Herbal incense: Legal but dangerous. Many looking for marijuana alternative are smoking potpourri product, which isn’t made for human consumption

by Deborah Highland, The Daily News, originally published on 7/17/2011

Two hits into an herbal incense packaged as 7H, and Amy, a University of Kentucky sophomore home for the summer here, loses complete awareness that she has a body.

Her eyes close and she sees static, like the kind of static on a television screen when the cable goes out. But this static hurts.

Amy wants the static to go away because the pain is unbearable. At one point she stops breathing because not inhaling clears the static somewhat and makes the pain go away.

Amy is having what some drug users call a “bad trip,” the kind of trip that in Amy’s case ended with an ambulance ride to the emergency room at The Medical Center.

Amy, whose name was changed for this story, agreed to speak anonymously to the Daily News to warn other young people about the dangers of smoking incense.

A clerk at Prince Hookah Lounge, where Amy bought the 7H, says it is one of his best sellers. The clerk points out to a buyer that the $25 product is “potpourri” and is not for human consumption. It sits behind a clear plastic display case along with other incense such as Crazy Monkey.

Prince Hookah Lounge owner Amar Shoraba said his customers were clamoring to get their hands on 7H. As a businessman, he wants to sell what consumers are looking to buy. But he points out that he would not sell 7H for any amount of money if a customer said he was buying the product to smoke it.

“Nobody can smoke that stuff,” Shoraba said. “It’s herbal incense. People are not supposed to smoke it.”

Much like with paint or glue, which are manufactured for specific purposes but sometimes used as inhalants by people looking for a high, many people looking for a cheap, legal alternative to pot are smoking 7H.

Amy, a pre-med student who tried marijuana on a visit to Amsterdam, where the substance is bought, sold and used legally, thought 7H would produce a similar feeling.

She was wrong.

“When my trip started, I closed my eyes, and then all of a sudden everything that had happened before, I had forgotten it all. I forgot that everything existed. I couldn’t remember who I was,” she said.

“It was like I was created in that moment and nothing else had ever happened before. I started seeing white dots like static. That’s all I saw. I wasn’t really aware that I had a body. I tried to look through the static. When I stopped focusing, it started feeling like a sharp pain.”

Amy started making sounds.

“When I made a note, the static would change like I dropped a pebble into a lake,” Amy said.

When Amy’s mother found her making the noise, it was screams. Then she noticed that Amy appeared to have stopped breathing. Amy’s mother called for an ambulance. Amy spent the next several hours in a hospital bed. Her feelings cycled from pain, to confusion to paranoia. She then spent the next several days feeling paranoid and unsure if the things around her were real. Nearly two weeks later, Amy still experiences some fear that if she closes her eyes, the static will return.

Amy is one of several patients to come through the emergency room at The Medical Center after smoking “incense.”

“We’ve had several cases lately, particularly younger individuals, under the influence of some sort of incense or bath salts,” said Dr. Bart Spurlin, director of the emergency department at the hospital. “They’re hallucinating, paranoid, acting erratically. As far as I know, there have not been any deaths at our facility due to it. But I have heard and read about other cases where there have been.”

Spurlin can’t say for certain that his recent emergency room patients were under the influence specifically of 7H unless someone tells him. And because no one knows what exactly is in the incense, it’s difficult to treat patients who react to it after smoking it.

“It’s frustrating on our behalf,” Spurlin said. “It’s not like treating someone under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. In this case, we don’t really know (what the substance is). We have to treat symptoms as they arise and monitor labs and vital signs.

“When we call Poison Control, they will tell us they don’t know either,” Spurlin said.

Mitch Plumlee III, a behavioral health specialist at Park Place Recovery Center, expressed similar concerns with 7H and other incense.

“One of the troubles with these drugs is they are having some strange effects, and we’re not always clear what specific chemicals are in them that are causing these effects. The chemicals vary from brand to brand and obviously, it’s not regulated.

“Nobody knows the long-term side effects because it hasn’t been around,” he said.

The packaging on 7H lists several ingredients that it does not contain – recently banned chemicals found in synthetic marijuana. The packaging refers to the product as “potpourri” and states that it is 100 percent legal in all 50 states. However, the packaging does not say what’s inside or where it is made.

That’s troubling to Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force Director Tommy Loving, who said his agency isn’t sure if 7H is legal because they don’t know what’s in it.

“After receiving complaints about it and hearing of emergency room visits attributed to it, we have purchased the product and sent it to the state police lab for testing,” Loving said. “It’s not clear to us if it’s one of the new designer drugs made illegal by the past legislature.

“We need to be able to say what this product contains, and then once we know that, we would probably proceed one of two routes. One, if it is an illegal substance, then we can make an arrest for the sale of it. If it is not an illegal substance but creates the problems we’re hearing about, then we would work with the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy to have this declared as an illegal substance.”

For Amy, she thought legal meant safe.

“I knew that it was legal, so I figured it would be OK,” Amy said.

While Amy’s medical providers told her she was never near death, her blood pressure and potassium levels dropped after she smoked 7H in a tobacco pipe. For a period of time while she was still under the influence of the incense, she said she was wishing that she didn’t exist while at the same time believing that she was nothing but a thought without a body.

Amy said she will never smoke 7H again, and she has warned her friends about it.

“Just because these substances are legal doesn’t mean that they are safe or nontoxic,” Spurlin said. “I would recommend as a doctor that you not ingest or smoke any substance that is not specifically for human consumption.

“If anyone knows or discovers a friend or relative who has ingested any of these substances or is abusing them, they should seek medical help.”

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Hospital staff deserves praise for its actions

The Daily News, originally published on 6/24/2011

The staff at The Medical Center should be commended for its reaction to a situation where an alleged rapist brought a woman into the emergency room and claimed that she had been robbed and beaten.

On Sunday, hospital staff separated the suspect, Darryl A. Galloway, from the victim. According to police, Galloway brought the woman to the emergency room on the condition that she tell medical staff she was robbed and beaten. Instead, the woman wrote a note on her admitting papers that said “get him away from me please.”

Emergency room staff then took the woman to a room and called police.

This was a very alert, brave move by the woman and the quick response by the emergency room staff says a lot about how they handled this intense situation.

Galloway, 34, is charged with two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, attempted first-degree sodomy and fourth-degree assault/domestic violence.

The woman told police that she had gotten into Galloway’s vehicle in the parking lot of an area business. He allegedly began hitting her in the face with his hand before the two could get out of the parking lot. He then grabbed her around the neck as she kicked and screamed, according to police reports.

Galloway then drove to a location near Walmart on Morgantown Road, where he forced the woman to perform sexual acts, according to the police and court records.

He then stopped for gas and was armed with a butcher knife and told the woman he would kill her if she screamed, according to police records.

Galloway then drove the woman to another location, where he forced her to bathe and raped her a second time, according to police reports.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said the emergency room staff has always been helpful in situations such as this and they are an important part in many of their cases.

Of course, Galloway is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but the hospital staff deserves praise for its prompt and level-headed response to the situation.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Hospitality House reaches campaign goal: Property open to family members, caregivers of critically ill patients

by Tessa Duvall, The Daily News, originally published on 6/22/2011

Nestled on the corner of East Fifth Avenue and High Street is a home away from home for families going through difficult times.

Located on the campus of The Medical Center at Bowling Green, the Hospitality House, owned by Commonwealth Health Foundation, is open to family members and caregivers of critically ill patients.

Due to more than $3.8 million in donations from local residents and businesses, the capital campaign to build and endow the Hospitality House was met and surpassed, according to officials at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Mike Murphy, chairman of the capital campaign steering committee, said construction on the house began in April 2010 and was completed by December. The first guests stayed in the house in January.

Carla Reagan, executive director of the Hospitality House, said it has been a remarkable six months since the house opened.

Since then, about 550 guests have stayed at the house, Reagan said. For the last two weeks, the house has been at 70 percent occupancy, with an average stay lasting about three nights at a time.

It is a “blessing” to have the home for those who need it, Reagan said.

The staff at the house has grieved with guests in the last six months, but has also had the privilege of celebrating recoveries as well, she said.

Murphy went on to say the original goal for the campaign was $3 million – $2 million to build the house and another $1 million to create an endowment that would provide funds to run the house.

That goal was surpassed by more than $800,000.

However, Murphy said the house will need continued support from the community.

“Just because we have a building doesn’t mean our mission is finished,” he told the audience of sponsors, committee members and employees.

One key sponsor of the house was BB&T bank.

BB&T President Rick Wilson said his business looks for good things in the community to support.

“This is certainly a wonderful, wonderful project for those in need,” he said.

Wilson said progressive communities have a hospitality house service available to families and caregivers who need them.

“It’s just natural that in this community we put together a hospitality house,” he said.

The house features 12 private bedrooms and baths, a kitchen and dining area, a prayer room, a community room and Internet access.

Staying at the Hospitality House is free to guests.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

The Medical Center was there for us

The Daily News, originally published on 6/21/2011

On Jan. 13, my wife, Pam, was admitted to The Medical Center to receive fluids due to having the flu.

That afternoon, she was rushed to the ICU and soon placed on a ventilator as her organs were failing due to sepsis. Our family was placed in a dire situation, and many people advised us to get her to Nashville or Louisville. We chose to remain at The Medical Center.

Surely there is not a better hospital in the world. Throughout 104 days, Pam was cared for in a loving way, first from the nurses in ICU, then in 3A Step-Down. As she got better, we were moved to 4B, and from there we went to 4D for open heart surgery. We were treated with only the best of care.

The whole hospital became our friends, from the receptionist at the door, to the staff in the cafeteria. Kind words of encouragement came from all. The people in occupational, speech and physical therapies were wonderful. They were Pam’s encouragers and cheerleaders, bringing her back to us so that we could take her home.

The co-workers of our daughter, who is a nurse in the NICU, went the extra mile to see that she could be with her mother during those long, dark days and nights. We had the greatest team of doctors in the world, all who became our friends and confidants: Drs. Urigoda, Kaul, Collins, Shadowen, Issacs, Simms, Roteller, Thompson, Zhu, Casmadine, Moore and Carter and Lisa Burton. Bro. Joe and Bro. Britt were a constant light with their prayers and love.

To all at The Medical Center and all who prayed for Pam, we say, “Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.”

Anthony, Pam, Trevor, Autumn, Jessie, Lexi, Haley and Tyler Madison

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Rx drug abuse on rise: Five in BG died from apparent overdoses last week

by Deborah Highland, The Daily News, originally published on 6/12/2011

Five Bowling Green residents died last week in apparent prescription drug overdoses.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in that over the last several years,” Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said.

Pending toxicology reports on the five will give Kirby an absolute answer to the cause of death. However, evidence at each scene points to accidental prescription drug overdose as the killer.

Last week’s victims are part of a growing prescription drug abuse trend in Kentucky, making its way west from the eastern part of the state. Some 82 people die every month in Kentucky from prescription drug overdoses.

“It’s staggering, the destruction we’re seeing from prescription drug abuse,” Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said. “I would say 90 to 95 percent of the cases we see in circuit court have a drug component to them.”

Dr. Bart Spurlin, the emergency room medical director at The Medical Center, is not surprised by the number of drug overdose deaths here last week.

Spurlin estimates that 10 to 20 percent of the people seeking emergency room treatment are actually trying to get their hands on prescription meds. He estimates that a higher percentage of emergency room patients are seeking treatment for something that has been caused by drug abuse, such as falls, car wrecks, burns and infections caused by dirty needles.

“We know for a fact that one in five Kentuckians are addicted to some sort of prescription drugs,” Spurlin said.

“It is truly an epidemic,” he said. “The flu outbreaks always make the news, but this sort of thing is the ongoing epidemic.

“I think almost every family has a family member or distant relative who has this problem with drug abuse, but they don’t necessarily want to talk about it.”

Law enforcement officials specializing in drug investigations have seen a dramatic jump in the number of prescription pills seized and drug diversion. Drug diversion is what occurs when one person obtains prescription medicine legally and then sells it to someone else.

Typically drug abusers are looking for narcotic pain medicines such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, OxyContin, Dilaudid, methadone and benzodiazepine drugs such as Klonopin and Valium.

“I think we’re seeing prescription diversion picking up here in the west,” said Kentucky State Police Capt. Bill Payton, who oversees the Drug Enforcement Special Investigations West division in Bowling Green. DESI detectives investigate drug cases in Warren and 62 other counties in the western part of the state.

In 2005, DESI West investigators seized 28 hydrocodone pills compared with 2,339 in 2009 and 30,609 in 2010; 58 Xanax pills compared with 283 in 2009 and 3,385 in 2010; and 90 OxyContin pills compared with 728 in 2009 and 4,534 in 2010.

The 2010 numbers are higher than a normal investigative year because of a large-scale drug seizure that took place in 2010, Payton said. However, the numbers are still climbing at an alarming rate when comparing 2005 against 2009.

The Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force has shown substantial year-over-year gains in some categories as well, Director Tommy Loving said. In 2008, task force investigators seized one hydrocodone pill. In 2009, that number climbed to 201, and last year investigators more than doubled the number when they seized 424 hydrocodone pills. In 2009, the task force didn’t seize any oxycodone. Last year investigators seized 152 pills.

Opana, a relatively new name to law enforcement officials, is a painkiller that is also starting to gain popularity among drug abusers in the western part of the state, Payton said. Last year DESI investigators seized 291 Opana pills. So far this year, they have seized 928.

“That’s pretty substantial growth there,” Payton said.

While many abusers get their hands on pills by going from one doctor to the next in search of prescriptions, the vast majority of pills are coming from out of state.

Many out-of-state clinics that bill themselves as pain clinics are really what investigators call “pill mills.” In a pill mill, a patient can walk in, pay a fee, see a doctor briefly and walk out with 100 or more pain pills. Florida pill mills have plagued Kentucky law enforcement officials for several years. Prescription pills are also making their way into the commonwealth from Michigan and Mexico.

Yet Florida remains “the number one source state” for diverted prescription drugs here, said Kentucky State Police Lt. Vic Brown, who is the KSP liaison to the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

“We’re trying to go after some of the rogue doctors,” Brown said about the Florida drug pipeline. “We’ve closed down three clinics already.”

But just like any other government agency, manpower and dollars are stretched thin for law enforcement officials, who often have to divert their attention to Kentucky’s other problem drug, methamphetamine. When law enforcement officials are notified about a meth lab, they have to suit up and respond to remove the lab because the chemicals are volatile. One-bottle meth labs can become fireballs in an instant. That means taking attention away from pill cases.

“This is a problem we can’t arrest our way out of,” Brown said. “It’s going to take legislation to stop the (out of state) doctors,” Brown said. He would like to see a nationwide prescription drug monitoring program.

“We don’t really have that big of a problem in Kentucky,” Brown said about doctors over-prescribing. He attributes that to the electronic prescription drug monitoring system known as the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting, or KASPER, system. Any doctor or pharmacist can sign up to use the system, which allows them to see if their patient has already obtained a prescription for the same or similar drug from another doctor. When used, it prevents doctor shopping, Loving said.

Spurlin is among the minority of Kentucky doctors signed up to use the KASPER system. Only 30 percent of Kentucky doctors use it, and 23 percent of pharmacists use it.

“Overall we have an excellent medical community here and get excellent cooperation from physicians,” Loving said. “The majority of physicians don’t want to deal with doctor shopping to begin with. We just wish more of them would use KASPER.”

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Visual simplicity: Department of Agriculture releases new food guide that’s easier to understand

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 6/11/2011

When it comes to learning about healthy eating, Americans now need only to look at a plate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a new dinner plate-based guide to replace the Food Guide Pyramid last week. The symbol encourages people to make half the plate fruits and vegetables and the other half grains and protein. There is also a component for dairy products.

The change is a positive one, local registered dietitians said.

“The biggest thing about (the MyPlate symbol) is that it is much more simplified. Sometimes if you have too much information people just turn it off,” said Sue Gulley, a registered dietitian at Greenview Regional Hospital. “At a glance, you can look at it and see what you should have for each meal.”

Andrea Norris, a registered dietitian and community wellness manager at The Medical Center Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall, agreed.

“It’s an easy to understand visual cue to tell what they need nutritionally on their plate,” she said. “It’s a really good uncomplicated symbol of what our food choices are supposed to look like to live a healthier life.”

The USDA’s Food Pyramid was complicated for some people, said Amy Meador, a registered dietitian with the Barren River District Health Department.

“When it was on food packaging, just to look at it it didn’t mean anything,” she said. “We can all relate to a place setting. People can look at the (MyPlate symbol) and compare it to what their plate looks like in a meal.”

There are also tools on the MyPlate website, choosemyplate

.gov, that will be helpful to people, Meador added.

“We get asked a lot about recipes. There is a link you can go to that has recipes for each food group that I think will be really useful,” she said. “There are menus for a 2,000-calorie diet.”

The concept of using the plate isn’t new.

“We have used this in the past for educating a lot of our diabetics and patients who can’t read or who don’t want a lot of information to start with,” Gulley said. “When we do education, half your plate should be fruits and vegetables. This tells people you should have this for every meal.”

Meador said she has also used it with diabetics and with people who want to lose weight.

“It just hasn’t been put into a graphic like this until now,” she said. “I think it’s going to be something that’s a lot easier for people to understand.”

The symbol can be tailored for anyone, even those with specific dietary restrictions, Meador said.

“Milk doesn’t work for a lot of people, but they can eat yogurt or use lactose-free milk for a substitute,” she said. “Food allergies tend to be a specific food, such as peanuts. That’s a protein food, but they can eat certain meats so there are still foods that they can eat.”

Norris said she plans to use the new symbol at upcoming programs to teach children about healthy eating. The free classes will be from 10 a.m. to noon July 7 and July 12 at the Health and Wellness Center. Preregistration is required by calling 745-0942.

“We’ll talk about eating out healthy, serving sizes, physical activity and food labels,” she said. “If you’re grocery shopping with mom or dad, you can see what are the healthier choices at the grocery store.”

The guide also gives dietitians an opportunity to discuss what types of foods make up the different components.

“A lot of people don’t know what a protein is. That’s your eggs, meat and dairy products,” Gulley said. “We just don’t eat enough dairy.”

Gulley said she has even struggled with getting enough dairy.

“I’ve made myself start having skim milk at lunch, and I eat yogurt,” she said. “Kids tend to like yogurt. If you have those things and keep it on hand, they tend to eat more dairy.”

People may worry about the cost of some of the food – particularly fruits and vegetables – but they don’t have to be expensive, Gulley said.

“It can be the ones on sale this week or a combination of vegetables and fruits,” she said. “This is something you should have every single meal.”

While the guide doesn’t have specific servings, that doesn’t give anyone an excuse to pile the plate.

“Portion control is definitely important,” Meador said. “It takes being mindful of how much you’re putting on the plate.”

— For more information about the new food guide, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

Tips from www.choosemyplate.gov:

Balancing calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
  
• Avoid oversized portions.
  

Foods to increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
  
• Make at least half your grains whole grains.
  
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1 percent) milk.
  

Foods to reduce

• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals, and choose the foods with lower numbers.
  
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
  

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)

Hospital holding tune-up for men: Preregistration required for event next weekend at the Corvette museum

by Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, originally published on 5/28/2011

The Medical Center is working to get men as excited about their health as they are about their cars with the Men’s Health Tune-Up.

“They give a lot of thought to taking care of their cars, but not so much of their health,” said Community Wellness Director Linda Rush. “If you don’t take care of your car, you’ll have problems. It’s the same with your health.”

The tune-up will be from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. June 4 at the National Corvette Museum. The event is free and open to men of all ages, but preregistration is required.

“We’re asking that the men call to register to get an idea of how many we’ll have,” Rush said.

The day will begin with a light breakfast and free screenings from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The presentations “Tune Up to Better Health” by Dr. Brian K. Macy, a family medicine and sports medicine doctor at Graves-Gilbert Clinic, and “Prostate Cancer: What All Men Need to Know” by Matthew Rutter, a urologist at Graves-Gilbert Clinic, will begin at 9:45 a.m.

“I’m going to talk about the general health screenings that are recommended by most of the national organizations that are out there, mainly for primary prevention of prostate cancer, colon cancer, blood pressure and vision,” Macy said. “I’ll also talk about how exercise is used as a primary preventive tool.”

Men are typically less likely to see a doctor unless it’s absolutely necessary, Macy said.

“I see them come when they’re urged on by a spouse or with their spouse,” he said. “It usually means that there’s something wrong, something a little more serious.”

Macy said the screenings are important.

“If we can prevent those serious things from happening, I think we will be a healthier community, a healthier society,” he said. “When we don’t get these screening mechanisms in place, we lose out on that ability to find these diseases early.”

The screenings will include blood pressure, body fat analysis, vision, skin cancer, back and neck, balance and colon cancer screening kits. Prostate cancer screening will be free to members of the Men’s Health Alliance and Senior Health Network, but those who are not members can join either program during the tune-up for $10 and receive the free PSA screening. Participants will also receive discounted tickets to the National Corvette Museum and passes for a Bowling Green Hot Rods game.

“We want to get men out into an atmosphere that will be comfortable and informal to get information on their health,” Rush said. “Sometimes men are a little more reluctant to set up physician appointments. This is an opportunity to not only get the screenings done, but to talk to professionals.”

— For more information or to preregister, call 745-0942 or toll free at 877-800-3824.

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)