AHS Views

I just read an article about several car accidents caused by patients on their way home from a clinic where they received methadone. The most recent accident involved a 22-year-old man killing a woman and her 3-year-old granddaughter when he ran off the road through two yards and a fence. Is this what happens when methadone is substituted for heroin instead of getting someone into a drug rehab center where they can actually get off drugs?

This is far from the first such accident.  The police chief said he’s aware of several others: One person was pulled over because they’d been driving on the wrong side of the road for four miles, another was involved in two accidents on the way home from the clinic, and another died after hitting another car head on. These aren’t the only incidents, and all of them happened on the way home from the clinic.

Amazingly enough, the law seems to be on the side of the people causing the accidents. One person whose car was crashed into when another driver crossed the center line into his lane tried to sue the person’s psychiatrist for not telling the patient not to drive. Unfortunately, the case was dismissed because the judge felt it was in the public interest to support people who want to get off heroin.

I do too. But what about the ‘public interest’ of those who aren’t addicted to drugs – are their rights suspended?

I know that some people think they need methadone to function normally in life. But functioning normally doesn’t include killing people. If someone would offer methadone addicts the opportunity for a successful drug rehab program, we’d all be safer.

A recent report from the United Nations says the drug problem is stabilizing. “For almost all drugs — cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines — there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption,” said Antonia Maria Costa, head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Of that’s the case, why are drug rehab centers still busy?

Could it have anything to do with the fact that prescription drugs are taking over the drug scene? They’re easier to get, cheaper, legal to possess and some give you the same high as heroin? Why not?

Fortunately, many cities and states are starting to do something about it. A new law in Tennessee, for example, makes doctor shopping illegal for those with specific insurance providers, and it’s illegal to fraudulently obtain prescriptions. With enough states cracking the whip, we might see a change in the trend toward prescription drug abuse – and in the skyrocketing admissions into drug rehab treatment programs that can help with prescription drug addiction.

Sometimes people addicted to drugs can get pretty desperate, but this one brings desperation to a whole new level. A recent article tells the story of a 37-year-old man who was arrested in May when he stole money from poor boxes in a church where he used to be an altar boy. The money was used to buy heroin. He’s been arrested 10 times for drug-related offenses, but says he has been clean and sober since June 4th when he checked into detox. Hopefully, he’ll follow it up with a successful drug rehab program that enables him to fully recover.

At the hearing, he said he shouldn’t have stolen from the poor boxes but he nevertheless pleaded not guilty to three counts of petty larceny and one count of criminal mischief. He said he was on a drug binge. He stole $8 one day, $22 the next and an unknown amount on the third. He also expressed remorse, saying, “I screwed up and I am sorry.”
 
The man’s bail was set at $4,500.00, which was posted by a friend of the family. He’s due to go back to court in August. There was no mention of whether he would undergo further drug rehab.

Drug addiction treatment will be financed by $206 million confiscated in drug bust 

A recent article in Reuters reported that $206 million was found by Mexican police in the Mexico City mansion of Zhenli Ye Gon. Ye Gon was later arrested in Wheaton, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. He is suspected of importing pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used to make crystal meth. Both U.S. and Mexican authorities are calling this the largest ever drug cash seizure and, the best news of all, at least part of the money is earmarked for drug rehab for Mexican addicts.

Ye Gon said he was set up by associates of President Felipe Calderon. Not very believable as Calderon has been very aggressive in the war on Mexican drug cartels. But stranger things have happened.

According to the DEA, Mexican drug trafficking organizations are the primary source of drugs in almost every part of the U.S. So this bust, and the way the money will be used, is great for us. In addition to financing drug rehab for addicts, the money will also be spent on shoring up Mexico’s police and judiciary systems so they are better able to control the drug situation.

Drugs are a serious problem in Mexico. Perhaps getting more people through a successful drug rehab program so they can end their drug addiction will help.

I’ve been reading about all these movie stars and celebrities in trouble with the law recently because of their drug and alcohol abuse, and it suddenly struck me that I (stupidly) hadn’t connected the dots. They were all driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, sometimes both. Many of them have announced intentions to handle their dependencies through treatment, usually alcohol or drug rehab programs.

Actors, musicians, professional athletes, politicians and high-profile businessmen seemed to be lining up to get arrested for drunk driving over the past year. Hollywood and sports have been hard hit. We’ve read about the actors, actresses, directors and producers. But I didn’t know that more than a dozen professional football players and coaches have also been arrested for DUI recently (one of them in the nude), including several players for the Cincinnati Bengals alone! Several sports figures are already in court-ordered or voluntary alcohol or drug rehab programs, while others are pending various court actions.

Here’s just a partial list of Hollywood’s impaired driving arrests in recent months:

• Lindsay Lohan – actress
• Paris Hilton – tv celebrity
• Nicole Richie – tv celebrity
• Mel Gibson – actor, director, producer
• Ray Liotta – actor
• Vivica A. Fox – actress
• Jessica Smith – actress
• Michelle Rodriguez – actress
• Lane Garrison – actor, two counts of Felony DUI, one of Vehicular Manslaughter
• Ty Pennington – television personality
• Tracy Morgan – comedian
• Yancy Butler – actor
• Rip Torn – actor
• Anneliese van der Pol – television show “That’s So Raven”
• Gus Van Sant – director

Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr., who says he has been sober for nearly three years, attended alcohol rehab and drug rehab programs after several alcohol and drug related arrests. He said actor friend Mel Gibson, whose Malibu DUI last year was much publicized, helped him through his own repeated DUI and drug arrests during his struggles with alcohol, cocaine, and heroine addiction. Downey told the Toronto Star that Gibson supported him while he spent a year in prison, and then gave him a role in “The Singing Detective” which Gibson produced when everyone else in Hollywood refused to give him a job. Gibson was ordered to a mandatory one-year alcohol rehab program after his drunk driving conviction. Downey said Gibson’s DUI arrest “gave me pause to think about how formidable and cunning addiction is. It is a terrible, terrible, evil and tragic disease.”

He’s right about that. Alcohol and drug abuse is epidemic, and dangerous. Let’s hope these public figures get into an alcohol or drug rehab center with a program that works!

Actor Daniel Baldwin, just out of drug treatment for cocaine addiction, is now blasting Hollywood drug treatment facilities for being too soft on stars. Maybe he’s got a point: they don’t seem to have much of a record as successful drug rehab programs.

Baldwin recently aired his views on Larry King Live, covered in Hollywood.com, citing as examples the drug rehab treatment centers that allowed Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan to leave the center for several hours to go to lunch or for a work-out.

Baldwin goes on to say that the reason Hollywood drug rehabs have a bad name is because “they’re not that good.”

While you can’t deny the truth of Baldwin’s comments, one other factor has to be considered. For any program to work, the person has to want to get off drugs. That’s why we have interventionists. They’re not there just to cart the person off to rehab. They’re there to help the person make the decision to do it.

Although there aren’t many drug treatment facilities that have a good success rate, I would hope that when Lindsay and others really make the decision to quit they they will look for and find a successful drug rehab program and stop messing around with facilities that seem to be little more than high-priced luxury hotels.

I read a great article today regarding the viewpoint of addictions expert, Dr. Mark F. Kern on ‘addiction medicine.” According to the article, the AA retention rate is 5%, according to their own statistics. “Would you put your life in the hands of someone who only has a 15 percent success rate?”, said Kern. Although there are successful alcohol and drug rehab centers available, it is true they are in the minority.

Kern blames the failure of alcohol and drug rehab, and the fact that more people don’t try to get help, on the shame, blame, intensity and religious overtones of standard treatment.
 
“The disease model of addiction embraced by most of the medical community scares people. It sets up a false dichotomy: The ‘disease’ of alcoholism will progress and you will die — or you must attend meetings for a lifetime. As if those are the only two options. But the ‘disease’ does not always progress, and what scientific approach recommends prayer to cure a disease? Or ignores a myriad of replicable effective alternatives? …  People are not like tube socks - there is no ‘one size fits all’ in treating drug and alcohol problems,” said Kern in a recent press release.

Hallelujah!  Finally, a voice of reason.

Successful alcohol and drug rehab is intensely personal. It gets to the root of the problems for that individual, and helps them turn their lives around. And that’s exactly what you need to look for if you’re trying to help yourself or someone you care about.