Posts Tagged ‘california’
How the PDM Task Force Handled the Misuse of Prescription Drugs
Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 January 2010 05:12 Written by Nic Monday, 4 January 2010 09:00
In the last few years in California, there has been a surge in the use of prescription drugs for non-medical needs. This has become a serious and
a growing problem in the state of California. To bring the situation under control the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) called for a formal meeting with the Prescription Drug Misuse (PDM) Task Force. The Task Force was assigned the job of analyzing the cause and extent of this prescription drug abuse problem in California and was expected to develop recommendations to spread awareness, limit availability and bring down the rate of abuse. For the past year, the committee has been on teleconference with the ADP. The Task Force gathered information, studied their drug use patterns and their availability and found out about the associated problems and awareness levels.
The committee found out that different sub-groups of the population made non-medical use of prescription drugs. The Task Force organized a meeting on March 6, 2008, for formally introducing and establishing procedures that they would follow to bring the problem under control. Their agenda was quite aggressive. Again, within three months, i.e. on May 29, 2008, the Task Force met up to discuss about the California prescription drug monitoring system, Evaluation System (CURES) and Controlled Substance Utilization Review. After that they had several other conventions throughout the year. This final report provided by the Task Force consisted of detailed background information on how the prescription drugs have been misused in the state. Their final report also included a summary of the procedures that were laid down for addressing the misuse issues of the prescription drugs.
On a total, 18 recommendations were identified and 5 broad areas were chalked out, which needed most of the focus. These 5 broad areas included lack of awareness, easy availability of drugs, training and education, information tracking on drug use and prescription drug use identification and treatment policies. These recommendations became the foundation stone for the Task Force’s future efforts in addressing the complicated issue of prescription drug abuse. The NSDUH report said that about 214,000 youth, 456,000 young adults and approximately 812,000 adults, all totaling up to a population of some 1.5 million Californians used or abused prescription drugs. Reports indicated that in the state of California, the most misused prescription drugs are the pain relievers. Besides these, stimulants, tranquilizers and sedatives are also used for non-medical reasons, but then the use is comparatively lower.
Tags: california, prescription drugs | Posted under California Rehab Centers | No Comments
What are the popular drugs used in California?
Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 January 2010 05:13 Written by Nic Friday, 1 January 2009 07:26
When it comes to rate the most popular narcotics that are trafficked on a large scale in California, then it is undoubtedly cocaine and heroin. There are other drugs also which join the league of popularity in California and these are marijuana and methamphetamine. Most of these drugs are smuggled illegally into the state by the drug traffickers from Mexico. The drugs like marijuana and methamphetamine have their ready presence in the state as these are cultivated in huge quantities in California. The port for principal transshipment of the main drugs coming from Mexico, remain the Imperial Counties and San Diego. Usually the drug traffickers of California trade in multiple drugs instead of specializing on any one.
The northern part of the state has more methamphetamine users, especially in the rural areas. Methamphetamine is also a popular drug in the city of Sacramento and its adjoining areas. The illicit drug heroin remains a favorite in San Francisco. Now the use of heroin is spreading amongst the people of Oakland too, along with crack cocaine. The Mexican illegal drug trade organizations have joined hands with the notorious Colombian suppliers to expand their wholesale trade of cocaine. The Mexican drug traffickers specialize in cross-border cocaine smuggling. Los Angeles in California stands out as the biggest transshipment and distribution hubs for cocaine in the US. Cocaine is also readily and widely found in the city of San Francisco and the northern cities of California.
The most seized heroin varieties in California are the Mexico black tar heroin and the Mexican brown tar heroin. The Mexican black tar heroin is sourced in low quantities measuring less but not more than five pounds. The other varieties of heroin like the Southwest Asian, Southeast Asian and Colombian are also quite popular.
Moreover, these days there has been a surge in the availability of high purity heroin, which is very popular amongst the younger population as it can be just snorted in and doesn’t require syringe and needle. Besides, these are highly addictive. Mostly the ethnic Southeast Asians and West Africans have been encountered in possession of this variety. The primary drug of threat in California is Methamphetamine with the Hispanics and the Caucasians being the majority of users. The good news is that there has been a fall in the use of the club drugs like MDMA or Ecstasy in California, especially amongst the teens, which was once the rage amongst the teens as a trendy drug.
Tags: california, cocaine, drug traffickers, drug traffickers of California, heroin, illicit drug heroin | Posted under California Rehab Centers | No Comments
Drug crimes in the state of California
Last Updated on Wednesday, 6 January 2010 05:18 Written by Nic Friday, 1 January 2009 04:25
The drug crime scene in the state of California has experienced an exponential growth since the last few years. As per the rules laid out under the Penal code 1000 and the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, certain defendants who are charged with the use or possession of narcotics are sent to rehab programs instead of jail. The defendants in this category include the non-violent drug possessors or addicts who are first time users.
This law has a unique feature that immunizes the victims from the administrative legal licensing agency consequences once they complete the rehabilitation pro
gram successfully. That means, the licensing agencies or boards will not be in a position to consider the victim’s drug cases or arrests against renewing, denying or granting licenses. According to the Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420 the marijuana law of California allows the citizens to cultivate, use or possess an aforementioned measure of pot of marijuana.
However, that is only for qualified medical purposes. Besides, the medical marijuana user needs to get the approval of a physician and get themselves a marijuana health card issued by the state county. However, even then many traffickers have still been impinging on the rights of the patients and obtained the prescription drug illegally.
In the year 2000 the drug policies were overhauled by California by ordaining Proposition 36. The main objective of the new law is bringing down the rise in drug abuse and this the state body believes, can be done by treating the addicts instead of imprisoning them. The next objective was to save the already limited jail and prison space for the criminals who are more dangerous. Yet those who have been jailed for selling narcotics or for possessing them are not eligible to be a part of Proposition 36. Even though, it makes complete sense to punish the illegal drug dealers but the blanket exclusion of the drug sale offenders from the program seems inappropriate.
Many drug sale offenders are just casual users selling small quantities of narcotics, mostly to fund self addiction. Most of these addicts are non dangerous and they can benefit greatly from the drug treatment. To make Proposition 36 effective the judges should be given the discretion to judge every case individually and then decide upon the treatment or punishment depending on the case. The drug law under the Health & Safety Code 11550 of California is a harsh one, mandating at least 90 days of jail for anyone arrested.
Tags: california, drug crimes, drug sale, drugs | Posted under California Rehab Centers | No Comments
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