Have you ever taken ketamine, or better known as “Special K?” Odds are you know someone who has taken the drug at least once. As with many club drugs, many users do not know the side effects. That is one reason why everyone should take a drug class.

Many people who use the club drug ketamine - known as "special K" - may risk abdominal pain, bladder control problems and other urinary tract issues, and the heavier the dose or frequency of use, the more likely the problems. This according to foxnews.com.

A recent found that of 1,285 young adults who said they'd abused ketamine in the past year, 27 percent had developed urinary tract symptoms.

Ketamine’s function medically is as an anesthetic. In clubs ketamine is snorted or sometimes injected, with users saying it creates feelings of euphoria and being "out of your body."

Repeated ketamine use has been linked to mental problems such as hallucinations and impaired memory, thinking and concentration. If that wasn’t enough, it can also cause high blood pressure.

There is no doubt that regular ketamine use can lead to severe urinary symptoms as well.

The findings were based on an online survey promoted by a UK club-music magazine called "MixMag."

Of 3,806 young people who responded, half said they'd tried it at least once, while 1,285 - or a third of the whole group - said they'd used it in the last year.

In the study, statistics of past-year users revealed that 17 percent had symptoms of ketamine dependence such as wanting, but failing, to cut down on the drug. As with most drugs, regular users have to continually increase the dosage in order to get high.

Not surprisingly, they tended to take the drug in bigger doses, and more often, than other users.

It might be somewhat comforting and give reason to quit knowing that symptoms often seem to go away once the ketamine abuse stops.

If you use ketamine, stop. If you have never tried it don’t. If you or someone you love has a drug problem, seek help immediately. If you prefer to maintain anonymity, there are online classes too.

I know guys are not supposed to admit this but I think Whitney Houston’s music is beautiful. She possessed one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. She could carry a note alongside any great opera singer.

In the end, unfortunately, Whitney became just another Hollywood drug tragedy.

Drowns in Bathtub

Houston drowned alone in a bathtub having accidentally overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol after two back-to-back evenings of out-of-control binges.

The star was found dead by her bodyguard in a luxury hotel suite said to have been littered with bottles of prescription pills. She was 48.

Paramedics battled to revive the singer but she was pronounced dead at 3.55pm yesterday afternoon, hours before she had been due to perform at a pre-Grammys party at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles.

Bottles of Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax and a sleeping medication were found in the hotel room. The drugs were believed to have acted as sedatives, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub once they had been mixed with alcohol from the previous evenings.

As police look into the possibility that the star died from an accidental overdose, there are expected to be emotional scenes at the Grammy awards tonight with many of the singers inspired by Miss Houston dedicating their awards to her.

Addiction to Crack Cocaine

Houston had battled ravaging addictions to crack cocaine over the years but the drug is not believed to have played a part in her death.

Her frantic daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19, is understood to have got into a 'furious screaming argument' with authorities who refused to let her into the hotel room to see the body of her dead mother.

Houston's body remained at the hotel today where her family, including her daughter were paying their last respects. Last night around 800 guests attended a pre-Grammys dinner at the hotel where Miss Houston died.

Outside, fans gathered to mourn the star, leaving floral tributes and lighting candles.

It is not known if the destructive spiral played a part in death of the I Will Always Love You singer who had spent more than a decade battling an addiction to crack cocaine since rising to international stardom in the early 90s.

As the singer's body lay on the fourth floor, stars including Britney Spears, Tony Bennett and Kim Kardashian were taking part in the pre-Grammy Awards party at the hotel.

News of the death brought a string of public tributes from the music industry today. Simon Cowell said Houston was a 'true diva' with 'one of the best voices I have heard in my life ever'.

Rihanna tweeted that she was 'in tears' while Mariah Carey said that she was 'heartbroken' over the loss of her friend.

Her ex-husband Bobby Brown - whom Houston blamed partly for her drug issues - was said to be 'in and out of crying fits' upon hearing the news - but still appeared on stage on Saturday with his band New Edition, and cried out 'I love you, Whitney!' in the middle of the concert.

Singer Johnny Gill, one of Brown's New Edition bandmates, is on tour in Memphis with the star. ‘Bobby is struggling and he's devastated,’ he told CNN.

Houston won six Grammy awards, two Emmys, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among others awards.

But the star's life had spiraled downhill since her early hits. She suffered a long battle with drugs, including cocaine, as well as alcohol and spent various spells in rehab.

Recent appearances had become increasingly erratic and the years of substance abuse had clearly taken a toll.

Her powerful voice began to suffer because of her demons prompting record sales to nosedive and in 2007 she split from husband Bobby Brown after 15 years of marriage.

Drugs are evil. They never create, they only destroy.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

When news of the split between Hollywood stars Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore broke, I am sure I am like many of you who believed Kutcher was probably to blame. It certainly did not help matters that rumors of his serial adultery were circulating everywhere.

Moore was rushed to the hospital after an ambulance was called to her Beverly Hills home. The actress is reportedly being treated for exhaustion.

While her rep’s maintain that Moore is being treated for “exhaustion,” other rumors are flying that the extremely thin Moore may be dealing with anorexia, as well as drug abuse problems. There are reports that Moore was in the midst of an epileptic seizure when the ambulance was called.

In the wake of her medical treatment, it has also been confirmed that Moore will be pulling out of her latest film project ‘Lovelace,’ which is a biopic about the pornstar Linda Lovelace. Moore was set to play feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Moore made headlines back in November when she announced she would be separating from Kutcher, her husband of six. While the two have officially separated, divorce papers have yet to be filed.

Obviously not under extreme stress or exhaustion, Kutcher was spotted in Sao Paolo, Brazil during the week partying it up at a Bruno Mars concert. 

Another sad case of a celebrity most-likely addicted to chemical substances. I would hope counseling with a good drug class might help Moore get sober and stay that way.

How much does drug abuse cost us every day? I am sure the total amount would be staggering. Let’s take a look at a slice of the cost to the American public, OK?

In 2005, a task force estimated that alcohol and drug abuse cost the state of Oklahoma about $3.4 billion.

The death toll and spending are rising. Today, a conservative cost estimate is about $4.3 billion or about $1,150 per Oklahoman.

More than 500 Oklahomans died of drug overdoses in 2005. Last year, 715 died, mostly from pharmaceutical drugs rather than street drugs.

Mental health services at state prisons cost more than $8 million a year, according to Robert Powitzky, chief mental health officer with the Corrections Department.

Psychotropic drug costs, alone, were $763,000 in fiscal year 2011. The mental health department received $155 million in state appropriations in 2005 and $183 million for FY 2012.

The increase is directly attributable to funded spending increases related to drug court and core community health services, mandated employee cost increases and an increase in provider reimbursement rates, per Terri White, commissioner of the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The department wants an additional $134 million for FY 2013, which includes $92.6 million for “Smart on Crime,” a program that will help educate police on treatment options to keep former offenders with abuse or mental health issues from re-offending.

Incarcerating offenders costs more than treating their mental issues outside the prison system — about $20,000 per year per person vs. $5,000 to $7,000.

These numbers are staggering. It makes me wonder how a little more education, perhaps a good online drug class, would change things.

“Scarface” brought to the big screen the cocaine importation and business in South Florida. Cocaine has long been a problem, almost always, seeming without end, for Floridians in general and Miami specifically.

I cannot remember the last time I heard of some positive news regarding cocaine and its use in Miami. Yet here some is.

According to recent report cocaine use is on the decline in Miami. The soft economy in a state with 10 percent unemployment has made the long-popular drug a "pricey extravagance."

This is not the same coke Al Pacino was peddling as “Scarface” back in the day. The drug war has reduced the purity of cocaine, meaning users pay more and get less of the drug, and drug users are increasingly turning to cheaper prescription drugs that are easier to get.

The number of patients treated in emergency rooms for cocaine overdoses has also fallen recently, and the number of people seeking treatment for cocaine addiction fell to 549 last year from 918 the previous year, a 41 percent decline.

But prescription drug use has been on the rise.  Among 9,000 people who died of drug-related causes statewide in 2010, 6,090 had used benzodiazepines and Oxycodone.

Cocaine ranked fifth in causes of drug deaths, behind crystal methamphetamine and alcohol.

Well – it is nice to get a little good news when it comes to use of such a horrific drug.  Perhaps a good online drug class is in order for everyone to get the numbers even lower.