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In your corner: Ice isn’t nice!
By LaVerne Bishop – Special to The Garden Island
If teenagers knew what was in ice, they would never use it. One teen suggested this space list the drug’s harmful ingredients in hopes of preventing Kaua‘i youths and adults from using it.
Nearly all of the ingredients are harmful, and you wouldn’t think of consuming any of them except for salt, or the cold pills, if you were sick. To stop the production of ice, pharmacists are now selling cold pills from behind the counter to limit and monitor sales, and they refuse to sell cold pills to children.
Signs of people who have used “ice” for awhile include: uncontrollable scratching and skin picking, and poor hygiene (their teeth, skin and hair look bad). Their sweat smells like chemicals. Their moods go up and down, and they may have obsessive/compulsive behavior (they may do the same thing over and over, or always the same way). They often prefer the dark to the light, and they may neglect or abuse their children.
Long term affects of using “ice” are addiction, craving, stealing, and jerky movements (tweaking). Sometimes “ice” users hear voices or think everyone is out to get them. The result can often be some form of brain damage. A PET scan picks up the brain’s electrical activity and often will show holes, ridges and missing sections of the brain, causing the brain to not function properly or not function at all. “Ice” users may even suffer from a stroke, causing part of the brain to die due to a lack of blood supply. Without a fully functioning brain, people forget things, can’t make good decisions, and have a very difficult time holding down a job and supporting a family.
Often losing their jobs, “ice” users frequently turn to crime to afford the high price of their “ice” addiction. They may steal from family, friends or strangers, or sell drugs themselves to support their habit.
Child protective services records show that 80 to 90 percent of children removed from homes on the Big Island were “ice” or drug related cases.
In an article The Garden Island ran in 2003, Dr.Maila Coleman, pediatrician at the West Kaua’i Medical Clinic said, “Ice is about the worst thing that can happen to a baby, or a to pregnant mom.”
Ice, or methamphetamines, can constrict blood vessels that supply oxygen to the baby, increase chances of the placenta detaching, and cause life-threatening bleeding for the mother. It may cause damage, prematurity, or death for the baby, she said.
A single pre-term baby can generate costs from $75,000 to $6 million in medical expenses. Since many babies are on government paid insurance, everyone’s taxes go up to pay for it.
Therefore, we are all victims of “ice” use. But the baby will suffer the longest.
• LaVerne Bishop is Program Director of Hale ‘Opio Kaua‘i, Inc. A support group of adults in our Kaua’i community have “stepped into the corner” for our teens, to answer questions and give support to youth and their families. Please e-mail your questions and concerns to Bishop at lbishop@haleopio.org
Ingredients in ‘ice’
• Cold tablets: ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
• Nail Polish Remover: acetone
• Medical Disinfectant: isopropyl alcohol
• Brake Cleaner: toluene
• Engine Starter: ether
• Drain Cleaner: sulfuric acid
• Gasoline additives: methanol/alcohol
• Batteries: lithium
• Farm fertilizer: anhydrous ammonia
• Lye: sodium hydroxide
• Matches/Road flares: red phosphorous
• Chemical stripping agent: muriatic acid
• Iodine
• Table salt
Nearly all of the ingredients are harmful, and you wouldn’t think of consuming any of them except for salt, or the cold pills, if you were sick. To stop the production of ice, pharmacists are now selling cold pills from behind the counter to limit and monitor sales, and they refuse to sell cold pills to children.
Signs of people who have used “ice” for awhile include: uncontrollable scratching and skin picking, and poor hygiene (their teeth, skin and hair look bad). Their sweat smells like chemicals. Their moods go up and down, and they may have obsessive/compulsive behavior (they may do the same thing over and over, or always the same way). They often prefer the dark to the light, and they may neglect or abuse their children.
Long term affects of using “ice” are addiction, craving, stealing, and jerky movements (tweaking). Sometimes “ice” users hear voices or think everyone is out to get them. The result can often be some form of brain damage. A PET scan picks up the brain’s electrical activity and often will show holes, ridges and missing sections of the brain, causing the brain to not function properly or not function at all. “Ice” users may even suffer from a stroke, causing part of the brain to die due to a lack of blood supply. Without a fully functioning brain, people forget things, can’t make good decisions, and have a very difficult time holding down a job and supporting a family.
Often losing their jobs, “ice” users frequently turn to crime to afford the high price of their “ice” addiction. They may steal from family, friends or strangers, or sell drugs themselves to support their habit.
Child protective services records show that 80 to 90 percent of children removed from homes on the Big Island were “ice” or drug related cases.
In an article The Garden Island ran in 2003, Dr.Maila Coleman, pediatrician at the West Kaua’i Medical Clinic said, “Ice is about the worst thing that can happen to a baby, or a to pregnant mom.”
Ice, or methamphetamines, can constrict blood vessels that supply oxygen to the baby, increase chances of the placenta detaching, and cause life-threatening bleeding for the mother. It may cause damage, prematurity, or death for the baby, she said.
A single pre-term baby can generate costs from $75,000 to $6 million in medical expenses. Since many babies are on government paid insurance, everyone’s taxes go up to pay for it.
Therefore, we are all victims of “ice” use. But the baby will suffer the longest.
• LaVerne Bishop is Program Director of Hale ‘Opio Kaua‘i, Inc. A support group of adults in our Kaua’i community have “stepped into the corner” for our teens, to answer questions and give support to youth and their families. Please e-mail your questions and concerns to Bishop at lbishop@haleopio.org
Ingredients in ‘ice’
• Cold tablets: ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
• Nail Polish Remover: acetone
• Medical Disinfectant: isopropyl alcohol
• Brake Cleaner: toluene
• Engine Starter: ether
• Drain Cleaner: sulfuric acid
• Gasoline additives: methanol/alcohol
• Batteries: lithium
• Farm fertilizer: anhydrous ammonia
• Lye: sodium hydroxide
• Matches/Road flares: red phosphorous
• Chemical stripping agent: muriatic acid
• Iodine
• Table salt
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