Category Archives: Worldwide

Facts about Drugs: MDMA & Extacy

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MDMA & Ecstacy

MDMA is a synthetic and psychoactive drug that is commonly referred to as “Extacy”. “Adam”, or “TXC”. Under its influence, individuals tend to suffer from hallucinations and distortions of cognitive processes.

The effects of MDMA manifest themselves within the physical, and mental realms of its users. The psychological effects that have been associated with this drug include confusion, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and strong cravings to consume more. The physical effects include muscular tension, nausea, blurry vision, fainting spells, and sweating.

The findings of recent studies have revealed that the use of MDMA deteriorates the areas of brain responsible for thoughts and memories, as well as causing damage to the neurons that make use of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Pushes to Make Drugs Illegal

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Drugs Illegal in Colombia

Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, has introduced an amendment that aims to make drug possession illegal in Colombia. The Colombian congress already began discussing the illegality of drugs in Colombia earlier last week.

As it stands currently, Colombia citizens (of legal adult age 18+) are permitted to legally possess 20 grams of marijuana, 1 gram of cocaine and or 2 grams of synthetic drugs, ecstasy. Drugs current status was the result of a 1994 Constitutional court ruling.

In a recent speech, President Uribe stated that there was a contradiction in the fact that Colombia claims to be waging war on drugs (using billions of US dollars), while allowing domestic possession of drugs. During his 6 years of presidency, Uribe, has put forth various efforts to evoke this reform. However, he has always faced resistance from congress members, who believe the illegalization of drugs in Colombia would be a violation of Colombian’s freedoms.

The new amendment is less punitive than the ones previously introduced. However, if passed, drug possession would be considered a misdemeanor, not a felony, and would result in the intervention of a “therapeutic court”, involving judges, doctors, and psychologists.

In the Rooms Youtube Channel

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In the Rooms Youtube Channel

The new social networking website IntheRooms.com, which dedicates itself specifically as a support network for those in recovery, now has a channel on youtube.com that is filled with all kinds of pertinent recovery videos.  To be specific, there are exactly 37 videos currently, which range from an NBC 6 interview with the founders of In the Rooms, Kenny Pomerance and Ron Tannenbuam, to several videos that feature Father Martin.

For those unfamiliar with Father Joseph Martin, he was an ordained priest based out of Baltimore Maryland, who was an alcoholic that made a full recovery and spent the rest of his life advocating animatedly for the Alcoholics and Narcotic Anonymous fellowships.  Unfortunately, Father Joseph Martin passed away earlier this year (2009).  He is most famous for his “Chalk Board” talks that helped champion addiction recovery for so many individuals who sought to overcome the disease of addiction.

A Global Recovery (aglobalrecovery.com) invites everyone around the globe, who may be reading this article (as well as everyone who isn’t), to visit the In the Rooms Youtube Channel at: http://www.youtube.com/intherooms.  We also invite everyone to get as much support as possible by joining the online community of InTheRooms.com.  There, you can get in contact with plenty of support from the over 30,000 fellow recovering members from all around the world.

Cocaine Production on the Rise Says Bolivian Anti-Drug Chief

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Bolivian Anti-Drug police chief, Oscar Nina, recently warned that law enforcement has seen a spike in cocaine productions, mainly due to Colombian and Mexican cartels subcontracting local coca growers to process the leaf instead because it’s more efficient than shipping it out. “There is more interest and investment in purifying coca paste here and exporting it, rather than sending it to Colombia for purification” said Nina in the interview.

However, this pattern is not new. In the mid 90’s, Peruvian anti-drug authorities saw the same shift being made by the major cartels in Colombia, when local growers were paid more to process the cocaine, rather than exporting it to Colombia for the task. Still, much of the coca grown in Bolivia is done so by family farms and is legal under the country’s law, as it is intended for use in teas and herbal medicines. For exactly this reason, conditions are ideal in Bolivia for upping local processing of coca.

Last Month, Bolivian authorities busted three hidden processing-labs in the jungle, after a small plane aviated by two Colombians was seized carrying 660 pounds of cocaine and lead to the discovery. Thus far in 2009, nine tons of cocaine has been seized and 992 drug-related arrests made. Just last year, Bolivian authorities busted more than 3,000 local, coca-processing labs and seized a record breaking 27 tons of cocaine that mainly came from the small, clandestine operations.

Recovery Nation Helps Couples Coping with Sex and Porn Addiction

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Recovery Nation

The online self-help resource, Recovery Nation, recently announced its newly launched, web-based initiative, called Couple’s Workshop, to help couples cope and move forward through problems stemming from sex and porn addictions.  Jon Marsh, founder of Recovery Nation, describes the Couple’s Workshop by saying, “This workshop is for those couples who have already made the decision to heal their partnership–be that as friends, parents, or lovers.”

Couple’s Workshop utilizes similar health-based recovery techniques found in traditional addiction recovery programs and partner’s healing workshops.  More so, Recovery Nation’s new sex and porn addiction, recovery program also looks to rebuild a healthy sexual life with a partner beyond addiction management.  It does so by providing over forty free lessons that guide couple’s in the development of partnership communication skills as well as trust and intimacy rebuilding.

While some may feel “shock, fear, confusion, disgust and ignorance” about their sexual addiction problem as mentioned on the Recovery Nation website, which tends to act negatively in “guiding the recovery response as well,” the site also mentions that the provided resource of the Couple’s Workshop will “assist you, your partner and/or anyone seeking to fully understand the sex, love and porn addictions in such a way as to facilitate a permanent recovery and/or healing process.”  For more information, visit the website at: http://www.recoverynation.com

British Shopaholic Liz Jones Admits to Spending Half-Million on Clothes

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Liz Jones Shopaholic

From a column in UK’s Dailymail.com, former Marie Claire fashion editor, Liz Jones, described her experiences being a Shopaholic, and for anyone who knows about addiction recovery and the 12 step programs, economic failure goes hand in hand with any addiction.  Jones opens the article by saying that the “excess” started with a $140.00 sweater, when she was making $30.00 a week and ballooned to purchases that would eventually reach $4000.00 for a single dress.

In the article, Liz Jones outlines some her futile purchases over the years, noting: “I often do that terrible thing of buying something – a pair of Prada platforms, a pair of Seven For All Mankind jeans – and then later finding I already have the exact same thing at home.”  Still, Jones bravely shares the story of someone who suffers from a severe case compulsiveness, which also usually goes hand in hand with any addiction.

Amongst other stories, Jones mentions how she went to the Oscars and had decided to wear one of her many expensive dresses, rather than buying a new one, but upon arriving to LA, she was so “unhappy” with what she had brought that she went out to buy a new wardrobe.  While at Barneys she saw a pair of shoes that she thought were just OK, but because the clerk informed her there were none in her size, she felt “so thwarted” that she “couldn’t live without them” and had the store fly a pair to her hotel room from their New York branch for the following day.

Although most of the anecdotes in the article are quite comical, there is no laughing matter about Liz Jones’ addiction.  Jones sums it up like this: “Shopping for me is like a drug: I get a high from making the sales assistant smile…”  Nonetheless, Jones goes on to speak of her regrets for wasteful spending and notes that it was the recent downturn in the economy that finally brought her to her senses after she faced the serious credit crunch.

Meth Mothers Pass Drug’s Damage onto Unborn Children

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A study recently published in the scientific journal, Neurology, cited a study out of the University of Hawaii that found children whose mothers where using methamphetamine while carrying them showed abnormalities in brain development.

The study, conducted by Dr. Linda Chang of UH’s of John A. Burns School of Medicine, is being considered the first of its kind. Using a new method of Diffusion tensor imaging, it compared brain scans of young children nearly-half from meth moms and the other half from non-meth moms, finding that the white matter of the former was lagging in development and showed some irregularities.

The researcher team at UH isn’t exactly sure how meth causes the physical abnormality in the white matter of the children. Nonetheless, the researchers have committed to following the children throughout their development to research long-term effects in longitudinal studies.

Hopefully, the findings will motivate drug-abuse prevention organizations to create campaigns targeting potential expecting-to-be, meth moms to clean up their act, so future children aren’t affected by meth addiction.

Canadian social-program gives Homeless Alcoholics free drinks

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On any typical day in Ottawa’s Parliament Hill district, you can find homeless people being fed and taken care of, which is fine with most people, however, when free alcoholic drinks are being distributed to them several times throughout the day by social-programs that receive funding from the local government, controversy is sparked.

It turns out that the Canadian based social-program, Ottawa Inner City Health project, used to receive funds from a combination of donations and public funding from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care; and even though they incorporated as the nonprofit organization, Ottawa Inner City Health, Inc. in February 2005, the group still receives help from the OMHLTC to find funding.

Still, the fact of the matter is that the program is working.  It is estimated that the initiative carried out by Ottawa Inner City Health has saved the local health-care system over $3.5 million by way of managing the homeless alcoholics, consumption behaviors and thus reducing or eliminating their numerous hospital emergency rooms visits.  Also, according to local businesses and community members, the program has created a much safer and realistic solution.

However, it is clear that no similar program exists in Ottawa that gives drug addicts free drugs on a regular basis as a means to “control” the problem.  In reality, this is considered an unfeasible proposition by the same local groups that govern the program that gives alcoholics free drinks.  Additionally, a lot of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts feel that the program is not a reasonable solution because it acts more like a Band-Aid, rather than a real resolution.  Truthfully, many feel that the only “real” solution would be to spend the funds instead on recovery and rehabilitation treatment.

What is IntheRooms.com About?

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IntheRooms.com

For those unfamiliar, IntheRooms.com is the number one trafficked recovery social networking site on the web. Presently, InTheRooms has more than 40,000 members with a combined recovery time of over 100,000 years. Every day, members at IntheRooms.com share that wealth of knowledge across fellowship lines and international borders. It is common for an NA member to befriend a AA member and share recovery experiences and support the other 23 hours a day between official fellowship meetings. IntheRooms’ mantra is H.I.T.C.H. which stands for Help, Inform, Touch, Connect and Heal. The message applies to those already in recovery, those seeking Recovery and family, friends and allies who support recovery around the globe.

InTheRooms.com was created using the latest in web-technology in order to build the most comprehensive online social networking site on the net. In the Rooms members can post photos, chat online, and befriend other members in recovery worldwide. Additionally, IntheRooms lets members choose particular fellowships to join, offers virtual meetings, speaker libraries, daily meditations and affinity groups that make IntheRooms.com the leading innovator of online recovery networking.

As an organization, IntheRooms.com strives to stay active in the recovery community. Just recently, InTheRooms teamed with A & E’s Interventionists from the hit show, “Intervention,” to create a resource for families and friends of those with the disease of alcoholism and addiction. The new website offers personal advice and regular informative articles from A & E Interventionist Ken Seeley, Jeff VanVonderen, and Candy Finnigan. You can check it out at: http://intervention.intherooms.com.

Lastly, the In the Rooms foundation does its best to organize and present charitable recovery events for the public. Most recently announced was the First Annual IntheRooms.com “South Florida Rally for Recovery.” It will be held Sep. 12th, 2009 on Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami, FL as part of National Alcohol and Addiction Recovery Month.

InTheRooms.com Launches New Chat and I.M. Option for People in Recovery Worldwide

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InTheRooms.com is the leading Social Networking website for those in recovery. Recently, InTheRooms.com launched its new chat feature which allows InTheRooms members to get to know each other like never before.

Now you can share your unique stories of addiction and recovery with members across the globe. Although members a encouraged to visit the AA chat room and discuss topics dealing with the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship, the general chat room and instantly creatable member chats allow you to discuss any topic in a safe and positive manner.

Once inside InTheRooms.com, simply click on “Chat” on the menubar and you’ll be automatically signed into a chat room. To send someone an instant message, simply click on the “Private Message” icon that appears when you click on a member’s name once in the chat. 

InTheRooms.com tries to moderate member created content as little as possible. However, InTheRooms.com does not support or condone the use of profanity, pornography or any form of online abuse. Join InTheRooms.com today by clicking on our InTheRooms Widget located on the right hand column.