Fake Pot Gets Busted
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration took emergency action to put five chemicals used to make "fake pot" on the controlled substances list. They will now be designated as Schedule I, the most restrictive category. Possessing or selling the chemicals or the products that contain them – such as "Spice," "K2," "Blaze," and "Red X Dawn" – will be illegal for the next year. The products are labeled as "incense," but they are plant material coated with chemicals that mimic tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, the DEA said in its announcement. While the agents are strictly controlled, the DEA and the Department of Health and Human Services will study them and consider whether to permanently add them to the controlled substances schedule.
Salvia’s Effects Described
A small placebo-controlled study of the effects of Salvia divinorum shows that it has similarities to classic hallucinogens "including mystical-type effects," according to researchers at the psychiatry and neuroscience departments of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. The researchers conducted a double-blind trial in four psychologically and physically healthy hallucinogen-using adults, giving them 16 ascending doses of salvinorin A and 4 intermixed placebo doses over 20 sessions and several weeks. Salvinorin A is the known psychoactive constituent of S. divinorum. Acute effects peaked at 2 minutes after inhalation and generally were gone in 20 minutes. There were no adverse events, and no significant changes in heart rate or blood pressure. Two participants reported that the effect was "as strong as imaginable for this drug." But there was a relative lack of dysphoric effects, said the researchers. Commonly reported were changes in spatial orientation, feelings of energy, and recurring themes such as revisiting childhood memories and cartoonlike imagery. The study is in press at Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Single Abuse Institute Urged
A body that oversees the National Institutes of Health has recommended that a single institute be created to address substance use, abuse, and addiction research. The NIH Scientific Management Review Board made the recommendation in a report on how HHS might better-organize the NIH. The report recommends integration of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and related research portfolios from other NIH centers. The formation of a single institute "makes scientific sense and would enhance NIH’s efforts to address the substance abuse and addiction problems that take such a terrible toll on our society," said NIH Director Francis Collins in a statement. He estimated that a detailed reorganization plan would be presented to him by mid-2011 but said that nothing will change until then.
Neurostimulation Device Inquiry
Medtronic Inc. said that on Oct. 14, it was subpoenaed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York "relating to the Company’s sales, marketing, and reimbursement support practices regarding certain neurostimulation devices." The disclosure was made in December in the company’s required third-quarter report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the filing, Medtronic said that it "is fully cooperating with this investigation."
Counseling Cuts Smoking, Some Ills
The Massachusetts Medicaid program has curbed smoking prevalence and hospital admissions for some smoking-related diseases, according to a study published online in Public Library of Science Medicine. In 2006, the program began comprehensive coverage of tobacco cessation therapies and counseling. About 75,000 Medicaid recipients used that benefit from 2006 to early 2009, and smoking dropped 10% among the Medicaid population, reported researchers from the state’s Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program and Harvard Medical School, Boston. The rate of Medicaid hospital admissions for coronary atherosclerosis declined 49%, and that for acute myocardial infarction dropped 46%. But there was no change in admissions for lung diseases or some other tobacco-related conditions.
AMA Issues Social Media Policy
Physicians using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter should carefully guard patient privacy while monitoring their own Internet presence to make sure it is accurate and appropriate, the American Medical Association said in a new policy statement. During its semiannual policy meeting in San Diego, the AMA called for physicians to "recognize that actions online and content posted can negatively affect their reputations among patients and colleagues, and may even have consequences for their medical careers." The AMA urges physicians to set privacy settings on Web sites at their highest levels, maintain appropriate boundaries when interacting with patients online, and consider separating personal and professional content online.
–Alicia Ault