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- Download PDF Copy By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD Mar 8 2020
From August 2019 to date, over 2,700 patients have been reported with e-cigarette, or vaping, associated lung injury (EVALI) in all the states of the US.
Study - Severe Lung Injury Associated With Use of e-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products—California, 2019. Image Credit: Shannon Laura / Shutterstock
The study results
The investigators found that among 160 patients with EVALI of whom approximately 60% were male, with a median age of 27 years, about half received intensive care, and a little less than a third had to be put on mechanical ventilation. Four of them died in hospital.
Of the 160 patients, 86 were subject to interview. Among this group, 83% said they vaped products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive component of cannabis. 43% had vaped products containing cannabidiol (CBD), another principal constituent of the same plant. 47% had vaped products containing nicotine.
Implications
The authors emphasize, “These findings underscore the importance for all clinicians, including outpatient health care providers, to consider EVALI in patients with a history of vaping who present with typical findings of infection, as well as monitor their clinical course and respiratory status closely for decompensation, in accordance with CDC guidance.”...depression, and anxiety are the most common illnesses found in patients with EVALI in California, which could indicate that such patients vape at higher rates or that such patients are at higher risk of EVALI.
Again, vitamin E or vitamin E acetate proved to be present in most products containing THC.
The study concludes, “The California Department of Public Health recommends that individuals refrain from using any vaping or e-cigarette products, particularly THC-containing products from informal sources, while this investigation is ongoing.”
Journal reference: Heinzerling A, Armatas C, Karmarkar E, et al. Severe Lung Injury Associated With Use of e-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products—California, 2019. JAMA Intern Med. Published online March 06, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.0664
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“Compared to many, my childhood was a cakewalk. Because your childhood beat you around and left you in pain doesn’t mean that you’ll continue the cycle. Let your hurt be the source of your greatest compassion, the deepest love and understanding. You can do anything.
Walk through it, don’t numb or hide.
It’s been twenty-eight years since I stopped drugs and dedicated myself to a spiritual path, but those hard drugs I did, the heroin, cocaine, and meth, they hurt me bad, it took a long time to really recovery from ‘em. I hope for you that you don’t waste your energy there.
Even the Weed. Man, I was way too damn young for that Shit, it made growing up a more difficult challenge that it needed to be. For years and years, I made the mistake of trying to run away, before I learned to surrender, accept my pain as a blessing, trust in the love, and let it change me.”
Acid for the Children, ‘Flea’ – Bassist and co-founder Red Hot Chilli Peppers
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The youth vaping epidemic is of longer duration. Current use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products increased by 900% among U.S. middle and high school students between 2011 and 2015, declined in 2016, and then increased again between 2017 and 2018, erasing previous progress.2 In 2019, more than 5.2 million young people in the United States reported current use, including 27.5% of high school students and 10.5% of middle school students.2Both these epidemics predominantly affect young people and probably have multiple causes. Moreover, it’s likely that the widespread use of e-cigarettes, including products that facilitate THC use, has created an environment that has fueled the EVALI epidemic.
The EVALI and youth vaping epidemics warrant immediate and decisive action to protect public health. The use of vaping products among young people is unsafe, regardless of whether they contain nicotine or THC. Both marijuana use and nicotine use can harm brain development through young adulthood; starting to use these substances at a younger age also increases the risk of tobacco and cannabis use disorders later in life.1,3 The risks posed by these products are further compounded by the emergence of EVALI.
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REGULATE THIS INSANITY! It is not a conflation to say all illicit drug use can lead to this outcome, especially in a culture that seeks only pleasure, or only avoidance of any discomfort!
Murderous rampages, superhuman strength, and a high more potent than crystal meth: As deadly drug claims its first British victim, RICHARD PENDLEBURY investigates the insanity of taking flakka
By RICHARD PENDLEBURY FOR THE DAILY MAIL PUBLISHED: 8 February 2020
Camille Balla will next appear at the Palm Beach courthouse, Florida, at the end of March.
If her case goes to trial, the evidence is likely to unsettle even the most stout-hearted juror. And that is some understatement.
In March 2018, police were called to Balla’s home in Royal Palm Beach. There, they found the 32-year-old covered in blood, with large cuts to her fingers and palms. In the property’s garage they came across her mother Francisca, lying dead in a pool of blood.
- Factory worker Andrea Horvathova, 23, died after taking flakka with a cocktail of other illegal substances in the UK
- Camille Balla, 32, allegedly smoked a flakka-laced marijuana joint before killing her mother at their home in Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Her eyes had been gouged out, seemingly by some of the shards of broken glass which lay around her...apparently by her own daughter.
Francisca’s eyeballs had been placed on a cardboard box a few yards from her corpse. While officers were contemplating this horror, Balla reportedly veered between icy calm and shrieking hysteria. When formally arrested she allegedly began to chant, ‘I’m a murderer’!
Later she is said to have told police that before she killed her mother she had been smoking marijuana, which she believed had been laced with the designer drug flakka.
This will have surprised no one in the Sunshine State, because in the last half dozen years Florida has been hit by a flakka epidemic. It has manifested itself in dozens of overdose deaths and suicides, as well as a number of disturbing public incidents
Flakka gets its street name from the Spanish slang phrase la Flaca. This loosely translates as ‘a slim attractive woman’. But there is nothing beautiful about the effects of the drug or the circumstances of those who abuse it. They are often poor, if not desperate, individuals.
In the UK a hit of flakka can be purchased for as little as £2.30 — and it is said to be more potent and addictive than crystal meth.
Alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone is flakka’s scientific name, or more simply alpha-PVP. It is a synthetic version of the natural chemical cathinone, the active ingredient in khat leaves that are chewed for their stimulating effects in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
But other side-effects are grim, even deadly. Flakka can cause paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, aggression and psychotic behaviour, leading some abusers to think they have superhuman powers, such as flying or prodigious strength.
Sweating and dilated pupils are common indicators. Heart attacks and strokes are a risk under its influence. First-time users are said to take three to four days to return to a normal state of mind. Repeat users can take more than two weeks to be restored to equilibrium.
In 2017, Derren Morrison was sentenced to life imprisonment for beating to death Louise Clinton on her 83rd birthday. He told police he believed the grandmother, a total stranger, was a blood-covered demon who had been trying to kill him. He had been smoking flakka before the assault, he said.
Last year, another alleged flakka user gouged out his own eyes and attempted to chop off his penis. The 35-year-old medical student from Brazil had been depressed after splitting from his girlfriend.
Flakka use by people with existing mental health issues can have explosive consequences. But such is the drug’s reputation for inducing spectacular psychosis that it has been blamed for shocking crimes without solid proof of a connection.
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Molly, which is another name for the drug MDMA, typically stays in a person's system for several days. The exact length of time depends on several factors, including the person's metabolism and the amount of the drug they have taken.
Molly detox: It is not possible to speed up the detox process for molly. The body will clear it from the system at its own pace, based on the liver's ability to break down the drug. Some people believe that drinking water can remove molly from the system more quickly. However, this is not the case. In fact, drinking too much water could lead to hyponatremia, or water toxicity.
Similarly, vigorous exercise will not boost the body's ability to metabolize molly. Exercise may increase thirst, which could prompt people to drink more water.
In some cases, especially in females, hyponatremia can be fatal. Learn more about the condition here.
Summary: Molly, or MDMA, can remain in the system for several days. Hair testing, however, can detect drug use several months after a person takes their last dose. Chronic use of molly can cause it to remain in the system for longer.
The liver metabolizes the drug, and the kidneys excrete most of it through urine. The body will also remove some of the drug from the system through sweat and feces.
It is not possible to speed up the metabolization process of molly, and some methods that claim to do so can be dangerous.