Synthetic Drugs, also known as Designer Drugs

As the classic question goes: Which do you want first—the good news or the bad news?
The topic for today is Synthetic drugs, also known as designer drugs, and the good news, which comes from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, is that human exposure to bath salts is down. And the bad news…well, which one of the bad news reports do you want first?

~ Kids (and some adults) are still taking them and dying from them.
~ Despite new laws designed to criminalize synthetic drugs, the manufacturers keep changing the formulas to get around the laws and keep their poisonous substances technically legal. (The irony of the similarity in sound between “legal” and “lethal” has not escaped us.)
~ The paranoia brought on by synthetic marijuana is far more intense than that brought on by natural marijuana.
~ Kids continue to be deluded by the availability (and technical legality) of synthetic drugs into thinking that if they’re openly sold in such commonplace venues as gas stations, it must be OK to take them.
The reality, of course, is something far different.
Synthetic drugs are designed to act very much like the drugs they mimic, but if you think natural marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs are dangerous, they have nothing on the dangers in their synthetic counterparts. While marijuana, cocaine, and other such drugs are, at least, natural substances, K2, Spice, bath salts, and other designer drugs are laced with chemicals that can be highly toxic—and deadly in far too many cases.
Dr. Marilyn A. Huestis, a research scientist with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, says of synthetic or designer drugs, “They are much more potent than the drugs that they mimic, so we have much more deaths and adverse effects…. It’s a major problem.”
According to the DEA, there are now more than 300 synthetic drugs that have been identified…and there are likely plenty more to come.
If you suspect your teenager (or anyone else you care about) is using synthetic drugs, get in touch with us for help. Go to http://www.blisstreatment.com/ or call 844-84BLISS. We’re ready to help you.

A study on the effects of alcohol on sleep

A study on the effects of alcohol on sleep gives us some interesting insights. It was  published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, the journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.

Having a “hot toddy”—or any kind of alcoholic drink—before bed as a sleep aid is so long-established a practice that it is practically a tradition. What’s more, warnings against drinking and driving center around not only slowed reflexes and erratic judgment but concern about falling asleep at the wheel. It seems that “everyone knows” that alcohol makes you sleepy, and therefore a drink before bedtime is nearly guaranteed to help you sleep better.

But that isn’t quite right. Or at least, that isn’t all there is to it. Famed news commentator Paul Harvey’s oft-quoted line in his broadcasts was, “And now for the rest of the story.” Would you like to hear “the rest of the story” about alcohol and sleeping?

In studies done with the aid of EEGs, researchers have discovered an interesting fact: While it seems that imbibing a drink before bed does indeed help most people fall asleep faster, it disrupts sleep later on, and on balance the research subjects had a poorer night’s sleep after having a drink before bed than they did if they didn’t intake any alcohol before bedtime.

Christian L. Nicholas, Ph.D., of the University of Melbourne, was the corresponding author for the Dr. Nicholas observed, “The take-home  message here is that alcohol is not actually a particularly good sleep aid even though it may seem like it helps you get to sleep quicker. In fact, the quality of the sleep you get is significantly altered and disrupted.” Of course, a wrecked night’s sleep, bad as it is, is almost the least of the negative outcomes that can occur from relying on alcohol. Do you or someone you love have issues with alcohol dependency or alcohol abuse ? We can help!

    Please go to http://www.blisstreatment.com or call 844-84BLISS.