What gets me is the state and governments are so reactive when it comes to the product that mostly comes from conquered Afghanistan, is smuggled by double-dealing US drug and intelligence agencies, and pads the bottom-line profits of money-laundering international banks.
The conversation is always treatment, treatment, treatment, sympathy, sympathy, sympathy. The $ymptoms are addre$$ed, but never the cau$es. Hmmmm. And with the NSA watching every movement and fart belch on the planet.... c'mon!
"Drug-addicted babies in Mass. are triple national rate" by Tracy Jan | Globe Staff June 19, 2014
WASHINGTON — New research shows that the number of babies born in Massachusetts with opiates in their system is more than triple the national rate — and far higher than the number tallied by state officials.
Hospital diagnoses data reported to the federal government and obtained by the Globe also show that the toll of opiate addiction is affecting babies not only in Massachusetts, but in New England as a whole, at far greater rates than the rest of the nation....
The state’s figures are based on cases reported to the Department of Children and Families.
Well, all's well that ends well with more case filings.
State law mandates hospital staff to report instances of addicted newborns to the child protection agency, but some experts say the numbers are underreported because of the stigma and fear that mothers will lose their children. A department spokeswoman says the number only includes addicted babies who show withdrawal symptoms.
But they just said they are looking out for the child's best interests above all!
I'm not saying they need to be perfect, especially with the job of cleaning up after other powerful forces have taken their cuts, but stop shoveling the shit.
Asked why the state does not instead analyze and publicize the hospital statistics that it submits annually to the federal government, a spokesman for the Massachusetts agency that collects the data said it does not have the manpower to sort through the thousands of hospital procedure codes in its database.
Falls on deaf ears.
Researchers say that hospitalization statistics are a more reliable indicator of drug-dependent babies.
Newborns who have been exposed to drugs in utero can experience painful withdrawal symptoms that can include difficult feeding and breathing, diarrhea, vomiting, and seizures that can last for weeks, even months. The long-term effects of the condition, known as neonatal abstinence syndrome, are unknown because few studies have looked at these children beyond the first years of life, when some cognitive or movement impairment could be detected.
What a way to come into the world.
A new task force is working to improve how the state quantifies the problem, following Governor Deval Patrick’s recent declaration of opiate abuse as a public health emergency....
As he is leaving.
Reasons for the high rates of opiate abuse in New England range from overprescribing by doctors and drug dealers in major urban areas recognizing untapped markets, to a lack of detox beds and treatment programs.
Where is it coming from, who is bringing it here, and why am I the only one asking?
Also, as oxycodone abuse has dropped, suppliers have increased the availability of low-cost heroin....
Yeah, turns out the pre$cription pharmaceuticals are the worst gateway drugs of all.
--more--"
"5 states to jointly combat overdoses; Governors agree to push data sharing" by Brian MacQuarrie | Globe staff June 18, 2014
WALTHAM — Five New England governors agreed Tuesday to work across state borders to address a surge in drug overdoses, promising to better monitor the prescription of opioid painkillers and to expand access to addiction treatment.
Following private talks at Brandeis University, the governors said they would explore sharing prescription data on a broad scale, in part to curb “doctor shopping” by patients and small-time drug dealers who skirt prescription limits by visiting multiple physicians.
Related: Study finds rise in suicide attempts after FDA warning
That got washed down as a one-day wonder when it may explain so many things, particularly the screwed-up state of kid's heads today.
Besides, there are good drugs and bad drugs. Good drugs are approved by government, developed by giant conglomerates, and come from a well-meaning doctor. Bad drugs are illegal, and provide a convenient and $elf-$erving war on drugs while accomplishing other goals referenced above.
The region’s chief executives, minus only Governor Paul LePage of Maine, said they would push for mandatory registration in the Prescription Monitoring Program, a growing, online database doctors can check for the prescription histories of individual patients.
See: Maine Spitzing Tipping Point
“There’s just no doubt in my mind that the single thing that can undermine our quality of life as a region is addiction to opiates,” said Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, who devoted his entire State of the State address this year to the opiate scourge in his state.
Related: The Iron Pipeline Between Massachusetts and Vermont
Connecticut’s governor, Dannel P. Malloy, echoed Shumlin’s concern about the abuse and misuse of powerful opioids, which are generally prescribed to ease pain but are sometimes diverted by family members and criminals for nonmedical purposes.
‘‘People get introduced to a drug and enjoy the use of that product, and that in many cases leads to doctor or clinic shopping,’’ Malloy said. ‘‘And that shopping doesn’t necessarily honor state borders.’’
The governors pledged to forge agreements among state Medicaid programs to allow patients to cross borders for drug-abuse treatment. Under that plan, if one state does not have beds immediately available for treatment, an addict in desperate need of help could turn to other New England states.
“Everybody has a stake in helping people recover and helping people heal,” said Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, who convened the meeting.
He has kind of a messianic complex to him. Glad he is leaving.
“How do we work together so that we move people who are addicted into recovery?” Shumlin asked.
This regional collaboration is the most active, focused effort to combat opioid abuse by neighboring governors in the United States, said John Eadie, director of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Center of Excellence, a Brandeis program that seeks to end prescription drug abuse.
The center will help the governors find ways to put their proposals into place, Eadie said, aided by federal funds to study data from each state’s prescription monitoring program. Eadie said the center also will work to develop an early warning system to identify communities at risk for heroin abuse.
They always have plenty of money to build databases, store information, and spy on you? Ever notice that amidst the unemployment and hunger?
New England has been hit hard by opioid overdoses and related deaths since late last year. In Massachusetts, more than 200 people have died since November. Patrick declared a public health emergency in March and announced a $20 million plan last week to expand treatment and other substance-abuse services.
“While we are all addressing opioid addiction independently, we feel we would be better off doing so collaboratively,” Patrick said.
The governors agreed to form a working group composed of high-level state officials to build the framework for sharing prescription data and to make treatment more accessible. Its recommendations will be due at the end of September, Patrick said.
New Hampshire’s governor, Maggie Hassan, said her state is using federal money to bring its prescription monitoring program online. Opioid abuse, she said, “strains our families. It hurts the productivity of our workers. It’s undermining the safety of our communities. . . . We need to work together across boundaries, across silos.”
I hope it works better than healthcare.gov or the Massachusetts site now scrapped.
In Rhode Island, Governor Lincoln Chafee’s administration has used a broad government response to address a sharp rise in overdoses and deaths.
Maine’s LePage, who is focusing on law enforcement instead of treatment to crack down on the opioid problem, remained in his state to meet with veterans seeking jobs and to release 2013 data that showed a decrease in crime.
“Those were a higher priority than a photo op with other New England governors,” said Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for LePage, the only Republican among the region’s governors.
The five governors at Brandeis said they planned to reach out to their eastern Canadian counterparts in an effort to include them in a transnational partnership. “Their border and our border are pretty wide open,” Malloy said.
Northern and southern borders, huh?
Now I know why Boston is such a haven. Maybe they can get a place in the towers.
The recommendations are steps in the right direction, said Dr. Daniel Alford, director of the Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education program, based at Boston University School of Medicine. But, he added, better data sharing should be complemented by physicians talking to each other.
“The more we can share data across systems, it makes sense, obviously,” Alford said. “It just shouldn’t stop with you need to register and you need to check. This is the third piece: You still need to call the previous doc and get information.”
Shumlin described the Brandeis roundtable as a beginning, and said New England governors will continue to explore ways to collaborate beyond the initial steps of data sharing and making treatment more widely available.
“What we’re saying as governors is that the sky is the limit,” Shumlin said.
I'm feeling pretty high, yeah.
--more--"
Also see: Mass. regulators move to tighten tracking of addictive drugs
More powder for you:
"Barnstable police arrested several people on charges of dealing cocaine following an investigation into an attack that nearly killed a man behind a Hyannis bar in April, police said. Police received reports of a stabbing at the Quarterdeck Lounge on Lyannough Road at about 1:30 a.m. on April 22."
Can't imagine where that stuff could be coming from, you?
I never thought bars and drugs were a good mix.
This rest of this post stinks:
"Site sullied by marijuana crop restored" Associated Press June 24, 2014
RENO, Nev. — Last fall, federal officials shut down an illegal marijuana garden where nearly 2,000 pot plants sprouted up from US range land in remote wilderness in northeast Nevada’s Snake Mountains.
The drug-trafficking suspects left behind a campground filled with garbage and caused an estimated $60,000 worth of damage to an aspen grove about 50 miles west of Utah, Bureau of Land Management officials said.
Right under the government's noses, huh? Pffft!
Last week, four volunteers from the agency restored the area by gathering up more than 700 pounds of trash and debris from one of the camouflaged encampments, which increasingly are popping up on public lands in the West.
With government acquiescence, no doubt.
‘‘We’re cleaning up the site to prevent future use for illegal activities, restore ecological habitat, and return it to a more natural state so wildlife can use this great grove for its intended purpose,’’ said Blaine Potts, outdoor recreation planner with the bureau.
Wait until it catches fire.
Hunters stumbled onto the elaborate operation in October, Potts said. On Thursday, a helicopter airlifted the refuse out of the camp in a creek drainage near Stormy Peak.
They were armed with bow and arrow?
--more--"
Related(?):
"Pittsfield man gets 4 years for marijuana deliveries
A Pittsfield man was sentenced to four years in prison for accepting deliveries of marijuana from FedEx. Daniel Martin was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges including misdemeanor possession to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm without a license. The Berkshire Eagle reported that Martin, 29, was arrested in March 2012 when a police officer disguised as a FedEx driver delivered marijuana to him. Police were tipped off by FedEx after a driver detected the smell of marijuana from a package. Police said Martin received nine packages of marijuana from Oregon in a month’s time."
What a stinky delivery, in more ways than one.
Also see: Marijuana food safety new frontier for officials
Funny, I am feeling hungry. At least no one died like legal pre$cription drugs.
Connecticut pharmacists gather to learn about pot
None of them had a match?
Shelton, Conn., bans medical marijuana facilities
Got snuffed out anyway.
Here is who can help pick you up:
"Substance help from one who struggled; US drug czar Botticelli builds on the lessons of his own recovery" by Brian MacQuarrie | Globe Staff June 23, 2014
WORCESTER — Michael Botticelli, an openly gay man married to his longtime partner, knows this crowd. They are his people, the often-underpaid foot soldiers of the no-finish-line struggle to stem the scourge of addiction. And hundreds of them return the love, giving him rock-star treatment as he walks across the stage at Worcester State University.
“It’s hard to get the words out: I work in the White House,” said the 56-year-old Botticelli, looking slightly sheepish. “It’s really wild.”
Botticelli is the country’s acting drug czar, leading the nation’s fight against substance abuse less than two years after performing a similar job with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
He really is the first gay president.
And looking at the state today, I don't know if he's the guy for the job.
He is also the first person in addiction recovery to hold the job, having turned his life around since a drunken driving accident on the Massachusetts Turnpike more than 25 years ago. And unlike some of his predecessors, Botticelli is not a police officer, does not come from the military, and is not a doctor.
That's his only qualification then?
What can I do for you? I need work.
Instead, he brings trench-level experience in treatment and prevention to the post, and decades of extending a hand instead of a threat to people struggling with substance abuse. Since his appointment in March, the mantra has remained the same.
I guess that's why I'm turning off and tuning out my propaganda pre$$, and why you're dropping in, readers.
*******************
Now, Botticelli is trying to bring to the national arena some of the strategies and programs he said worked well in Massachusetts. That includes expanded use of drugs such as Narcan and Suboxone to help opioid addicts, and a broad, integrated approach to prevention that involves stakeholders from health care, government, law enforcement, the courts, and addicts and their families.
Does anybody.... never mind. You gotta be high to read this stuff.
His approach caught the eye of Gil Kerlikowske, the previous drug czar, when he visited Massachusetts during Botticelli’s tenure as substance-abuse director. Kerlikowske, who had been Seattle police chief and now is commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, asked Botticelli to leave Massachusetts and become his deputy director at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
I guess you move these guys from one failure to another.
*******************
Much of what Botticelli brings to his bully pulpit finds its foundation in his own cathartic story. It’s a story rooted in family alcoholism, and it’s a journey that led to desperation as a young man in Boston.
There is bull of some kind going on because I can smell it.
It’s a story, Botticelli said, that “speaks to the redemptive power of treatment and how it can restore people’s lives.”
If you want his life story.....
--more--"
Related: Obama's War on Medical Marijuana Comes to Massachusetts
Not that kind of treatment! What are you smoking!?
Also see: Worcester ‘career criminals’ facing 28 charges
Gilbert Morin and Rabbi Lavarin involved in drug and gun crimes?
Really spoiling the party and the show, aren't they?
I gotta "kick" this habit today, know what I mean?
UPDATES:
Police investigate park death in Maine
