Vicodan the undiscovered country

In this day and age it would seem that everyone from the mail man to your grandmother is on something for one disorder or another. For all those little aches and pains, everyone gets from time to time. However, your truly has had to pleasure of experiencing the V drug this week, do to some tooth pain. I have been taking a drug called Darvocet. This little pain killer is like Vicodan’s little sister. How easy it would be to start taking this drug not just for pain, but to feel “better” all the time. On this and other types of painkillers, it is possible to function.
Are we all becoming the undiscovered addicts thanks to our doctors? I have not mentioned drugs for depression. With the drugs out now who wouldn’t want to be depressed. Now they are working on a pill to erase bad memories, how nice is that?
Drugged out, numbs out, and checked out. Don’t misunderstand me, of course there those who could not get through the day without them. That’s not whom I speak of, drugs can’t replace parenting or bad relationships.
But wait, now you can cut out the middle man and buy your drugs from over sea suppliers with a prescription. Now we all can dose and dose. All a kid has to do is use him mom’s or dad’s credit card, and presto he’s a dealer of scrip drugs. Don’t need dope or cocaine when there’ s Vicodan. According to www.drugabusehelp.com, Vicodin is a semisynthetic narcotic analgesic and antitussive with multiple actions qualitatively similar to those of codeine. Most of these involve the central nervous system and smooth muscle.
The precise mechanism of action of hydrocodone and other opiates is not known, although it is believed to relate to the existence of opiate receptors in the central nervous system. In addition to analgesia, narcotics may produce euphoria; drowsiness; lethargy; relaxation; difficulty in concentrating; decreased physical activity in some users and increased physical activity in others; mild anxiety or fear, and pupillary constriction.
This was the good, fun part, this is the bad part. Vicodin may make you drowsy. Do not drive a car, operate machinery, or perform any other potentially dangerous activities until you know how this drug affects you. Narcotics such as Vicodin may interfere with the diagnosis and treatment of abdominal conditions. Vicodin suppresses the cough reflex; therefore, be careful using Vicodin after an operation or if you have a lung disease. High doses of Vicodin may produce slowed breathing; if you are sensitive to this drug, you are more likely to experience this effect. Vicodin slows the nervous system. Alcohol can intensify this effect.
This website went on to discuss other symptoms. For regular Vicodin user abruptly stops taking Vicodin, withdrawal should begin within six to twelve hours. The intensity of withdrawal depends on the degree of the addiction, and symptoms are usually not life threatening. Typically,Vicodin withdrawal symptoms may intensify for twenty-four to seventy-two hours and then gradually decline over a period of seven to fourteen days. The symptoms of Vicodin withdrawal include but are not limited to:
restlessness, muscle pain, bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, goose bumps, involuntary leg movements, watery eyes, runny nose loss of appetite, irritability, panic, nausea, chills, and sweating.
In preparing this piece, I was unable to get a real number of how many people are addicted to vics in the U.S, but I can tell you it’s a lot. The recovery of drugged out America is we all of us.

Chapter 1, Health Issues and Painting

H.H 1 Health and allergy considerations.

Question: What are the health risks involved in painting?

Health risk considerations before starting a house-painting project are the dust and contaminates you could be exposed to during the process. On exterior surfaces, especially wood siding you’ll find a variety of molds, mildew, and dirt. These alone are enough to drive your hay fever crazy. In addition, you haven’t even started to get the house ready yet. When that begins, there’s airborne mildew, mold, dust, paint chips, and wood fiber. If you’re working on an older home, there’s a possibility of lead paint exposure as well. All these contaminates can become airborne by hand scraping. If power sanding is going to be done, the exposure to dust is greater. I know what your thinking, yes there are dust masks and goggles that can be worn while you work. Nevertheless, remember there still may be exposed skin in which these contaminants can get into. One contaminate alone can be irritating. When you start mixing them all together, this could be a recipe for a long miserable experience trying to paint your home. It is always wise to wear the proper dust or breathing masks whenever working around airborne substances.

Clear and Present Danger

In 1919 Oliver Wendell Holmes was the first to coin the term in the majority opinion for the case  schenck v.The United States involving an appeal of the general secretary of the American Socialist Party, who had been convicted for distributing 15,000 leaflets to young men of draft age critical of the war effort and, especially, the draft. The leaflet urged readers to “Assert your rights–Do not submit to intimidation.” (exsploring Constitutional Conflicts)

 

“The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that the United States Congress has a right to prevent.”

 

As it read from Holmes speech. Later the term became a metaphor for the First Amendment. (Wikipedia)

 

 

To put into a clearer prospective Holmes explained the point by arguing that no one has a constitutional right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater when no fire is present, for such action would pose a “clear and present danger” to public safety. (Answers.com)

 

Following Schenck v. United States case, “clear and present danger” became a standard test in cases where a United States law limits a citizen’s First Amendment rights; the law is found to be constitutional if it can be shown that the language it prohibits is language that poses a “clear and present danger”. However, it should said the “clear and present danger” criterion of the Schenck decision was later modified by Brandenburg v. Ohio, and the test refined to determining whether the speech would provoke an imminent lawless action. (Answers.com)

Today the term lives on in current debate over Iraq and if it is clear and present danger to the United States. Where this term has be mentioned on average 600 times in the debate. (Eastland) To deiced if the term has not been mutated to apply to it’s new standard is hard to say. What is clear is that chairs seemed to favor the term and the test. Who is qualified to judge the test results is another paper.

Works Cited

Answers.com. 6 May 2008 <http://www.answers.com/topic/clear-and-present-danger?cat=biz-fin>.

exsploring Constitutional Conflicts. 6 May 2008 <http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/clear&pdanger.htm>.

Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 1 April 2008. 7 may 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_and_present_danger>.

State of Unemployment

 

As unemployment numbers rise along with fuel prices and everything else. I wanted to know the hard numbers of what the government’s definition of unemployment. Perhaps what they are including in their monthly numbers and what their leaving out. I felt a good place to start, in understanding of the jargon splashed over the evening news every night would by the bureau of Labor  Statistics. A branch of the United States Department of Labor.

 

The site is a one-stop-show for all information related to labor. Although I found the langue a little misleading in favor of making the administration look better. They weren’t able to hind the true we have all been feeling. According to The (Labor)Bureau, the unemployment situation as of April 2008 is good. 

 

The total number of unemployed workers was at a staggering 7.6 million. Up .8 percent over April 2008. The Bureau also reported job loss for the first three moths of the year 2008 totaled 240,000. (Labor)

 

Is there a silver lining to all this doom and gloom forecast? No really, unless you happen to be in the market for a lower paying part time job. As the Bureau went on to report in April part time jobs rose from 306,000 to 5.2 million. Which could be understood  as good news for a high school kid looking to off set his allowance , but for anyone trying make their bills or pay for their kids collage maybe not so much.

 

Works Cited

Labor, U.S Department of. Bureau of Labor Statics. April 2008. April 2008 <http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm#overview>.