Prescription Drug Abuse - Harming Newborns

Prescription drug abuse continues to be in the forefront of drug testing and is a growing problem.

The increased use and addiction to painkillers has now surfaced in the most vulnerable of patients - newborns, according to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The number of babies born addicted to these painkillers has nearly tripled in the last decade, which equates to one baby per hour, according to the study.

Dr Stephan Patrick of the University of Michigan Health Centre Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the lead author of this study, indicated that "Generally, babies are soothed by wrapping or holding or being fed. Typically these babies can't be consoled".



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Posted by Drug Test Australia

Original from Datia Focus, Fall 2012, pg 4. Neil Fortner

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Come see our newly updated website at www.drugtestaustralia.com.au

Our new online store has new products available in Saliva Drug Testing and Urine Drug Testing and a range of Breathalysers, as well we have our AS 4760 compliant device ToxSure II.

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Drugs and Driving FAQs

Posted By Drug Test Australia

1. Who will be required to submit to a roadside drug test?

Any driver, motorcycle rider or supervising licence holder on a NSW road or road related area maybe required to undertake one or more oral fluid tests for the presence of the three illicit drugs.

Vehicle passengers other than supervisors of learner licence holders will not be required to undertake an oral fluid test.

Specific NSW Police operations will target heavy vehicle drivers.
Police will also target roads around venues used for ‘rave’ and dance parties, suspected by Police to be linked to drug driving. 

2. What drugs will be detected by roadside drug testing and why have these drugs been chosen?

Roadside drug testing will detect the following three illicit drugs:

• Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component of cannabis.
• Methylamphetamine (‘ice’, ‘speed’, ‘crystal meth’ ‘base’ etc).
• Methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA or ‘ecstasy’).

These three drugs are known to be among the most prevalent illicit drugs used by drivers. 

A recent Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) study of drug driving in NSW revealed that of those who reported driving on drugs, the most common drug was cannabis at 81 per cent followed by ecstasy at 13 per cent and speed at 10 per cent.

Driving after using cannabis results in longer reaction times, alters distance and time perception, lowers concentration, coordination, alertness and ability to react, and narrows or blurs vision.

Driving after using stimulants such as ecstasy and speed/ice increases risk taking and aggressive driving, causes loss of concentration, and causes blurry or limited vision.

3. How long after using cannabis can delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) be detected?

Roadside drug testing technology will detect recent usage of cannabis by detecting delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) will be able to be detected for several hours after use of cannabis, though the exact time will vary, for example depending on the amount and potency of the cannabis used.

4. How long after consuming ecstasy or methylamphetamine (speed, ice etc) can these drugs be detected?

Roadside drug testing technology will detect recent usage of speed, ice and ecstasy. In some cases these drugs may be detected by roadside drug screening technology for up to 48 hours after use, though the exact time will vary depending for example on the amount taken, the potency of the drug (ie ice has a much higher potency than speed) and how the drugs have been taken.

5. Will delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) from passive smoking be detected in oral fluid?

No. There is no evidence to suggest that any THC in the oral fluid as a result of passive smoking will be able to be detected by the oral fluid testing technology.

6. How will roadside drug testing work?

Police will conduct a preliminary oral fluid test through the window of your vehicle.

You will be required to lick the test pad of the device. A result will be known in about five minutes.

7. How long will an oral fluid test take?

A preliminary oral fluid test will take about five minutes.  

If you test negative to this test you will be able to drive away.

However, if you test positive to the first test you will have to get out of your vehicle and go with a Police officer to provide an oral fluid sample in the Police support vehicle.

In the Police truck you will provide a sample of your oral fluid, which will be tested using a different oral fluid screening device. This second test should take about 20 minutes.

If you test positive to this test you will be prohibited from driving for 24 hours by Police, and the remaining portion of your oral fluid sample from this test will be sent to the State’s analytical laboratory, the Division of Analytical Laboratories for confirmatory analysis.

8. Will I be required to leave my vehicle to undertake an oral fluid test?

No, not for the preliminary oral fluid test.  Police will conduct this first test through the window of your car.

However, if you test positive you will have to get out of your vehicle and go with a Police officer to provide a second oral fluid sample in the Police support vehicle.

9. What will happen to a driver who tests positive to the roadside drug test?

If you test positive to the preliminary oral fluid test you will have to get out of your vehicle and go with a Police officer to provide a second oral fluid sample in the Police support vehicle. 

In the Police support vehicle you will provide a sample of your oral fluid, which will be tested using a different oral fluid screening device. This second test should take about 20 minutes.  

If you test positive to this test you will not be charged at this time, however, you will be prohibited from driving for 24 hours by Police. The remaining portion of your second oral fluid test will be sent to a laboratory for confirmatory analysis. 

If the presence of one or more of these three drugs is confirmed by the laboratory, you will receive a Court Attendance Notice within a few weeks of your roadside drug test with the charge of driving with the presence of an illicit drug.

10. Will drivers who return positive result to a roadside drug test be allowed to drive before laboratory analysis of the test is complete?

If you test positive to this test you will not be charged at this time, however, you will be prohibited from driving for 24 hours by Police.
After this 24 hour period you can resume driving.

11. For drivers who return positive results to roadside drug test, when and how will they receive results from laboratory analyses?

If the presence of one or more of an illicit drug is confirmed by the laboratory, you will receive a Court Attendance Notice within a few weeks of your roadside drug test with the charge of driving with the presence of an illicit drug.

The Court Attendance Notice will include the details of the charge as well as the time, date and location of their court attendance.  

You will have to attend court, which will be local to the location of the offence, to face the charge of drive with the presence of an illicit drug.

12. Will medications be detected by roadside drug tests? 

The oral fluid test will not detect the presence of prescription drugs including medicines with amphetamine–like substances or common over the counter medications, such as cold and flu tablets.

Oral fluid tests will only detect delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the active component in cannabis, methylamphetamine (speed, ice, crystal meth, base) and methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) ecstasy - substances that are not legally prescribed in Australia.

13. Why is oral fluid tested rather than blood or urine?

Collecting oral fluid from drivers at the roadside is much easier than collecting a blood or urine sample.

Oral fluid testing devices are a non-invasive, rapid and reliable way to screen for drugs at the roadside.

14. How accurate is the oral fluid drug screening technology?

The oral fluid test is a screening test only.  Oral fluid drug screening technology provides a reliable indicative result in a matter of minutes, making it ideal for use as a roadside screening device but not for an evidentiary result to be used at court.

Those who are screened as being drug positive will be required to provide a further additional oral fluid sample for further testing.

Only a positive drug result from the Government’s analytical laboratory can be used to prosecute for a drug driving offence.

15. What are the penalties if the laboratory confirms the presence of one or more of the three illicit drugs in your oral fluid sample?

The penalty for a first offence is a maximum $1,100 fine and three (minimum) to six months (maximum) licence disqualification.  

The penalty for a second or subsequent offence is a maximum $2,200 fine and licence disqualification for minimum six months up to an unlimited period.

16. What happens if a driver refuses to be tested?

If a person refuses to be tested at the roadside they can be fined $1,100. They will also have to accompany a Police officer to the Police truck where they will have to provide a sample of their oral fluid.

If they refuse to provide an oral fluid sample a maximum fine of $3,300 applies, plus licence disqualification for a minimum of six months up to an unlimited period.

A driver who refuses to be tested can also be prohibited from driving for 24 hours by Police.

17. What happens if I am unable to provide an oral fluid sample?

A person who has genuinely attempted but is unable to provide a sample of their oral fluid will be required by Police to provide a sample of blood in lieu of an oral fluid sample.

The person will be taken by Police to a hospital to have the blood sample taken. The state’s analytical laboratory will analyse the sample for the presence of any drug.

If they refuse to provide a blood sample then a maximum $3,300 fine applies. 

18. Don’t stimulants such as methylamphetamine (speed, ice, crystal meth, base) make you a more alert driver?

While methylamphetamine, in its various forms, can increase your alertness they can also cause you to: 

• Take more risks. 
• Drive aggressively. 
• Believe you drive better than you really can.
• Be overstimulated and lose concentration. 
• Have blurry or limited vision. 
• See things on the road that aren’t where you think they are. 
• Have scattered thoughts or delusions.

Driving when you’re coming down is also very dangerous.  When the effects of stimulants are wearing off your driving is still affected. You may fall asleep at the wheel.

19. Will oral fluid samples be destroyed when the evidentiary drug analysis is complete?

No, the remaining proportion will be stored at the laboratory for six months.
This is so a person can apply for a portion of their own sample to be independently analysed by another laboratory at their own expense.

20. What about other illicit drugs?

Drivers found to be impaired by any illicit drug can currently be prosecuted under existing Police powers for the drive under the influence offence.

There is also a new offence of drive with the presence of cocaine or morphine (heroin) in blood or urine; however drivers will not be randomly tested for these drugs using a roadside drug test.

21. Can drivers be charged with both drug and alcohol offences?

Yes. It will be possible for a person to be prosecuted for a prescribed concentration of alcohol offence as well as an offence of presence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component of cannabis, methylamphetamine (‘ice’, ‘speed’, ‘crystal meth’ ‘base’ etc) and methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA or ‘ecstasy’).

However, if a person is prosecuted for a drive under the influence offence, they cannot also be prosecuted for a prescribed concentration of alcohol offence or presence of drugs offence.

22. If a driver tests positive to drugs will they be searched, or have their vehicles or property searched?

Police already have the power to search persons and vehicles for drugs or other items if they have reasonable grounds to suspect evidence of an offence may be found there.

In most cases, no search will occur. However, there could be evidence of drug or other offences apparent to police administering the test. In these circumstances they have the power to conduct a search. 

For More Information, please contact Drug Test Australia at their website www.drugtestaustralia.com.au or call or email us at;

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Original Article; http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/alcoholdrugs/drugdriving/drugdrivingfaqs.html

Police take 1700 drink or drug-affected drivers off the streets

Police test drivers for drugs. Picture: Tim Carrafa Source: Sunday Herald Sun

POLICE have taken 1700 drink or drug-affected drivers off the streets of Victoria in the first phase of its summer road enforcement campaign.

Operation RAID – Remove All Impaired Drivers – detected more than 36,500 traffic offences during the past three weeks, 3000 more than in the same period last year.

Assistant Commissioner for Road Policing Robert Hill said he was astounded.

“It just astounds me that despite the research, despite the education, despite the heartache, people are still willing to risk their lives on the road,” Mr Hill said.

“I look at incidents like the terrible collision that claimed five lives in Lara over the weekend and wonder what more we as police could have done?”

“But it’s not just up to the police. Everyone needs to play their part and show some responsibility – drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike,” he added.

One driver, a 58 year old Yarrawonga man, was seen talking on a mobile phone and holding a can of beer while unsuccessfully trying to steer his Holden ute along the Murray Valley Highway in Cobram East around 2.35 last Thursday.

“The incident occurred at the same location where two days prior, a 20-year-old Mulwala woman was killed after her vehicle collided with a tree,” Victoria Police spokeswoman Cath Allen said.

One disqualified motorist was caught with drugs in his system in the same location in Bittern and same operation as he had the year before.

And five drug drivers were detected in the Mornington Peninsula area all on Saturday night.

“Over the last three weeks during this operation, we’ve breath tested 671,863 motorists and drug tested a further 1580 motorists,” Mr Hill said.

"We’ve had more police on the road than ever, working around the clock to deter and take these risk-takers off our roads.

“My challenge to all road users, two weeks out from Christmas, is stay safe or stay off the road this summer,” he added.

The operation detected:

• 1580 drink driving offences

• 196 drug driving offences

• 1092 disqualified/suspended drivers

• 1542 unlicensed drivers 

• 3191 unregistered vehicles 

• 10,819 speeding offences 

• 3152 mobile phone offences 

• 2576 disobey signs/signals 

• 262 impoundments 

• 1528 seat belt offences. 

The 52-day campaign will run across Victoria until January 9. 

Posted By Drug Test Australia

Original http://www.news.com.au/national/police-take-1700-drink-or-drug-affected-drivers-off-the-streets-of-victoria/story-fndo4cq1-1226533910237

• Jon Kaila
• Herald Sun
• December 11, 201212:00AM

Bath Salts Laws: Officials Struggle To Regulate New Recipes For Synthetic Drugs: US

Posted by Drug Test Australia

Original http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/bath-salts-laws_n_1701339.html

By MATTHEW PERRONE 07/25/12 02:17 PM ET

WASHINGTON — People are inventing so many new ways to get high that lawmakers can't seem to keep up.

Over the past two years, the U.S. has seen a surge in the use of synthetic drugs made of legal chemicals that mimic the dangerous effects of cocaine, amphetamines and other illegal stimulants.

The drugs are often sold at small, independent stores in misleading packaging that suggests common household items like bath salts, incense and plant food. But the substances inside are powerful, mind-altering drugs that have been linked to bizarre and violent behaviour across the country. Law enforcement officials refer to the drugs collectively as "bath salts," though they have nothing in common with the fragrant toiletries used to moisturise skin.

President Barack Obama signed a bill into law earlier this month that bans the sale, production and possession of more than two dozen of the most common bath salt drugs. But health professionals say lawmakers cannot keep pace with bath salt producers, who constantly adjust their chemical formulations to come up with new synthetic drugs that aren't covered by new laws. Experts who have studied the problem estimate there are more than 100 different bath salt chemicals in circulation.

"The moment you start to regulate one of them, they'll come out with a variant that sometimes is even more potent," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

There are no back alleys or crack houses in America's latest drug epidemic. The problem involves potent substances that amateur chemists make, package and sell in stores under brands like "Ivory Wave," "Vanilla Sky" and "Bliss" for as little as $15. Emergencies related to the drugs have surged: The American Association of Poison Control Centres received more than 6,100 calls about bath salt drugs in 2011 – up from just 304 the year before – and more than 1,700 calls in the first half of 2012.

The problem for lawmakers is that it's difficult to crack down on the drugs. U.S. laws prohibit the sale or possession of all substances that mimic illegal drugs, but only if federal prosecutors can show that they are intended for human use. People who make bath salts and similar drugs work around this by printing "not for human consumption" on virtually every packet.

Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Agency, said the intended use for bath salts is clear.

"Everyone knows these are drugs to get high, including the sellers," she said.

Many states have banned some of the most common bath salts, which are typically sold by small businesses like convenience stores, tobacco shops and adult book stores. For instance, West Virginia legislators banned the bath salt drug MDPV last year, making it a misdemeanor to sell, buy or possess the synthetic drug. Conviction means up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Stephanie Mitchell, assistant manager of The Den, a tobacco and paraphernalia shop in Morgantown, W.Va., said the store hasn't sold bath salts in the six months that she's worked there. But strung-out users still come in and ask for them.

"They're pretty ... cracked out, I guess would be a good word," said Mitchell, 21, a student at West Virginia University. "They're just kind of not all there. They're kind of sketchy people."

Mitchell says she wouldn't sell bath salts even if she had them, "because it's horrible, and I could get in trouble for it."

Despite the bans, bath salts producers are constantly tweaking their recipes to come up with new drugs that aren't covered by local laws. In fact, Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center, says there are so many different drugs out there that it's almost impossible to know what people have ingested, or how long the effects will last.

"Cocaine is cocaine and meth is meth. We know what these things do," he said. "But with these new drugs, every time the chemist alters the chemical structure, all bets are off."

THE SPREAD

The most common bath salt drugs, like MDPV and mephedrone, were first developed in pharmaceutical research laboratories, though they were never approved for medical use. During the last decade they became popular as party drugs at European raves and dance clubs. As law enforcement began cracking down on the problem there, the drugs spread across the Atlantic Ocean.

Poison control centers in the U.S. began tracking use of the drugs in 2010. The majority of the early reports of drug use were clustered in Southern states like Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky. But the problem soon spread across the country.

The financial lure for small-time drugmakers is enticing. The drugs can be cheaply imported from China or India, and then easily packaged under local brands. For example, bath salts sold in Louisiana carry regional names like Hurricane Charlie or Bayou.

The widespread availability of the drugs in stores is equally alluring for drug users: they can get a cheap high similar to that of illegal drugs by walking to a corner store.

The most dangerous synthetic drugs are stimulants that affect levels of both dopamine and serotonin, brain chemicals that affect mood and perception. Users, who typically smoke or snort the powder-based drugs, may experience a surge in energy, fever and delusions of invincibility.

Use of these drugs has spread across the country with reports stretching from Maine to California. There are no official federal estimates on deaths connected with the drugs, many of which do not show up on typical drug tests. But police reports have implicated the drugs in several cases.

Packets of "Lady Bubbles" bath salts, for instance, were found on Sgt. David Franklyn Stewart last April after the solider shot and killed his wife and himself during a car chase with law enforcement near Olympia, Wash.

The chase began when Stewart sped past a police patrol car at 6 a.m. The police trooper pursued for 10 miles and reported seeing the driver raise a hand to his head, then heard a shot and saw the driver slump over. The next day police found the couple's 5-year-old son dead in their home; he had been suffocated with a plastic bag at least 24 hours earlier.

Another death involving bath salts played out in Covington, La. Police reported that Dickie Sanders, 21, shot himself in the head Nov. 11, 2010 while his parents were asleep.

His father, Dr. Richard Sanders, said his son had snorted "Cloud 9" bath salts and endured three days of intermittent delirium, at one point attempting to cut his own throat. As he continued to have visions, his physician father tried to calm him. But the elder Sanders said that as he slept, his son went into another room and shot himself.

WHAT'S AHEAD

Hospital emergency rooms, doctors and law enforcement agencies across the country have struggled to control bath salt drug users who often are feverish and paranoid that they are being attacked. Doctors say users often turn up naked because bath salts raise their body temperature so much that they strip off their clothing.

Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee has treated 160 people suspected of taking bath salts since 2010. Dr. Sullivan Smith, who works there, said people on the drugs become combative, and it can take four or five health professionals to subdue them. In some cases, he said, doctors have to use prescription sedatives that are typically reserved for surgery.

Smith recalls one man who had been running for more than 24 hours because he believed the devil was chasing him with an ax. By the time police brought him to the hospital, he was dehydrated and covered in blood from running through thorny underbrush.

"We're seeing extreme agitation, hallucinations that are very vivid, paranoia and some really violent behaviour  so it's a real crisis for us," Smith said. "We sedate the living daylights out of them. And we're talking doses on the order of 10 or 20 times what you would give for a painful procedure."

To control the spread of the problem, the Drug Enforcement Agency issued a temporary ban in October on three of the most common drugs – mephedrone, methylone and MDPV. That ban became permanent under the bill signed by Obama on July 10.

Under the law, anyone convicted of selling, making or possessing 28 synthetic drugs, including bath salts, will face penalties similar to those for dealing traditional drugs like cocaine and heroin.

Those on the front lines say the legislation is a good start. But they don't expect new laws to dramatically curb use of bath salts in the near term.

"The problem is these drugs are changing and I'm sure they're going to find some that are a little bit different chemically so they don't fall under the law," said Dr. Smith, the Tennessee doctor. "Is it adequate to name five or 10 or even 20? The answer is no, they're changing too fast."