New drugs and substances

A look back at 2012, and what 2013 might hold in drug and addiction issues, and treatment ... including the continuing stories of the new synthetics, aka bath salts, incense and potpourri -- also the continued increase in heroin use as pharmaceuticals become more costly and harder to get. And where are we in the evolution of treatment?

Sports and drugs this summer continues with a consideration of ethics and Olympian ideals ... promotion of fair play, education against doping – drug use... this summer included stripping a gold medal from a Belarus shot putter when her blood from 8 years ago was re-tested and found to have steroids ...

..."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.

Recent news includes the opioid Opana, Federal laws outlawing synthetic marijuana and "bath salts" as well as smuggling tunnels, new nicotine vaccination, and a discussion of true gateway drugs: alcohol and cigarettes.

Recent conferences ... highlight the way urine test is being analyzed ... and new evidence for genetic evaluation, and the possibility that being addiction-prone may be related to a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine in a person's brain.

Bath salt - stimulants similar to ecstasy, are street-chemist versions of the middle eastern Khat plant, and are being associated with a new wave of extremely violent behavior, and fatal overdoses. The recent zombie-like attack in Miami, where a homeless man had literally 3/4 of his face chewed off by someone high on bath salts, has galvanized public attention to the dangers of these fairly new designer drugs.