All Arounders

I am curious about the effects of a drug my Israeli client had taken. He says it grows wild - he even found it in wild patches of grass/weeds in Jerusalem. In Hebrew it is 'datora inoxia' or, in Spanish 'herba el diablo'. He also referred to it as 'Satan's weed'. He had become completely psychotic on the drug, and had 7-8 psychiatric hospital admissions as well as the accompanying homelessness and arrests. He stopped using two years ago and is on an anti-psychotic that manages the psychotic symptoms very well. He has been experiencing steady improvement, resulting in reduction of medication. He has even attended college, is writing music and is able to work part time.

..."bath salts" and synthetic marijuana are difficult to identify and test for, because their chemical structure can and does change often, largely in response to laws trying to outlaw them ... and the new law attempting to ban all such substances signed recently by President Obama.

Driving while intoxicated with marijuana is NOT likely to be be safer that driving with alcohol - as reported by a recent study -- and alerting us to flaws in the way scientific studies are crafted, and report by the media. Meanwhile, Congress is making moves that in effect again escalate the War of Drugs by making the Spice and bath salt compounds into Schedule 1 drugs.

Salt, a high blood pressure medicine and South American trance vine are all in the news, shedding new light on how addiction works, and perhaps offering new treatment avenues.

An addiction "boom" is happening to people in 50s and 60s - too young to be old, often caring for parents, or under-employed adult children often with their own families, and still working to try to make ends meet - is causing many baby-boomers to have more issues with addiction and substance abuse then perhaps earlier in their life.

Eyeballing is the latest campus craze - taking in straight vodka by holding a bottle up to your eye. Having started in England, it is reportedly moving onto US campuses and to Las Vegas. Devotees say it is faster than drinking and more potent because it passes easily through the mucous membrane and enters the bloodstream directly through veins at the back of the eye. Also more on new designer drugs like K9 and Spice and their rapid increases.