Owasso Teen Arrested For New Teenage Drug Of Choice

Posted: Feb 18, 2010 1:13 PM PST   

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

OWASSO, OK -- Police say parents have cause to beware of a new teenage drug of choice.  Owasso police officers arrested 18-year-old Christian Ream, Friday, February 12th in connection to the drug.

He's accused of giving "Triple-C" to minors.

"Triple-C" is actually over the counter cough medicine called Coricidin cough and cold pills.

The police report says Ream admitted buying and giving the pills to four juveniles and watched as each of them took a box of 16 pills.

It says officers learned of the incident after parents of a 14-year-old Owasso girl contacted them after she was admitted to a hospital on February 11th because of a drug overdose. They told police she had taken an extreme quantity of Coricidin cough and cold pills.

These aren't the only cases, according to the report.

It says Ream told police that on February 9th he watched two girls ingest large doses of the medicine and begin "tripping."

The report also mentions two other juveniles who were being checked by medics after saying they'd each taken 24 Coricidin tablets.

 DRUG SLANG FOR TEENS

                              Here's what you need to know about teens and drugs today:

Cold Medicine Abuse

Dextromethorphan (DXM): This is a drug contained in
over-the-counter cough suppressants. After 900 milligrams, it becomes a hallucinogen. Synonyms for DXM include Candy, Dex, DM, Drex, Red Devils, Robo, Rojo, Skittles, Tussin, Velvet, Poor Man's X, and Vitamin D. "Tussin is a very popular name that’s has been catching on lately," says Pollock.


"Cold medicine abuse is a very serious problem, from what I have seen, because it is so available.


Syrup heads: Users of DXM

Dexing: Abusing cough syrup. Synonyms include robotripping or robodosing because users tend to chug Robitussin or another cough syrup to get high.

Triple C: This stands for Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold. "The triple C or CCC is something that we are seeing a lot of, and that is specific to Coricidin, but anything with DXM is abused today," adds Kevin M. Gray, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.


More Teen Drug Use Terms

Special K: A medication used as an anesthetic in humans and animals, ketamine is sometimes abused as a "club drug." It can cause hallucinations and euphoria in higher doses. Synonyms include vitamin K, breakfast cereal, cat valium, horse tranquilizer, K, Ket, new ecstasy, psychedelic heroin, and super acid.

Crank: The stimulant methamphetamine. Synonyms include meth, speed, chalk, white cross, fire, and glass. "Crystal methamphetamine is called ice," says Cleveland Clinic's Pollock. "Crystal meth is smoked, but meth can be injected, snorted, or taken as a pill," he explains.


Antifreeze: Heroin. Synonyms include Big H, brown sugar, dope, golden girls, H, horse, junk, poison, skag, smack, sweet dreams, tar, and train, according to the web site of Phoenix House, a national alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention facility.

Crunk: This is a verb that means to get high and drunk at the same time.

Snow: Cocaine. Synonyms include Charlie, crack, coke, dust, flake, freebase, lady, nose candy, powder, rock, rails, snowbirds, toot, white, and yahoo, according to Phoenix House. "After all this time, alcohol and pot are still the most used drugs by teens, but cocaine is really a strong third, especially with females, because of the weight issue," says Janice Styer, MSW, a clinical coordinator-addictions counselor at Caron Treatment Center in Wernersville, Pa. "The drug of choice among women with eating disorders is almost invariably cocaine." A stimulant, cocaine can decrease appetite.

X: Ecstasy or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Synonyms include Adam, E, bean, clarity, essence, lovers speed, MDMA, roll, stacy, XTC, according to the Phoenix House.

Georgia Home Boy: This refers to Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a central nervous system depressant can produce euphoric, sedative, and body-building effects. Other synonyms include Gamma-OH, Grievous Bodily Harm, Liquid Ecstasy, Liquid E, Liquid X, Organic Quaalude, and Scoop, according to Phoenix House.

Roofies: This refers to rohypnol, a.k.a. the date rape drug. Synonyms include the forget pill, La Rocha, Mexican valium, R-2, rib, roachies, roofenol, rophies, roche (pronounced roe-shay), and rope.

Kibbles and bits: The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug called Ritalin. It is sometimes also referred to as pineapple, says Pollock.



Teens and Drugs on the Web

Cheese: This is a hazardous mix of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM or other medicines containing diphenhydramine). It looks like grated parmesan cheese -- thus the name. There were more than 20 teen deaths in Dallas and surrounding neighborhoods that have been attributed to Cheese since it was identified in 2005.


Candy flipping: This term refers to a high that’s achieved by combining LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) or acid with ecstasy. "The new thing, especially with kids on the Internet, is which drugs are best and safest to combine," explains Styer.



A new study by the Caron Treatment Centers found that one in 10 messages on the Internet involved teens seeking advice from their peers on how to take illicit drugs.


The messages were posted on common online message boards, forums, and social network sites such as MySpace. com.

The new drug - Salvia

                         Also known as "Magic Mint"  -  "Ska Maria Pastora"  -  "Sally D"

This drug is smoked like Marijuana - most common is with a pipe

 Salvia (Salvia divinorum) is an herb common to southern Mexico and Central and South America. The main active ingredient in Salvia, salvinorin A, is a potent activator of kappa opioid receptors in the brain.^1,2 These receptors differ from those activated by the more commonly known opioids, such as heroin and morphine.

Traditionally, S. divinorum has been ingested by chewing fresh leaves or by drinking their extracted juices. The dried leaves of S. divinorum can also be smoked as a joint, consumed in water pipes, or vaporized and inhaled. Although Salvia currently is not a drug regulated by the Controlled Substances Act, several States and countries have passed legislation to regulate its use.³ The Drug Enforcement Agency has listed Salvia as a drug of concern and is considering classifying it as a Schedule I drug, like LSD or marijuana.

Health/Behavioral Effects

People who abuse Salvia generally experience hallucinations or delusional episodes that mimic psychosis.^4,5 Subjective effects have been described as intense but short-lived; they appear in less than 1 minute and last less than 30 minutes. Effects include psychedelic-like changes in visual perception, mood, and body sensations; emotional swings; feelings of detachment; and importantly, a highly modified perception of external reality and the self, which leads to a decreased ability to interact with one's surroundings.⁵ This last effect has prompted concern about the dangers of driving under the influence of salvinorin. The long-term effects of Salvia abuse have not been investigated systematically.

Extent of Use

There are no available estimates of Salvia abuse, but a recent increase in Salvia-related media reports and Internet traffic suggest the possibility of an increase in the level of Salvia abuse in the United States and Europe.⁴ Although information about the user population is limited, users appear to be mostly younger adults and adolescents who are influenced by promotions of the drug on Internet sites.³ Rather than being used as a party drug, Salvia seems to appeal to individual experimentalists.⁵

Ecstasy Now Being Mixed With Meth

(Feb. 19) - Nick, 16, says ecstasy is rampant in his high school, with kids often mixing the drug with meth and other substances.

More than half of all ecstasy seized in the United States last year was laced with meth, authorities say.
"You just have to know the right person. It's about as easy as any other drug. You just gotta ask for it," says Nick, who asked that his last name not be used. "It's easy to get."

Law enforcement officials say stories like these highlight a disturbing trend they're seeing across the country. Most alarming, they say, is not only is ecstasy back after years of decline, but most of the time it's laced with meth.

More than 55 percent of the ecstasy samples seized in the United States last year contained meth, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, compared with 44.5 percent the previous year. And the drugs are coming in at rapid pace from Canada. Video Watch ecstasy's pipeline into U.S.

Almost 5.5 million pills of ecstasy were seized in the states bordering Canada in 2006 (the most recent year for which full statistics are available) -- an almost tenfold increase since 2003, top drug enforcement officials say.

"They drive them in. They bring them in by boat. They bring them in by plane. They bring them across by people just carrying them across their back much like the southwest border," says Ed Duffy, an assistant special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration's northern region.

Because meth is less expensive than ecstasy, mixing the two saves producers money, but it also makes it more dangerous, officials say.

Ecstasy can cause sharp increases in body temperature and can result in liver, kidney or heart damage. When laced with meth, officials say, the combination can cause more severe harm because meth can damage brain functions, as well as lead to an increase in breathing, irregular heartbeats and increased blood pressure. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says meth -- or methamphetamine -- is a "very addictive stimulant drug."

Law enforcement officials say European countries cracked down on ecstasy production in the early 2000s and manufacturing moved to Canada. And now, Asian gangs in Canada have been smuggling the chemicals needed to make ecstasy from China and India, officials with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police tell CNN.

Finished pills are then pushed in vast quantities into the United States, a flow that's difficult to stop because of the vast, largely unpoliced border, officials say.

Those on the front lines in Canada and the United States say they are working closely and sharing intelligence to try to stem the flow. Canadian officials also say they have a good relationship with Chinese law enforcement.

The Mounties have created teams across Canada focused on identifying the criminal organizations producing ecstasy and meth and say they have shut down 17 labs in the past year.

"The labs that we're finding now are what you refer to in the United States as super labs. We call them economic-based labs," says Raf Souccar, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Each lab produces more than 10 pounds of ecstasy in one batch, he says. "It's not your mom and pop operation. It tells me that it is criminal organizations that are, yes, more sophisticated and producing it for profit as opposed to producing it to fuel their habit."

It's then finding its way into schools, like Nick's in Albany, New York.

"I have been seeing an increase in pill use among the teens in general," says Greg Reid, a counselor at Equinox Community Services Agency, which sponsors drug counseling and other activities for youth in Albany.

"They do something called 'pharming' where they throw a bunch of pills into a bowl and kind of choose or take out the pills they want."

Ecstasy pills are often among the drugs of choice in the bowl.

"I have seen that increase in the past two years," Reid says. "Ecstasy ... can be very dangerous, especially if you don't know what it is getting mixed with."

Ecstasy “Did You Know”

 For Parents

 1) Teen experimentation with Ecstasy has increased by 71 percent in the last three years.   (Source: PDFA)

 2) More teens in America have now experimented with Ecstasy than Cocaine, Crack or Heroin.   (Source: PDFA)

 3) Close to three million teenagers in America have tried Ecstasy.  (Source: PDFA)

 4) Ecstasy tablets come with as many as 150 different dye stamps designed to attract teenagers just like yours.  (Source DEA)

 5) Emergency room episodes involving Ecstasy tripled between 1998 and 2000. (Source: DAWN)

 6) Research links Ecstasy use to long-term damage to parts of the brain critical to thought and memory.  (Source: NIDA)

 7) Some 80 percent of the Ecstasy in the U.S. is made in the Netherlands for as little as 50 cents a tablet, while a single hit of “X” sells for $10.00 - $40.00 in America. (Source: DEA)

 8) Many teens view Ecstasy as less harmful than Cocaine, Crack, Heroin or LSD. (Source: PDFA)

 9) Ecstasy use is particularly easy to hide from a parent because it requires no paraphernalia and emits no smell.  (Source: PDFA)

 10) The demand for Ecstasy is escalating? In 1998, Government officials seized 750,000 Ecstasy tablets. Last year, that figure jumped to 9.3 million. (Source: DEA)

 11) Ecstasy use can cause confusion, depression, dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, panic attacks, paranoia, severe anxiety and vomiting. (Source: NIDA)

 12) Child like costumes such as angel wings, glow sticks, glowing jewelry, children’s backpacks, teddy bears/children’s toys and pacifiers are highly associated with teens who use Ecstasy. (Source: DEA)

 For more information, call 1-866-XTC-FACTS or logon to: www.drugfreeamerica.org

Released January 3, 2007

CANADIAN-MADE, METH-LACED ECSTASY BEING DUMPED INTO U.S. ILLEGAL DRUG MARKETS

Is A Once-Waning Fad Making A Comeback In A Dangerous New Form?

(Washington, D.C.)—The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is warning public health and safety leaders across the country about a dangerous new drug threat coming from Canada. Ecstasy laced with methamphetamine (meth) has been entering the United States illegal drug markets, particularly in northern border states. Intelligence reports indicate that once smuggled into the U.S., the meth-laced Ecstasy is then being distributed throughout the country.

The dangerous poly-drug combination of methamphetamine and Ecstasy can have severe health consequences, especially as both drugs have toxic effects on the brain. They both can interfere with the body's ability to regulate temperature, leading to sharp increases in body temperature (hyperthermia), which can result in liver, kidney, and cardiovascular system failure and death. The potential for a life-threatening or fatal overdose is also increased when meth-laced Ecstasy is combined with alcohol. Recent laboratory research suggests that Ecstasy and meth combinations may produce greater adverse neurochemical and behavioral effects than either drug alone.

John Walters, the Nation's “Drug Czar,” said, “This ‘Extreme Ecstasy' is a disturbing development in what has been one of the most significant international achievements against the illicit drug trade. Historic progress against Ecstasy availability and use is in jeopardy of being rolled back by Canadian criminal organizations. Desperate to develop their client base, they are dangerously altering a product for which demand by youth and young adults had plummeted, and are exploiting vulnerabilities along our shared border. This is alarming for the youth of both Canada and the United States.”

Ecstasy use in the United States rose in the late 1990s with the rise of the ‘Rave' culture, however due to the well-coordinated national and international response - Ecstasy use in the U.S. diminished in the early 2000s. In fact, the U.S. witnessed a 54 percent reduction since 2001 in the number of United States teens using Ecstasy in the past month, however recent data show progress against the drug has ebbed. The number of people in the U.S. who reported that they tried Ecstasy for the first time during the past year increased 40 percent between 2005 and 2006 – from 615,000 to 860,000. One-third of these new users in 2006 were under age 18 when they started using Ecstasy.

And while still lower than its peak in 2002, past-month Ecstasy use has been increasing over the last two years among young adults aged 18-25. An estimated 326,000 young adults reported past-month Ecstasy use in 2006, compared to 231,000 in 2004. These increases coincide with increased trafficking of Ecstasy from Canada. Additionally, the latest Monitoring the Future Study, which tracks teen attitudes and behavior with respect to drug use, found decreases in the perception of risk of taking Ecstasy occasionally among 8 th and 10 th graders (-7% and -4%, respectively). After years of increased perception of risk for Ecstasy use, today's young people are not getting the message that Ecstasy use is dangerous and potentially deadly.

Prior to 2003, Europe (primarily The Netherlands and Belgium) was the predominant source of Ecstasy consumed in the United States. Increased cooperation among U.S. and European governments, combined with improved law enforcement operations and mass media reports, effectively dismantled the European–U.S. Ecstasy trade. However, U.S. and Canadian intelligence reports indicate that Canada-based drug trafficking organizations are attempting to fill the supply void, and have drastically increased their Ecstasy production and trafficking.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) estimates that the current combined production capacity of Canadian Ecstasy laboratories exceeds 2 million tablets per week. Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies along the U.S.–Canada border report large increases in the flow of Ecstasy from Canada into the United States. In 2003, 568,220 dosage units of Ecstasy were seized federally in the ten Northern border states; in 2006, 5,485,619 dosage units were seized.

Alarmingly, more than 55 percent of the Ecstasy samples seized in the United States last year contained methamphetamine. Cutting their product with less-expensive methamphetamine boosts profits for Canadian Ecstasy producers, likely increases the addictive potential of their product, and effectively gives a dangerous “face lift” to a designer drug that had fallen out of fashion with young American drug users.

Federal law enforcement officers are working with the RCMP to put greater pressure on Canadian Ecstasy producers through increased intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement operations, and RCMP officials are focusing their efforts on the importation of precursor chemicals used in drug production. In the meantime, Director Walters is urging State and local public health officials to reinvigorate their prevention efforts, to enhance educational outreach to youth, parents, school systems, emergency departments, medical examiners, poison control centers, and law enforcement agencies regarding the hazards of Ecstasy and methamphetamine, to shore up treatment systems to look for and address the unique and well known challenges of meth addiction.

“We cannot allow our young people to once again be victimized by the ‘Rave' culture, ‘designer' drugs, or the myth that drug use is safe,” said Director Walters. “We cannot afford to be complacent with the progress made against Ecstasy since 2001. Just as we must teach new generations of children to read, we must continue to educate new generations of young people on the harms of drug use.”

Released April 29, 2007

Collapse Of Teenage Clubber Highlights Dangers Of New Drug

ScienceDaily

 The collapse of a teenage clubber after taking a tablet containing 1-benzylpiperazine has highlighted the dangers of this new drug of abuse which many doctors are unfamiliar with, details a Case Report in the Lancet.

It was during a weekend in May 2006 that an 18-year-old girl was rushed to the emergency department of a London (UK) hospital, having collapsed in a nightclub after taking tablets she had bought from a drug dealer.

The girl was one of seven patients admitted to the department with similar symptoms (high blood pressure, Glasgow Coma rating of 15 and low body temperature of 35.9 degrees Celsius), and analysis of her blood and a subsequently seized tablet both revealed presence of 1-benzylpiperazine. Dr David Wood, Department of Clinical Toxicology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and colleagues, investigated the case and authored this Case Report.

The girl was treated with intravenous lorazepam and diazepam for her agitation, and was discharged after 12 hours with a warning to avoid recreational drugs.

Piperazines were developed as veterinary anthelmintic (worm removing) agents in the 1950s, and have chemical structures similar to amphetamine (also spelt amfetamine). They are marketed in the UK as the legal alternative to other recreational drugs such as ecstacy, and are available in shops and online.

The manufacturers of these drugs claim that 20 million pills containing piperazines have been consumed in New Zealand with no deaths or significant long term injuries. But these claims have been met with scepticism, since a prospective study in New Zealand revealed 80 cases of patients presenting at emergency departments with symptoms similar to those from taking amphetamines, such as nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, anxiety and agitation. Seizures were reported in 15 of these cases after eight hours, with three patients experiencing potentially life threatening repeated seizures.

The authors conclude: “Clinicians should be aware of the potential presenting features of piperazine toxicity, particularly because commercially available urine toxicological screen kits for drugs of abuse may not detect piperazines.”

In an accompanying comment, Dr Roland Staack, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ludwig Maximillian’s University, Munich, Germany, says that Piperazines and amphetamines are similarly marketed, consumed by the same population and show similar pharmacological symptoms.

He says: “Wood and colleagues case report is an excellent example to raise clinicians’ awareness of new drugs of abuse and substantiates the importance of a sound toxicological analysis for a correct clinical diagnosis.”

Adapted from materials provided by The Lancet.

Released November 16, 2001

Combining Energy Drinks With Alcohol Potentially Dangerous

ScienceDaily

The newest rage among college students and teens is mixing energy drinks with alcohol, a potentially dangerous combination, says a Ball State University researcher.

Mixing powerful stimulants contained in some energy drinks with depressants in alcohol could cause cardiopulmonary or cardiovascular failures, said David Pearson, a researcher in the Human Performance Laboratory.

"It is scary to think that these energy drinks are being used as a mixer with vodka and whiskey," he said. "You are just overloading the body with heavy stimulants and heavy depressants."

Pearson, coordinator of exercise science programs, is the author of "Ask Dr. Dave," a column for MH-18 magazine and MH-18.com, its online version. The publications are a spin-off of Men's Health from Rodale Press and are aimed at male teens.

"I think we are going down the same road as when people drink alcohol and ingest ecstasy and other types of designer drugs," he said. "Some people physically cannot take the combination."

Energy drinks are the latest popular fad among America's youth culture. With names like Venom, Whoopass, Red Bull and Adrenaline Rush, energy drinks are being sold by the millions to people looking for a quick boost of energy.

Most energy drinks contain large doses of caffeine and other legal stimulants including ephedrine, guarana, taurine and ginseng. Such drinks are being marketed to people 30 and younger.

Little research has been done to determine if energy drinks are helpful or harmful. The NCAA and some professional sports leagues have banned such stimulants, Pearson said.

"There is a feeling of empowerment after a person drinks one of these," Pearson said. "It is a real big wallop of legal stimulants. The effects can last up to 12 hours.

"Because they are legal and sold over the counter just like cans of pop, kids who have been raised on caffeine-based drinks think they are perfectly fine," he said. "We are just now learning the negative effects of caffeine on the human body. We believe it may cause a decline in the body's immune system."

Adapted from materials provided by Ball State University.

Issue Date 1/13/05

Vaporized Alcohol - Alcohol Without liquid (AWOL)

The future of a new controversial vaporized form of hard alcohol is still up in the air, as doctors, legislators, and educators weigh in on this new way to consume alcohol.

Last week state Sen. Bob Hagedorn introduced a bill that if passed would create a statewide ban on "alcohol without liquid" (AWOL) devices.

AWOL is marketed as new low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, glassless way to drink hard alcohol. The manufacturer even claims the device is the "ultimate party tool." The company's claims include reducing the effects of hangovers and vomiting.

An oxygen generator and a hand-held vaporizer comprise the device. A shot of hard alcohol is poured into the vaporizer, which transforms the alcohol into a mist. The alcoholic mist is then mixed with the oxygen and then inhaled by the user.

Many people from around the state argue that there are too many risks associated with the device, and whether the ultimate party tool has a place in Colorado at all.

AWOL did not return the Colorado Daily's phone calls by press time.

Opponents of AWOL argue that with traditional forms of drinking, one has at least a rudimentary formula to calculate how much alcohol is in their system. One can calculate how much alcohol is in beer and wine, and most even have some idea of the alcohol content of mixed drinks, according to opponents of AWOL.

"What it does is it makes the ingestion of alcohol into the system more efficient; it is a quicker way to get drunk," said Bob Maust, vice-chancellor of student affair's alcohol program at CU-Boulder. "It is more dangerous, because your body wouldn't be giving you the feedback until it is too late."

Vaporized alcohol first made an appearance in the United States in Aug. 2004, in New York City, and its users are mostly concentrated on the East Coast.

"It is an incredibly dangerous way to get alcohol into the system," said Hagedorn. "The individual has no control over how much alcohol they are putting into their brain."

Binge drinkers will likely suffer critical side effects more quickly than those who binge-drink in traditional ways.

"The concern is that, if you get a very high dose very quickly and is then cleared from the system, the chance for seizure is significantly increased," said Ivor Douglas, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Director of the Medical Intensive Care at Denver Health and University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Health officials are not just worried about the intake of liquor, but the intake of toxins in spirits.

"When you buy spirit alcohol that is not pure alcohol, it is a combination of extracted alkaloids from other plants," said Douglas.

"Essentially what you are inhaling is not just alcohol -- it is potentially a very noxious combination of bad stuff. A lot of those other alkaloids are very potent things that would go in your bowels and not be absorbed, they would pass right through. When you inhale them, you have the opportunity to absorb that other stuff as well," said Douglas.

Implications of the new method may also impact drivers. Medical experts say there is a chance that breathalyzers may not be accurate when one uses AWOL to consume alcohol.

"What is going to happen is that people will take a hit of this, and are going to feel really drunk after a small amount of alcohol," said Douglas. "They will be functionally intoxicated, but after a breathalyzer test and you will be functionally below the legal limit because the alcohol has gone right out of your lungs and into your brain."

The product is so new that some federal agencies are not even sure if they have oversight over the product.

"As for the regulation issue," said Kathleen K. Quinn, director of media relations for the Food and Drug Administration, "depending on the marketing, intended use, and product it may be something that could fall under FDA purview."

The Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau has already conducted its own internal tests of AWOL to see if the product fell under their jurisdiction.

"It is a delivery device, so it does not fall under federal jurisdiction for alcohol beverages," said Art Resnick, director of media affairs for the Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau. "For it to fall under federal jurisdiction the product would have to act as a 'still.' If it is a device to make distilled spirits then it would require licensing and could only be used on certain premises, we would have all kinds of jurisdiction over the 'still.'"

With no current federal oversight, it is up to each individual state to take action if deemed necessary.

"I think it will have favorable results in the legislature," said Hagedorn. "Also, I have had some very good feelings from Governor Owens' own record that he would sign the bill into law."

 Despite the warnings from experts, there are some who may see them as just hot air and take a calculated risk.

"Most people like to see themselves as sophisticated risk-takers, and that is a nice self-image, but that can be delusional," said Maust.

Joseph Thomas