Saving Private Jessica
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: Friday, June 20, 2003
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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkI've been roaming Iraq, turning over rocks in my unstinting effort to help the Bush administration find those weapons of mass destruction. No luck yet.
But I did find something related, here in the city where it seems (contrary to early Pentagon leaks) that Pfc. Jessica Lynch did not mow down Iraqis until her ammo ran out, was not shot and apparently was not plucked from behind enemy lines by U.S. commandos braving a firefight. It looks as if the first accounts of the rescue were embellished, like the imminent threat from W.M.D., and like wartime pronouncements about an uprising in Basra and imminent defections of generals. There's a pattern: we were misled.
None of this is to put down Private Lynch, whom her Iraqi doctors described as courageous and funny in the face of unrelenting pain; they said that she told Abdul Hadi, a hospital worker who had befriended her, not to take risks for her because he was needed by his 17 children. Ms. Lynch is still a hero in my book, and it was unnecessary for officials to try to turn her into a Hollywood caricature. As a citizen, I deeply resent my government trying to spin me like a Ping-Pong ball.
Staff members of Nasiriya's main hospital told me, as they have told other reporters, how surprised they were when military officers brought an American woman by ambulance. Private Lynch was unconscious, with broken legs, a head wound and other injuries, apparently sustained in a vehicle accident during a firefight.
''She was nearly dead,'' recalled Saad Abdulrazak, the deputy hospital director, who received her.
The Iraqi doctors were enchanted by this blonde warrior, who as she recovered spent her time alternately crying and joking. I don't know how much to credit the Iraqis' claims that they gave her the best room in the hospital, that they went to the market to buy orange juice for her with their own money, that they brought clothes so that she would have something to wear. But they didn't minimize Iraqi brutality. Indeed, they told of an execution of a handcuffed American male. (I've put a fuller account of this execution and of Ms. Lynch's saga at nytimes.com/kristofresponds.)
The hospital staff also said that on the night of March 27, military officials prepared to kill Ms. Lynch by putting her in an ambulance and blowing it up with its occupants -- blaming the atrocity on the Americans. The ambulance drivers balked at that idea. Eventually, the plan was changed so that a military officer would shoot Ms. Lynch and burn the ambulance. So Sabah Khazal, an ambulance driver, loaded her in the vehicle and drove off with a military officer assigned to execute her.
''I asked him not to shoot Jessica,'' Mr. Khazal said, ''and he was afraid of God and didn't kill her.'' Instead, the executioner ran away and deserted the army, and Mr. Khazal said that he then thought about delivering Ms. Lynch to an American checkpoint. But there were firefights on the streets, so he returned to the hospital. (Ms. Lynch apparently never knew how close she had come to execution.)
By the morning of March 31, all of the Iraqi military at the hospital had fled. The hospital staff members said that they then told Ms. Lynch they would take her to the Americans the next day. That same night, the American special forces arrived.
''I met the Americans at the hospital entrance,'' said Dr. Hussein Salih, adding that Mr. Abdulrazak then led the Americans to Private Lynch. The staff members all said that there was no resistance, and that they welcomed the Americans.
Is this account the truth? I don't know, but every time I voiced skepticism, the doctors and staff all insisted: ''Go ask Jessica! She'll tell you.'' The U.S. military has refused to make Private Lynch available, although that may be out of respect for her privacy; in any case, she is said to have no memory of her capture.
My guess is that ''Saving Private Lynch'' was a complex tale vastly oversimplified by officials, partly because of genuine ambiguities and partly because they wanted a good story to build political support for the war -- a repetition of the exaggerations over W.M.D. We weren't quite lied to, but facts were subordinated to politics, and truth was treated as an endlessly stretchable fabric.
The Iraqis misused our prisoners for their propaganda purposes, and it hurts to find out that some American officials were misusing Private Lynch the same way.
E-mail: nicholas@nytimes.com
Saving Private Jessica - The New York Times
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Mind-Controlled Zombie Slaves - Uncle Sam Wants Your Brain
Uncle Sam Wants Your Brain
Drugs that make soldiers want to fight. Robots linked directly to their controllers’ brains. Lie-detecting scans administered to terrorist suspects as they cross U.S. borders.
These are just a few of the military uses imagined for cognitive science — and if it’s not yet certain whether the technologies will work, the military is certainly taking them very seriously.
"It’s way too early to know which — if any — of these technologies is going to be practical," said Jonathan Moreno, a Center for American Progress bioethicist and author of Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense. "But it’s important for us to get ahead of the curve. Soldiers are always on the cutting edge of new technologies."
Moreno is part of a National Research Council committee convened by the Department of Defense to evaluate the military potential of brain science. Their report, "Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies," was released today. It charts a range of cognitive technologies that are potentially powerful — and, perhaps, powerfully troubling.
Here are the report’s main areas of focus:
Mind reading. The development of psychological models and neurological imaging has made it possible to see what people are thinking and whether they’re lying. The science is, however, still in its infancy: Challenges remain in accounting for variations between individual brains, and the tendency of our brains to change over time. One important application is lie detection — though one hopes that the lesson of traditional lie detectors, predicated on the now-disproven idea that the physiological basis of lying can be separated from processes such as anxiety, has been learned.
Mind readers could be used to interrogate captured enemies, as well as"terrorist suspects" passing through customs. But does this mean, for example, that travelers placed on the bloated, mistake-laden watchlist would have their minds scanned, just as their computers will be? The report notes that "In situations where it is important to win the hearts and minds of the local populace, it would be useful to know if they understand the information being given them."
Cognitive enhancement. Arguably the most developed area of cognitive neuroscience, with drugs already allowing soldiers to stay awake and alert for days at a time, and brain-altering drugs in widespread use among civilians diagnosed with mental and behavioral problems.
Improved drug delivery systems and improved neurological understanding could make today’s drugs seem rudimentary, giving soldiers a superhuman strength and awareness — but if a drug can be designed to increase an ability, a drug can also be designed to destroy it.
"It’s also important to develop antidotes and protective agents against various classes of drugs," says the report. This echoes the motivation of much federal biodefense research, in which designing defenses against potential bioterror agents requires those agents to be made — and that raises the possibility of our own weapons being turned against us, as with the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, which used a military developed strain.
Mind control. Largely pharmaceutical, for the moment, and a natural outgrowth of cognitive enhancement approaches and mind-reading insight: If we can alter the brain, why not control it? One potential use involves making soldiers want to fight. Conversely,"How can we disrupt the enemy’s motivation to fight? [...] How can we make people trust us more? What if we could help the brain to remove fear or pain? Is there a way to make the enemy obey our commands?"
Brain-Machine Interfaces. The report focuses on direct brain-to-machine systems (rather than, for example, systems that are controlled by visual movements, which are already in limited use by paraplegics.) Among these are robotic prostheses that replace or extend body parts; cognitive and sensory prostheses, which make it possible to think and to perceive in entirely new ways; and robotic or software assistants, which would do the same thing, but from a distance.
Many questions surrounding the safety of current brain-machine interfaces: The union of metal and flesh only lasts so long before things break down. But assuming those can be overcome, questions of plasticity arise: What happens when a soldier leaves the service? How might their brains be reshaped by their experience?
Like Moreno said, it’s too early to say what will work. The report documents in great detail the practical obstacles to these aims — not least the failure of reductionist neuroscientific models, in which a few firing neurons can be easily mapped to a psychological state, and brains can be analyzed in one-map-fits-all fashion.
But given the rapid progress of cognitive science, it’s foolish to assume that obstacles won’t be overcome. Hugh Gusterson, a George Mason University anthropologist and critic of the military’s sponsorship of social science research, says their attempt to crack the cultural code is unlikely to work –"but my sense with neuroscience," he said, "is a far more realistic ambition."
Gusterson is deeply pessimistic about military neuroscience, which will not be limited to the United States.
"I think most reasonable people, if they imagine a world in which all sides have figured out how to control brains, they’d rather not go there," he said. "Most rational human beings would believe that if we could have a world where nobody does military neuroscience, we’ll all be better off. But for some people in the Pentagon, it’s too delicious to ignore."
Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies [National Academies Press]
Image: University of Western Florida
Note: The NRC committee is formally known as the Committee on Military and Intelligence Methodology for EmergentNeurophysiological and Cognitive/Neural Science Research in the NextTwo Decades. In the future, cognitive technologies will apparently obviate the need for snappy, easily-acronymed titles.
WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim’s Twitter and Del.icio.us feeds; Wired Science on Facebook.
Tags: Cognition, Human 2.0, Military
Drugs that make soldiers want to fight. Robots linked directly to their controllers’ brains. Lie-detecting scans administered to terrorist suspects as they cross U.S. borders.
These are just a few of the military uses imagined for cognitive science — and if it’s not yet certain whether the technologies will work, the military is certainly taking them very seriously.
"It’s way too early to know which — if any — of these technologies is going to be practical," said Jonathan Moreno, a Center for American Progress bioethicist and author of Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense. "But it’s important for us to get ahead of the curve. Soldiers are always on the cutting edge of new technologies."
Moreno is part of a National Research Council committee convened by the Department of Defense to evaluate the military potential of brain science. Their report, "Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies," was released today. It charts a range of cognitive technologies that are potentially powerful — and, perhaps, powerfully troubling.
Here are the report’s main areas of focus:
Mind reading. The development of psychological models and neurological imaging has made it possible to see what people are thinking and whether they’re lying. The science is, however, still in its infancy: Challenges remain in accounting for variations between individual brains, and the tendency of our brains to change over time. One important application is lie detection — though one hopes that the lesson of traditional lie detectors, predicated on the now-disproven idea that the physiological basis of lying can be separated from processes such as anxiety, has been learned.
Mind readers could be used to interrogate captured enemies, as well as"terrorist suspects" passing through customs. But does this mean, for example, that travelers placed on the bloated, mistake-laden watchlist would have their minds scanned, just as their computers will be? The report notes that "In situations where it is important to win the hearts and minds of the local populace, it would be useful to know if they understand the information being given them."
Cognitive enhancement. Arguably the most developed area of cognitive neuroscience, with drugs already allowing soldiers to stay awake and alert for days at a time, and brain-altering drugs in widespread use among civilians diagnosed with mental and behavioral problems.
Improved drug delivery systems and improved neurological understanding could make today’s drugs seem rudimentary, giving soldiers a superhuman strength and awareness — but if a drug can be designed to increase an ability, a drug can also be designed to destroy it.
"It’s also important to develop antidotes and protective agents against various classes of drugs," says the report. This echoes the motivation of much federal biodefense research, in which designing defenses against potential bioterror agents requires those agents to be made — and that raises the possibility of our own weapons being turned against us, as with the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, which used a military developed strain.
Mind control. Largely pharmaceutical, for the moment, and a natural outgrowth of cognitive enhancement approaches and mind-reading insight: If we can alter the brain, why not control it? One potential use involves making soldiers want to fight. Conversely,"How can we disrupt the enemy’s motivation to fight? [...] How can we make people trust us more? What if we could help the brain to remove fear or pain? Is there a way to make the enemy obey our commands?"
Brain-Machine Interfaces. The report focuses on direct brain-to-machine systems (rather than, for example, systems that are controlled by visual movements, which are already in limited use by paraplegics.) Among these are robotic prostheses that replace or extend body parts; cognitive and sensory prostheses, which make it possible to think and to perceive in entirely new ways; and robotic or software assistants, which would do the same thing, but from a distance.
Many questions surrounding the safety of current brain-machine interfaces: The union of metal and flesh only lasts so long before things break down. But assuming those can be overcome, questions of plasticity arise: What happens when a soldier leaves the service? How might their brains be reshaped by their experience?
Like Moreno said, it’s too early to say what will work. The report documents in great detail the practical obstacles to these aims — not least the failure of reductionist neuroscientific models, in which a few firing neurons can be easily mapped to a psychological state, and brains can be analyzed in one-map-fits-all fashion.
But given the rapid progress of cognitive science, it’s foolish to assume that obstacles won’t be overcome. Hugh Gusterson, a George Mason University anthropologist and critic of the military’s sponsorship of social science research, says their attempt to crack the cultural code is unlikely to work –"but my sense with neuroscience," he said, "is a far more realistic ambition."
Gusterson is deeply pessimistic about military neuroscience, which will not be limited to the United States.
"I think most reasonable people, if they imagine a world in which all sides have figured out how to control brains, they’d rather not go there," he said. "Most rational human beings would believe that if we could have a world where nobody does military neuroscience, we’ll all be better off. But for some people in the Pentagon, it’s too delicious to ignore."
Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies [National Academies Press]
Image: University of Western Florida
Note: The NRC committee is formally known as the Committee on Military and Intelligence Methodology for EmergentNeurophysiological and Cognitive/Neural Science Research in the NextTwo Decades. In the future, cognitive technologies will apparently obviate the need for snappy, easily-acronymed titles.
WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim’s Twitter and Del.icio.us feeds; Wired Science on Facebook.
Tags: Cognition, Human 2.0, Military
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Lawyer: FBI Paid Right-Wing Blogger Charged With Threats | Threat Level | Wired.com
A notorious New Jersey hate blogger charged in June with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers was secretly an FBI “agent provocateur” paid to disseminate right-wing rhetoric, his attorney said Wednesday.
Hal Turner, the blogger and radio personality, remains jailed pending charges over his recent online rants, which prosecutors claim amounted to an invitation for someone to kill Connecticut lawmakers and Chicago federal appeals court judges.
But behind the scenes the reformed white supremacist was holding clandestine meetings with FBI agents who taught him how to spew hate “without crossing the line,” according to his lawyer, Michael Orozco.
“Almost everything was at the behest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Orozco said in a 45-minute telephone interview from New Jersey. “Their job was to pick up information on the responses of what he was saying and see where that led them. It was an interesting dynamic on what he was being asked to do.”
“He’s a devoted American,” added the lawyer, who claims Turner was paid “tens of thousands of dollars” for his service.
Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman, said in a telephone interview the bureau’s policy is “to neither confirm nor deny whether an individual has an association with the FBI.”
Turner’s alleged 5-year-long bureau stint ended sometime in 2007, Orozco said, the year the mischievous online group, Anonymous, briefly shuttered his site — turnerradionetwork.blogspot.com — with a denial of service attack. At the time, hackers also posted what appeared to be private e-mails between Turner and the FBI.
The e-mails are legitimate, said Orozco. The FBI approached Turner, now 47, in 2002, and he spewed rhetoric about politics, white supremacy, immigration, abortion and other hot-button issues for years in exchange for government cash.
Turner was arrested in June at his apartment in suburban New Jersey.
According to court documents, (.pdf) after a three-judge panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals upheld a Chicago handgun ban, he blogged that the judges should be “killed.”
“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions,” he wrote.
A day later he posted addresses, photos, maps and other identifying information about Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, the authorities said. State charges are also pending in Hartford, Connecticut, where Turner is accused of inciting readers to “take up arms” against state lawmakers.
Though the alleged threats came after his FBI service ended, Orozco said Turner’s relationship with the FBI is relevant to his defense.
“It is not trivial that the very government that trained an individual where the line was is prosecuting him when he has not stepped over the line,” Orozco said.
In addition, he is banking (.pdf) on the First Amendment to save his client’s skin.
“It’s a protected political statement. He opined,” Orozco said. “He said they deserved to be killed. He did not say grab a gun and go out and do what is necessary.”
Lawyer: FBI Paid Right-Wing Blogger Charged With Threats | Threat Level | Wired.com
Hal Turner, the blogger and radio personality, remains jailed pending charges over his recent online rants, which prosecutors claim amounted to an invitation for someone to kill Connecticut lawmakers and Chicago federal appeals court judges.
But behind the scenes the reformed white supremacist was holding clandestine meetings with FBI agents who taught him how to spew hate “without crossing the line,” according to his lawyer, Michael Orozco.
“Almost everything was at the behest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Orozco said in a 45-minute telephone interview from New Jersey. “Their job was to pick up information on the responses of what he was saying and see where that led them. It was an interesting dynamic on what he was being asked to do.”
“He’s a devoted American,” added the lawyer, who claims Turner was paid “tens of thousands of dollars” for his service.
Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman, said in a telephone interview the bureau’s policy is “to neither confirm nor deny whether an individual has an association with the FBI.”
Turner’s alleged 5-year-long bureau stint ended sometime in 2007, Orozco said, the year the mischievous online group, Anonymous, briefly shuttered his site — turnerradionetwork.blogspot.com — with a denial of service attack. At the time, hackers also posted what appeared to be private e-mails between Turner and the FBI.
The e-mails are legitimate, said Orozco. The FBI approached Turner, now 47, in 2002, and he spewed rhetoric about politics, white supremacy, immigration, abortion and other hot-button issues for years in exchange for government cash.
Turner was arrested in June at his apartment in suburban New Jersey.
According to court documents, (.pdf) after a three-judge panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals upheld a Chicago handgun ban, he blogged that the judges should be “killed.”
“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions,” he wrote.
A day later he posted addresses, photos, maps and other identifying information about Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, the authorities said. State charges are also pending in Hartford, Connecticut, where Turner is accused of inciting readers to “take up arms” against state lawmakers.
Though the alleged threats came after his FBI service ended, Orozco said Turner’s relationship with the FBI is relevant to his defense.
“It is not trivial that the very government that trained an individual where the line was is prosecuting him when he has not stepped over the line,” Orozco said.
In addition, he is banking (.pdf) on the First Amendment to save his client’s skin.
“It’s a protected political statement. He opined,” Orozco said. “He said they deserved to be killed. He did not say grab a gun and go out and do what is necessary.”
Lawyer: FBI Paid Right-Wing Blogger Charged With Threats | Threat Level | Wired.com
Ambien Addiction
The Addiction That Began While Sleeping
It usually starts out as someone just wanting to get a good night’s sleep. Innocently enough, they start out trying warm milk or tea before heading to bed. Nothing works. So, they’re left with a choice: continue not getting rest, which can affect daily activities, or taking a pill that guarantees a night of quiet comfort and bliss. Yes, they go for the pill. The drug in question here is none other than Ambien.
Ambien or Zolpidem is a drug that can be obtained without prescription and is to be used at most, for two weeks, though a few days is recommended by doctors. The effects of the drug are immediate, putting one to sleep in approximately 15 minutes. So, what is considered abuse? Usually, using more than the recommended dose (over 10 mg), for a few weeks builds up the user’s tolerance, causing one to need to use more in order to get the same outcome. Like most drugs, when mixed with other substances, like alcohol, there is an intensified effect. When ambien abuse occurs, people may take it orally, crush and snort it, or cook it for an intravenous injection.
How do you get high off of something that supposed to put you to sleep?
The Ambien brand specifically has become very popular among recreational drug users. Users often report that they get high by fighting the effects of the drug. This is done by not allowing the body to sleep which can cause visual effects and an overall high. For some people though, resisting the sedative effects helps them to feel the side-effect of euphoria more than sedation. Some people report decreased anxiety as well as perceptual changes, auditory/visual distortions and even hallucinations.
The company that produced Ambien, has put a protective covering on the drug which is supposed to prevent the possibility of snorting, however, to a serious drug user this is not an obstacle.
What are the side-effects of Ambien?
Regardless of what dosage one is taking of the drug, there are possible side-effects. Some of them include the following:
• Hallucinations, through all physical senses, of varying intensity
• Delusions- A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness
• Euphoria and/or dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria)
• Impaired judgment and reasoning
• Uninhibited extroversion in social or interpersonal settings
• Increased impulsivity
• When stopped rebound insomnia may occur
• Ataxia or poor motor coordination, difficulty maintaining balance
• Decreased libido
• Increased appetite
• Anterograde amnesia- loss of memory for events immediately following a trauma; sometimes in effect for events during and for a long time following the trauma
Some people take this drug for the side-effects; however, it may be less common than use of benzodiazepine (Any of a group of chemical compounds with a common molecular structure and similar pharmacological effects, used as antianxiety agents, muscle relaxants, sedatives, hypnotics, and sometimes as anticonvulsants). Because of the cost associated with the drug, use of it may be lower in the United States than in other parts of the world where there are generic brands available. No studies have been conducted as of yet to tell whether cost and availability of the drug is correlated with increased abuse.
Like any drug, if taken for extended periods of time, Ambien dependence can occur. Under the influence of Ambien, it is common for people to take more than is actually necessary because they have forgotten prior usage. In this particular, the elderly population is at particular risk. There is of course, also the percentage of the population that takes more than the necessary dose. It is recommended that users, who have a tendency for abuse, give additional tablets to a friend for safe keeping. Another suggestion is placing the medication in a cupboard locked with a combination lock since the side-effects listed above may prevent an individual from operating such a lock while under the drugs influence.
It is possible that before a user becomes fully acclimated to these effects, their symptoms maybe strong enough to be labeled as a drug induced psychosis. Incidentally it is possible that antipsychotics, like Seroquel, may be prescribed in order to combat side effects and to aid in sleep. However, due to the hypnotic effects of both of these medications, it is probably better to combine Ambien with an anti-depressant which also has sedative effects. This is more likely to cancel out the side-effects of either drug, producing the desired result – relief from insomnia.
Users have reported sleepwalking and in some cases binge eating, driving, sleep talking, and performing other daily tasks have been reported during sleep. The user can sometimes perform these tasks as though they were fully awake. Conversations may be carried on and users may be able to respond as though they were fully awake. This is similar to the average sleep talker, the difference being that sleep talking is usually incoherent and has no relevance to the current situation. In the case of an Ambien user, speech can sound similar to that of an individual suffering from schizophrenia. A common symptom of schizophrenia is word salad, which is a jumble of incoherent speech.
An individual under the influence of Ambien may seem totally in control which can bring about concerns of their safety of the sleepwalker and others. Driving while under the drug's influence is generally considered several orders of magnitude more dangerous than the average drunk driver, due to the diminished motor controls and delusions that may affect the user. For all these reasons, proper treatment of Ambien abuse is necessary. Ambien abuse should be treated like any other type of substance abuse. The proper counseling needs to be obtained in order to stop a problem from becoming life threatening.
Rachel Hayon, BSN, MPH
Works Cited
1. Ambien.com (2004). AMBIEN® Prescribing Information. Information About a Short-term Treatment for Insomnia - Ambien.com Home Page for Health-care Professionals. Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc. New York, NY 10016. Retrieved on 2007-06-9.
2. Depoortere H., Zivkovic B., Lloyd K.G., Sanger D.J., Perrault G., Langer S.Z., Bartholini G. (1986). Zolpidem, a novel nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic. I. Neuropharmacological and behavioral effects. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 237:649-58.
3. Kang, Peter. "Ambien Patent Extension Seen Positive For Pfizer, Neurocrine", Forbes.com, 2006-04-10. Retrieved on 2007-9-06
4. S. Afr. Med. J. (January 2000). Extraordinary arousal from semi-comatose state on zolpidem. A case report. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Retrieved on
5. Schlich D., L'Heritier C., Coquelin J.P., Attali P., Kryrein H.J. (1991) Long-term treatment of insomnia with zolpidem: a multicentre general practitioner study of 107 patients. J. Int. Med. Res. 19:271-9.
6. Maarek L., Cramer P., Attali P., Coquelin J.P., Morselli P.L. (1992). The safety and efficacy of zolpidem in insomniac patients: a long-term open study in general practice. J. Int. Med. Res. 20:162-70.
7. Kummer J., Guendel L., Linden J., Eich F.X., Attali P., Coquelin J.P., Kyrein H.J. (1993). Long-term polysomnographic study of the efficacy and safety of zolpidem in elderly psychiatric in-patients with insomnia. J. Int. Med. Res. 21:171-84.
8. Caldwell J.A., Caldwell J.L. (2005). Fatigue in military aviation: an overview of US military-approved pharmacological countermeasures. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 76:C39-51.
9. Evidente, Virgilio Gerald H., Caviness, John N., and Adler, Charles H. (2003). Case Studies in Movement Disorders. Seminars in Neurology 23:277-284. Thieme Medical Publishers. 26 Jan 2004.
10. Pritchett DB, Seeburg PH. "Gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor alpha 5-subunit creates novel type II benzodiazepine receptor pharmacology." Journal of Neurochemistry. 1990 May;54(5):1802-4.
11. Wafford KA, Thompson SA, Thomas D, Sikela J, Wilcox AS, Whiting PJ. "Functional Characterization of Human Gamma-aminobutyric AcidA Receptors Containing the alpha4 Subunit." Molecular Pharmacology. 1996 50:670-678.
12. Perrais D, Ropert N. "Effect of zolpidem on miniature IPSCs and occupancy of postsynaptic GABAA receptors in central synapses." Journal of Neuroscience. 1999 Jan 15;19(2):
Ambien Addiction
It usually starts out as someone just wanting to get a good night’s sleep. Innocently enough, they start out trying warm milk or tea before heading to bed. Nothing works. So, they’re left with a choice: continue not getting rest, which can affect daily activities, or taking a pill that guarantees a night of quiet comfort and bliss. Yes, they go for the pill. The drug in question here is none other than Ambien.
Ambien or Zolpidem is a drug that can be obtained without prescription and is to be used at most, for two weeks, though a few days is recommended by doctors. The effects of the drug are immediate, putting one to sleep in approximately 15 minutes. So, what is considered abuse? Usually, using more than the recommended dose (over 10 mg), for a few weeks builds up the user’s tolerance, causing one to need to use more in order to get the same outcome. Like most drugs, when mixed with other substances, like alcohol, there is an intensified effect. When ambien abuse occurs, people may take it orally, crush and snort it, or cook it for an intravenous injection.
How do you get high off of something that supposed to put you to sleep?
The Ambien brand specifically has become very popular among recreational drug users. Users often report that they get high by fighting the effects of the drug. This is done by not allowing the body to sleep which can cause visual effects and an overall high. For some people though, resisting the sedative effects helps them to feel the side-effect of euphoria more than sedation. Some people report decreased anxiety as well as perceptual changes, auditory/visual distortions and even hallucinations.
The company that produced Ambien, has put a protective covering on the drug which is supposed to prevent the possibility of snorting, however, to a serious drug user this is not an obstacle.
What are the side-effects of Ambien?
Regardless of what dosage one is taking of the drug, there are possible side-effects. Some of them include the following:
• Hallucinations, through all physical senses, of varying intensity
• Delusions- A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness
• Euphoria and/or dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria)
• Impaired judgment and reasoning
• Uninhibited extroversion in social or interpersonal settings
• Increased impulsivity
• When stopped rebound insomnia may occur
• Ataxia or poor motor coordination, difficulty maintaining balance
• Decreased libido
• Increased appetite
• Anterograde amnesia- loss of memory for events immediately following a trauma; sometimes in effect for events during and for a long time following the trauma
Some people take this drug for the side-effects; however, it may be less common than use of benzodiazepine (Any of a group of chemical compounds with a common molecular structure and similar pharmacological effects, used as antianxiety agents, muscle relaxants, sedatives, hypnotics, and sometimes as anticonvulsants). Because of the cost associated with the drug, use of it may be lower in the United States than in other parts of the world where there are generic brands available. No studies have been conducted as of yet to tell whether cost and availability of the drug is correlated with increased abuse.
Like any drug, if taken for extended periods of time, Ambien dependence can occur. Under the influence of Ambien, it is common for people to take more than is actually necessary because they have forgotten prior usage. In this particular, the elderly population is at particular risk. There is of course, also the percentage of the population that takes more than the necessary dose. It is recommended that users, who have a tendency for abuse, give additional tablets to a friend for safe keeping. Another suggestion is placing the medication in a cupboard locked with a combination lock since the side-effects listed above may prevent an individual from operating such a lock while under the drugs influence.
It is possible that before a user becomes fully acclimated to these effects, their symptoms maybe strong enough to be labeled as a drug induced psychosis. Incidentally it is possible that antipsychotics, like Seroquel, may be prescribed in order to combat side effects and to aid in sleep. However, due to the hypnotic effects of both of these medications, it is probably better to combine Ambien with an anti-depressant which also has sedative effects. This is more likely to cancel out the side-effects of either drug, producing the desired result – relief from insomnia.
Users have reported sleepwalking and in some cases binge eating, driving, sleep talking, and performing other daily tasks have been reported during sleep. The user can sometimes perform these tasks as though they were fully awake. Conversations may be carried on and users may be able to respond as though they were fully awake. This is similar to the average sleep talker, the difference being that sleep talking is usually incoherent and has no relevance to the current situation. In the case of an Ambien user, speech can sound similar to that of an individual suffering from schizophrenia. A common symptom of schizophrenia is word salad, which is a jumble of incoherent speech.
An individual under the influence of Ambien may seem totally in control which can bring about concerns of their safety of the sleepwalker and others. Driving while under the drug's influence is generally considered several orders of magnitude more dangerous than the average drunk driver, due to the diminished motor controls and delusions that may affect the user. For all these reasons, proper treatment of Ambien abuse is necessary. Ambien abuse should be treated like any other type of substance abuse. The proper counseling needs to be obtained in order to stop a problem from becoming life threatening.
Rachel Hayon, BSN, MPH
Works Cited
1. Ambien.com (2004). AMBIEN® Prescribing Information. Information About a Short-term Treatment for Insomnia - Ambien.com Home Page for Health-care Professionals. Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc. New York, NY 10016. Retrieved on 2007-06-9.
2. Depoortere H., Zivkovic B., Lloyd K.G., Sanger D.J., Perrault G., Langer S.Z., Bartholini G. (1986). Zolpidem, a novel nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic. I. Neuropharmacological and behavioral effects. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 237:649-58.
3. Kang, Peter. "Ambien Patent Extension Seen Positive For Pfizer, Neurocrine", Forbes.com, 2006-04-10. Retrieved on 2007-9-06
4. S. Afr. Med. J. (January 2000). Extraordinary arousal from semi-comatose state on zolpidem. A case report. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Retrieved on
5. Schlich D., L'Heritier C., Coquelin J.P., Attali P., Kryrein H.J. (1991) Long-term treatment of insomnia with zolpidem: a multicentre general practitioner study of 107 patients. J. Int. Med. Res. 19:271-9.
6. Maarek L., Cramer P., Attali P., Coquelin J.P., Morselli P.L. (1992). The safety and efficacy of zolpidem in insomniac patients: a long-term open study in general practice. J. Int. Med. Res. 20:162-70.
7. Kummer J., Guendel L., Linden J., Eich F.X., Attali P., Coquelin J.P., Kyrein H.J. (1993). Long-term polysomnographic study of the efficacy and safety of zolpidem in elderly psychiatric in-patients with insomnia. J. Int. Med. Res. 21:171-84.
8. Caldwell J.A., Caldwell J.L. (2005). Fatigue in military aviation: an overview of US military-approved pharmacological countermeasures. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 76:C39-51.
9. Evidente, Virgilio Gerald H., Caviness, John N., and Adler, Charles H. (2003). Case Studies in Movement Disorders. Seminars in Neurology 23:277-284. Thieme Medical Publishers. 26 Jan 2004.
10. Pritchett DB, Seeburg PH. "Gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor alpha 5-subunit creates novel type II benzodiazepine receptor pharmacology." Journal of Neurochemistry. 1990 May;54(5):1802-4.
11. Wafford KA, Thompson SA, Thomas D, Sikela J, Wilcox AS, Whiting PJ. "Functional Characterization of Human Gamma-aminobutyric AcidA Receptors Containing the alpha4 Subunit." Molecular Pharmacology. 1996 50:670-678.
12. Perrais D, Ropert N. "Effect of zolpidem on miniature IPSCs and occupancy of postsynaptic GABAA receptors in central synapses." Journal of Neuroscience. 1999 Jan 15;19(2):
Ambien Addiction
FOCUS | July 14, 2006 | PSYCHOBIOLOGY: Molecular Action of Popular Antianxiety Drugs Probed
Research Seeks to Separate Basis of Benefits from that of Addiction and Other Side Effects
Popular drugs prescribed to ease debilitating anxiety in people and to restore a good night’s sleep gave monkeys a serious case of the munchies, report researchers at the New England Primate Research Center.
The study may help explain the longstanding complaint of weight gain in patients who take the drugs. It also supports experimental evidence of increased food consumption in other animals and primates given the same drugs.
FOCUS | July 14, 2006 | PSYCHOBIOLOGY: Molecular Action of Popular Antianxiety Drugs Probed
Popular drugs prescribed to ease debilitating anxiety in people and to restore a good night’s sleep gave monkeys a serious case of the munchies, report researchers at the New England Primate Research Center.
The study may help explain the longstanding complaint of weight gain in patients who take the drugs. It also supports experimental evidence of increased food consumption in other animals and primates given the same drugs.
FOCUS | July 14, 2006 | PSYCHOBIOLOGY: Molecular Action of Popular Antianxiety Drugs Probed
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets ‘Scary’ Legal Precedent
By Kim Zetter, Wired Magazine, May 15, 2008
In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are resorting to a novel and dangerous interpretation of a decades-old computer crime law — potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms of service of any website, experts say.
Lori Drew is charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act"This is a novel and extreme reading of what [the law] prohibits," says Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "To say that you’re violating a criminal law by registering to speak under a false name is highly problematic. It’s probably an unconstitutional reading of the statute."
Lori Drew, of O’Fallon, Missouri, is charged (.pdf) with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in a case involving cyberbullying through a fake MySpace profile.
Drew is one of three people who helped set up and maintain a phony MySpace account in 2006 under the identity of a nonexistent 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. The Evans account was used to flirt with and befriend 13-year-old Megan Meier, who’d had a falling-out with Drew’s daughter.
The fake "Josh" ultimately turned on Meier and told the girl that the world would be a better place without her. Meier already suffered from clinical depression, and shortly after that final message she hanged herself in her bedroom.
A nationwide community backlash ensued, after a news story published last year revealed Drew’s role in the cyberbullying, and pressure was placed on Missouri authorities to charge Drew with a crime. But after investigating the incident, local prosecutors concluded last December that they could find no law under which to charge Drew.
That’s when federal prosecutors began working to build a case — a difficult task, given that there is no federal law against cyberbullying. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles unveiled its solution by charging Drew with "unauthorized access" to MySpace’s computers, for allegedly violating the site’s terms of service.
MySpace’s user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker.
That sets a potentially troubling precedent, given that terms-of-service agreements sometimes contain onerous provisions, and are rarely read by users.
"Empowering terms of use to be key pieces of evidence in criminal matters — when terms of use are generally thought of by the people who are entering into them as purely contract or civil matters — is something that should be done carefully," says Andrea Matwyshyn, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business
School. "I think you’re going to have strong disagreement as to whether this is an advisable course to take."
In a statement, MySpace says it supports the prosecution.
"MySpace does not tolerate cyberbullying and is cooperating fully with the U.S. attorney in this matter," a company spokeswoman said. The company declined to say what the precedent would mean for otherwise innocent users who, for example, misstate their age or ZIP code when setting up their MySpace profiles.
"Theoretically, it applies to any use of a service in violation of the terms of service," says EFF’s Granick, who says the impact of the Drew prosecution could be far-reaching.
By way of example, Granick notes that some terms-of-use contracts prohibit users from making negative comments about the company. "If you write on a blog something disparaging about that company, are you in violation of criminal law?"
Other contracts have prohibited visitors to a website from linking to that site.
Matwyshyn says the Drew case is an especially creative use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, given that the aggrieved party in this case is not really MySpace, the putative victim, but Meier.
The case is being prosecuted only because there is so much pressure to see justice done in the Meier tragedy, but existing law doesn’t provide an immediate solution, she says.
Matwyshyn says she understands the impulse, but is concerned that if successfully prosecuted the case could set a bad precedent for turning breach-of-contract civil cases into criminal ones.
"Terms of use have been progressively getting more Draconian and restrictive," she notes. "So as these provisions get drafted and users agree to them, we may find ourselves in a situation where a company that drafts one may try to leverage this kind of case law to take a breach-of-contract action and turn it into a computer-intrusion [case]."
Granick agrees. "The real problem is that something tragic happened, but the harm that occurred doesn’t have anything to do with the way they’ve charged the offense," she says.
"Normally you charge tax evasion because someone didn’t pay taxes," says Granick. "Or you charge a computer intrusion because someone broke into a computer…. By overreaching legally the indictment makes some very extreme leaps."
When asked if this is the kind of case Granick would want to litigate, she said, "If [Drew] calls me I’d be very interested in talking with her about this case. I think there is such an extreme reading here, and I do think it’s dangerously flawed for other cases. I think it’s scary and it’s wrong and something should be done about it."
Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets ‘Scary’ Legal Precedent
In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are resorting to a novel and dangerous interpretation of a decades-old computer crime law — potentially making a felon out of anybody who violates the terms of service of any website, experts say.
Lori Drew is charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act"This is a novel and extreme reading of what [the law] prohibits," says Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "To say that you’re violating a criminal law by registering to speak under a false name is highly problematic. It’s probably an unconstitutional reading of the statute."
Lori Drew, of O’Fallon, Missouri, is charged (.pdf) with one count of conspiracy and three violations of the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in a case involving cyberbullying through a fake MySpace profile.
Drew is one of three people who helped set up and maintain a phony MySpace account in 2006 under the identity of a nonexistent 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. The Evans account was used to flirt with and befriend 13-year-old Megan Meier, who’d had a falling-out with Drew’s daughter.
The fake "Josh" ultimately turned on Meier and told the girl that the world would be a better place without her. Meier already suffered from clinical depression, and shortly after that final message she hanged herself in her bedroom.
A nationwide community backlash ensued, after a news story published last year revealed Drew’s role in the cyberbullying, and pressure was placed on Missouri authorities to charge Drew with a crime. But after investigating the incident, local prosecutors concluded last December that they could find no law under which to charge Drew.
That’s when federal prosecutors began working to build a case — a difficult task, given that there is no federal law against cyberbullying. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles unveiled its solution by charging Drew with "unauthorized access" to MySpace’s computers, for allegedly violating the site’s terms of service.
MySpace’s user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker.
That sets a potentially troubling precedent, given that terms-of-service agreements sometimes contain onerous provisions, and are rarely read by users.
"Empowering terms of use to be key pieces of evidence in criminal matters — when terms of use are generally thought of by the people who are entering into them as purely contract or civil matters — is something that should be done carefully," says Andrea Matwyshyn, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business
School. "I think you’re going to have strong disagreement as to whether this is an advisable course to take."
In a statement, MySpace says it supports the prosecution.
"MySpace does not tolerate cyberbullying and is cooperating fully with the U.S. attorney in this matter," a company spokeswoman said. The company declined to say what the precedent would mean for otherwise innocent users who, for example, misstate their age or ZIP code when setting up their MySpace profiles.
"Theoretically, it applies to any use of a service in violation of the terms of service," says EFF’s Granick, who says the impact of the Drew prosecution could be far-reaching.
By way of example, Granick notes that some terms-of-use contracts prohibit users from making negative comments about the company. "If you write on a blog something disparaging about that company, are you in violation of criminal law?"
Other contracts have prohibited visitors to a website from linking to that site.
Matwyshyn says the Drew case is an especially creative use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, given that the aggrieved party in this case is not really MySpace, the putative victim, but Meier.
The case is being prosecuted only because there is so much pressure to see justice done in the Meier tragedy, but existing law doesn’t provide an immediate solution, she says.
Matwyshyn says she understands the impulse, but is concerned that if successfully prosecuted the case could set a bad precedent for turning breach-of-contract civil cases into criminal ones.
"Terms of use have been progressively getting more Draconian and restrictive," she notes. "So as these provisions get drafted and users agree to them, we may find ourselves in a situation where a company that drafts one may try to leverage this kind of case law to take a breach-of-contract action and turn it into a computer-intrusion [case]."
Granick agrees. "The real problem is that something tragic happened, but the harm that occurred doesn’t have anything to do with the way they’ve charged the offense," she says.
"Normally you charge tax evasion because someone didn’t pay taxes," says Granick. "Or you charge a computer intrusion because someone broke into a computer…. By overreaching legally the indictment makes some very extreme leaps."
When asked if this is the kind of case Granick would want to litigate, she said, "If [Drew] calls me I’d be very interested in talking with her about this case. I think there is such an extreme reading here, and I do think it’s dangerously flawed for other cases. I think it’s scary and it’s wrong and something should be done about it."
Experts Say MySpace Suicide Indictment Sets ‘Scary’ Legal Precedent
EFF Posts ‘Terms of Service’ Tracker | Threat Level | Wired.com
By David Kravets June 4, 2009
The Electronic Frontier Foundation released Thursday a so-called “terms of service” tracker instantly chronicling changes to how some of the biggest names in the internet “interact with you and use your personal information.”
The TOSBack.org site was, in part, an outgrowth of Facebook’s change in its service agreement in February that seemingly allowed the company to use its members’ content forever. Facebook changed its terms after an internet revolution of sorts.
The new tracker, chronicling 44 internet companies, shows terms of service agreements side by side with older and new versions, and highlights what is new.
The companies include Facebook, Google,Wordpress, Data.gov, YouTube, Apple, GoDaddy and, among others, eBay.
EFF Posts ‘Terms of Service’ Tracker | Threat Level | Wired.com
The Electronic Frontier Foundation released Thursday a so-called “terms of service” tracker instantly chronicling changes to how some of the biggest names in the internet “interact with you and use your personal information.”
The TOSBack.org site was, in part, an outgrowth of Facebook’s change in its service agreement in February that seemingly allowed the company to use its members’ content forever. Facebook changed its terms after an internet revolution of sorts.
The new tracker, chronicling 44 internet companies, shows terms of service agreements side by side with older and new versions, and highlights what is new.
The companies include Facebook, Google,Wordpress, Data.gov, YouTube, Apple, GoDaddy and, among others, eBay.
EFF Posts ‘Terms of Service’ Tracker | Threat Level | Wired.com
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