Latest news with #recreationaldrugs
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Urgent warning over cocaine brain damage: Bombshell as record levels of snorting among middle-aged revealed. Now experts tell of 'coke strokes', gangrene in the bowel and even dementia
Are we facing a dementia time-bomb, thanks to record numbers of Britons taking cocaine as a recreational drug? As cocaine use among middle-aged and older Britons hits record levels, experts are warning of a wave of coke-driven dementia cases, thanks to the damage that the drug can wreak on our brains.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A chilling risk of recreational nitrous oxide use: Frostbite
Recreational use of nitrous oxide — often referred to as whippets or laughing gas — left a 23-year-old with frostbite in his mouth and throat, according to a report of the man's case published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Recreational nitrous oxide use has been on the rise in recent years: Data from America's Poison Centers shows a nearly 60% increase in reports of intentional exposure to the drug from 2023 to 2024. The Food and Drug Administration has issued several warnings advising people against inhaling nitrous oxide products, which are often marketed to be used to make whipped cream. Frostbite occurs when ice crystals form in the skin and deeper tissues, damaging cells and disrupting blood flow. Dr. Michael Patrizio, associate director of acute care at the University of Virginia, said getting frostbite in the mouth and throat from inhaling nitrous oxide is rare, but not unheard of. The patient told Patrizio that his painful swallowing and hoarseness started immediately after he inhaled nitrous oxide directly from a canister two days prior. White blotches — the frostbitten tissue — swelled on the roof of his mouth, uvula and throat. 'Had he not been forthcoming with that information, that probably wouldn't have been something that crossed my mind,' said Patrizio, who saw the man at the campus's outpatient clinic and was a co-author of the case report. 'I would have thought a viral infection — mono, strep throat — or an STI in the throat.' When a compressed gas expands, it can cool to as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit — this is why compressed gas is used to cool refrigerators. Canisters of compressed nitrous oxide work in the same way. When the gas is released, it cools, sometimes drastically. 'This has the potential to cause frostbite,' Dr. Cara Borelli, an addiction medicine physician at Yale University, said in an email. Borelli wasn't involved with the patient's case. Surgeons use compressed nitrous oxide to perform ablations, a procedure that uses extreme cold or heat to remove tissue. 'If you have someone using drugs in an uncontrolled setting, you may certainly be doing damage to tissue that you don't want to be doing damage to,' said Dr. Jeffrey Ruwe, an emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic who wasn't involved with the man's case. Overall, cases of frostbite from nitrous oxide canisters are rare, though they are likely underreported, Patrizio said. More commonly than in the mouth and throat, illicit nitrous oxide use leads to frostbite burns on the thighs and hands, since people hold chilled canisters and fill balloons with the gas, which allows the gas to warm before people inhale it. Frostbite can be serious — at least several people have required skin grafts and surgery due to nitrous oxide burns on their legs and hands — however 'that's not really the risk people think of,' Patrizio said. The more common risks of recreational nitrous oxide use include a ruptured lung, from inhaling the gas too deeply, and a lack of oxygen in the brain, he said. It can also cause vitamin deficiencies that can lead to potentially fatal neurological problems. 'Nitrous oxide inactivates vitamin B12, meaning that the body's B12 does not function as it is supposed to,' Borelli said. The body uses vitamin B12 to synthesize myelin, a substance made from fats and proteins that surrounds and insulates nerves. If this sheath breaks down, it can cause serious neurological issues. After chronic use, nitrous oxide can cause nervous system and brain changes that can progress from weakness and unsteadiness to paralysis. 'That's very real,' Ruwe said. Patrizio told his frostbitten patient to use over-the-counter pain medication, lidocaine and a steroid paste to reduce inflammation and swelling while his frostbite healed. Ruwe said this may not be the case for everyone. 'Frostbite is very, very rare, but if inhaled directly from a higher-pressure tank, or if it causes airway swelling, it could be time-sensitive and potentially deadly,' he said. This article was originally published on
BBC News
17-06-2025
- BBC News
The Documentary Podcast The Ketamine trail
Ketamine was designed as an anaesthetic but its use as a recreational drug is growing fast, particularly among young people. In the UK, it's doubled in less than ten years but it can cause serious side effects. The supply chain for the drug starts with pharmaceutical manufacturers in India then involves criminal gangs in Europe who use front companies to legally import vast quantities of the drug before flooding it onto the illegal market in the UK. Paul Kenyon investigates the trade. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Birmingham trading standards find laughing gas sales despite ban
Shops are finding new ways to store and sell laughing gas canisters to "minors and anyone else who wants to buy them", a trading standards officer has oxide was categorised as a Class C drug in late 2023, making it a crime to possess or sell it for recreational Mohammed Tariq, a trading standards officer in Birmingham, said some deals had just "gone underground" in the city rather than BBC accompanied Mr Tariq on a raid on a shop in Birmingham, where he found a dozen laughing gas canisters. "As you can see, today it wasn't in the shop, the associated material was in the shop but the actual canisters were in the side alleyway," he said."From intelligence, nitrous is still being supplied - we are not seizing as many, but I just think they've gone underground."It is estimated that about 290 nitrous oxide canisters have been seized from shops in the city since last September, according to Birmingham City Council's trading standards department. Before the ban came into force in November 2023, laughing gas was one of the most commonly used recreational drugs by 16 to 24-year-olds and its use had soared during the are drawn to laughing gas because it is "fashionable" but it is "more harmful than cannabis", said a 25-year-old man from Birmingham who was a former user of the man, who did not want to be named, told the BBC he used the drug over a period of weeks but stopped after seeing the impacts on his health."It makes you feel like a zombie," he said. Nitrous oxide can make people feel relaxed and light-headed when inhaled, but it can also cause headaches, fainting, and make some users anxious. Heavy use can lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency that can damage nerves in the spinal gas remains legal in some settings – it is commonly used as a painkiller in medicine and dentistry, and it is also used to make whipped former user said shops would regularly sell laughing gas canisters to him and people he knew because "they are our friends".He added: "We would buy it from the shops, they don't say anything because they know us."In the year ending in March 2024, 0.9% of people aged 16-59 used nitrous oxide, down from 1.3% the previous year, according to the latest data from the Office for National was a rate of 3.3% amongst those aged 16 to 24, which showed no statistically significant change versus the previous year, although levels were lower compared to a decade earlier. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Mother's warning after daughter died from lethal cocktail of drugs
A mother has warned of the dangers of drugs after her daughter accidentally overdosed on a lethal cocktail of substances while on holiday in Thailand. An inquest heard Rebecca Turner, 36, died in a Bangkok hotel room after taking what she thought was a line of cocaine with her partner. The white powder she thought was cocaine was a lethal combination of drugs including painkillers, sleeping pills, morphine and anxiety medication. 'Stay away' Her mother Anita Turner, 64, from Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, said: 'It's so, so dangerous out there. There are loads of drug deaths all the time. It's shocking. 'I would warn people to stay away from recreational drugs out there because you simply don't know what's in it.' She condemned Thai police and said the drugs were bought from a street drug pusher just yards from the police station on a road notorious for tourist deaths. 'There have been multiple deaths on that one road. Loads of people have died and yet the Thai police don't want to know. 'I'm absolutely heartbroken. It's been devastating for the whole family. I wanted to warn people going out there not to buy drugs. It's too dangerous.' 'Happy go lucky' Rebecca, who was described by her mother as 'caring' and 'happy go lucky' had been travelling in Thailand to celebrate a friend's wedding in Laos in March last year. She and Sam Melnick, 32, a self-employed gas-engineer and plumber, had checked into the Khaosan Palace Hotel on March 12 and were due to check out on March 16. He had texted a friend on March 15 saying he had just bought some cocaine, Mrs Turner said. The couple had planned to check out on March 16 but at midday a friend called the hotel to say Rebecca was missing, the inquest heard. Hotel staff made several calls to the hotel room but received no answer so, as the guests were overdue for checking out, staff went to the room. Post-mortem On entry they discovered Rebecca lying dead on her left side on the floor near the bathroom while Sam was lying dead on the bed. The inquest at East Sussex Coroners' Court in Lewes was told a clear plastic ziplock bag was found containing white powder, White powder was also found spread on the sink and a bank note was found rolled up on the sink. The drug was ultimately found to be heroin. Rebecca's body was flown back to the UK and a post-mortem was carried out. The pathologist carried out toxicology tests and found evidence of multiple drugs in her system including morphine, monoacetylmorphine, noscapine, diazepam, codeine and trazodone. Desperate attempt The hearing was told Rebecca had a history of drug and alcohol misuse, depression and anxiety, but was looking forward to travelling there and was due to meet up with friends. Coroner Laura Bradford ruled out suicide despite Rebecca's history of depression and mental health problems. Afterwards, her mother said she had visited Thailand three times since her daughter's death last year in a desperate attempt to uncover what actually happened. She plans to go back again in June to help assist children in schools in Bangkok which was a cause close to her daughter's heart. Last year, six tourists - including a British lawyer - died in Laos after drinking vodka laced with deadly methanol. Trainee solicitor Simone White, 28, was among five young women and one man who consumed vodka at the £6-a-night Nana Backpacker Hostel. Just 4ml of methanol, a common by-product of home-brewed alcohol which is sometimes added to bootleg drinks to make them stronger, can be lethal.
