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Entertainment Journalist and Pop Culture Expert Jawn Murray appeared on HLN’s “Jane Velez-Mitchell” to discuss Whitney Houston’s death and drug addiction on February 13, 2012. http://jawnmurray.com/

Duration : 0:5:22

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Wendy Williams Cries Over Whitney Houston Death & Past Drug Addiction (2-13-12)

Duration : 0:8:0

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Whitney Houston, the superstar known for turning gospel and soul into pop music gold, was found dead over the weekend in her Los Angeles hotel room. She was 48. Jeffrey Brown and songwriter Gordon Chambers discuss her life and legacy, including some recent struggles that drew public concern.

Duration : 0:6:49

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Drugs, Inc: Pill Nation: SUN JAN 29 9p et/pt : http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/drugs-inc

Meet Doug — an oxycodone abuser from the tender age of fifteen.

Duration : 0:2:21

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This is a response to the following video:

Typical nervousneuron style, taking a 3 min video and making a 15 min response. But the question “Are people who are addicted to drugs weak?” is actually quite complicated. Of course, most of us could reply with our yes or no answer with a personal anecdote. But if we go deeper, new questions arise such as ‘are all behaviours choices?’ and ‘what is a disease?’.

For the tl;dnw version, basically addiction is a disease of choice. People may be predisposed to addiction but that does not mean there is nothing they can do about it. There is still personal responsibility, but it is not weakness of character. Compulsions are strong, so resisting them would be more of a strength of character.

LINKS:

Pleasure unwoven:

Nicotine and gene polymorphism study:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v471/n7340/full/nature09797.html

I did not go into this specific study into detail because it would require another 15 mins to explain it properly. And it requires knowledge of the pharmacology of nicotinic receptors as well as some brain anatomy (the habenula and the interpeduncular nucleus) and understanding the methods requires knowledge of rat/mouse self administration protocols and neurohistochemistry.

Magazine article on the question:

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/5008/is-addiction-a-disease?page=0%2C1

Animal models of addiction:

http://www.acnp.org/g4/gn401000072/ch072.html

(I only skimmed this so don’t know if it’s the best)

Any questions, ask away in the comments.

Duration : 0:15:24

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http://drugrehabus.org Another common question we get, is what can I do right now. Because each case is different, sometimes it needs a bit of discussion before a good plan can be worked out. It is alway best to talk to someone who has seen it all and is dealing with these problems successfully on a daily basis.

Duration : 0:2:1

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Iran’s drug addiction is confronted and tackled by news media in a documentary. Including interviews with former addicts and life stories.

Duration : 0:44:52

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http://thefilmarchive.org/ DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032JTTZI/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=doc06-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B0032JTTZI

The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.

A UN report said the global drug trade generated an estimated US$321.6 billion in 2003. With a world GDP of US$36 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as slightly less than 1% (0.893%) of total global commerce. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally.

Opium (poppy tears, lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine. The traditional method of obtaining the latex is to scratch (“score”) the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off the fruit. The modern method is to harvest and process mature plants by machine. “Meconium” historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the poppy or different species of poppies.

The production of opium itself has not changed since ancient times. Through selective breeding of the Papaver somniferum plant, the content of the phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine, and to a lesser extent thebaine, has been greatly increased. In modern times, much of the thebaine, which often serves as the raw material for the synthesis for hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and other semi-synthetic opiates, originates from extracting Papaver orientale or Papaver bracteatum.

Opium for illegal use is often converted into heroin, which is less bulky, making it easier to smuggle, and which multiplies its potency to approximately twice that of morphine. Heroin can be taken by intravenous injection, intranasally, or smoked (vaporized) and inhaled.

In the twentieth century, as the use of opium was eclipsed by morphine and heroin, its role in literature became more limited and often focused on issues related to its prohibition. In The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Wang Lung, the protagonist, gets his troublesome uncle and aunt addicted to opium in order to keep them out of his hair. William S. Burroughs autobiographically describes the use of opium and its derivatives. His associate, Jack Black’s, memoir You Can’t Win, chronicles one man’s experience both as an onlooker in the opium dens of San Francisco, and later as a “hop fiend” himself. The book and subsequent movie, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, may allude to opium at one point in the story, when Dorothy and her friends are drawn into a field of poppies, in which they fall asleep. Opium is also repeatedly mentioned in the novel, The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. The plot revolves partly around the poppy flower and opium drug. In George R.R. Martin’s novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, a drink referred to in the books as “milk of the poppy” is often used to relieve pain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium

Duration : 0:22:12

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Drug Addiction — Another powerful testimony from our friends at Biblica. For more, please visit: http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/drug-addiction.htm

Drug Addiction – A Description.
Drug addiction is the obsessive dependence on a legal or illegal drug. Drugs can include prescription medications, illegal drugs, and alcohol. While an addict may use more than one drug, he usually has a drug of choice — his strongest addiction to break.

An addict can be dependent emotionally, psychologically, and/or physically, depending on the drugs used. His intense cravings drive him to resort to any means of obtaining the drug. Satisfying his cravings becomes the addicts utmost priority — even at the cost of losing all that was once important: job, home, friends, and family.

Duration : 0:6:46

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