cocaine Archives - The Addiction Reporter

Cocaine-Opioid Cocktails Have Been Killing Since 2010

Post author:Melissa
Post published:01/08/2019
Post category:News
Reading time:3 mins read

People have been dying from opioid and cocaine cocktails regularly since 2010, but there hasn’t been much reporting on it. That’s partially because the focus is on the fact that these deaths were from opioids. But calling these deaths “opioid overdoses” is problematic because, in some cases, the drug users were never aware that they were using an opioid.

According to the Washington Examiner, more than 10,100 people died from mixing the drugs in 2017. 7,241 of those deaths showed both cocaine and fentanyl in their systems. Fentanyl is a potent opioid about 50 to 200 times stronger than morphine. It’s also the deadliest opioid in the US, with the majority of deaths in 2017.

Deaths caused by opioids and cocaine have risen nearly 76 percent since 2012.

Recently, opioid test strips have emerged across the United States as a part of harm-reduction efforts. The strips, which cost …

Tainted Cocaine Causing Brain Damage

Post author:Melissa
Post published:11/27/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:2 mins read

A dangerous new substance that’s used as an anti-worming agent has been found in recent cocaine samples taken by Swiss researchers, according to a report by Big Think.

Cocaine is the second-most popular drug worldwide, and it’s almost always “cut” with another drug or substance so that the drug is more profitable. In some cases, medications like fentanyl are added to cocaine to make it more addictive – but it’s also more dangerous. Usually, it’s baking soda or ammonia that’s added with the simple goal of thinning out the drug content.

Now, however, two studies from the University of Zurich (UZH) discovered that levamisole, a powerful animal anti-worming agent, has been turning up in the cocaine supply. Scientists speculate that it is being used by chemists to make the effects of cocaine last longer.

It’s also possible that it’s leaving brain damage in regular cocaine users. The long-term effects …

Fentanyl-Cocaine Combo Causing Deaths in MD

Post author:Melissa
Post published:07/28/2018
Post category:News
Reading time:2 mins read

In Maryland, the government has been doing its best to fight the addiction crisis, but they’re not yet winning: in 2017, the number of fatal overdoses increased 9%. Most of these overdoses (90%) were considered to be opioid-induced, with Fentanyl overdoses increased by 42 percent last year, rising from 1,119 in 2016 to 1,594. Fentanyl is a drug that is 50 times stronger than heroin and is typically used in a medical setting. When added to other street drugs, it can be deadly, especially if novice opioid users are taking the drug. In Maryland, they have discovered that a fentanyl-cocaine combination of drugs is causing deaths. Between 2015 and 2016, cocaine deaths doubled because of this lethal combination.

The Maryland Department of Health Secretary Rober R. Neall called the increase in fentanyl-related deaths “staggering.” Officials think that the overdose deaths of cocaine containing fentanyl were accidental; the user may …

Professional Boxers and Drug Abuse

Post author:Michael
Post published:01/26/2013
Post category:Uncategorized
Reading time:2 mins read

Years of substance abuse appear to have led to the death of former world champion boxer Hector Camacho in a drug-related drive by shooting. In November of 2012, former world champion boxer Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho, died tragically after he was shot in the head while sitting in a parked car. According to the New York Times, several bags of

Oscar cocaine were found in pockets of a friend of Camacho’s who was with him in the car and also killed.…

Reggae Music and Drug Crime – Seemingly Inseparable

Post author:Michael
Post published:10/24/2011
Post category:Uncategorized
Reading time:5 mins read

As we cover the news of drug addiction and arrests, we have noticed an inordinate amount of those arrests having to do with Reggae artists.

What is it about the music of Jamaica that tends to appeal to a rough and lawless crowd?

Particularly dancehall reggae artists themselves seem to be getting arrested in high profile criminal cases.…

Ninjaman – A Story of Reggae Redemption Gone Wrong

Post author:Michael
Post published:10/22/2011
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:0 Comments
Reading time:1 mins read

Ninjaman is yet another a dancehall reggae artist who has a history of drug use and arrest.

Ninjaman had many dancehall hits in the late 80s and 1990s. True to the “rude” lifestyle his lyrics embodied, he faced a lot of legal problems and accusations of (among other things) rape and murder. The negative press Ninjaman received led to career troubles and he also struggled with crack cocaine addiction.

By 1997 he had changed his name to “Brother Desmond” and sought to revive his career as a born again Christian through the genre of “gospel reggae.”

Ninjaman was assaulted with a machete in 2001 and suffered injuries including some to the head.

In 2009 Ninjaman was arrested and charged with the murder of a man on Marl Road, in Kingston Jamaica. To the best of our knowledge Ninjaman is still incarcerated.…

Cocaine and Mummies in Ancient Egypt

Post author:Michael
Post published:09/12/2011
Post category:Uncategorized
Reading time:3 mins read

A Mysterious and Unexplained Connection Between Continents

A toxicology report found trace amounts of cocaine in the mummified remains of a body buried thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, then known by the name Kamet. But cocaine 3000 years ago could only be found in Peru and some parts of the Andes… how could ancient Egyptians have acquired such a far away, distant, exotic item?

Researchers established the presence of cocaine in the mummified corpses in Egypt and Sudan which date as far back to the time when Columbus landed in America. Was there an ancient trade transatlantic trade route between ancient Egypt and Peru…or…even more difficult to imagine…a Pacific trade route…meaning from the continent of Africa, south east towards India and moving past Indonesia across the Pacific ocean till reaching the shores of Peru?…

Ecstasy – Still Very Popular and Still Very Dangerous

Post author:Michael
Post published:06/23/2011
Post category:Uncategorized
Reading time:3 mins read

In England it is estimated that over a million people take ecstasy every weekend. Imagine that. Pounds of the stuff on that tiny, little island nation.

Under supervised tests done on ecstasy and its effects on the brain, doctors noticed that taking more than two tablets in a limited window of time, say 6 to 10 hours, caused detectable changes in the brain similar to those seen with people who go on to develop Parkinson’s disease.…