November 25, 2014

The Saratoga Springs Police Department is pleased to announce the installation of a secure prescription drug drop-off box in the lobby of the police station. The Police Department and the Prevention Council have worked together for the past several years on the bi-annual Drug Take Back Days.  The installation of the drop box is an extension of those efforts.

Some of the concerns put forth from our citizens have been what to do with unused, unwanted, and/or expired prescription drugs. It often seems these prescription drugs end up in the wrong place when not dealt with in a timely manner. This may be in the hands of criminals or, in other cases, in the hands of abusers. Too often these abusers are teens, family members or friends.

While the DEA sponsors a twice-a-year prescription drug take back, our hope is that the drop-off box will give our community another option should the need arise. The Saratoga Springs Police Department has participated in the DEA events for numerous years and will continue to participate in the future.

Saratoga Springs Chief of Police Greg Veitch said, “We are happy to partner with the Prevention Council on the installation of the prescription drug drop off box.  The drop-off box allows anyone to dispose of their unwanted, unused or expired medications without having to wait for a drug take-back event.  Unwanted, unused and expired medications may be dropped off at the police department twenty four hours a day, seven days per week, no questions asked.”

The secure drop-box will be available 24 hours a day and members of the police department will ensure the discarded drugs are properly destroyed.  The drop box is not intended for dangerous or toxic liquids, needles or illegal drugs. Should anyone have any questions as to what can or cannot be dropped off, please call 584-1800.

October 30, 2014

Story by: Michael Goot

Featured in: The Post-Star

 Link to article can be found here: http://poststar.com/news/local/a-dose-of-reality-south-high-panel-talks-about-prevalence/article_6da880f6-607c-11e4-96c7-976bda4eac09.html

 

MOREAU — South Glens Falls High School students are smoking marijuana at sporting events, behind the elementary school after hours and even during lunch, say a panel of their peers.

Senior Teyler Nassivera said some students have put marijuana into e-cigarettes and taken a video of themselves smoking in the lunch line that they post on the social media site Snapchat.

“I know people who have snuck it to school. I know people who are using it for stress-relievers,” she said Wednesday at a Parent University Forum titled “Marijuana, What’s the Big Deal?” held at the high school.

About 40 people attended the event organized by the Community Coalition for Family Wellness, which is a group working to reduce youth substance abuse and risky behaviors and provide necessary resources to families. The forum featured students and representatives from the law enforcement and substance abuse treatment communities.

One in four South High juniors and seniors admitted smoking marijuana within the past 30 days, according to a survey of about 1,150 seventh-grade through 12th-grade students administered this past spring.

Jenn Wood, coalition coordinator, said school officials are concerned about the large numbers, particularly at the eighth-grade level where the percentage who admitted smoking within the past month went from 5 percent in the 2011 survey to 8 percent in 2014.

Wood said although the survey did not show a lot of cocaine or heroin use among students, there is a relationship between marijuana and harder drugs, according to the data.

“Those who end up using cocaine or heroin have a much greater chance of having starting with something like alcohol, marijuana or tobacco,” she said.

Teens have various hangouts where they can smoke pot, according to Nassivera.

“A lot of people go over to Tanglewood (Elementary) and smoke on the property late at night,” she said.

Nassivera said she has been pressured in the past by friends and teammates, but has resisted.

“They always used to try to coax me into doing it. ‘Come on, it doesn’t really matter.’ After a while, they realize I’m not into that,” she said.

Nassivera said she doesn’t want to get mixed up with illegal substances because she wants to achieve her goals and set a good example for her younger sibling.

Nassivera has heard that some parents have allowed supervised parties where youths are allowed to drink and smoke pot.

Freshman Brianna Harrington said some parents think marijuana is no big deal.

“If the parents aren’t being serious at home, the child isn’t going to take it seriously,” she said.

Junior Brittany Kenny said even if law enforcement were to crack down on teen drug use, students would find another place to do it.

She urged parents and students to watch out for warning signs that students may be using drugs, including being more closed off than before.

“They don’t want to talk to you as much as they would have. They’re keeping more of their emotions to themselves because they’re dealing with it,” she said.

Kenny said the transitions from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school seem to be the times when students are most susceptible to peer pressure. They may drop their old friends and start hanging out with a new group.

Junior Jake Kerr said students who are doing drugs may start acting and dressing differently.

“They go from dressing all preppy to wearing Bob Marley ‘stay trippin’ shirts,” he said.

Alcohol is also used frequently by some students, according to Kerr.

“A lot of people just drink all the time and think nothing of it,” he said. “Just every weekend, get wasted, whatever.”

Effect on brain

Bill Bean, program manager for St. Peter’s Recovery Center, said around the age of 12 and 13 seems to be the time when addicts say they first smoked marijuana.

Bean said young people’s brains are still developing during the high school years, so there is a risk with introducing marijuana. The drug collects in the fatty tissue between nerves in the body and it is difficult to gauge the effect on that.

Saratoga County Assistant District County John Leggett said there is the perception that marijuana is not treated as seriously as other drug offenses. While that is true to some extent, marijuana is still illegal in New York and Leggett said people are convicted of felonies quite frequently.

Law enforcement punishes a seller more harshly, according to Leggett.

“We view them as a person who looks to take advantage of other people, looks to profit from their habit or addiction,” he said. “We hope to seal off that supply and make it harder for people to obtain those drugs.”

Police and the district attorney’s office are more interested in seeking rehabilitation for people caught with marijuana, according to Leggett. However, they are concerned that marijuana use could contribute to other crimes.

“There could be a nexus, or connection, between marijuana use and a person’s propensity to commit property crimes in order to obtain funds to purchase drugs to feed their habit or addiction,” he said.

The county sees a lot of cases of driving under the influence of drugs, according to Leggett.

Saratoga County Sheriff’s Deputy Nic Denno said the most common marijuana-related offense that people are charged with is a violation of unlawful possession.

Most studies show that marijuana slows reaction time and impairs coordination as much as if someone were under the influence of alcohol.

Staying connected

School officials said it is important to stress to students that not everyone is doing drugs.

Students said there are positive activities to get involved with at the school. One school club called Sources of Strength stresses positive friends, family support, spirituality, generosity, mental health, medical access, mentors and physical activity.

Wood said it is important that students be as informed as possible.

“We’re not looking to tell people what to do and what not to do. We’re really looking to share information,” she said.

Kenny encouraged parents to talk to their children.

“We may not like the answer because we’re hard-headed and invincible and think nothing bad can happen,” he said.

 

October 8, 2014

Story by: Lauren Halligan

Featured in: Saratogian

Full article: http://www.saratogian.com/lifestyle/20141008/synthetic-drug-use-a-rising-issue

Synthetic forms of a traditionally naturally grown drug are popping up around the country, and drug enforcement agencies are being accused of not keeping up with regulation.

Synthetic marijuana-like drugs , also known as “K2,” “Spice,” and “Skunk,” though banned from New York sale, are still an issue, as ER visit statistics show.

Synthetic drugs are a toxic combination of chemicals made to mimic 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. These drugs, not tested for safety, are often made to seem inviting and harmless, sold under names like “plant good,” “incense,” or “spice.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the effects of synthetic drugs ranges from nausea to drug-induced psychosis, making the harmful nature of the drugs unpredictable and making them unsafe for consumption.

Though the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has banned certain ingredients of the drugs nationwide, they’ve only hit 20 of the hundreds of chemical substances used in the synthetic blends. New combinations are pop up frequently and are legal until federal government acts on it.

The DEA is currently investigating approximately 300 of these compounds, which have been found in synthetic drugs across the country, but the it has yet to add the majority of them to the list of controlled substances.

Despite efforts to limit synthetic drugs, synthetic marijuana and other hazardous drug-like products are still being sold online and on store shelves throughout the state.

Senator Charles Schumer is urging the DEA to swiftly ban the hundreds of remaining chemicals to its list of controlled substances.To help, he’s pushing a bill that should make the process easier. Schumer will push for new legislation that would make it easier to crack down on even newer synthetic chemical compounds that are likely to emerge in coming years.

The Protecting Our Youth from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act that Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein are cosponsoring would make it illegal to import controlled substance analogues—or alternative hazardous synthetic drugs — for human consumption and establish an inter-agency committee of scientists and the DEA that is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of an administrative list of controlled substance analogues.

As the bill’s title explains, Schumer’s main reason behind this legislation is to keep the drugs from children, and keep those kids out of hospitals. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported that synthetic marijuana-related emergency room visits were up 220 percent in the first half of 2014. The synthetic drugs can lead to seizures, hallucinations, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and panic attacks, as well as dangerous and erratic behavior.

“Despite efforts to crack down on synthetic drugs, the massive 220 percent uptick in ER visits this year shows that these horrible chemical compounds are far from being in the rear-view mirror,” said Schumer in a press release. “Statistics show that synthetic drug use is on an upswing, and that is largely because synthetic drug makers are skirting around restrictions and developing new, dangerous chemical compounds that are not yet regulated. And the kicker is that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency has every bit of authority to wipe out hundreds more chemical substances used to make synthetic marijuana, like “K2” and “Spice”. As a result, more and more kids in Upstate New York are ending up in the emergency room, and it is time for federal law to catch up.”

“This foot-dragging allows makers of “Spice” “K2” and others to work around the law, and simply use chemicals that are not yet banned,” a press release from Schumer’s office said.

In 2012, Schumer helped pass legislation that gave the DEA enhanced authority to ban new synthetic drugs, but they have only banned approximately 20 out of 300 of the chemicals.

Between the years 2009 and 2012, synthetic drug abuse was on the rise and the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 banned many forms of these chemicals and enhanced DEA authority to ban new ones that emerge. Congress used its legislative authority to place over 20 chemical compounds that had been used in synthetic marijuana and other synthetic drugs into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the classification for the most dangerous drugs. The legislation also gave DEA enhanced authority to temporarily place uncontrolled substances that pose an imminent hazard to public safety, like these synthetic chemicals, into Schedule I of the CSA.

After passing the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act, synthetic drug usage initially declined. However, according to data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, synthetic drug use is back on the rise again in 2014, with human exposures this year projected to far outpace the number of exposures in 2013.

By order of the commissioner of the state dept. of health, all stores selling tobacco-related products were inspected for synthetic drugs in 2012.

In Rensselaer County there were four or five locations where it was found for sale, according to MaryFran Wachunas, public health director for the county. The stores in violation were informed them they could no longer sell those products, and authorities checked up to make sure the substances did not reappear at a later date.

Though the public health department hasn’t seen many calls on synthetic drugs as of late, Wachunas said it would be a positive step if federal government became more involved. With new forms continually popping up, “Federal regulation would encompass all variations of it,” she noted.

As coordinator of the Rensselaer County Stop-DWI Program, James Gordon said he hasn’t heard of issues in the county lately, but “One instance of someone using it, thats’ still too much.”

Many local smoke shops reported that they do not sell the substances, whether legal or illegal blends.

But when something is legal, it can be sold as easily as a candy bar at a corner store. “They were selling it right out front on the racks where they’re selling all of the other paraphernalia,” Gordon recalled of the 2012 inspections.

Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office said it hasn’t yet seen any synthetic marijuana, but it has encountered and dealt with similar substances such as bath salts and synthetic heroin