12 Steps Again

Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc. Sold 4.2 Million Doses of Hydrocodone, Phentermine and Alprazolam without Reporting Sales to The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

A distributor of branded and generic prescription drugs which operates a facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc. has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle claims that it provided controlled substances to illegally operating Internet pharmacies, and failed to report these suspicious sales to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
 
The settlement agreement covers the sales of more than 4,199,465 dosage units of hydrocodone, phentermine and alprazolam that occurred between 2005 and 2008 and were not reported to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
In the agreement, Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc., without admitting wrongdoing, will pay $500,000, to the United States, with $350,000 of the amount due by May 15. The company will pay $100,000 one year later and the final $50,000 in two years.

Additionally, In a separate memorandum of agreement dated April 1, 2009, Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc., acknowledged that its DEA-registered facility is required to comply with controlled substance record keeping and reporting requirements of DEA. Masters represents that it has taken good-faith actions to detect and prevent diversion including agreeing to implement the policies and procedures that are the subject of the memorandum of agreement.

Masters Pharmaceutical, Inc., has cooperated fully with Drug Enforcement Agency’s investigation and has agreed to continue to cooperate with The Drug Enforcement Agency in reducing the unlawful diversion of controlled substances.

“This agreement will help curb the growing problem of the diversion of prescription drugs for illegal uses,” Lockhart said. “I want to commend the Drug Enforcement Agency Diversion Unit for their efforts in this case.”

Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent, Corso, stated that “By failing to report suspicious orders for controlled substances that it received from rogue Internet pharmacies, Masters Pharmaceuticals contributed substantially to the explosive growth of prescription drug abuse in this country. This civil penalty demonstrates the Drug Enforcement Agency’s high priority toward cutting off the drug supply to pharmacies engaged in Internet diversion schemes.”

Cocaine is an addictive stimulant that affects the brain. Cocaine isn’t a new drug. It is actually one of the oldest known drugs. Cocaine hydrochloride (the pure chemical), has been an abused substance for over 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands.

Between October, 2004 and January, 2005, there were 1,314 Federal offenders sentenced for powder cocaine-related charges and 1,205 sentenced for crack cocaine charges in United States Courts. Approximately 98.2% of the powder cocaine cases and 95.2% of the crack cocaine cases involved trafficking of the substance. Between January 12, 2005 and September 30, 2005, there were 4,242 Federal offenders sentenced for powder cocaine-related charges and 4,077 sentenced for crack cocaine charges in United States Courts. Approximately 98.4% of the powder cocaine cases and 95.3% of the crack cocaine cases involved trafficking.

For more Cocaine facts and fast drug facts, be sure to keep visiting us here at 12StepsAgain.com

Four foreign source areas produce the heroin available in the United States: South America (Colombia), Mexico, Southeast Asia (principally Burma), and Southwest Asia (principally Afghanistan). However, South America and Mexico supply most of the illicit heroin marketed in the United States. South American heroin is a high-purity powder primarily distributed to metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Heroin powder may vary in color from white to dark brown because of impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. Mexican heroin, known as “black tar,” is primarily available in the western United States. The color and consistency of black tar heroin result from the crude processing methods used to illicitly manufacture heroin in Mexico. Black tar heroin may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, and its color may vary from dark brown to black.

Pure heroin is rarely sold on the street. A “bag” (slang for a small unit of heroin sold on the street) currently contains about 30 to 50 milligrams of powder, only a portion of which is heroin. The remainder could be sugar, starch, acetaminophen, procaine, benzocaine, or quinine, or any of numerous cutting agents for heroin. Traditionally, the purity of heroin in a bag ranged from 1 to 10 percent. More recently, heroin purity has ranged from about 10 to 70 percent. Black tar heroin is often sold in chunks weighing about an ounce. Its purity is generally less than South American heroin and it is most frequently smoked, or dissolved, diluted, and injected.

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses.

Cocaine abuse has a long history and is rooted into the drug culture in the U.S. It is an intense euphoric drug with strong addictive potential. With the increase in purity, the advent of the free-base form of the cocaine (“crack”), and its easy availability on the street, cocaine continues to burden both the law enforcement and health care systems in America.

Keep visiting us here at 12StepsAgain.com for more information on illegal drugs, addiction, recovery and more.

“VH1 is riding high on its most successful wave of original hit programming yet. We launched more new hit series than any other cable network in the first quarter of 2009,” said Jeff Olde, Executive Vice President, Original Programming & Production, VH1. “Much of our momentum can be credited to many of the franchises and talent that we’re renewing today. These upcoming projects will continue to set the mark for reality television while connecting with some of the most loyal viewers in all of television.”

Dr. Drew Pinsky is tackling a new yet very real addiction in “Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew.” In this eight episode one-hour series, Dr. Drew is turning his attention and cameras on a very widespread but rarely talked about addiction. Sexual compulsion afflicts roughly 6% of the American population and carries the same devastating consequences as any other addiction. For addicts, sex isn’t even pleasurable, but rather a way to escape the pain of past loss, childhood trauma, abuse and abandonment. Like many other addictions, their habits can cost them their jobs, their marriages, even their lives.

Despite all this, the affliction is often dismissed because it’s not understood how something as natural and beautiful as sex can be an addiction. In this series Dr. Drew will treat a group of people in Los Angeles who are struggling with this disease while shedding some light on this oft-dismissed compulsion and all the destructive costs that come with it. The series is set to premiere in the fall of 2009.

“Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew” is executive produced by John Irwin and Bruce Toms for Irwin Entertainment. Dr. Drew Pinsky and Howard Lapides are also executive producing. Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, and Noah Pollack are executive producers for VH1. Dr. Drew and VH1 are also bringing back the award-winning reality series “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” for a third installment.

The series will follow a new group of celebrity patients who have volunteered to undergo a 21-day detoxification and treatment at a rehabilitation center in the Los Angeles area. The series has not yet been cast but aims to start filming sometime in late spring for a fall 2009 premiere. Returning to the show to help Dr. Drew are drug addiction counselor Bob Forrest and resident technician Shelly Sprague who have each spent years on both sides of the rehab fence.

“Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” is executive produced by John Irwin and Bruce Toms for Irwin Entertainment. Dr. Drew Pinsky and Howard Lapides are also executive producing. Jeff Olde, Jill Holmes, and Noah Pollack are executive producers for VH1.

The 13th Annual, 2009 Prism Awards takes place Wednesday, April 23rd in Beverly Hills, California. The event will take place in the Beverly Hill Hotel but will not air live. Although the Prism Awards are modeled after the Oscars and the Emmys, this will be the first year that the Prism Awards will be televised.

The annual Prism Awards honors excellence in Music, Film and Television within the realm of Addiction, Recovery and Mental Health. This year’s Prism Awards will air on FX in September. The following is just a few of the categories and nominees for the 2009 Prism Awards:

PERFORMANCE IN A TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES:
 
Tammy Blanchard, Sybil
(CBS Entertainment / Warner Bros. Television / Wolper Organization / Norman Stevens Productions)
 
Jessica Lange, Sybil
(CBS Entertainment / Warner Bros. Television / Wolper Organization / Norman Stevens Productions)
 
Sally Pressman, Love Sick: Secrets of a Sex Addict
(Lifetime Television / Johnson Production Group)
 
Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris
(HBO Films)
 
Chandra Wilson, Accidental Friendship
(Hallmark Channel / Automatic Pictures)
TALK SHOW EPISODE:
 
The Doctors – “Episode #1055″
(CBS Paramount Domestic Television / Stage 29 Productions)
 
Dr. Phil – “The Bridge”
(CBS Paramount Domestic Television / Peteski Productions)
 
Dr. Phil – “Pill Popping Twins Parts 1 and 2″
(CBS Paramount Domestic Television / Peteski Productions)
 
Dr. Phil – “Sober Up Or Else!”
(CBS Paramount Domestic Television / Peteski Productions)
 
The Tyra Banks Show – “Addicted Moms: Families in Turmoil”
(Telepictures Productions)

MUSIC RECORDING:
 
In the Rooms – Richie Supa
 
Lost in Recovery – Selfish Steam

For more information on the Prism Awards, check them out online at www.PrismAwards.com

Federal Trafficking Penalties – Marijuana

Today, methamphetamine is second only to alcohol and marijuana as the drug used most frequently in many Western and Midwestern states. Seizures of dangerous laboratory materials have increased dramatically—in some states, fivefold. In response, many special task forces and local and Federal initiatives have been developed to target methamphetamine production and use. Legislation and negotiation with earlier source areas for precursor substances have also reduced the availability of the raw materials needed to make the drug.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug with potent central nervous system stimulant properties. In the 1960s, methamphetamine pharmaceutical products were widely available and extensively diverted and abused. The 1971 placement of methamphetamine into Schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and the removal of methamphetamine injectable formulations from the United States market, combined with a better appreciation for its high abuse potential, led to a drastic reduction in the abuse of this drug. However, a resurgence of methamphetamine abuse occurred in the 1980s and it is currently considered a major drug of abuse. The widespread availability of methamphetamine today is largely fueled by illicit production in large and small clandestine laboratories throughout the United States and illegal production and importation from Mexico. In some areas of the country (especially on the West Coast), methamphetamine abuse has outpaced both heroin and cocaine.

The drug has limited medical uses for the treatment of narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, and obesity.

This past World Health Day (April 7th), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched its global campaign against drugs. “Drug control is not just about security, it’s about health. Drug dependence is an illness, and should be prevented and treated as such”, said the Executive Director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa. UNODC’s international drug campaign will run until 26 June 2009 which is World Drug Day (International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking).

UNODC’s 2009 campaign with the slogan “Do drugs control your life?” is being targeted at young people in order to encourage them to take care of their health and empower them not to take drugs. “Some people are pro-drugs, we are pro-health”, said Mr. Costa.
Around 200 million people take drugs at least once a year. Of these, 25 million are regarded as drug dependent. Every year 200,000 people die from drug-related illnesses.
Young people are more susceptible to drug use. Prevalence of drug use among young people is more than twice as high as drug use among the general population; three times as high in the case of cannabis. “Much more needs to be done to provide young people with the skills, information and opportunities to lead healthy and fulfilling lives”, said Mr. Costa.

The young are also more vulnerable to the effects of drug use. Because their brains are still developing, by taking drugs they are more at risk of memory loss, behavioural problems and even psychosis.

“There is a lot of talk about legalizing drugs to stop crime. But making drugs more readily available would create a public health disaster and condemn a proportion of every generation to addiction”, said Mr. Costa. “Governments do not need to choose between public health and public security – they should do both. On World Health Day – and everyday – governments should make health the first principle of drug control.”

Treating Inmates Has Proven Public Health, Safety, and Economic Benefits

The vast majority of prisoners who could benefit from drug abuse treatment do not receive it, despite two decades of research that demonstrate its effectiveness, according to researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.In a report published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, NIDA scientists note that about half of all prisoners (including some sentenced for non-drug-related offenses) are dependent on drugs, yet less than 20 percent of inmates suffering from drug abuse or dependence receive formal treatment.

“Treating drug-abusing offenders improves public health and safety,” said NIDA Director and report coauthor Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “In addition to the devastating social consequences for individuals and their families, drug abuse exacts serious health effects, including increased risk for infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C; and treatment for addiction can help prevent their spread.Providing drug abusers with treatment also makes it less likely that these abusers will return to the criminal justice system.”

“Addiction is a stigmatized disease that the criminal justice system often fails to view as a medical condition; as a consequence, its treatment is not as available as it is for other medical conditions,” stated Dr. Redonna K. Chandler, the report’s principal author and chief of NIDA’s Services Research Branch.

There are several ways in which drug abuse treatment can be incorporated into the criminal justice system. These include therapeutic alternatives to incarceration, treatment merged with judicial oversight in drug courts, treatments provided in prison and jail, and reentry programs to help offenders transition from incarceration back into the community.

To learn more about the latest research on treatment for drug abusers in the criminal justice system, download NIDA’s Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations at http://www.drugabuse.gov/PODAT_CJ/principles.