Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Have illicit drug addiction/usage rates increased or decreased over the years?

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Q. I am having trouble finding comprehensive statistics regarding drug use that go back a number of years. Any sources of information would be greatly appreciated.


Answer
The two surveys that cover this are Monitoring the Future and the Household Survey on Drug Abuse. An internet search will turn up various links to them. You will probably not find extensive stats that predate the Internet age.

Before you look for them, you should understand that there are a number of problems with the surveys.

The first is that people are not likely to answer a question honestly when someone asks them if they have recently engaged in criminal activity.

The second is that it depends on what you mean by increased or decreased. Drug use goes through various cycles and use of one drug may go up while another goes down.

The third is the time frame in which you ask. Again, drug use goes in cycles so you can expect to see rises in the use of some drugs for a while, with later falls in the same use. Depending on which years you pick, you would get an entirely different answer.

You should also note that when people attempt to answer this question it is often because they have a political agenda so they will pick whatever numbers suit their political point. If the numbers don't suit their political point, then government officials are prone to just make up numbers to suit them.

If you look at the really long term there is an interesting picture. Prior to 1914, all of these drugs were legal and sold over the counter in the US without restrictions. Kids could buy the drugs as easily as they buy aspirin today and heroin was even included in baby colic remedies. Even under those conditions the rates of addiction were not substantially different than they are today.

If you want to understand the subject, the best place to start is the Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm This book details the history of the laws and describes the biggest single cause of drug epidemics. It is the one book to read it you read only one.

has anyone used the Respisense clip on baby monitor?




troubledin


I asked this last night but no one had used or knew about this type of monitor. It clips on the baby's diaper and is supposedly more reliable and easier to use than the sensors that go on top of or under the crib mattress. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here is the website: http://www.respisense.com/en/index.php
"Respisense monitors the breathing efforts of a baby. If the breathing effort stops, slows down too much, or becomes too shallow, the built-in stimulator the Tummy Tickle will gently stir baby to breathe, failing which a loud alarm will alert the nearest adult. Respisense monitors are particularly suitable for babies at home, but can be used almost anywhere. No other baby monitor allows the freedom of movement that Respisense does. The award-winning and patented invention is so compact and light that it can be used wherever your baby may fall asleep."



Answer
after my older twin died from SIDS, we had my younger son on a monitor. it was annoyingly loud, and he was always fine, they set it wrong at the hospital.

if your baby isn't at risk for SIDS (newer research links it to a damaging of ear sensors for CO2 at birth, which fits the bill in my son's case) and if you take the precautions, its not worth the money or the worry.
but if your diaper wrapping techniques are tight, and you want to have nightmares involving beeping horribleness, and if you believe your child is at risk for breathing difficulties, by all means use it. you might try punching the name of the product in combination with 'reviews' or consumer feed back into your favorite search engine.




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Title Post: Have illicit drug addiction/usage rates increased or decreased over the years?
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