It's a big time of year for nutmeg and NAADAC's recent newsletter detailed the misuse of the holiday spice among adolecsents looking for a quick, cheap high. The spice can be swallowed, smoked or sniffed and reportedly produces a marijuana-like high. The side-effects are unpleasant - nausea, headches, dizziness and flu-like symptoms - and it often takes several hours before the "high" actually kicks-in. Nutmeg highs aren't anything new, though several new videos have appeared online suggesting a resurgence in use. 

LICADD recently received certification from the NYS Department of Health to operate an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program - making us one of three registered providers in Nassau/Suffolk. LICADD Leadership Council member Dr. Tom Jan will serve as the project's medical director and will join our clinical staff in conducting regular trainings across our region.

Our first training - to be co-sponsored by the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute and the NYC Harm Reduction Coalition - will be held on Thursday, December 16, 2010 from 10:00AM-12:00Noon at Seafield's Training Center located at 37 John Street in Amityville.

In the past few years, Long Island has seen a dramatic increase in heroin and other opioid overdoses. In most cases, these fatalities are preventable through education, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and when possible, through the administration of Naloxone (Narcan). In this two-hour workshop, participants will learn the essentials of opioid overdose prevention, will receive certification as Trained Overdose Responders, and become qualified to train heroin or opioid users and colleagues at their own facilities on how to prevent an overdose.

This workshop is FREE, CASAC credits may be available and seating is limited. To register, please call Shanella Walters at LICADD at 516-747-2606.

Another Hip Hop Artist Discloses Pill Habit

First it was Eminem, now it's rapper T.I. talking about his addiction to prescription pills. In a Vibe Magazine interview, T.I. explained that after having a lot of dental work done, he was prescribed Oxycontin and hydrocodone. "I get these pills and I start taking them for the pain at first. And then I'm like, 'Wait - this sh-- makes me feel good, and it's legal,' " he said. "After the pain went away, I kept taking it. I had like five, six prescriptions. So I had, like, 80 pills. Everybody else might have a drink or smoke a blunt - I took a pain pill."

T.I. also spoke about reaching out to Eminem for help. "I asked him how he knew he was an addict. Basically if you put yourself in harm's way... if you risk that, you've got to assume that there is something fundamentally wrong with your thought process."