foundation-for-a-drug-free-world « WordPress.com Tag Feed

The truth about "kiddie cocaine"

Zee — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:28:19 +0000

Ritalin/Methylphenidate Information

Called "kiddie cocaine" when sold on the streets, prescription stimulants destroy young lives daily.

Street names for Ritalin:

Diet Coke - Rids
Kiddy cocaine - Skittles
R-Ball - Smarties
VItamin R - Poor man's cocaine

Ritalin is the common name for methylphenidate, classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a Schedule II narcotic - the same classification as cocaine, morphine and amphetamines. It is abused by teens for its stimulant effects.

While the law forbids unrestricted distribution of these powerful stimulants, the sad fact remains that these substances are freely available almost anywhere. "Kiddie cocaine," as it has been called, is handed out like candy. In some schools, as many as 20 percent of the students take Ritalin regularly.

Short-term Effects:

Its severest effects include nervousness, insomnia, pulse changes and heart problems. In June 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that Ritalin and its sister drugs may cause visual hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, psychotic behavior, as well as aggression or violent behavior. Hazards multiply as users up their quantity, grind and snort it, liquefy or inject it, and use it along with ecstasy and other drugs. Abuse in larger doses puts stress on the heart, which can be fatal, and injection causes serious damage to the lungs and eyes.

Long-term Effects:

The manufacturer says methylphenidate is a drug of dependency. Children on stimulant medications have twice the future rate of drug abuse. One-third of all child anorexia (eating disorders) are linked to use of this drug, as are symptoms of "obsessive-compulsive" behavior - within the first year of use.

A Texas researcher has also found that after only three months of Ritalin use, one out of twelve children treated with it had genetic abnormalities associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Download the full version of Kiddie Cocaine

Foundation for a drug free world

They said just once wouldn't hurt...

ppedersen — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:59:11 +0000

They said just once wouldn't hurt...

The free booklet, "The Truth about Cocaine" (available on the drugfreeworld.org website) describes this drug, once the favorite of corporate executives and entertainment personalities, now a deadly street killer.

Find out more at:
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/

http://www.youtube.com/user/DrugFreeWorld

Drug free world?

Grzeg Marhz — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:15:34 +0000

Such is the ubiquity of advertising that one barely notices the amount of space dedicated to selling us consumables any more. Which is probably the reason why I was so struck by a poster outside UCLH on Monday morning, an advert that was selling me an idea, not a product, and from a organization that I had never heard of; the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. My first thoughts were "religious group" and a brief glance at their website confirms that Scientologists are heavily involved, although, the jury is still out on whether they do actually qualify as a religion. It's either that or the most elaborate pyramid scam in history. What makes FDFW different from most "just say no" moralizers is that it's not only recreational drugs that they want to get rid of. Oh no. These are Scientologists remember, and they're against prescription drugs too. The website itself is actually quite banal, and assumes that readers will be put off from trying MDMA once they discover that one of the side effects is "confusion". There is much worry about young people ruining their lives not handing in their homework on time, and an emphasis on "saving lives" - won't somebody please think of the children! Does drug use kill more young people than car/traffic accidents? More than land mines? Let's have some perspective, please.

Abstinence equals purity equals goodness. This is the message. Let's all be nice and clean and free of sin. Let's never ever get cancer or suffer from paranoia or depression or bronchitis because we, the organized abstainers, the authority on lifestyle choice, have said no to drugs. We have chosen the correct way to live and therefore will deserve never to be ill. Are any of us actually allowed to make a choice without being consulted by giant posters on our way to work?

The FDFW offer us no solid alternatives to drugs use (not even Jebus, but probably Tom Cruise) and it is simply assumed that drugs will vanish as soon as we all learn of their side-effects. The Truth! The Facts!

We're all very savvy of the side-effects of booze and fags, but I'm pretty sure that they still exist.