Monday, July 23, 2007
Frontline: The Meth Epidemic
Meth and the Brain
Brain scan images from Dr. Volkow's study. Image copyright Nora Volkow/American Journal of Psychiatry.
Brain scan images from Dr. Volkow's study. Image copyright Nora Volkow/American Journal of Psychiatry.
- Meth releases a surge of dopamine, causing an intense rush of pleasure or prolonged sense of euphoria.
- Over time, meth destroys dopamine receptors, making it impossible to feel pleasure.
Although these pleasure centers can heal over time, research suggests that damage to users' cognitive abilities may be permanent. - Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, including paranoia, insomnia, anxiety, extreme aggression, delusions and hallucinations, and even death.
"There [are] a whole variety of reasons to try methamphetamine," explains Dr. Richard Rawson, associate director of UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. "[H]owever, once they take the drug ... their reasons are pretty much the same: They like how it affects their brain[s]." Meth users have described this feeling as a sudden rush of pleasure lasting for several minutes, followed by a euphoric high that lasts between six and 12 hours, and it is the result of drug causing the brain to release excessive amounts of the chemical dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure. All drugs of abuse cause the release of dopamine, even alcohol and nicotine, explains Rawson, "[But] methamphetamine produces the mother of all dopamine releases."
For example, in lab experiments done on animals, sex causes dopamine levels to jump from 100 to 200 units, and cocaine causes them to spike to 350 units. "[With] methamphetamine you get a release from the base level to about 1,250 units, something that's about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex and other pleasurable activities," Rawson says. "This really doesn't occur from any normally rewarding activity. That's one of the reasons why people, when they take methamphetamine, report having this euphoric [feeling] that's unlike anything they've ever experienced." Then, when the drug wears off, users experience profound depression and feel the need to keep taking the drug to avoid the crash.
When addicts use meth over and over again, the drug actually changes their brain chemistry, destroying the wiring in the brain's pleasure centers and making it increasingly impossible to experience any pleasure at all. Although studies have shown that these tissues can regrow over time, the process can take years, and the repair may never be complete. A paper published by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, examines brain scans of several meth abusers who, after 14 months of abstinence from the drug, have regrown most of their damaged dopamine receptors; however, they showed no improvement in the cognitive abilities damaged by the drug. After more than a year's sobriety, these former meth users still showed severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination, similar to symptoms seen in individuals suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
In addition to affecting cognitive abilities, these changes in brain chemistry can lead to disturbing, even violent behavior. Meth, like all stimulants, causes the brain to release high doses of adrenaline, the body's "fight or flight" mechanism, inducing anxiety, wakefulness and intensely focused attention, called "tweaking." When users are tweaking, they exhibit hyperactive and obsessive behavior, as journalist Thea Singer's sister Candy did on her meth binges. "When she was high, which was almost always, she had to be on the computer -- diddling with programs to make them run faster, ordering freebies on the Internet," writes Singer. "Then computers faded, and she was obsessed with diving into dumpsters -- rescuing audio equipment from behind Radio Shack, pens from behind Office Depot." Heavy, chronic usage can also prompt psychotic behavior, such as paranoia, aggression, hallucinations and delusions. Some users have been known to feel insects crawling beneath their skin. "He picks and picks and picks at himself, like there are bugs inside his face," the mother of one meth addict told Newsweek . "He tears his clothes off and ties them around his head." The same article told the story of another former addict, who, even after five years of sobriety, can't go to the bathroom without propping a space heater against the door, in case someone is after him.
For example, in lab experiments done on animals, sex causes dopamine levels to jump from 100 to 200 units, and cocaine causes them to spike to 350 units. "[With] methamphetamine you get a release from the base level to about 1,250 units, something that's about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex and other pleasurable activities," Rawson says. "This really doesn't occur from any normally rewarding activity. That's one of the reasons why people, when they take methamphetamine, report having this euphoric [feeling] that's unlike anything they've ever experienced." Then, when the drug wears off, users experience profound depression and feel the need to keep taking the drug to avoid the crash.
When addicts use meth over and over again, the drug actually changes their brain chemistry, destroying the wiring in the brain's pleasure centers and making it increasingly impossible to experience any pleasure at all. Although studies have shown that these tissues can regrow over time, the process can take years, and the repair may never be complete. A paper published by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, examines brain scans of several meth abusers who, after 14 months of abstinence from the drug, have regrown most of their damaged dopamine receptors; however, they showed no improvement in the cognitive abilities damaged by the drug. After more than a year's sobriety, these former meth users still showed severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination, similar to symptoms seen in individuals suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
In addition to affecting cognitive abilities, these changes in brain chemistry can lead to disturbing, even violent behavior. Meth, like all stimulants, causes the brain to release high doses of adrenaline, the body's "fight or flight" mechanism, inducing anxiety, wakefulness and intensely focused attention, called "tweaking." When users are tweaking, they exhibit hyperactive and obsessive behavior, as journalist Thea Singer's sister Candy did on her meth binges. "When she was high, which was almost always, she had to be on the computer -- diddling with programs to make them run faster, ordering freebies on the Internet," writes Singer. "Then computers faded, and she was obsessed with diving into dumpsters -- rescuing audio equipment from behind Radio Shack, pens from behind Office Depot." Heavy, chronic usage can also prompt psychotic behavior, such as paranoia, aggression, hallucinations and delusions. Some users have been known to feel insects crawling beneath their skin. "He picks and picks and picks at himself, like there are bugs inside his face," the mother of one meth addict told Newsweek . "He tears his clothes off and ties them around his head." The same article told the story of another former addict, who, even after five years of sobriety, can't go to the bathroom without propping a space heater against the door, in case someone is after him.
Labels: Meth, Methamphetamine
Monday, July 16, 2007
Study: Parents clueless about teen drug use
By Heather Gehlert
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- Parents drastically underestimate their teenage children's exposure to and use of drugs and alcohol, according to survey results released Thursday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
Eighty percent of parents surveyed said they did not think alcohol and marijuana were available at the parties their teens attended, the survey found. But 50 percent of teens said they attended parties where both substances were present.
Unlike past surveys that measured substance abuse itself, this is the center's first report that looks at the role parent supervision can play in teen drinking and drug use.
Addiction center President Joseph Califano Jr. said substance abuse increases with drug availability, and parents, many of whom take the attitude of "not my child," are not only unaware of the problem but are enabling it. "Parents, wake up and smell the pot and beer," he said, adding that even parties with parents as chaperones often brim with drugs and alcohol.
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- Parents drastically underestimate their teenage children's exposure to and use of drugs and alcohol, according to survey results released Thursday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
Eighty percent of parents surveyed said they did not think alcohol and marijuana were available at the parties their teens attended, the survey found. But 50 percent of teens said they attended parties where both substances were present.
Unlike past surveys that measured substance abuse itself, this is the center's first report that looks at the role parent supervision can play in teen drinking and drug use.
Addiction center President Joseph Califano Jr. said substance abuse increases with drug availability, and parents, many of whom take the attitude of "not my child," are not only unaware of the problem but are enabling it. "Parents, wake up and smell the pot and beer," he said, adding that even parties with parents as chaperones often brim with drugs and alcohol.
Ninety-nine percent of parents surveyed said they would not serve alcohol at a party, but 28 percent of teens said they had attended events where parents were home and the children were drinking. By age 17, 46 percent of teens said they had been to parties where drinking and the use of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and prescription medications, had occurred while parents were in the home.
Califano cited a variety of possible reasons for the discrepancy between what parents think is happening and what really is happening: kids sneaking in alcohol or raiding parents' medicine cabinets, parents not being honest in their survey answers, parents being present but in a part of the house that is removed from the party. "You can just imagine the kids saying, 'Please, Mom, please, Dad, don't embarrass me,' " he said.
Nearly 1,300 young people 12 to 17 completed the survey, 591 boys and 706 girls. Of those, 255 were Hispanic and 250 were black. Also surveyed were 562 parents. The survey findings showed almost no difference in drug exposure or abuse between males and females or among teens living in urban, suburban or rural areas.
It did reveal a racial disparity, particularly among the youngest teens, with 1 in 5 of the Hispanic and black 12- and 13-year-olds surveyed saying they had been offered drugs three times as many as white teens the same age.
The survey also revealed that the transition stage at 13 and 14 is a particularly vulnerable time for teens as they enter high school and attain the freedom that comes with it. Fourteen-year-olds were three times as likely to be offered Ecstasy, and twice as likely to be offered cocaine, as teens a year younger.
Family structure also showed up as a strong indicator of substance-abuse risk. Teens who regularly ate dinner with their families and attended church were at less at risk, as were teens who slept more than eight hours a day.
It did reveal a racial disparity, particularly among the youngest teens, with 1 in 5 of the Hispanic and black 12- and 13-year-olds surveyed saying they had been offered drugs three times as many as white teens the same age.
The survey also revealed that the transition stage at 13 and 14 is a particularly vulnerable time for teens as they enter high school and attain the freedom that comes with it. Fourteen-year-olds were three times as likely to be offered Ecstasy, and twice as likely to be offered cocaine, as teens a year younger.
Family structure also showed up as a strong indicator of substance-abuse risk. Teens who regularly ate dinner with their families and attended church were at less at risk, as were teens who slept more than eight hours a day.
Labels: teen-drug-abuse
Monday, July 9, 2007
Teen Prescription-Drug Abuse Has Tripled, Study Finds
Parents may want to spring for a medicine-cabinet padlock, suggests a study released Thursday, because today's teens are definitely turning into Generation Rx.
More than 15 million Americans have admitted to abusing prescription drugs, according to the 214-page report released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Of that figure, more than 2 million are under the age of 17.
Teen abuse of opioids, depressants and stimulants has more than tripled in the past 10 years. The number of Americans abusing controlled prescription drugs doubled during the same period, spiking from 7.8 million in 1992 to 15.1 million in 2003, thereby surpassing the number of cocaine, hallucinogen, inhalant and heroin users combined.
Substances most likely to be abused were opioids or pain relievers (OxyContin, Vicodin), central nervous system depressants (Valium, Xanax), stimulants (Ritalin, Adderall) and anabolic-androgenic steroids (Anadrol, Equipoise).
"Our nation is in the throes of an epidemic of controlled prescription-drug abuse and addiction," Joseph A. Califano Jr., CASA chairman and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, said in a statement. "While America has been congratulating itself in recent years on curbing increases in alcohol and illicit drug abuse, and in the decline in teen smoking, the abuse of prescription drugs has been stealthily, but sharply, rising."
Americans are popping more pills than ever, and teens are no different (see "'Generation Rx': Teen Abuse Of Legal Drugs On The Rise"). The number of 12- to 17-year-olds who abused controlled prescription drugs rose 212 percent, the report said, while the number of adults jumped 81 percent.
"The explosion in the prescription of addictive opioids, depressants and stimulants has, for many children, made their parents' medicine cabinet a greater temptation and threat than the illegal street drug dealer," Califano said. "Parents who do not want to become inadvertent drug pushers should consider locking their medicine cabinets."
Girls were found to be more likely to abuse prescription drugs than boys (10.1 percent of girls versus 8.6 percent of boys), and teens who abused controlled prescription drugs were twice as likely to use alcohol, five times likelier to use marijuana, 12 times likelier to use heroin, and 21 times likelier to use cocaine, compared to teens who did not abuse legal drugs.
The study, which also investigated the availability of controlled prescription drugs over the Internet, found hundreds of Web sites offering drugs for sale without either requiring a prescription or proof of age. Beau, Dietl & Associates, CASA's investigatory partner, found that, as of 2004, only 6 percent of online pharmacies required a prescription, while 41 percent indicated that no prescription was needed and 4 percent didn't mention prescriptions at all. Virtually no site restricted the sale of controlled prescription drugs to children.
"Anyone with a credit card and Internet access can get their hands on these dangerous drugs," said Beau Dietl, CEO and chairman of BDA, who compared Internet pharmacies to "predators in the forest" and "vultures" feeding on America's youth.
The report concluded by calling for an "all fronts effort" to reduce abuse of controlled prescription drugs. This would include a major public health education and prevention campaign; better training of physicians and pharmacists; and new laws, with more enforcement, to close rogue Internet sites. The report also suggested that the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies make abuse of controlled prescription drugs more difficult while offering improved treatment and conducting additional research into the problem.
Labels: prescription-drugs, teen-drug-abuse
