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2014 Drug Trends Update: Version 6.3

Presented by: Michael Litterer, CHES

Director of Community Prevention Prevention Links, Inc.

Program Divisions:

Community Prevention

Health and Wellness Coalition of Union County

Municipal Alliance and School Based Programs

Juvenile Reentry Mentoring

IOP, Evaluation, and Early Intervention Programs

Family Wellness

Bayway and Roselle Family Success Centers

Recovery Supports

Raymond Lesniak Recovery High School

Prevention Links Prevention Links mission is to foster healthy, sustainable communities by empowering people through education, collaboration, and linkages to resources.

Prevention Links

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The Health and Wellness Coalition of Union County

Funded by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services Mission: The Health and Wellness Coalition of Union County’s mission is to assess the needs of Union County in order to enhance collaboration and coordinate prevention efforts that foster a drug free lifestyle and create healthy communities. Vision: Our Vision is by 2017; the Health and Wellness Coalition of Union County will create prevention prepared communities through a collaborative effort to reduce underage drinking, marijuana use, the miss-use of opioids and prescription drugs, heroin use and new and emerging drugs across the lifespan throughout Union County.

There is no exact definition, because the term is used to describe a wide range of chemical products that are ever-changing. Unlike drugs such as marijuana and cocaine, these drugs do not come from plants; they are manmade.

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Drug synthesis allows drugs with an only minuscule structural difference to produce the same intoxicating effect while not falling under current regulations and testing. This creates the ultimate game of WACK-A-MOLE and the game is just getting bigger and bigger http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/designer/ddInfo.htm

http://www.policymic.com/articles/80091/which-drug-is-your-state-most-addicted-to-america-s-drug-problem-mapped

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Designer drugs are synthesized chemical analogues of known, dangerous drugs Our Biggest Trends are • Synthetic Marijuana • Synthetic Cathinones and

Phenethylamines • (Bath Salts, Molly)

• Vaporized Substances • (Blue Blossom, BHO etc.)

All are classified as designer drugs and connected in many ways.

According to NIDA these are the most prevalent drug trends in the US

• e-Cigarettes • “Krokodil” • “N-bomb” “Benzos” • “Syrup,” “Purple Drank,” “Sizzurp,” “Lean” • “Molly” “Bath Salts”

http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/emerging-trends

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The World Drugs Report said that as of 1/1/13 there were 251 known New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and they now outnumbered the number of internationally controlled drugs, 234. The U.S. had identified 158 NPS in 2012, the largest number worldwide, and more than twice as many as the European Union. The most frequently reported substances were

• synthetic cannabinoids (51 in 2012, up from 2 in 2009)

• synthetic cathinones (31 in 2012, up from 4 in 2009)

The overwhelming variety of synthetic drugs flooding the market has been leaving law enforcement scrambling to keep up. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) statistics report that:

Five new synthetic drugs are introduced to the U.S. market every month With more than 200 kinds identified by the DEA in 2009 That would mean there are roughly 500 synthetic drugs being distributed

at present Resulting in a billion-dollar industry within the U.S.

http://www.thefix.com/content/law-enforcement-struggling-withhold-synthetic-drug-rise

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http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/nflis/

Synthetic Cathinones Synthetic Cannabinoids Piperazines (Benzos) Tryptamines (DMT) Phenethylamines 2C Drugs

Information obtained from Union

County Prosecutor’s Forensic

Laboratory

2010 2011 2012 2013

(First 6 months)

Projected

2013 Total

Submissions

Percentage

increase/decrease

from 2010 to 2013

Synthetic Cathinones (Bath Salts)

Methylone (MDMC) and MDPV 0 10 65 101 202 +200%

Synthetic Cannabinoids 0 28 70 87 174 +174%

MDMA (Xtasy) 61 21 5 1 2 -96.7%

Benzylpiperazine 20 26 7 10 20 0%

Cocaine 1,047 1,049 875 424 848 -19%

Heroin 763 831 901 430 860 +12.7%

Marijuana 1,862 1,936 2,081 1,036 2072 +11.3%

Oxycodone 131 154 143 57 114 -12.9%

Hydrocodone 17 17 19 6 12 -29.4%

Alprazolam (Xanax) 64 84 96 60 120 +87.5

Phencyclidine (PCP) 9 17 10 5 10 +11.1%

Prescription Legend Drugs 93 103 79 40 80 -14%

Information provided by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office

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In the United States, the average purity of: Heroin has increased by 60% Cocaine has increased by 11% Marijuana has increased160% between 1990 and 2007, while the prices of these drugs, adjusted for inflation and purity, fell about 80%

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/10/04/illegal-drugs-are-cheaper-stronger-than-ever/

Source: NJ.com

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A psychoactive herbal and chemical product

Comprised of a mixture of smokable herbs that generally have little or no intoxicating effects

Synthetic THC in liquid form is sprayed on the product which allows for great variations in potency

Mimics the effects of cannabis when consumed but does not have the same suspected medical uses as natural cannabis

Has tested to be 5-500 times stronger than naturally grown marijuana

It has been estimated that there are 250 different chemical versions of synthetic marijuana

Marked as “herbal incense or potpourri” to avoid FDA Intervention

The high produced lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours

Adverse side effects are similar to natural marijuana but can often be worse:

Nausea

Vomiting

Increased Agitation

Increased Heart Rate

Seizure

Loss of Consciousness

High rates of kidney failure especially among young men

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SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS MARIJUANA Unregulated mixture of chemical compounds Same basic compound (THC)

Mixed/unpredictable symptoms Well-known symptoms

Longer half-life (prolonged high) Well-known duration

Onset 5-10 minutes Almost immediate onset

Severe hallucinations No hallucinations

Intense paranoia Little to no paranoia

Extreme anxiety Relaxing

Rigid muscle tone Normal muscle tone

Normal pupil size Dilated pupils

Normal light reaction Normal light reaction

Increased heart rate/BP Increased heart rate/BP

Bloodshot/red eyes Bloodshot/red eyes

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Phenethylamine have a class of compound called cathinones. Cathinones are

naturally occurring compounds that include stimulants, psychedelics, and

entactogens. Bath Salts, Ecstasy, Molly, MDMA, etc. are synthetic versions of these

cathinones. Because the natural versions have a wide variety of impact on the body,

so do the synthetic forms.

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Source: NJ.com

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Various cathinones are the active ingredient in Bath Salts. While all forms of bath

salts are cathinones, not all cathinones are bath salts.

Cathinones are traditionally a stimulant but can also have hallucinogenic

effects.

Excessive cathinone usage can cause loss of appetite, anxiety, irritability, insomnia,

hallucinations and panic attacks.

Chronic abusers are at risk of developing personality disorders and of sustaining

myocardial infarction.

Mephedrone is a synthetic version of natural Cathinones. Mephedrone is more

potent as a releasing agent of serotonin compared to cathinone or methcathinone,

hence its use in party pills as a replacement for MDMA.

Synthetic Cathinones such as mephedrone which are chemically similar to

cathinone, naturally found in the plant Catha edulis (khat), were first synthesized in

the 1910s.

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According to the DEA, they range in price from $25 to $50 per 50 milligram packet. Drug users indicate that a single dose ranges from 5mg to 200mg. As popularity increases so does price

Mimics the effects of cocaine and LSD, including: Stimulation Extreme paranoia and delusions Hallucinations Suicidal thoughts

Effects last about 3-4 hours but some users report effects

lasting days and weeks

Often still labeled “not for human consumption”

Urine tests are available for MDPV and Mephedrone but not for a-PPP, MPPP, or MDPPP

Products packaged to look like ‘bath salts’ or candy and less frequently as insect repellant or plant food.

Blatantly marketed towards kids

Common street names include:

Bath Salts, Legal Cocaine, 4-MMC, Meow, M-Cat, Bubbles, Meph, Drone, Plant Food

Brand Names include: Ivory Wave, Ocean, Charge, White Lightning, Cloud-9, White Dove, Hurricane Charlie, Bonsai Grow, and Scarface