Ecstasy Rising

Posted by Tony Bylsma on March 12, 2010 under Drug Abuse Prevention Education | Read the First Comment

Back again, heading for the top, MDMA is rampant in schools and in the playgrounds of Los Angeles.

I have watched this trend for a while now. In the year 2000, it was everywhere in town. It was glorified by youg adults as a safe alternative to meth or cocaine and the party/rave scene was really heating up.

Ecstasy tablets

There was a national push to increase awareness about ecstasy and the numbers fell back to a much lower plateau. I could easily see it in the schools and our rehab counselors were seeing a little drop too. The changes that happen in the street with availability and quality show up at the treatment centers, but not right away. There seems to be a lag at the intake counter. But there is no lag in the high schools. I can watch the trends with some confidence that the story I’m getting is pretty accurate.

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Drug Abuse and Addiction, a Twentieth Century Plague

Posted by Tony Bylsma on March 1, 2010 under Drug Abuse Prevention Education | 2 Comments to Read

In the past there have been problems that would run right through a generation. Sometimes it was a plague, an illness that brought a generation to it’s knees like polio. In other times, famine or wars that pulled families apart and sent towns or whole regions into exile.

These times were marked and remembered and from them we learned. The plagues of the middle ages were brought on largely because of a complete lack of hygiene. Eventually, the customs changed and bathing is now the norm. Cures or preventions were discovered for illnesses and some of them, small pox, for example, have faded into history. We learned, and the learning is what made the difference. Mankind rose above the ignorance and gained another step away from barbarism.

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