Question by sunkissed299: Can a former drug addict do anything to reproduce brain cells?
I work in a homeless shelter and someone just asked. I would say no. Thats why they tell you not to do drugs.lol

Best answer:

Answer by Lara Love
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a United States federal government research institute. Their mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.

According to notes released by NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner in the September 2000 issue of Director’s Column:

“Remarkable research and technological advances in the past two decades have proved that brain disruption and damage play central roles in the consequences of drug abuse and addiction. Knowing the nature of a problem, of course, opens the way for systematic attempts to fix it. Thus, today, finding ways to restore normal brain function after it has been changed by drugs is a main goal of NIDA research.

[…]

Ultimately, researchers envision a two-stage process for helping restore drug abusers’ impaired abilities. Interventions will be used first to stop ongoing brain damage and repair damaged brain cells, and then to retrain the brain. The rationale for this approach is that repairing the brain first will restore lost mental resources and capacities that patients then can apply in further treatment.”

More information available here: http://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol15N4/Pursues.html

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Question by Tonya W: How to use Air dusters?
I am doing a paper at school on how are duster and i didn’t know how you actually got High with it. How do you do it?

Best answer:

Answer by Robert W
Read this article on the dangers of ‘dusting’.

Inhalant abuse has been on the rise nationwide, and more teens are experiencing the tragic effects of this cheap high. NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander reports on how a common household product, a computer cleaner, can result in a deadly high.

There’s a new way to get high, and you could have it right next to your desk at home. They’re designed to clean your computer but, if inhaled, these popular products have the potential to kill.

It’s called “dusting” — the term comes from the cleaning brand “Dust Off” — and it has become a teenager’s new cheap and easily accessible high, despite a warning on the side of each canister.
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This form of inhalant abuse, “huffing,” has been around for years, but dusting is the more specific term associated with the use of cans of any common aerosolized computer keyboard cleaner that contains compressed gas.

One teen, 18-year-old Jessie Stotz, is now in rehab at the Pathway Family Center in Indianapolis because of dusting.

“There wasn’t the hassle of finding somebody to buy it for you and stuff, you could walk into a store, being 13 years old, and buy it yourself,” says Stotz.

But one hit can be crippling, as 15-year-old Ben Goudberg experienced in California.

“I couldn’t move for three to four minutes, and I was staring at a door thinking I wanted to get up and go and touch it and I couldn’t do it,” says Goudberg. “It’s one of the scariest feelings in the world.”

The high from the gas paralyzes the user for several minutes and gives a feeling of euphoria. Both dusting and huffing can result in damage to the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys and liver, and can cause death. In computer cleaning products, a freon type of gas, or fluorinated hydrocarbon, is the dangerous ingredient.

The dangerous practice was dramatized in the film “Thirteen.” In the opening scene, the two actresses are sitting on a bed, “dusting,” and then slapping each other out of their trancelike states.

“Sudden sniffing death” describes the process of inhaled hydrocarbons provoking irregular heart rhythms in the victim, which leads to sudden fatal cardiac arrest in even very young and healthy hearts.

“Just that fast a kid could experience intoxication,” says John Daily, a drug counselor at New Directions — and just that fast they could die. The compressed air in the cleaners fills a person’s lungs, keeping oxygen out and potentially stopping the heart.

Some retailers, like Staples and Wal-Mart, now restrict the sales of computer cleaners to buyers over 18 years of age, and many have placed warning labels on the top of cans.

But Jeff Williams, a Cleveland police officer whose son Kyle tragically died in March while trying dusting, thinks more needs to be done. Williams says there is already one keyboard cleaning product on the market that adds a bitter smell and taste to the chemicals, making them unpalatable, and he says all manufacturers should do the same. Williams also thinks that retailers need to do a better job of policing who they sell to.

Dusting is part of a larger problem involving inhalants, with huffing on the rise. In 2002, more than a million people abused them for the first time — the vast majority in their teens.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that inhalant experimentation is initiated earlier than any other illicit substance, with young females starting before young males. Also, a higher percentage of 12 and 13 year olds had used inhalants than marijuana.

Inhalant abuse is often more dangerous and difficult to detect than other drug abuse. Inhalants such as glue, lighter fluid and spray paint are completely legal and found in every home — which often leads kids to think they are harmless — and abusers need to conceal only the act of inhaling, not the product.

But inhalants are addictive physically and psychologically, almost as much as alcohol.

“Not only was it the inhalant that was addictive, it was the lifestyle, the friends and the attention that I would receive when I did it,” says Jessie Stotz.
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But in the deadly new world of dusting, someone’s first time seeking the high may also be their last.

In the United Kingdom, where deaths associated with these substances are tracked, 39 percent of the deaths occurred during the victim’s first time.

Wolfe says the most important way to combat this drug abuse is to educate parents about it and to inform kids that the inhalants can kill them on the first try.

Other prevention methods include reading product labels regarding safety issues, and choosing to minimize aerosols in households by using pump sprays instead.

The warning signs of dusting are not easily detected, but these signs may indicate abuse:

* Disappearance of the product at a rapid rate
* Empty cans or containers of chemicals in tra

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Question by Emma: what are some ways to reduce homelessness?
i am writing a proposal on homelessness in richmond va. I am looking for some ways in which we could reduce or eliminate the homeless.

So far i can only think of 2 which are affordable housing and increase in employment rate.

i need two more ways of which we could potentially reduce the amount of homeless or eliminate it altogether

any suggestions would be helpful

Best answer:

Answer by rec4lms
I think that the first issue for you to tackle is to determine why they are homeless.

The issues that I deal with find that a significant percent of the homeless have mental health issues. The second issue (not as large as mental health issues in my experience) is that many people have issues with alcohol or drug abuse. (Many people can function while abusing alcohol/drugs but many can not.) The third issue is that people have no jobs, no money, no credit, and no resources to turn to when they are down and out.

The USA does a horrible job in dealing with mental health issues, with most of the mental health hospitals being defunded or closed. Unfortunately the response the government has taken is to wait for them to commit a crime and then incarcerate them. Thus, determine how many mental health facilities are in the Richmond area that help those who can not afford treatment. (The only place we use is Central State in Petersburg.) Also note that those with mental illness can not be compelled to take their medications without a court order. And I’ve never seen the court order someone to take medication unless they are incarcerated and need to be up for trial.

Alchohol and drug abuse is a completely different problem to deal with. It may be recreational, it may be escapist, or it may be addiction. Some will respond to treatment, especially if they want treatment. However, they have to want to improve. To paraphrase one person that I worked with, when they were taking drugs they felt that everything was perfect.

Lack of job/money/resources is both one of the worst situations but also one of the easiest one’s to directly handle. Note that I listed “resources.” A resource is anything that one person can use. This can include friends and family. Religion is also important in this because even though it is often bad mouthed in TV and movies however in reality church members stick together. Affordable housing is a good idea but often politics gets involved in a situation. Several years ago I was earning $ 19,000 a year, which is not very much. My roommates and I got kicked out of an apartment because a new company bought it and made it Section 8. The reasoning we were given was that we earned too much money. A lot of the rules and laws are kind of idiotic and often geared to the lowest common denominator. Try to improve yourself and you don’t get help, but don’t try and you get supported. (There are many who truly do need help because they have hit rock bottom but unfortunately a lot of people take advantage of that safety net.) My neighbor is a great example of this. Her husband passed away and she works three jobs to keep her kids and house. However, she could quit all three jobs and get federal money. There is no tapering off of assistance, either you get assistance or you get nothing and this makes it difficult because the money for assistance is often more than the money you can earn on your own.

So, I give you the following: 1) Improve Psychiatric Care for those who need it.
2) Increase alcohol and drug treatment options.
3) Rework the Section 8, Unemployment Benefits, and the Food Stamp/WIC programs. We can probably go for Medicaid also but I don’t deal with that all that much.

I know, Too Long Didn’t Read. I used to be positive and felt that I could help those that are less fortunate than I am, and that lead to a career into such. However, a lot of troubles have been brought on by their own problems. Sadly, trying to save the world may have made me jaded but I also feel that it has made me realistic: Some people can only help themselves and the current system works against those who are trying to improve their lot in life.

I hope that this helped.

Good luck.

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