Ecstacy May "Reset" The Body Clock

The research is the first to look at the impact of a single low dose of the drug (Source: iStockphoto)

One Hit Of Ecstasy 'Resets Body Clock' -- ABC News (Australia)

Just one or two pills of ecstasy can reset your body clock and have lasting effects on your ability to sleep peacefully, new research suggest.

Rowan Ogeil, of Monash University, and colleagues, report their findings in a recent issue of Psychopharmacology.

"Of course ecstasy affects your sleep because it's a stimulant," says Ogeil, who did the research as part of a recently completed PhD, under the supervision of Dr Jillian Broadbear. "But we've shown is it has lasting effects and that the body clock is involved."

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My Comment: One more reason to stay away from drugs.

Is Marijuana-Infused Wine The New High?

Marijuana-Infused Wine: The New High? -- This Week

Looking for a new way to get buzzed? You're in luck: California winemakers are livening up bottles of syrah and cabernet sauvignon by adding weed.

Travelers making their way through California's Central Coast may smell a pungent new aroma coming from their wineglasses — thanks to a little marijuana. What began as a novelty in the 1980s is becoming more commonplace as California winemakers look to ferment grapes with the sticky, THC-laden leaves. Here, a brief guide to the munchy-inducing trend:

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My Comment: Not for me.

Closer To A Heroin Vaccine

National Institute of Psychiatry's Director Maria Elena Medina speaks about the patent of a new vaccine that could reduce addiction to heroin, during a news conference at the institute in Mexico City February 23, 2012. Researchers at the institute say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans. The vaccine, which has been patented in the United States, works by making the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoke or inject it. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Mexican Researchers Patent Heroin Vaccine -- Yahoo News/Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - While Mexico grapples with relentless drug-related violence, a group of Mexican scientists is working on a vaccine that could reduce addiction to one of the world's most notorious narcotics: heroin.

Researchers at the country's National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans.

The vaccine, which has been patented in the United States, works by making the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoke or inject it.

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My Comment: Faster please people are dying from the addiction properties of drugs every minute.

April 16, 1943: Setting The Stage for World’s First Acid Trip

1943: Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the psychedelic properties of LSD.

From Wired:

Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, was researching the synthesis of a lysergic acid compound, LSD-25, when he inadvertently absorbed a bit through his fingertips. Intrigued by the stimulating effects on his perception, Hofmann decided further exploration was warranted. Three days later he ingested 250 micrograms of LSD, embarking on the first full-fledged acid trip.

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Opium Poppy's Genes Finally Revealed

Opium crop from the Malwa region of India. Credit: Wikimedia

From Cosmos/AFP:

PARIS: Researchers have discovered the genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine, which could lead to genetically engineered plants or microorganisms generating the painkillers.

Codeine is one of the most widely prescribed painkillers in the world, the researchers said. Unlike morphine, codeine cannot be easily converted to heroin.

"The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a half-century," said Peter Facchini, from the University of Calgary in Canada and co-author of the paper.

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Early Cannabis Use Linked To Psychosis

From Cosmos/AFP:

WASHINGTON: The longer people use cannabis or marijuana, the more likely they are to experience hallucinations or delusions or to suffer psychosis, according to a study released Saturday.

The study found that people who first used cannabis when they were aged 15 or younger were twice as likely to develop a "non-affective psychosis" - which can include schizophrenia - than those who had never used the drug.

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Pinch Away The Pain: Scorpion Venom Could Be An Alternative To Morphine

Researchers are investigating new ways for developing a novel painkiller based on natural compounds found in the venom of scorpions. (Credit: iStockphoto/John Bell)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Feb. 21, 2010) — Scorpion venom is notoriously poisonous -- but it might be used as an alternative to dangerous and addictive painkillers like morphine, a Tel Aviv University researcher claims.

Prof. Michael Gurevitz of Tel Aviv University's Department of Plant Sciences is investigating new ways for developing a novel painkiller based on natural compounds found in the venom of scorpions. These compounds have gone through millions of years of evolution and some show high efficacy and specificity for certain components of the body with no side effects, he says.

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Ecstasy Damages Complex Memory: Study

The researchers found ecstasy takers performed worse than other groups as tasks became harder or more complex (Source: Getty Images/)

From ABC News (Australia):

Ecstasy users have more trouble with difficult memory tasks than non-drug takers and even cannabis users, according to new Australian research.

The study provides further evidence that the 'party drug' causes brain damage in regions relating to memory and suggests it also affects learning.

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1st Medical Studies on Pot in 20 Years Find It Does Relieve Pain

From Discover Magazine:

Even as California sinks under a massive budget crisis, the $8.7 million the state used to research the use of marijuana for medical purposes now seems money well spent. The state-funded Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego has confirmed that pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday [The New York Times].

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Google Contributes Massive Amounts of Computing Power To Engineer Antibodies

Finding Antibodies Medical hide and seek could get a boost from Google Tolerx, Inc

From Popular Science:

Google has quietly put millions of dollars' worth of resources into a biotech startup that creates targeted antibody drugs that single out diseased targets among healthy cells. The Internet search giant ultimately hopes that computer models alone could identify the best antibody for particular targets for testing in human clinical trials. That would speed up or even replace the usual "wet lab" work and years spent on drug safety testing in animals and humans that costs hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Xconomy.

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‘No Such Thing As Safe Cocaine Use’

From Times Online:

Researchers warned that there is no 'safe' amount of cocaine to use, after a study found that up to 3 per cent of all sudden deaths are linked to the drug.

Taking even small amounts of cocaine at weekends can increase the risk of suddenly dying from heart problems.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, analysed a series of post-mortem reports in south-west Spain, where toxicology tests are routinely carried out after any violent or unexpected deaths.

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Music Linked To Marijuana Use

From Live Science:

Teens who listen to music that mentions marijuana are significantly more likely to use the drug, a new study finds.

The research was based on surveys with 959 ninth-graders.

"Students who listen to music with the most references to marijuana are almost twice as likely to have used the drug than their peers whose musical tastes favor songs less focused on substance use," said University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researcher Dr. Brian Primack, who led the study.

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Cannabis Damages Young Brains More Than Originally Thought, Study Finds

Daily consumption of cannabis in teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain. (Credit: iStockphoto/Rasmus Rasmussen)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Dec. 20, 2009) — Canadian teenagers are among the largest consumers of cannabis worldwide. The damaging effects of this illicit drug on young brains are worse than originally thought, according to new research by Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a psychiatric researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. The new study, published in Neurobiology of Disease, suggests that daily consumption of cannabis in teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain.

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Majority of U.S. Cocaine Supply Cut with Veterinary Deworming Drug

Cocaine Bricks DEA

From Popular Science:

Cocaine's a hell of a drug, and even more so when laced with another drug that's commonly used to deworm opossums. Federal agents have found that 69 percent of cocaine shipments seized entering the United States contain levamisole, a veterinary drug linked to serious weakening of the immune system in humans. Here's the real funny part: no one knows why.

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Doctors Query Ability Of Tamiflu To Stop Severe Illness

Tamiflu tablets may shorten bouts of illness by a day or two, reviewers say.
Photograph: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

From The Guardian:

Review published in British Medical Journal accuses flu drug manufacturer Roche of withholding evidence from trials.

Roche, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, has made it impossible for scientists to assess how well the anti-flu drug stockpiled around the globe works by withholding the evidence the company has gained from trials, doctors alleged today .

A major review of what data there is in the public domain has found no evidence Tamiflu can prevent healthy people with flu from suffering complications such as pneumonia.

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Skunk (Marijuana) Linked To Huge Increase In Risk Of Psychotic Disease

Skunk worse than ordinary hash Photo: Getty

From The Telegraph:

People who smoke the highly potent form of cannabis known as skunk are almost seven times more likely to develop a psychotic illness than those who use the traditional strength drug, a new study shows for the first time.

The results are considered particularly worrying as skunk now accounts for around 80 per cent of the street market in cannabis in the United Kingdom.

Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the discovery after studying admissions to hospital for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia and serious depression.

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Cocaine And Pepper Spray – A Lethal Mix?

Could be fatal (Image: Miguel Villagran/Getty)

From New Scientist:

DEATHS in US police custody during the early 1990s may have been the result of an interaction between capsaicin, the key ingredient in pepper sprays, and psychostimulant drugs, an experiment in mice suggests.

If the two have a fatal interaction in people then police forces might have to rethink their use of pepper spray as a non-lethal weapon, says John Mendelson of the Addiction and Pharmacology Research Laboratory at St Luke's Hospital in San Francisco, who led the mouse research.

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Warning Of Extra Heart Dangers From Mixing Cocaine And Alcohol

A man snorting cocaine. Photograph: Andy Drysdale/ADR

From The Guardian:

A third chemical – cocaethylene – builds up in the liver over a number of years among those who mix the two drugs. And this is now having major health consequences.

"I first took coke when I was 18 and at university. I remember two friends who did chemistry told me I should get really drunk first because it would mix into this new chemical in my blood and make me even higher," a 30-year-old woman who works in publishing told the Observer yesterday.

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Medical Marijuana

From Time Magazine:

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Justice Department announced that federal prosecutors would not pursue medical-marijuana users and distributors who comply with state laws, formalizing a policy at which the Obama Administration hinted earlier this year. Currently, 13 states allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from ailments ranging from AIDS to glaucoma, and in Maryland a prescription can soften punishment if a user faces prosecution. But until now those laws didn't provide any protection from federal authorities.

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The Era of Nanoparticle Drugs Begins With Erection Cream

Photo: Nanoparticles filled with nitric oxide
Courtesy of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

From Discover Magazine:

Tiny drug-carrying balls of sugar are delivering medicine in novel—and very useful—ways.

Over a thousand years ago, Mesopotamian artisans stumbled on a new way to add a special sheen to their ceramics: using microscopic pieces of metal. This "luster" was the first known use of nanoparticles—tiny objects that are less than 100 nanometers long in all three dimensions. In modern times, nanoparticles have emerged as a useful tool in medicine, with uses from providing the active ingredient in sunscreen (nano-scale particles of titanium dioxide), to stimulating blood vessel growth as an aid to healing, to delivering the key ingredients in artificial hearts (nanocrystalline zirconium oxide) and brain imaging (magnetic nanoparticles).

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