TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie, in his State of the State address last week, called for “second-chance” laws, giving substance abusers an opportunity for treatment ahead of jail time. The Republican governor received support from key Democratic lawmakers Monday.

Sens. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, and Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson, announced a package of bills they’re sponsoring to reform segments of the state’s criminal justice system and provide for rehabilitation of offenders.

One of the bills (S-881) amends the existing statute to give judges and prosecutors additional discretion to admit certain offenders into a “drug court” program to emphasize substance abuse treatment over incarceration.

Full story at My Central Jersey

The Unified Prevention! (UP!) Coalition for a Drug-Free Do a Ana County is bringing art, awareness and prevention together through the Above the Influence (ATI) Art Project-a project asking teens to create their own visual expressions of the Above the Influence symbol.

Parents, organizations and schools are encouraged to include the ATI Art Project as an activity for teens, bringing both awareness to ATI and substance abuse prevention. Once teens submit their own unique ATI symbol, entries will be reviewed by an independent panel of judges from UP!. Top selections will be picked based on originality, art content and design, inspirational content and media potential. Entries should not have profanity, corporate logos or name brands or symbols of violence including guns, gang signs or symbols. Student’s name, grade, participating school/organization, mailing address, email and phone number must be placed on the back of the artwork, which will not be visible at any point during the judging. Pre- and post-activity surveys must accompany each entry as well as a signed copy of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) “Permission to Use” form. The ATI Art Project Toolkit can be found at www.unifiedprevention.com.

Full story at Las Cruces Sun News

Krystle Cole has tried more psychedelic drugs than all of the Beatles combined, personally knew the operators of the biggest LSDlaboratory in history and lived through some of the most profound and darkest experiences a human being can have, such as run-ins with the law and bad trips. A native of Kansas and former Tucson dweller, Cole is a pursuing a master’s degree in psychology from Capella University. Through her experience, she became an expert in psychedelics and safe drug use, penned a book called “Lysergic” and founded Neurosoup.com, a website that focuses on trying to educate people on responsible drug use.

Daily Wildcat: Could you tell me a little about your education? You dropped out of high school at 15?

Cole: It just wasn’t working out for me, so I went for the first semester of high school, and that was it. So after that, I went to college and I got my associate’s degree by the time I was 18. And then I kind of started making some bad decisions … big decisions that greatly impacted my life.

Full story at Daily Wildcat

In a world-first, researchers from the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC), based at UNSW, are leading a study to determine whether the pharmaceutical drug Sativex can help people better manage cannabis withdrawal symptoms as a platform for ongoing abstinence.

It is estimated that there are at least 200,000 people dependent on cannabis in Australia, with one in ten people who try the drug at least once in their lifetime having problems ceasing use.

“One of the major barriers for regular cannabis users when they try to quit is withdrawal,” said NCPIC director Professor Jan Copeland. “Withdrawal symptoms may include sleep difficulties, cravings and mood swings and although these are not life threatening, they are significant enough to cause marked distress and lead people to go back to using the drug.”

“There is currently no targeted drug available to assist with cannabis withdrawal. Tobacco smokers have nicotine replacement therapies to assist them when they stop cigarette smoking and opiate users have synthetic opioids like methadone. This study will investigate whether a pharmaceutical preparation of botanical cannabis known as Sativex has the potential to help cannabis users in a similar way.”

Full story at HealthCanal

When substance abuse touches many families, the family just “wants it to stop,” but is that really enough?

Depending on how much and how often an individual has been using drugs and alcohol (including the perceived legal ones such as over-the-counter or prescription drugs, Herbal Incense, K-2 and bath salts), discontinuing use may not be as easy as it seems.

Post Acute Withdrawal may occur if the individual had slipped into dependency, which may result in a myriad of symptoms including problems with sleep, irritability, loss of memory, loss of concentration. It can possibly create physical repercussions such as seizures or feeling that you have had the worst flu in your life. These symptoms can sometimes last for weeks or even months.

If the individual was using as a way to cope with emotions or stressful situations, they will now be facing the same situations with no substance to “dull the pain.” Oftentimes the situation they were dealing with has worsened due to their drug or alcohol use and lack of attention.

Full story at Evansville Courier & Press