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Presently, the Russian government is considering passing a bill that would require all child drug addicts to get into treatment.

The bill would require all children under the age of 16 to attend treatment after going through a judicial procedure. Parents’ consent would be required for those legally living with parents but for all other children, who are orphans and whose parents are out of the picture, treatment would be determined by school administrators.

In the country of Russia, this is a very controversial topic that has human rights activists in an uproar and specialists in the drug treatment field skeptical. According to the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia, between 80,000 and 100,000 people die annually in the country from overdoses and problems related to the use of dangerous drugs. Most are under the age of 30.

At least 1.8 million Russians (more than 1 percent of the country’s 143 million citizens) are officially listed as drug addicts by the organization. Experts say the real figure could be many times that. A further 6 million are said to have had experience using these drugs, and 15 million Russians admitted having tried them at least once.

Currently in the United States, there are over 20 million people suffering through drug and/or alcohol addiction and rehabilitation is usually not a requirement unless the individual is court ordered into treatment. This covers a very small percentage of drug addicts. Some make the decision to get help on their own while others are given ultimatums by loved ones’ or family members. A large percent of those addicted to drugs never make the decision to get help and end up in prison, or worse.

Should the United States require all drug addicts to get into treatment? Should there be a bill in our country that even requires minors (with parents consent) to get help if they are addicted?

Article by Eric

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Okay, so we’ve held out as long as possible on this story, but when it was announced by the California State Medical Board to news outlets that a Los Angeles psychiatrist is being investigated for prescribing all of the11 types of drugs that were found in Anna Nicole Smith’s room at the Florida hotel where she died, we had to chime in. The report said that while they were not all prescribed directly to Anna Nicole, they were all provided by the same doctor.

Another doctor is also being investigated by the California State Medical Board for prescribing the painkiller methadone and the sedative Ativan to Smith, both of which were found in her system when she died.

As reported earlier, the medical examiner did state that the mixture of prescription drugs is what killed her, but which ones or which combinations caused the most damage?

For her son, it was a combination of methadone and two antidepressants, Lexapro and Zoloft.

The common factors in the death of Anna Nicole and her son are methadone and psychiatric drugs. Do you think the same psychiatrist was involved?

Should this be a lesson to the millions of people out there taking similar drug combinations and thinking they’re safe? If so, it is a tragic way for the truth to come out, but if you do some searching, you’ll find that Smith and her son weren’t exactly the only ones in the country who died from these drugs this past year, only the most famous.

Article by Eric

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The short answer is probably no, but there is a longer explanation.

Drug addiction is often characterized as compulsive, drug seeking behavior due to physical and/or mental dependency on a drug, despite knowingly causing damage to oneself and others regardless of consequence.

Someone who is drug dependent may not exhibit the compulsive drug-seeking and may have a more rational appearance in life. Cases of this may include the moderate-to-heavy social drinker who has three alcoholic drinks several nights per week or more. You can also include the millions of people who take prescribed drugs day in and day out.

Someone who is drug dependent can easily become a drug addict, but there really isn’t a definite line. What happens if the drinker gets cut off at the bar? He often gets belligerent and goes to another bar to buy alcohol, which would be the compulsive drug (or alcohol) seeking.

Tolerance can also have an effect on dependence turning into addiction. One example might be someone being prescribed a narcotic painkiller after an injury or surgery. She takes it for the recommended week as prescribed, but when she stops she goes into withdrawals because her body became dependent on it. Her next reaction is that she has to get more of the drug to not feel bad anymore – and this escalates. We receive calls every week of this very scenario, after people have fallen completely into the addiction category.

Another example we see a lot with prescriptions includes teenagers who were put on amphetamines for learning disorder labels. Their bodies naturally develop a tolerance to the stimulant and then need more – something stronger. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve heard the story of “please help, my son is using cocaine,” and when I ask questions about their history I find out he was on Ritalin for three years prior to this happening.

So, despite different characteristics and definitions, one has to be drug dependent to be an addict, but the line isn’t definite when it is crossed. When do you think that line is crossed, if it’s there at all?

Article by Eric

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Most people’s definition of detoxification is simply just withdrawing from the drug. In most cases, a medically-supervised withdrawal is not necessary, especially with most stimulants and even painkillers and heroin, although it is often preferred with the latter two.

Even though a common aide is to have someone ‘sleep it off,’ alcohol and some other drugs can be very difficult to withdraw from when a person is consuming large quantities. Medical detoxification helps someone to systematically withdraw from alcohol or drugs by reducing the amount and/or using other medicines to ease the process and eliminate the risk of seizure and other severe drug withdrawal symptoms.

People most often wanting or needing a medically-supervised detoxification before beginning addiction treatment include those on benzodiazapines (Xanax, Valium), opiates (prescription painkillers, heroin, methadone), barbiturates (Phenobarbital) and heavy amounts of alcohol.

One main problem with this is, though, that many drug users will try to stop their treatment after detox thinking that their problem is solved, but in actual fact they are much better off statistically to go into a longer-term drug-free residential rehabilitation program after detoxification.

In recent years there have also been other classes of prescribed drugs that require medical detox to step down from. These drugs include antipsychotics (Zyprexa, Risperdol, Seroquel), antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, etc.) and other mind-altering prescriptions.

Given that more information and side effects of these drugs are discovered each year, more and more people are deciding to not take them and are seeking alternative treatments.

These types of drugs have very severe withdrawal symptoms and people coming down from them often experience sudden psychotic episodes, so stepping down gradually in a medically-supervised environment is a good approach rather than weaning down at home.

Have you known anyone or heard stories of someone trying to withdraw from some of these drugs on their own? What was the result?

Article by Eric

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On Monday the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released figures on prescription drug abuse in New Jersey.

National studies have shown that 3% of residents have abused prescription drugs in the past year with 6% of those in the 18-25 age bracket reporting misusing prescription drugs.

Those numbers are even higher in New Jersey where recent reports show the numbers for young adults in the 18-25 category at 11% while statewide 4% of residents reported they abused prescription drugs in the past year.

The White House report also stated that admissions to drug and alcohol rehab programs for pain killers have increased 217% from 1999-2005 for New Jersey. Deputy US Drug Czar Scott Burns said, “Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem in New Jersey.” Officials partly blame the practice of “doctor shopping” where people go from doctor to doctor obtaining multiple prescriptions and have them filled at different pharmacies, a practice which is on the rise nationwide.

New Jersey is one of 16 states that still don’t have a drug-monitoring program in place that would allow doctors and pharmacies to receive up to date and accurate information about the patients drug history.

Does your state have a drug monitoring program available? Do you think this should be implemented on a federal level? Let us know what you think.

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For the millions of people struggling with drug and/or alcohol addiction there can be lots of questions and not many answers.

We have seen that for many, completing any type of treatment is not usually an option until the addiction has gotten so out of control that many things in the addict’s life are destroyed as a result. Some don’t seek treatment even at this point and eventually end up in jail, or worse.

Unfortunately, it seems that the newest trends in drug rehabilitation is not actual rehabilitation but further drug use through replacement therapies. It is hard for someone to be sure they are not falling into the “drug treatment rabbit hole” where they will never actually be free from drugs, but be doomed to a life of chronic relapse and further drug use and where you can do several programs with no real results?

Currently, there are thousands of drug rehabilitation programs offered and there are several components that need to be checked out to ensure that you are receiving the best type of help.

When reviewing your options, questions should be asked regarding long term success rates for sobriety and permanent recovery from addiction. Also find out about the methods used to get a person to this point, the credentials of the program and testimonials from actual patients and their families communicating personal results.

Then, if you find the correct program that will help you, other questions you must answer include how long should you stay there, should you do residential (inpatient) treatment or outpatient, be close to home or away from home?

I have personally found that the most successful type of program is one that is inpatient, that uses drug free approaches to handle addiction and have not only successfully completed one myself but had several family members, friends and loved ones go this route with good success.

With drug rehabs it is important to do some digging and really find something that will provide the best type of treatment that provides long term sobriety from drug and/or alcohol abuse.

Article by Eric

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Did you know that there are over 13,000 drug rehabs in the United States. Of these thousands of rehabs, there are many different types of rehabs: all women; ages 17 – 35; CO-ED; and even one for pregnant women only.

I thought it was interesting that there are so many women only drug rehabs (and very few men only ones) and thought to compare them:

With an all women drug rehab there can be fewer distractions: from not having to worry about how you look, to not being preoccupied with the possibility of starting a relationship at a time when it could hinder the progress of your rehabilitation.

Also, having other women around you that have gone through similar situations and have the same demands as other women can be extremely helpful in the recovery process. Rehabs for women vary from city to city. Some offer educational tutoring, academic courses, computer skills, life skills, recreational activities like, swimming, hiking, yoga, and karate, as well as group and individual counseling.

CO–ED drug rehabs are more common and therefore, you have a greater number to choose from which could be helpful in finding just the right fit for your needs.

There is also the opportunity of a more diverse group and the opportunity to build relationships with the opposite sex based on your common situation. CO-ED rehabs offer many of the same classes and courses as all women’s drug rehab but may have some activities geared more toward males or mixed groups.

The length of stay varies greatly at any rehab whether it is all female or not. Some can range from 1-4 weeks, others 3-6 months, and even 9-12 month programs.

With all of these differences to be considered, not just in gender, you should talk to someone who has had some experience and can recommend a rehab that will best suit your needs.

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