Get a Clue
(partae)
Many people who use cocaine and other drugs return to drug use even after prolonged abstinence. Resumption of drug use often is driven by drug-associated memories that are retrieved when the person is exposed to drug cues. The results of a recent study in rats suggest that some neuronal connections (i.e., synapses) that encode cocaine-associated memories are not static but weaken for approximately 6 hours after they are retrieved and that holding these synapses in their weakened state may reduce return to cocaine use.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2021/02/disrupting-cocaine-memories-prevents-return-cocaine-use-in-rats
(Dalgarno Institute Comment: It is important to note the ‘recalibrating’ of both brain and cellular memory is motivated by behavioural action, not chemical engagement - See also Humpty Dumpty Resiliency Ed. S. 6: Rebellion & Experimentation P2: From Thermometer to Thermostat (https://nobrainer.org.au/images/humpty-dumpty/RewardExploration_-_Part_Two.pdf )
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- Dating violence was nearly twice as likely if either partner drank alcohol.
- Women were nearly twice as apt to perpetrate dating violence when they used drugs.
- Men were 1.4 times more likely to perpetrate dating violence when they used drugs.
- Estimated blood alcohol level and binge drinking were related to dating violence.
Introduction: Although the association between substance use and dating violence is well-established in the research literature, there is limited research establishing the temporal co-occurrence of these variables. The primary objective was to examine the temporal relationship between alcohol and drug use and subsequent dating violence using a proximal effects model.
Conclusions: These results further support an association between substance use and partner aggression at daily and situational levels of analysis, extending prior clinical findings to a college dating sample. Taken with previous research findings, our results suggest the need for college sexual assault and dating violence prevention programs to target reductions in substance use.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853220301243
BBC News
A drug that was weaponised by the UK's most prolific rapist and the serial killer Stephen Port should be reclassified, says an official report
Currently GHB is in class C, with anabolic steroids and some tranquilisers.
- What is killer drug GHB?
- Stephen Port: The killer the police missed
- Gerald Matovu: The link between a Grindr murderer and a serial killer
- Reynhard Sinaga: The sexual predator who waited outside nightclubs
The official review was commissioned following calls for a change in the law by the children of a man who was murdered with the drug.
Eric Michels, a father of three from south London, was killed in 2018 by a GHB dealer who gave him a catastrophic overdose in order to steal from him.
His sons Sam and Josh campaigned for the drug to be reclassified.
"Today is a positive day," Sam Michels told the BBC but said he thought GHB should be a Class A drug.
Assessment of the harms of (GHB) gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, gamma-butyrolactone, and closely related compounds Research & Analysis:
Cocaine’s effects on the heart can cause both immediate emergencies, such as a heart attack, and long-term damage.
Cocaine’s effects on the heart can cause both immediate emergencies, such as a heart attack, and long-term damage.
Regular, long-term cocaine use significantly increases the risk of heart disease. For people with pre-existing heart health problems, even short-term cocaine use may elevate the risk. These risks include…
Coronary artery disease
Higher blood pressure
Damage to the structure of the heart
Heart arrhythmias
Chest pain
Congestive heart failure
Heart attack and stroke
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