Two recent incidents point to divergent perspectives in governmental drug policies among Western European countries that have implications for the United States. A report in August 2002 by the Council of Europe’s narcotics monitoring Pompidou Group has stated that Oslo Norway is first among 42 European cities in the seizures of illicit drugs as well as deaths caused by the illegal substances.Ye...

CONTEXT Studies have revealed that youth in foster care covered by Medicaid insurance receive psychotropic medication at a rate > 3 times that of Medicaid-insured youth who qualify by low family income. Systematic data on patterns of medication treatment, particularly concomitant drugs, for youth in foster care are limited. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this work was to describe and quantify patte...

PURPOSE Stressful childhood experiences have negative long-term health consequences. The present study examines the association between adverse childhood experiences, socioeconomic position, and risk of psychotropic medication in young adulthood. METHODS This register-based cohort study comprises the birth cohorts between 1985 and 1988 in Sweden. We followed 362 663 individuals for use of psy...

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a common condition associated with many medical illnesses and medications. Psychotropic medications (both antidepressants and antipsychotics) may be causal. There have been over twenty cases of RLS due to Quetiapine but no published case reports linking RLS to Quetiapine XR. We present the case of a woman with previously established Bipolar Disorder who presented...

Study objectives: To compare the regular use of psychotropic drugs in 1985 and 1996 in homes for the aged in Bergen, Norway and to study the relation between age, gender, mental impairment and certain behaviour traits and psychotropic drug use. Design: A point prevalence survey performed on two occasions in 1985 and 1996. Setting: All regularly used psychotropic drugs and demographic informatio...

The fly agaric is a remarkable mushroom in many respects; these are its bearing, history, chemical components and the poisoning that it provokes when consumed. The 'pantherina' poisoning syndrome is characterized by central nervous system dysfunction. The main species responsible are Amanita muscaria and A. pantherina (Amanitaceae); however, some other species of the genus have been suspected f...

INTRODUCTION Misuse of various new psychotropic substances such as ibogaine is increasing rapidly. Knowledge of their negative side effects is sparse. CASE PRESENTATION We present a case of intoxication with the herbal substance ibogaine in a 22-year-old white man. After taking a cumulative dose of 38 g (taken in two doses), he developed visual memories, nausea and vomiting. He developed a ge...

Caffeine is one of the most widespread psychotropic substances in the world. It exerts multiple effects on the brain including adenosine receptor antagonism, and thereby has been found to modulate aspects of cognition, including attention, in animal models and in healthy human volunteers. This review considers what is known of the effects of caffeine on symptoms and cognitive functions in atten...