Suggested Reading
Uppers, Downers, All Arounders
By D. Inaba
A non- judgmental, current, and highly visual,
textbook /reference book on the physical and mental effects of psychoactive
drugs.
The 500-page book covers all aspects of drug use
and abuse including current theories of addiction, neuro-chemistry,
treatment, dual diagnosis, and prevention.
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Vincent DiMaio, chief medical examiner in Bexar County, Texas, said that the condition is real, kills up to 800 people annually in the U.S., and is mostly related to use of cocaine and methamphetamine. He said most cases involve young men with a history of drug use or mental illness who violently resist arrest.
However, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not recognize the condition.¤
Study Sees Spike in Methadone Overdoses
The rate of fatal overdoses attributed to methadone use increased faster than overdoses involving any other drug between 1999 and 2004, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
USA Today reported Feb. 13 that fatal methadone overdoses in 2004, which totaled 3,849, rose 390 percent from 1999. Almost 13 percent of all overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2004 involved methadone, the NCHS report said, up from 4 percent in 1999.
The trend is partly due to the fact that more doctors are prescribing methadone as a painkiller, seeing it as a more affordable alternative to drugs like OxyContin. Like OxyContin and Vicodin, methadone also has a high potential for abuse. Each dose of methadone costs only a few cents, although it can fetch $20 per pill on the street.
Most people who suffer fatal methadone overdoses are drug addicts, according to Nicholas Reuter, a senior public health analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Methadone also is a tricky drug to manage even when legally prescribed as a pain medication, warned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last fall. "Methadone may build up in the body to a toxic level if it is taken too often, if the amount taken is too high, or if it is taken with certain other medications," the FDA said.¤
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