When was the last time you paid 50 bucks for a few grams of incense and they assured you it will be mailed discreetly?
They're only in for the money and they don't care.
Look for Signs of K2 -- 'Fake Marijuana'
Anthony Scalzo, M.D., professor of toxicology at Saint Louis University, has seen nearly 30 cases involving teenagers who were experiencing hallucinations, severe agitation, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, vomiting and, in some cases, tremors and seizures. All of these teens had smoked a dangerous, yet legal substance known as K2 or "fake weed."
Parents should be on the lookout for warning signs such as agitation, pale appearance, anxiety or confusion due to hallucinations. So if you’re a parent, be on the lookout.
"Look for dried herb residues lying around your kids' room. Chances are they are not using potpourri to make their rooms smell better or oregano to put on their pizza," Scalzo said. – Science Daily - Mar. 3, 2010
What is K2? Where is K2 Sold?
K-2 UPDATE: As of Nov 24 The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is using its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals (JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol) used to make “fake pot” products.
This action will make possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year.
Click on: "The Good, The Bad and the Not So Bright"
Sold as incense or "K2 herbal smoke" the drug K2 is known as a legal alternative to marijuana.
K2's key ingredients were invented by Dr. John Huffman at Clemson University in 1995 during medical research on the effects of cannabinoids on the brain. He found no medical benefits -- only negative side effects.
K2 Spice products' advertisements are often colorful and target children and young people who are particularly at-risk of being taking advantage of. Images of religious figures such as Jesus, Mary and Buddha smoking are often featured on the websites advertising the K2 Spice products.
Spice products are often sold as incense and advertised online as either as 'mystical incense'; or 'the perfect stuff for chilling out at home with friends' along with perfumes, cosmetics and fragrances for the house. Sometimes they are labeled not for 'human consumption', or 'not suitable for under the age of 18.
Because of their packaging, which also looks like 'incense' or 'tea', and their scented smell, Spice products are far less noticeable as drugs since the drug is not easily identified by parents.
What is known about K2?
K2 a.k.a. "Spice," "Genie," or "Zohai" are the best know brand names for synthetic cannabis, a herbal and chemical product which mimics the effects of marijuana. It is around four to ten times more potent than marijuana.
Increased agitation, panic attacks and vomiting have been noted with this drug use, and the US army has banned its use by soldiers.
When synthetic cannabis products first went on sale it was thought that they achieved an effect through a mixture of legal herbs.
Laboratory analysis in 2008 showed this was not the case and that they in fact contained synthetic cannabinoids. These act on the body in a similar way to cannabinoids naturally found in cannabis, such as THC. Synthetic cannabinoids are used in an attempt to avoid the laws which make cannabis illegal.
Professor Huffman who first synthesised many of the cannabinoids used in synthetic cannabis is quoted as saying, "People who use it are idiots. You don't know what it's going to do to you."
One of the greatest dangers involved in buying K2 stems from the fact that it's an unregulated mixture of who knows what.
In a statement, Dr. Huffman said the chemicals were not intended for human use. He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.”
It is sold under various brand names, online, in head shops, in smoke shops and gas stations.
It is marketed as an incense or "herbal smoking blend", but the products are usually smoked by users. Because it is not intended for consumption, there are no age limits on buying K2 or "Spice K2" and it is being purchased by everyone from teenagers to aging hippies.
It is generally smoked with the same kind of smoking accessories used for non-legal products, and the cost of K2 is generally $30 to $40 per pack thanks to interest in this new drug.
In a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer Chris Goldstein, spokesman for the Philadelphia Chapter for the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), warns that nobody really knows what is included in each packet of incense. Because it is not regulated by the FDA or DEA it can be sold as a "proprietary blend" and not list ingredients on the package.
"I would not recommend anyone touching this stuff," Goldstein said. "Samples have come back testing positive for formaldehyde, vitamin E and acetone. At least with real marijuana you can tell if it's tainted by looking at it.
"This stuff is like setting a plastic spoon on fire and inhaling."
Though packets of the incense are typically marked "not for human consumption," they are sold with a "wink and a nod," said Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
"When was the last time you paid 50 bucks for a few grams of incense and they assured you it will be mailed discreetly?" Carreno said. "The manufacturers and distributors, they're only in for the money and they don't care."
Although synthetic cannabis does not produce positive results in drug tests for cannabis, it is possible to detect its metabolites in human urine.
The synthetic cannabinoids contained in synthetic cannabis products have been made illegal in many European countries, but remain legal under federal law in the USA and Canada. Several US states have made it illegal under state law.
Other Names
Herbal products containing synthetic cannabinoids have included Spice Gold, Spice Silver, Spice Diamond, Yucatan Fire, Sence, Chill X, Smoke, Genie, Algerian Blend and many others. These products may already be obsolete, since the Internet market is rapidly evolving.
Links:
Philadelphia Inquirer - Sep. 29, 2010 - Pa. House passes bill to outlaw ‘synthetic marijuana’ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20100929_Pa__House_passes_bill_to_outlaw_synthetic_marijuana.html#ixzz11aZ9APdr
NY Times - July 10, 2010 - Synthetic Marijuana Spurs State Bans
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/us/11k2.html?_r=1&src=me
Science Daily - Mar. 3, 2010 - Toxicologist Warning to Parents: Look for Signs of K2 -- 'Fake Marijuana'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100303092405.htm
CNN - March 02, 2010 - 'K2' poses dangers and should be illegal
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-02/opinion/fay.ban.k2_1_thc-k2-marijuana?_s=PM:OPINION
Psychoactive drug or mystical incense? Overview of the online available information on Spice products - International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, Volume 2, Issue 2 December 2009
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a918041251~frm=titlelink
Wikipedia - Synthetic Cannabis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_cannabis
K2, Spice, Yucatan Fire, Sence, Chill X, Genie - What is it?
Posted by:Rocco--Sunday, October 03, 2010
Sally and Rocco to receive Allegheny County Parent of the Year Award on Oct 6th!
Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Saturday, October 02, 2010
Sally and Rocco will receive this prestigious award on 10-6-10, this Wednesday, at 550 Fifth Ave., (old county jail-second floor waiting room). It is scheduled from between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Why not come down and clap for Sally and Rocco and catch their acceptance speech?
I have reprinted practically the whole of the nomination, minus some real names: the challenging part was really limiting this to 250 words. When it comes to Sally and Rocco I could go on and on.
Reason for Nomination (no more than 250 words):
Both Mr. & Mrs. (Rocco and Sally) have been tirelessly involved in efforts to intervene in the life of their teenage son who experienced serious drug abuse and a number of MH issues. By working as a team they have helped their son effect a positive change in his life.
1. Both Rocco and Sally attend Parent Survival Skills Training regularly. They actively participate, encourage and support others.
2. Both Parents took steps to cease enabling and they began to work with Probation to hold their son accountable.
3. Both Rocco and Sally worked closely with Wesley-Spectrum Family Therapist, Cathy Culbert. They had the courage to take a good look at their own roles in parenting. When they saw something they could improve- they did.
4. Rocco and Sally both act as Parent Editors of the PSST blog. They use pen names to share their ongoing story about Cisco and they edit other parent’s stories and publish them to the blog. (www.gopsst.org)
5. Sally also volunteers to help others in their fight against the disease of addiction: she started knitting groups with female addicts in treatment programs.
Currently, Rocco and Sally are visiting their son in his third inpatient drug treatment program. He is so far succeeding at a local adult treatment program. The steps that Rocco and Sally took to stop enabling have helped Cisco decide to get better. While they are waiting for the “miracle” to happen they continue to help others through their involvement in PSST and various volunteer activities.
Lloyd Woodward, JPO 9-10-10
Summary of the OCT 2, 2010 PSST Meeting
Posted by:Rocco--Saturday, October 02, 2010
Summary of the OCT 2, 2010 PSST Meeting
There was another nice turn-out for the Oct 2 PSST Meeting in Wilkinsburg with a good mix of new, regular and some returning veteran PSST Parents joining us.
Our PSST Pros, Val and Lloyd from Allegheny County Probation and our resident Wesley Spectrum Family Therapists Kathie and Jocelyn led the meeting with 12 parents representing 9 families.
Lloyd announced that PSST Parents Sally and Rocco have been selected to win the Allegheny County Parent-of-the Year Award. This announcement came with a beautiful congratulatory cake with Vanilla Mousse inside – YUMMY!
Read more about Sally and Rocco to receive award here:
Thank You to all of our PSST Friends
Sally and I want to give a heartfelt thank you to our PSST Pro’s; Val, Lloyd, Cathy C, Kathie T and Jocelyn. They continue to stick with us to assist, advise and support us in our effort to get our son Cisco get the help that he needs in his recovery.
We would also like to extend our appreciation to all of the PSST Parents, Past and Present, who have listened, empathized, encouraged and passed on some of their wisdom to Sally and me (and given us some serious hugs as needed).
PSST is a special place for us parents that allow us to strengthen ourselves mentally, spiritually and physically so that we can take back the power and control in our homes and our lives. PSST provides the tools we need to help our teens save their lives.
"By helping others succeed, we help ourselves succeed. Whatever good we give will complete the circle and will come back to us."
Meeting Summary
After the opening announcements everyone had a chance to introduce themselves and tell as little or as much as they wished to tell about their teenager/parental relationship. There was a storehouse of information and knowledge and wisdom and some tears and laughter exchanged.
- We had a veteran PSST mom with a daughter in recovery. Her daughter is now in the U.S. Navy and is stationed overseas in a country without a minimum drinking age. This of course triggers old feelings and alarms for her. Yes parents have triggers too. We need to continue to work at phasing them out of our lives. The mom reported that they are both doing well at this time.
- The second mom (June on the blog) is dealing with her son who is nearing the end of an inpatient program and will then move into a halfway house before coming home. She is satisfied with his progress but naturally concerned about this next phase in his recovery.
- Another mom’s son has been clean for several years but has recently relapsed. She is feeling bad because of his relapse, his consequences and because he continues to blame her for his problems. This is tough on all of us parents of addicts. We often question ourselves and wonder what we might have done differently. After a few years of clean time it must be even tougher. Please keep coming to our PSST meetings and let us support you through this.
- Our next mom had her 15 year old son involuntarily placed into an inpatient recovery program 2 weeks ago under ACT 53. She had a rough visit with him last week. He kept telling her that it was her fault and that she did nothing to help him and she had to turn him over to someone else. After arguing and trying to explain things to him she finally agreed with him that she could not do anything more for him by herself. She said he immediately quieted down and the last ten minutes of the visit went well. As she noted “If I had only thought of agreeing earlier it would have been a much nicer visit.” 
Parents of addicts tend to waste a lot of time trying to explain how things really are, defend their plan or justify their actions. They feel that if they continue to “discuss” the issue long enough that their child will get the point. Unfortunately the addicted teen usually is not interested and tends to hear only “I blah, blah, blahed. You blah, blah, blahed. So we need blah, blah, blah.”
Try your best not to get pulled down this emotional rabbit hole. Come to our meetings and learn how to 'Find little things to agree with’ followed by 'Never-the-less' statements and 'Fly above the Chaos'.
- The next mom has a son who has just entered into a halfway house last week and is also naturally concerned about this next phase in his recovery. She is handling it well and challenged him to make the best of it while he is there. She is doing well but having a hard time detaching and not blaming herself. It is not an easy thing to do.
- We had a couple (Ralph & Alice on the blog) who’s son, Ed, is scheduled to leave his inpatient placement “soon”. They gave us another good example about being careful about what you say, and how you say it, to your teen. Lloyd gave us a good example of how it is okay to take the blame when the teen misinterprets what you tell them.
The first issue is about their son’s desire to return to his high school. Both Ralph and Alice emphasized, in their own way, "No, you are not returning to your high school." They are looking into alternate schools without the friends and other triggers their son would find returning to his school.
The second issue concerns being manipulated by your teen into discussing how many more days they will be in a recovery program. If you tell them 30 to 60 days they only hear that “Dad told me I will be out in 30 Days!” If you say we might work something out in the next 2 or 3 weeks they will throw “Mom, you lied! You said I would be out of here in 2 weeks!” right back at you.
Lloyd explained that it is okay to admit to them that “Oh man did I say that? I guess I was mistaken. Even so, we will know that the time is right when you are following the program and willing to accept our rules, right?”
- Our next mom has been through the recovery of her older son and is now concerned about her younger son. While she has no proof that her younger teen is using she has red flags or triggers popping up. He is not doing well in school and doesn’t seem to care about anything but his music and his band. This again emphasizes how parents of addicts develop triggers also (I know I have some myself). This is something we will always need to work on and is part of detaching.
REFOCUS VS. DETACH
After the meeting, one of our PSST moms mentioned to me that she didn’t like the word “detachment” – it brings up too many thoughts of abandonment. She likes to use the word “REFOCUS” instead. As in “You need to REFOCUS your attention off of the addict and back on your own well being.”
Being a photographer myself I like this phrase. Many times in my pictures I like to have the main subject in clear focus and fade the background. This puts the attention where it belongs. So if you find "detaching" too hard, try to "refocus" on what is important - your health and well being.
- Next were Sally and Rocco. As we noted previously Cisco is now in an adult inpatient program with emphasis on being able to manage his own life and eventually to live on his own. We had our second visit with him and he shows improvement but has months to go in a very tough program. Keep watching the blog for our updates.
- Finally there was another veteran couple (who were the 2009 Allegheny County Parents-of-the Year). Thanks for coming back to our meetings. Their 20 year old son had been clean for around 3 years. Recently he was found with beer in his car and has been charged with underage drinking. This carries with it an automatic suspension of his license. Fortunately he found an apartment about a mile from his job and will be able to walk to work for the next few months. His parents will keep the car at their house with the keys locked safely away so he is not tempted to drive without his license. His mom said she was tempted to hire a lawyer and help her son out. And then she decided no, she was not going to enable her son. It was up to him to work this one out, on his own, and see what his consequences are.
We all, at times, need to stop and ask ourselves "Is this something our child really needs or are we merely enabling his/her addiction?"
Ralph had visited the former Alcatraz Penitentiary in San Francisco and saw the following sign:
RULES & REGULATIONS, U.S. PENITENTIARY ALCATRAZ
REGULATION #5: PRIVILEGES YOU ARE ENTITLED TO -
FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER AND MEDICAL ATTENTION.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU GET IS A PRIVILEGE.
It is probably too wordy for a bumper sticker but would be a great sign to hang in our adolescent addict’s bedroom.
BREAK TIME
After our break for cake and coffee and some other goodies we still had time for a role play.
ROLE PLAY
June volunteered to play the obstinate teenager in an inpatient program who wants out and is threatening to walk out if his parents did not have him released by the weekend.
Ralph and Rocco volunteered to play played the parents. Sally later jumped in as grandma.
The main theme was to get some little agreements in, to defuse the child’s anger and arguments while not giving into his manipulations.
In order not to drag this post out too long this is the “Readers Digest” version.
Mom and Dad: Hi Joe how are things going?
Joe: What do you think? Things here really suck! This place sucks! These people suck! I’m getting out of here this weekend, right?
Mom: You’re right Joe this is not a great place to be.
Dad: It must really suck to be in a place like this, don’t you agree mother?
Mom: Yes Pop, but you know it’s a good place for Joe to be…
Joe: Hey! Am I getting out of here this weekend or not?
Dad: You know Joe you always come right to the point. I like that. There is never any guessing what you are talking about. That’s great, so to get right to the point, NO you are not getting out this weekend.
Joe: I am too getting out of here. If you don’t get me out of here I am just going to walk out of here.
Mom: Right to the point again. That is great. Thanks for letting us know that Honey.
Joe: Thanks for letting you know? What do you care? You never cared about me. You never cared about anything except yourself. You put me in here so you and Pop could go out and party and vacation by yourself. You don’t care about me!
Grandma: Now Joey we do care about you. We are concerned if you walk out of here that you won’t have anywhere to go and then you would be out wondering around on the streets.
Dad: Yes we do care. In fact we care so much about your safety I am going to talk to the counselors about you wanting to leave. That way they can keep an eye on you. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you out there.
Joe: @#$% the counselors. They’re too stupid to catch me. I can walk out of here anytime I want. I can get past the locks and the security cameras and even that old guy at the bottom of the hill with the shot gun. And the police don’t care enough to take the time to even look for me.
Mom: You right Joe, you probably could do that. You’re really clever and you've probably thought this out. You know Honey that is the main reason we are so uncomfortable with you coming home at this time.
Dad: That’s right. Jeez. If security cameras and locked doors and the police can’t stop you, well then, Mother and I certainly wouldn’t be able to relax with you living at home. We would need to keep an eye on you 24/7.
Grandma: Pop’s right Joey. It doesn’t sound to me like you are ready to come home and follow their rules yet!
This role play went a couple of different directions. We had a lot of good input from Lloyd and the parents, and were able to rewind and try some other tactics. We even had a chance to get in a few laughs.
Rewinding is not something that you will not get a chance to do at home. That is okay. If you miss this time, don’t fret. Try to get it right the next time.
That is why PSST is here. To get you ready to gret it right, to practice how to do it and to help you get it right the next time as needed.
“Parent Survival Skills Training is designed to empower parents. Some of these teenagers have held their parents hostage. The parents are desperate to find a way to survive. More importantly, they are desperate to find a way to help their teenagers survive the deadly game of drug abuse. By the time they come to group, many of the parents have already learned that “bailing their child out of trouble” only adds to the problem. We refuse to place any blame on the parents for having a troubled child. We want them to identify how they are being manipulated, rise up, and take back control.” – Val Ketter - Supervisor of the Court's D&A Unit
Once more Sally and I would like to thank everyone at PSST for being there for us.
As Sally noted "I just wish that each of the parents at PSST could win this award because I think we all deserve it!”
Thanks to the Allegheny County Eastern Probation Office for the use of their space.
The next Parent Survival Skills Training (PSST) meeting is Saturday Oct 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church 2500 Brandt School Road, Wexford, PA 15090 (Our one-year aniversary at this location).
Come and join us - PSST Meetings are open to all parents who are serious about making a difference in their children’s life.
Let's do the twist!
Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Friday, October 01, 2010
We don't want the teenager to think we agree with all that. That is why we have a "twist" to our agreement. Actually, as Kathie suggested, in order to avoid the slippery slope, we must have the twist in mind before we make the agreeing statement. Also, we decide what slice of the pie to agree with and we don't want to buy the whole pie.
Therefore before making the agreeing statement ask yourself this question: How can I twist some part of that to introduce my talking point?
It seems complicated and I'm sure that readers are saying, "Boy, this really demands a lot of thinking on my feet." Yes and No. It does require thinking on your feet; however, these issues tend to repeat themselves over and over with our teenage population. You can expect them to repeat their themes over and over. It's what teenagers do. Therefore, you have only to formulate some ready twists for some themes that you have heard over and over. That is why the role-plays we do at PSST are so important. This is our laboratory and this is where we can hear what themes you parents have to listen to, and what twist/ agreements that we have ready.
I'm going to list what I think might be common themes and put some twist/ agreements down after each one.
Theme #1: Abandoned in Placement
Teen: You abandoned me here! You haven't done anything to try to get me home! You're just happy to leave me here forever! Just lock up ole Suzie and throw away the key!
Dad: I've left you here to rot apparently.
Teen: Yes, exactly!
Dad: I'm just realizing how correct that is...
Teen: What is?
Dad: What you are saying. It's right. I'm prepared to leave you here as long as I feel that you are more safe here than you are at home. I'm not sure that I knew this until you said what you said and you helped me realize that, yeah, I'm prepared to leave you here for as long as possible because I am so worried that drugs are going to kill you.
Theme #2: That's messed up, what you just said!
Teen: I can't believe you just said that! That is so horrible!
Dad: It is horrible. This addiction is a horrible nasty thing and it makes people say nasty things about it. And it's so hard to recover from it, isn't it?
Theme #3: I'm going to run away if blah blah blah [things don't work out the way i want or if I don't get released when I think I should] and you'll never catch me.
Teen: I've had it with you and with all these morons up here [in placement]. If you don't talk to someone, send some texts or emails or whatever you do with my Probation Officer to get me out of here- then I'm running. And you'll never catch me.
Option A:
Mom: I could talk to someone. They might listen to me I don't know. Maybe they would let you out if caused a stink about it.
Teen: Yes! So you will try to get me out?
Mom: No, but I think it was a good try on your part! You're desperate to get out of here. You'd do just about anything to get out of here at your release date and since that looks more and more like it's not going to happen- you're feeling desperate.
Option: B
Dad: You might be hard to find if you ran away.
Teen: Duh! That's what I'm trying to tell you! You better help me get out of here and I mean fast. Do you hear me?
Dad: Yes, I hear you. You are feeling like running. When things don't go your way, you run. That's the old Suzie, or so I hoped.
Teen: I'm not kidding here Dad you better listen up and listen up good before it's too late! This is no time for your little PSST tricks that you learned wasting your perfectly good time on a Saturday morning.
Dad: You're right. This is really important what you are saying. I would feel terrible if your ran away and were out there on the road. I know it's dangerous out there.
Teen: Not for me.
Dad: You could handle yourself on the road so much better than I could. You know me, I don't like to shower anywhere but home- oh and when it comes to going to bathroom there is no place like home- but you're not like me. You can sleep under a tree or whatever but boy I need my memory foam mattress to get a nice sleep.
Teen: I like it at home too.
Dad: Well you're going to run so I don't think I'm not sure it's as important to you as it is to me, that's all I'm saying.
on and on and on - this one could go on forever but the long and short of it is that dad is going to agree that the placement agency needs to raise security, take her shoes, put her on one-on-one etc and thank her for at least being honest enough to let you know- oh and yeah, "this is just one of the reasons that I am Not Comfortable with you coming home right now. When the going gets tough you'll just split. And I agree- that is exactly what you might do!"
(This is a post-in-progress, so hopefully each time you return to this post it will be a little more developed. You can help me write this post by listing some major themes that you hear from your teenager in the comment section.)
Big Announcement: Parent of The Year!
Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Friday, October 01, 2010
This award will be presented October 6th at the annual awards ceremony between 6:00 PM and till we're done, probably around 8ish. This happens at Family Court House 550 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA (the Old Allegheny County Jail.) Please plan to attend if you would like to support one of our PSST parents receiving this award.
Click "read more" to see pictures of the last three Parent of the Year winners.
Parent of the Year 2009
Parent of the Year 2008
Parent of the Year 2007
The first winner of this award in 2006 happened before we started the blog and we have trouble finding a picture. This will be the fifth year running on the Allegheny Parent of the Year Award.
