"Addiction is a disease."

Jamie Drake of the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, recently said that her office has seen cases of addiction skyrocket over the last few years, mainly from prescription drug abuse, opioid abuse and heroin.To help understand the seriousness of the drug problem that is creeping into the county, Drake outlined a few items that can be purchased in the area that look like an everyday household object, but double as drug paraphernalia; as well as popular products today that aren't obvious drugs but can still be purchased and used to get high.Drake pulled out a permanent marker and a pen, which to the untrained eye, look like a marker and pen, but in reality are pipes that can be used to smoke drugs.The following products that can be used to get high have been popping up in the region over the last few years:• Bath salts: Many have been banned, but there are some new combinations that have been released that do not contained the banned substances but are still as harmful if ingested.• Zan-X: anti-anxiety relaxation pills• Dust off: canned air• Love Roses: These small glass tubes that contain a paper rose are typically used as crack pipes.• K-2: synthetic marijuana that was marketed as an incense.• Mellow Munchies: Brownies laced with Melatonin.• 2C-I (Smiles): Combination of Ecstasy, LSD and chocolate. When eaten it causes a speedy charge, as well as intense visual and aural hallucinations that last anywhere from hours to days.• Gravel: A combination of bath salts, methamphetamine and rat poison that is either snorted, smoked or injected. It causes sores at injection sites, has increased risk of hallucinations and people taking this substance will likely be hospitalized but staff will not know how to properly treat the symptoms.• Molly: The pure form of Ecstasy that became popular in the mainstream like music festivals and parties in the mid-2000s.• Purple Drank: A mixture of cough syrup, Sprite and Jolly Ranchers.• Jimson Weed: A wild plant that also has hallucinogenic properties when ingested. The effects of this weed takes up to an hour to appear so people typically consume large quantities, which can lead to seizures, coma or death.Drake said that help is available anytime through the Carbon-Monroe-Pike D&A. The toll-free number is 866-824-3578.For more information, call the Carbon County office at 610-377-5177.