Legalization-Controversial Weapon in Mexico drug war

A growing chorus of leaders is calling to legalize the drug markets as the drug cartels of Mexico are waging a bloody war on the multi-billion dollar narcotics business.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, a high-powered conference, called in June for governments to get into ‘legal regulation’ of illicit drugs, a move they said could weaken cartels. To undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and safety of citizens, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and former presidents of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil were among those who called for legal, government-regulated drugs sales.

According to the libertarian Cato Institution think tank, it is argued by advocates that drug cartels would be destroyed by a legal market of drugs and this would eliminate ‘black market premium’ – the price hike on illegal goods – which accounts for up to 90 percent of profits made by the cartels. Although legalization is supported by two former Mexican presidents, Vicente Fox and Ernesto Zedillo, the present leader of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, has rejected calls for reforms in the past. He may, however, change his tune as Mexico reels from more than 45,000 deaths in five years, in a war driven by US drug use.

In September, Calderon surprised Mexicans by indicating that they are ‘morally obliged’ to look at ‘all possible options’ if drug-consuming nations won’t reduce demand – in this case, the US. US president Barack Obama has made his position clear: ‘I am not in favour of legalization.’

According to the Center for Disease Control, the United States has the highest rate of illicit drug use in the world, 8.7 per cent of the population in 2009 and a Gallup poll published in October showed half of Americans in favor of marijuana legalization.

‘Most politicians think that it’s terribly unpopular and you get into all sorts of trouble with very conservative and very strident groups that don’t like this,’ former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda, a proponent of legalization, told DPA.

Nevertheless, decriminalization of drug use is gaining momentum and a slew of countries have enacted new rules designed to relieve law enforcement from the burden of arresting small offenders, and to remove the fear of prosecution that may keep drug users from seeking help.

Tags: drug cartels, illicit drug use, marijuana legalization, narcotics

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Former professional wrestler, Matt Hardy, will be facing drug charges after deputies searched a residence on Boys Camp Road in Cameron and seized drugs, including anabolic steroids.

This announcement was made by a release from the sheriff’s office.

From Thepilot.com:

A former professional wrestler, Hardy, 36, of Cameron, was charged with possession with intent to sell/deliver schedule III controlled substance (anabolic steroids), possession of schedule I controlled substance (Ecstasy), maintain a place to keep controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The first court appearance of Hardy is set for Sept. 29.

Tags: anabolic steroids, Matt Hardy, professional wrestler

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Non-steroidal and tissue-selective anabolic agents such as Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) are being sold for their performance enhancing qualities on the black market, as per researchers from the German Sport University Cologne in Germany.

This availability of authentic SARMs was recently highlighted after detecting Anadrine in a product sold on the Internet and is getting popular as SARMs provide advantages of traditional anabolic/androgenic steroids such as testosterone with fewer unwanted side effects.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“Major concerns result from these findings,” explained Dr. Thevis. “This product with considerable anabolic properties is readily available without sufficient research on its undesirable effects; this is especially significant where uncontrolled dosing is applied and drug impurities with unknown effects are present in considerable amounts as observed in the studied material.”

The issue was recently addressed at the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, held October 26-28, 2009 at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris. WADA President John Fahey said that government agencies will need to adopt laws and regulations to combat the trafficking and supply of illegal substances in order to rid sport of doping.

Mario Thevis, Ph.D., said that the study highlighted that the misuse of therapeutics without clinical approval cannot be overruled.

Tags: SARMs, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, steroids, testosterone

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Hay fever and asthma patients can expect a good surprise in the times to come if a new drug, RPL554, is able to live up to expectations of effectively treating respiratory diseases but without many of the side-effects most presently-available drugs produce.

The trial to check efficacy of RPL554 started in November 2009 and is expected to be completed by this summer.

From News-Medical.Net:

Current treatments for asthma and hay fever sufferers are beta-agonists, which open up the airways, and inhaled steroids, which dampen down the inflammation that causes irritation – they are either taken together or singly.

But they have serious side effects, including possible harm to the cardiovascular system and the ‘shakes’ reported by many patients from excess use.

Experts say little progress has been made recently with alternative, effective and practical treatment options for a wide range of people with asthma and hay fever and by combining anti-inflammatory properties and the ability to overcome airway narrowing in a single long-lasting dose via the nose, RPL554 could offer real hope of a significant breakthrough.

According to Dr. Clive Page, chairman of Verona Pharma and a professor of pharmacology at King’s College London, RPL554 is the sole molecule expected to have a low side effect profile. Once-a-day treatment with it can provide significant relief to asthma and hay fever patients.

Tags: Asthma, hay fever, RPL554, steroids

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According to data from a Phase II study of an oral investigational drug, eltrombopag, the compound is highly effective to increase platelet counts in patients with chronic Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).

ITP is a disorder that is characterized by episodes of frequent spontaneous bruising, mucosal bleeding, and intracranial hemorrhage, and acute episodes of severe bleeding in severe cases.

From News-Medical.Net:

In the current double-blind randomized study, 104 adult ITP patients who had failed one prior therapy and had a platelet count <30,000/µL, were randomly assigned to take oral eltrombopag 30 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, or placebo once daily for six weeks. The study found that eltrombopag at doses of 50 mg and 75 mg was significantly better than placebo (P < 0.001) at increasing and maintaining platelet counts to a level that would reduce the risk of bleeding and bruising. The drug increased platelet levels quickly, with up to 87 percent of responders raising their counts by day 15. Response was defined as a platelet count of 50,000/µL. At the end of six weeks of dosing, there were no safety and tolerability events that would preclude the advancement to future studies.

“The results of this trial are very encouraging, given that there are currently no oral treatment options available for ITP that increase the platelet count in such a high percentage of often difficult patients with apparently so little toxicity,” said Dr. Bussel, who is the principal investigator of the study and professor of pediatrics at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. “Eltrombopag may offer physicians an effective and convenient treatment alternative because current therapies, such as steroids and platelet transfusions, can have unwanted side effects, must be given IV, or are not sustainable over the long-term.”

The data was presented by James B. Bussel, M.D. – director of the Platelet Disorders Center, Children’s Blood Foundation Division at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center – at the “Seventh Review of Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Current Issues in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Management.”

Tags: eltrombopag, ITP, steroids

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David Ortiz recently remarked that he was a frustrated soul after a numbing loss, hitless game, and another day filled with questions about steroids.

Ortiz said that he has been greatly distracted by the steroid circumstances enveloping him.

From NYTimes.com:

In Ortiz’s brief exchange with reporters Thursday, he was not too comfortable. He typically stands by his locker and jokes with reporters. But when reporters descended upon him, he remained seated and kept his back to them. Then he used the Soulja Boy song as his version of a bouncer.

Other than that, he tried hard to be the normally bubbly Big Papi. He posed for pictures in the dugout, he signed autographs behind the plate and he teased teammates.

Still, as beloved as Ortiz has been in helping the Red Sox win World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, his legacy changed once it was reported that he was on the list of players who had tested positive. When Major League Baseball began testing for steroids in 2003, the list of those who failed the tests that year was supposed to remain anonymous. But the results were never destroyed.

The court-sealed results are now the subject of litigation between the government and the union. Whatever may be the result, the spirit of baseball has been once again torn by its “once considered greatest sons”.

Tags: baseball, David Ortiz, steroid, steroids

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According to a recent study, adolescents who have tried herbal products are six times more likely to try illicit drugs such as cocaine and as much as fifteen times more likely to use anabolic steroids when compared to children who have never tried herbal products.

Susan Yussman, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the university’s Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong and study author, remarked that children expressing a desire to experiment with herbal products are more likely to try illicit drugs.

From News-Medical.Net:

The study found that teens who have ever used herbal products are:

* 4.4 times more likely to have ever used inhalants

* 4.4 times more likely to have ever used LSD, PCP, ecstasy, mushrooms, and other illegal drugs

* 5.9 times more likely to have ever used cocaine

* 6.8 times more likely to have ever used methamphetamines

* 8.1 times more likely to have ever used IV drugs

* 8.8 times more likely to have ever used heroin

* 14.5 times more likely to have ever used steroids

than teens who have never used herbal products.

“Those numbers could go higher with a survey that includes students who don’t attend school regularly or who have dropped out. Those teens are considered at higher risk for drug use,” Yussman said.

The study was based on the 1999 Monroe County, N.Y., Youth Risk Behavior Survey which provided data on a random sample of 2,006 high school students. Herbal product use was defined by lifetime use of “herbal or other natural products–to feel better, or perform better in sports or school.”

The cross-sectional study may prompt the need for further studies to determine which all herbal products can be associated with use of which certain drugs.

Tags: anabolic steroids, cocaine, steroids

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A nationwide survey of more than 10,000 adolescents that appeared in an issue of Child Health News has reported that body image is a concern among both boys and girls. It was noted that this image may prompt them to use hormones and dietary supplements to improve their physique.

The survey also reported that the adolescent supplement users appear to be deeply influenced by the media.

It was noted that some of the most popular products for improving body image were creatine, amino acids, the amino-acid metabolite HMB, the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), growth hormone, and anabolic steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

Anabolic steroids have the most serious health effects, including testicular atrophy, impotence, liver and kidney damage, an increased risk for heart disease, and the widely reported “‘roid rage” (uncontrolled aggression). The safety of creatine, DHEA, and other products purported to increase muscle mass and tone has been questioned and isn’t well known.

“Most of us in adolescent medicine think it’s best to stay away from these products altogether,” Field says.

The survey, of adolescents aged 12 to 18, was done in 1999 as part of the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), which involves children of nurses enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. GUTS was co-founded by Field and Dr. Graham Colditz and colleagues of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Alison Field, an epidemiologist in the Division of Adolescent Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital Boston and the study’s first author, said that protein powders may be relatively safe but steroids have known side effects.

Tags: anabolic steroids, creatine, dietary supplements, growth hormone, steroids

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According to a new review of studies about the use of anti-inflammatory steroids for traumatic head injuries such as car crashes, the risk of death is increased due to such usage.

This analysis that was published by the British-based Cochrane Library draws heavily from a study of corticosteroid treatment for brain injury involving more than 10,000 patients.

Dr. Phil Alderson, lead author of the Cochrane study, said that the considerable increase in death with steroids found participating in the trial suggests that steroids are no longer to be routinely used in patients with traumatic head injury.

From News-Medical.Net:

Corticosteroids are “widely used in medicine to treat inflammation,” Alderson explains. “It is thought that some of the damage after a brain injury results from inflammation following the initial injury and that reducing inflammation might reduce this secondary injury.”

In the case of severe head injuries, the inflammation leads to swelling of the brain and its surrounding tissues, which in turns creates pressure in the skull that may lead to complications or death.

The 17 studies on steroid use and the risk of death examined by Alderson and colleagues included a total of 12,083 patients of all ages with clinically diagnosed traumatic brain injury, some of whom received steroid treatment within seven days of their injury.

The cause of death in patients who received steroid treatment in the new large trial was unclear, according the study’s authors. Some researchers have suggested that corticosteroids increase the likelihood of death by interfering with adrenal gland function.

This review appeared in the January issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of the Cochrane Collaboration that evaluates medical research.

Tags: corticosteroids, steroid treatment, steroid use, steroids

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Steroids can have a long-lasting effect on brains of teenagers and may even flip the brain switch of adolescents for aggression that may last as much as two years, as per a U.S. study.

It was suggested by the study researchers that anabolic steroids may result in brain changes on a permanent basis, a fact that was based on results noticed in hamsters.

In the recent past, neuroscientists have shown a great concern about the rising adolescent abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs).

From News-Medical.Net:

According to the researchers even after the drug was withdrawn, the newly vicious hamsters attacked, bit and chased the intruders, and the level of aggressiveness was 10 times greater than that of other hamsters which were only injected with oil.

Apparently the effects lasted for almost two weeks, which is the equivalent of half their adolescence.

After this period, the animals reverted to their normal playful defensiveness, but postmortems on the hamsters found there had been also been changes in their brain activity.

While they were being given steroids, a part of their brains called the anterior hypothalamus, which regulates aggression and social behaviour, pumped out more of a neurotransmitter called vasopressin.

Their full-blown aggression which was clearly drug-induced lasted for nearly two weeks of withdrawal.

Three weeks after withdrawal, vasopressin levels had subsided in line with the aggressive behaviour.

This study appeared in the current edition of Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 120, No. 1.

Tags: anabolic steroids, anabolic-androgenic steroids, steroids

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