugs, Chapter 12. The “heroin overdose” mystery and other occupational hazards of addiction” by Edward M. Brecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports Magazine 1972http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu12.htm

Prescription Drug Abuse in Texas

8/15/2014, Presentation to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

file:///C:/Users/computer1/Downloads/SenateHHSPres-RXDrugAbuse.pdf

Prescribing Practices in Texas

• Texas is below the national average for prescribing opioids
• Texans prescribe fewer long-acting opioids and high-dose pain relievers than any other state
• Texas is below the national average for prescribing benzodiazepines

Reducing the Prevalence of Prescription Drug Abuse

*Opioid dosage and quantity prescribing limits for chronic non-cancer pain

Texas State Board of Pharmacy

https://www.pharmacy.texas.gov/consumer/broch2.asp

Schedule I — drugs with a high abuse risk. These drugs have NO safe, accepted medical use in the United States. Some examples are heroin, marijuana, LSD, PCP, and crack cocaine…

In 1981, the Texas Legislature passed a law which required doctors to write all prescriptions for Schedule II drugs on a special three‑part or triplicate form. Effective September 1, 1999, the triplicate prescription form was replaced by an official prescription form. Any triplicate prescriptions that are in use are still valid prescriptions and may be used until the supply is depleted. The new official forms are issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety to prescribers. Pharmacies electronically transmit prescription information to the DPS. The information is used by licensing boards to identify doctors, dentists, and/or pharmacists who may be inappropriately prescribing or dispensing these highly abusable drugs. In addition, the DPS can identify potential abusers much more quickly and stop any abuse, misuse, or diversion in a more timely manner. The program has been very effective in reducing abuse, misuse, and diversion of Schedule II drugs in Texas.