The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse
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Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse · Sep 2013
Comparative StudyThe advent of a new pseudoephedrine product to combat methamphetamine abuse.
The personal and societal effects of methamphetamine abuse are well documented. The ease of accessibility to methamphetamine and the quality of the "high" it produces makes the drug highly desired by its abusers. Over time, many methamphetamine users will also become methamphetamine cooks, where pseudoephedrine in over-the-counter cold products is converted to methamphetamine through a simple, albeit extremely dangerous, process. New laws limiting access to these products have had limited success. No existing commercial pseudoephedrine products offer significant impediments to slow or limit the extraction and conversion of pseudoephedrine in clandestine methamphetamine laboratories. ⋯ With the advent of new pseudoephedrine products in the marketplace with features to limit the extraction and conversion of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine, new tools are now available to minimize the clandestine manufacture of the drug and potentially limit its social impact.
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Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse · Sep 2013
Multiple fruit-flavored alcoholic drinks in a can (MFAC): an overlooked class of potentially harmful alcohol products.
This article examines an overlooked class of alcohol products, described herein as multiple fruit-flavored alcoholic drinks in a can (MFAC). The article describes how characteristics of these products likely contribute to hazardous alcohol consumption among youth. Government regulation of these products may be needed to protect adolescent and young adult populations. National substance abuse surveillance systems should consider immediate adoption of MFAC use indicators to determine use and harm associated with these products, and to assess the effectiveness of future regulatory actions.