"In the 1950s the US government did a lot of experiments with psychotomimetic drugs (in fact, as anybody who's seen or read 'The Men Who Stare At Goats' will know, the US government used to do all sorts of weird and wonderful experiments). One of these experiments included feeding human test subjects measured quantities of LSD and then monitoring their ensuing behavior. In one particular experiment, Oscar Janiger, a University of California-Irvine psychiatrist known for his work on acid, gave an artist an activity box full of crayons and asked him to drawing his experiences on LSD. And as you can see from these 9 illuminating images, the results are just as trippy as you'd expect. Things start out normally enough, but it doesn't take long before the artist's perception of reality starts to warp, and his drawings (which were recently uploaded by somebody called juraganyeri) capture in fascinating detail the various stages of his hallucinogenic journey, from the beginning of his trip right through to his comedown. See for yourself below, and please, don't try this at home."
"What if the system is destroying drugs that are technically "expired" but could still be safely used?"
"In his lab, Gerona ran tests on the decades-old drugs, including some now defunct brands such as the diet pills Obocell (once pitched to doctors with a portly figurine called "Mr. Obocell") and Bamadex. Overall, the bottles contained 14 different compounds, including antihistamines, pain relievers and stimulants. All the drugs tested were in their original sealed containers."
"The findings surprised both researchers: A dozen of the 14 compounds were still as potent as they were when they were manufactured, some at almost 100 percent of their labeled concentrations."
"Every week in Des Moines, Iowa, the employees of a small nonprofit collect bins of unexpired prescription drugs tossed out by nursing homes after residents died, moved out or no longer needed them. The drugs are given to patients who couldn’t otherwise afford them.
But travel 1,000 miles east to Long Island, New York, and you’ll find nursing homes flushing similar leftover drugs down the toilet, alarming state environmental regulators worried they’ll further contaminate the water supply."
"In Baltimore, Maryland, a massive incinerator burns up tons of the drugs each year — for a fee — from nursing homes across the Eastern seaboard."
"If you want to know why the nation’s health care costs are among the highest in the world, a good place to start is with what we throw away. Across the country, nursing homes routinely toss large quantities of perfectly good prescription medication: tablets for diabetes, syringes of blood thinners, pricey pills for psychosis and seizures."
"Two years ago, a mental health advocate named Steve McCaffrey stood at a lectern in the Indiana statehouse, testifying in favor of an addiction treatment bill. After years of rising overdose rates, lawmakers in the health committee were taking action to combat the opioid epidemic. And they often turned to McCaffrey, who leads Mental Health America of Indiana, to advise them.
His brief testimony appeared straightforward. "We rise in support, urge your adoption," said McCaffrey. He said the legislation would move the state "toward evidence-based treatment."
But the bill wouldn't do that. Instead, it would cement rules making it harder to access certain addiction medications — medications that many patients rely on. The goal was to steer doctors toward a specific brand-name drug: Vivitrol.
The drug is a monthly shot used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction and one of a handful of FDA-approved treatments for addiction to opioids such as pain relievers, heroin and fentanyl."
Over the past few months I’ve posted several graphics and charts about heroin abuse in our state. I thought it would be good to put together a brief synopsis, of the various graphs and maps I’ve done.
Heroin abuse doesn’t effect all counties equally, indeed some counties are particularly hard hit.
Overall in the past decade, heroin deaths are up dramatically across the state.