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Show: August 12, 2012:
- What danger lies in synthetic drugs?
- Can dim lighting influence your mental health?
- Is the safety of already approved drugs questionable?
- Are reusable shopping bags good for your health?
- What can the increasing number of cancer survivors be attributed to?
- How can stem cells revolutionize cancer treatments?
- View all topics for the week
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What danger lies in synthetic drugs?
Host: David Crabb, MD
Interview: Mark Ryan, PharmD, Director of the Louisiana Poison Center and associate professor of clinical and emergency medicine at Louisiana State University’s health sciences center in Shreveport, LA.
While you may be able to find many synthetic drugs at your local gas station, including White Rush and K2, the chemical background of these drugs is commonly unknown, and their use can mimic the side effects of cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine. Another synthetic drug is known as “bath salts,” which police suspected could have been behind the vicious face-eating attack in Miami this year. Three of the most common components of bath salts have been declared illegal by the FDA, resulting in a nationwide raid of manufacturers and distributors of synthetic drugs by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Mark Ryan, Pharm.D., director of the Louisiana Poison Control Center, explains the effects of synthetic drugs on the body and the dangers posed by synthetic drugs sold in convenience stores.
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