Is Your Teen Dying to “Huff?”

One day, you go into your son’s room and to your surprise, you find that missing can of whipped cream under his bed. You think to yourself, “That’s odd.”

Out of your daughter’s backpack falls the can of paint thinner you used three years ago when you remodeled the kitchen and has since been sitting out in the garage among the other discarded tools and supplies. You then ponder, “Is she in art class this semester?”

If something like this has happened to you, your kid may very well be abusing inhalants. If he is, he’s in danger of not only destroying his mind and body but he could also die.

What are inhalants?

Inhalants that kids get high on are mostly found in your house. For example, if you have cleaning fluids, glues, paints, solvents, compressed air canisters (you know, those cans of air you use to clean your computer keyboard), correctional fluids, deodorizers, aerosol deodorants, cooking spray, or whipped cream cans, then you have inhalants in your house… and I’m betting that you do.

All these types of products are very common in any household. After all, we all use these goods to aid us in cooking, cleaning, school projects, home repair, etc. The problem is these are the very same products your teen may be using to get high. In many surveys I have seen, roughly four out of ten middle-school aged kids have tried huffing (one of the many slang terms for inhaling toxic fumes to get high).

Inhalants offer a quick, cheap and intense high for roughly five to forty-five minutes. They are easy to get a hold of, conceal and explain away if caught.

So what? At least my kid isn’t doing drugs.

If that’s what you think, you could be dead wrong. Inhalants can often be far worse than more commonly used illicit drugs. These products were never manufactured to be ingested. In fact all of these products carry warnings on their labels about the ill effects they can produce if inhaled, swallowed and sometimes even touched.

The often overlooked fact is that inhalants are not drugs… they are poisons, pure and simple. Unfortunately, many teens don’t see them as poisons or even as drugs. They don’t understand the severe and irreparable damage they can cause not only to their brains, but also to their central nervous systems. And let’s not forget about serious and permanent damage done to their bones and internal organs as well. Chronic use can change your child’s personality forever and cause mental retardation. Basically, these fumes destroy cells that will never recover in the brain, bones, muscle tissues and internal organs.

I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but in America alone roughly 125 kids die each year from huffing. Approximately 40% of these kids died the very first time they tried it. Death can come from suffocation, drowning in their own vomit or heart attack… not fun.

Wow, this is pretty scary. I’ll never look at White-Out the same way again. How do I know if my kid is huffing?

Now before you empty all you cupboards of cleaning supplies, keep an eye out for odd items in your kid’s possession. Common inhalant paraphernalia include:

• household products that disappear, are used up too quickly or are hidden in stashes

• these are some items that are commonly used to inhale the product:

o plastic or paper bags

o rags or handkerchiefs

o bottles or soda cans

o toilet paper tubes filled with tissues

o balloons (nitrous oxide)

o whippet bullets for whipped cream (nitrous oxide)

Here are some symptoms to be aware of if your teen is huffing:

• chemical odors on breath or clothing

• paint or other stains on face, hands or clothing

• facial rash, blisters or sores around the nose, mouth, throat or lips

• frostbite around the nose or mouth (nitrous oxide)

• a painful tongue

• irritated or glazed eyes, dilated pupils

• frequent unexplained coughing or nose bleeds

• weight loss

• headaches

This article is not meant to cause an anxiety attack. Perhaps you suspect it, but you’re just not sure. After all, maybe your son decided to surprise you by cleaning the whole house… which explains where all the wood polish went. It’s not likely, I know but a parent can dream.

If my teen is huffing, what should I do?

If you catch your teen in the act, stay calm. If you rile her up with a bunch of yelling and panicking, it is possible that in her vulnerable state, you could drive her to cardiac arrest. You don’t want that and neither does she. Calmly get her outside into fresh air and follow the warning directions on the product. As soon as possible, get her to an emergency room or doctor to ensure that she is out of immediate danger.

You and your child may need some family therapy to battle this problem. Don’t just assume that it is a phase and it will go away. Inhalants can be just as addictive as drugs.

There is some debate on whether teens should be educated about inhalants since it might lead kids to trying them. Well, as most of you who know me are probably guessing, I am on the side of education and disclosure. Your teen needs to know the truth about these dangers; because inevitably she will be faced with the choice to huff or not to huff. If she has accurate information (from a source more reliable than her friend who just stuck her head in plastic bag filled with paint fumes), your child will generally make smarter decisions. The belief that “If we don’t bring it up, they won’t know what they’re missing,” will only lead to misinformation, a barrier in communication and ultimately a teenager encountering a situation she is unprepared to handle.

Remember that adolescence is a temporary mental disorder and will pass within a few years.

Rehabilitation Benefits and Types

After a serious injury, illness or surgery, you may recover slowly. You may need to regain your strength, relearn skills or find new ways of doing things you did before. This process is rehabilitation. Sometimes after sudden illness or injury people find themselves needing help to manage at home, or even having to consider going into permanent residential or nursing home care. Rehabilitation often focuses on physical therapy to help your strength, mobility and fitness, Occupational therapy to help you with your daily activities and treatment of pain. Types of Rehabilatition Drug rehabilitation, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. Fire department rehab is a firefighting service providing firefighters with immediate medical attention on the fireground. Land rehabilitation, the process of restoring land after some process (business, industry, natural disaster etc.) has damaged it. Occupational therapy Physical therapy, treatment aimed at the recovery of musculoskeletal function, particularly recovery from joint, tendon, or ligament repair. Political rehabilitation Religious rehabilitation Psychiatric rehabilitation Rehabilitation engineering Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy aimed at improving neurologic function that has been lost or diminished by disease or traumatic injury. Stroke rehabilitation, the process of recovering from a stroke Vocational rehabilitation Wildlife rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation (often drug rehab or just rehab) is an umbrella term for the processes of medical and/or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse, in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse. Some people will not need any further help following rehabilitation, but some might need to have a different programme of rehabilitation, or long-term services to help them stay in their own homes. If ongoing help is needed, a Care Manager will arrange this for you. Understandably, some of our service users who still need some long-term support can feel disappointed to find that the carers who provided their rehabilitation service cannot provide this.

Saliva/Oral Drug Testing – A Solution to Corporate Drug Testing

The fact that America consumes 60% of the world’s illicit drugs (Drug Enforcement Administration) makes employee drug testing compulsory for the US companies to maintain the work standards. Drug testing to the employees is an issue to many of the organizations as it involves many issues such as privacy, sample adulteration, complexity, time and cost involved in drug testing. Saliva drug testing is an ideal solution for these problems making corporate drug testing easier and efficient.A major concern of drug testing at workplace is the privacy of the candidate. Using saliva drug testing sample collection is less hazardous and less embarrassing for the parties. Oral fluid drug testing is socially acceptable and is not degrading unlike urine drug testing. There is no need for privacy during sample collection. Saliva drug test is considered as donor friendly, as it has easy to collect specimen procedure.Another issue in corporate drug testing is the cost involved in the entire process. Sample collection through the regular urine based drug testing techniques, sending them to the laboratory and getting results is quite expensive which is not affordable to small organizations. Saliva drug testing makes it cost effective by simplifying the process through uncomplicated sample collection, onsite testing and instant results.Most of the organizations depend on age old Urine drug testing process, which is subject to adulteration and substitution, and it does not include screening for prescription painkillers. Oral fluid-based testing cannot be cheated because specimen collection is directly monitored, which makes it more efficient when compared to urine drug testing.Industry experts consider implementing random drug testing as the most effective method to deter on-the-job drug abuse. Urine drug testing does not support random testing as both the parties are uncomfortable with the complex process. Oral fluid drug testing enables the employers to conduct random drug testing with ease in no time.According to DEA, each year, the costs to U.S. employers exceed $140 billion, as 77% of all drug abusers are employed, and eight to ten percent of workers in any company abuse drugs. On average, each drug abuser costs a corporation $10,000 per year. These statistics sense the urgency of efficient organizational drug testing that could be possible by oral fluid drug testing. This is because it can be used in all the cases of pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, return-to-duty drug testing, which are necessary to an organization to deter drug abuse at the work place.

Every day across America, nearly a million American kids age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time just to get high. If you do the math, that’s nearly a million kids a year risking their lives — or at the very least, risking a life interrupted or ruined by prescription drug addiction. Teenagers are abusing more prescription and over-the-counter drugs than all illegal and illicit drugs except marijuana, according to federal statistics. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs. And kids as young as 12 and 13 told researchers that prescription drugs are their “drug of choice.” The drugs that lead to prescription drug addiction for thousands of these young people are powerful narcotic painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. These are the heroin-in-a-pill type drugs that can cause breathing collapse and coma, that have led to tens of thousands of cases of prescription drug addiction across the country. OxyContins were responsible in part for the death of actor Heath Ledger, and literally thousands of other “just plain folks” across the country in recent years. Anti-anxiety drugs and depressants, especially the benzodiazepine drugs — Xanax is a popular brand, as are Valium, Librium and many others — are particularly dangerous. They rapidly create dependencies that can lead to prescription drug addiction — some people are hooked after just a day or two on Xanax — and they are really difficult to get off of safely. And benzos can cause death when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Stimulants are another type of drug that kids are abusing to get a buzz, particularly the kinds prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adderall and Ritalin are two of the most abused, and these, because of their side effects, are basically cocaine-in-a-pill. Kids are trading and selling their ADHD prescription drugs with other kids, and stupidly risking their friends’ lives. Speed drugs can cause seriously abnormal heart rhythms, seizures and death. Meanwhile, a recent University of Texas study showed conclusively that methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin, causes chromosomal damage — the organized structures of DNA in our cells. No one has a clue yet what damage that will do long-term, but messing with someone’s DNA can’t be harmless. But while that research continues, millions of parents keep feeding these drugs to children. It’s time for a reassessment. Teens are also abusing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as cough and cold remedies, which contain dextromethorphan and other drugs which are, like those prescription drugs, extremely deadly when combined with other drugs or with alcohol. OTC drugs can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death. And they’re a stepping stone to prescription drug addiction, too. Thousands of kids wind up in hospital emergency wards every year fighting for their lives because they overdosed on prescription or OTC drugs mixed with alcohol — all for fun! These drugs are readily available from home medicine cabinets or from friends, and even from on-line pharmacies. A lot of kids still think they’re a safer way to get high than street drugs, and many of them who wouldn’t touch cocaine or heroin don’t realize they are abusing almost identical drugs, and risking prescription drug addiction or death. What’s needed is for parents to start talking to their kids, and to clearly spell out all the very real dangers of prescription and OTC drugs. And they need to show strong disapproval of drug experimentation and abuse, and create and enforce anti-drug rules. Parents need to be firm, but they need their kids to understand that rules are to protect them — kids should be healthy, not in the morgue with a tag on their toe or in medical drug detox recovering from addiction.

Fear and The Yakuza

Fear is a natural human response. It is as natural as breathing air or eating food to live. In fact, fear is a part of survival instinct.But in some parts of the world, fear is simply not acceptable. Anxiety and fear are seen as a weaknesses that cannot be allowed. In some cultures, ruthlessness is tempered by honor, and the rise to power is determined by one’s dedication to duty. To attain honor and power, one must live by a strict code wherein fear and anxiety are treated as grave offenses, and as powerful tools. For the Yakuza, a Japanese secret society that has existed for centuries, signs of weakness among its members is not tolerable. On the other hand, their organization thrives and rules based on the weakness of people outside the confines of the ancient fraternity. The Yakuza is reputedly behind almost every illegal activity in Japan from prostitution, game-fixing, and smuggling, to illicit drugs and protection rackets. For the Oyabun or masters of the Japanese underworld, anxiety can be compared to a sword with no handle. To grasp the blade and strike is to invite harm upon yourself. But a sword with a fine handle can be held and used to cut through anything that goes against the plans and desires of the Boryukudan, which is comparable to the power, influence, and violence associated with the Italian Mafia or the Chinese Triads.Japanese organized crime is different from all other criminal organizations in the sense that their activities are carried out in the open, often in the direct line of sight of the police. The Yakuza clans flaunt their power and influence by running operations that go around the technical restrictions of Japan’s rigid legal system. For example, pachinko parlors that feature Japanese-style pinball and slot machines is are actually gambling joints allegedly run by organized crime. Despite strict anti-gambling laws, these parlors were able to operate by using balls as the “winnings.” The pachinko player can use these balls to play more games or to exchange them for prizes. By eliminating money from the gambling process, the pachinko parlors can continue to rake in millions every single day for organized criminal organizations.The existence of the Yakuza is actually allowed in Japan despite its alleged links to criminal activities. This organization has an incomparable level of freedom to operate. The different Yakuza clans or families even have their own office buildings that are regarded as corporate headquarters. It may be unusual in other parts of the globe but the Boryukudan is actually accepted as part of Japanese society. With its high level of social acceptance, manifestations of anxiety or fear among Yakuza members is seen as a dishonor not only to the person concerned but also for his organization. Failure to accomplish a task or actions that are thought to have brought dishonor to the clan have corresponding consequences. A Yakuza member who has failed his master and organization may be asked to cut his own finger as a sign of regret and penance. In more serious cases, a member may be expected to commit seppuku, an act of suicide using a short sword. The Yakuza member will thrust the sword and cut it across his stomach, after which, another member will use another sword to cut the head of the one who committed the ritual suicide. Aside from its code against the demonstration of fear, the Yakuza deliberately threatens people to create anxiety. Intimidation is actually one of the most effective weapons in the Yakuza’s arsenal. The Japanese underworld understands the Machiavellian concept that a single act of brutality can be more effective in controlling the masses than a number of attacks with less atrocity. To this end, the Japanese employ subtle methods and cultivate anxiety when they deal with ordinary citizens. Using their brand of psychological warfare, the Yakuza is able to inflict nightmarish terror among helpless civilians, and at the same time, use lethal violence on anyone who dared get in their way. The power of the Yakuza clans is legendary in Japan, and allows even a new Yakuza operative to elicit anxiety and fear by their mere presence.However, it is a misconception to think of the Yakuza as a group of “bullies” or thugs in the traditional sense. Most people simply give in to the demands of the syndicates after hearing rumors of just how dangerous the Boryukudan members can be if a person refuses to pay protection money, or if they cheated out of a business deal. For those who have made deals with them, the Yakuza is often found willing to fulfill their end of the bargain.The Yakuza is a phenomenon is crime history that continuous to fascinate people even as it hounds their adversaries in law enforcement. Based on how it operates today in and outside of Japan, it is possible that it would continue to expand its criminal empire through its rigid code of honor, and tools of fear, intimidation, and violence.

Drug tests are done to find out whether a person has abused illicit drugs or not. Drug tests are increasingly becoming compulsory at many work places, for college admissions, and in sports. This has led to drug abusers to find out the ways to pass a drug test. Using cranberry juice is one of the common methods used by the drug abusers to pass the urine drug test. Information is given below on the method followed by the drug abusers to pass a drug test.

Cranberry Juice – The Natural Diuretic:

Cranberry Juice is treated as a natural diuretic, which can be consumed at home. Having cranberry juice on the day of the test temporarily dilutes the urine. This will temporarily strip out THC from the urine. High quality cranberry juice is also consumed to balance the pH level of the urine and increase frequency of urination. Cranberry juice is praised for its ability to aid in maintaining natural kidney functioning.

Using Cranberry Juice to Pass the Drug Test:

Drug abusers drink a few glasses of cranberry juice before going to work on the day of the test. They ensure the urine in the bladder is as watered down as possible. Drug abusers begin by drinking a gallon or more of water and drink a couple of glasses of cranberry juice in between. The cranberry juice will ensure to urinate frequently.

If the company has a history of having tests on the work places instantly, drug abusers try to keep a bottle of cranberry juice with them always. They just drink it before the test, and possibly get a chance to urinate before the test to clean out the system with the aid of the juice.

How it Works:

Theory is to cause a “pH shift”, making the urine sample acidic - altering the chemistry of immunoassay tests. In reality - the body detoxifies the acid %26 dilutes to physiological pH. Between the frequent urination and the dilution of your urine with water, metabolites are unable to build up to a detectable level. For example, cranberry juice contains enough benzoic acid to produce a decidedly acidic urine specimen. Alterations of the urine pH outside the specified limits could result in a false-negative result.

This should help you to look for ways to prevent a potential drug addict from circumventing the test procedure.

Article written by Nate Rodnat.

pass the drug test - pass a drug test

It is finally possible to prolong healthful, useful, enjoyable life beyond the biblical threescore and ten: seventy years.  In order to achieve this, a woman needs a survival strategy.

Some components of this strategy can be achieved by the woman herself, while others involve understanding and being active in issues that impact her whole nation and society. 

A Woman can logically expect to survive healthfully to an advanced age only within a stable, advanced, educated society in which random and directed violence is guarded against and largely eliminated.  General measures of public health, including the presence of a safe and assured water and food supply, and protection from disease by vaccination and other means, must be in place.  The environment should be free of debilitating levels of noxious agents. 

If a woman is successful in her survival strategy, she will not succumb to communicable diseases, whether spread through the food chain, water supply, droplet infection (for respiratory Disease), or sexual transmission (for example Human Immunodeficiency Virus: HIV; Human Papilloma Virus: HPV.) 

She will know her genetic background and her susceptibility to various inherited states (for example, the presence or absence of BRCA genes for breast and ovarian cancer).  She will be vigilant and be checked for the early onset of such diseases.  She will tend to be slim, but not too thin, and have an adequate intake of known nutrients, including protein and calcium.

She will exercise regularly, but will avoid excessive high impact workouts.  She will refrain from substance abuse, the use of illicit drugs, smoking, and excessive alcohol.  She will drive carefully and within the speed limit, wearing a seat belt.

When pregnant, she will seek competent prenatal care early and regularly, and will deliver where evidence shows she is most safe, and where her baby will have the best chance not only for survival, but for survival in optimal mental and physical condition. 

When a disease state inevitably enters her life (hopefully in much later life), she will quickly seek expert help, and in most cases go with evidence based treatment.  She will make herself knowledgeable about possible alternatives, but not close her eyes to scientifically valid emerging techniques that may be applicable.

She will remember to always keep her mind inquiring and her body active.  If she does all these things, and her parents were long lived, she just might be the first person to reach, with intact faculties, the theoretical age: one hundred and thirty five, which is not quite double the classical threescore and ten.