AHS Views

Having listened to Obama speak tonight at the Democratic National Convention I can’t help but hope he will actually make some of the changes needed in this country to help eliminate the real sources of drug addiction and make sure people get the addiction help they need.

Many people don’t realize that they have a drug problem. They see ads on TV describing conditions that sound somewhat like theirs, find out what drug to take, ask their doctor - who doesn’t really have time to study up on drugs and didn’t learn much about them in medical school - if they can try it, and the doctor gives it to them. Next thing you know, the patient has a drug problem and needs drug addiction help.

Where did the problem start? With the ad on TV that fed the patient the diagnosis and prescribed the treatment. The doctor was simply the middle man. And that’s what I hope Obama, or someone, will do something about.

If you or someone you care about is one of the millions of people who’ve been diagnosed and treated by drug companies and have a drug problem as a result, find the addiction help services you need.

I don’t watch an awful lot of television but I read the White House press release today about National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month - it’s September - and wondered in just what media the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is being run. If it’s been on television, there certainly hasn’t been enough of it to stand out - I don’t remember seeing anything at all. Nothing about taking drugs, nothing about addiction help, and yet we’re supposedly hard at work in the war against drugs.

The press release talks about prescription drug abuse. But it seems to specifically relate to children, and prevention. Yes, kids have to be reached. But what about addiction help for those who already have a problem? There’s also a recovery program that gives vouchers to people to get the addiction help of their choice. I don’t know the details but I’d bet my bottom dollar those choices don’t include long-term residential drug rehab with is about the only really effective addiction help you can get. So, of the 200,000 people who’ve been helped through the program, how many actually made it?

The release also mentioned doing drug testing in schools. The problem is there’s far too little testing going on and they don’t actually test for prescription drugs - which is probably one of the reasons they’re becoming popular.

The press release goes on and on about all the work being done, but nothing’s the nail on the head. We could make some real headway, for example, if the drug companies were stopped from advertising directly to consumers. The government wouldn’t allow a drug dealer to sell heroin on TV - why is it okay for a drug company to advertise what is basically the same drug?

Really, I don’t know how regulatory bodies can be oblivious to the situation. And if they’re not, if the people involved know what’s going on, how do they sleep at night? Day after day people are dying from prescription drug addiction and abuse, it’s all over the news, you can’t miss it, and yet our legal pushers, the drug companies, continue to stay in business. Do we really need the drug companies to tell us what’s wrong with us and what drugs we need to fix it? I don’t think so. When will someone stop them?

When you consider the magnitude of addiction help needed - for the millions of people all over the country - getting 200,000 people through a mediocre program just doesn’t cut it. When are we going to get real about this? You can’t kill a herd of elephants with a water pistol.

In the meantime, it’s every man for himself. If someone you care about is in trouble with drugs, get them the addiction help services they need.

Since fen phen and other dangerous, but legal, diet pills were taken off the market, you really don’t hear much about diet pills. A lot of other prescription drugs are in the news every day - painkillers like OxyContin, for example - but diet pills don’t make headlines. Nevertheless, there’s a huge number of people taking Adderall and other weight loss drugs, and plenty of them need addiction help.

Adderall, although only approved for ADHD and narcolepsy, is frequently used to lose weight and may be even prescribed by some doctors for that purpose. Sales of Adderall, along with other amphetamine-based drugs like Concerta and Straterra, have doubled from 4.2 million to to 9.5 million in the last five years. Are there really twice the number of people out there with ADHD or narcolepsy? I don’t think so.

What I do know is that Adderall is highly addictive and there’s a lot of people out there who are going to need addiction help when they try to get off it.

A friend of mine was taking diet pills, prescribed by her doctor. I asked her about it - since she works in the natural health care field it seemed kind of wierd. She told me nothing else has worked for her. So she took the drugs. I don’t know which pills she took but within a couple of months of her stopping them she had gained back all the weight she’d lost.  Fortunately, she didn’t stay on them too long and she didn’t need addiction help to get off them. Although I’m sure she had some problems with it.

If you can’t lose weight through diet and exercise, there’s something wrong. You should check out allergies, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies and so on with your doctor. Whatever he finds, you can be sure it’s not going to be Adderall deficiency.

Don’t risk your life and your health taking legal speed like Adderall. If you or someone you care about is taking Adderall or similar drugs, get them the addiction help services they need. And then, if they were taking the drugs for weight loss, find out what’s really going on with the body. 

I’m an optimist. I’m not an alarmist. And I don’t favor scare tactics. But when it comes to drug addiction, I think it’s warranted. So … here’s what’s happening to mothers who’ve lost their child to a drug overdose. And there are comments worth reading. One of the comments is about a relative who refuses to get addiction help in an inpatient facility - which he obviously needs since he’s injects cocaine, has overdosed 7 times and almost lost his foot to an infection. But he says he thinks he can kick the drug on his own.  He also has heart problems as well, and he’s only 27.  

I don’t know if that person who talked about that particular situation will ever read this blog but, if you do, please listen. He cannot handle it on his own. He’s already proven that. And it’s not unusual - the number of people who handle addiction on their own is almost negligible. In fact, even those who receive only outpatient treatment don’t have much of a chance.

Long-term residental drug addiction help is what he needs. And the longer the delay, the greater the chances of him overdosing again and not living through it.

I urge you, and others in your situation, to do whatever’s necessary to get someone with a drug problem into a facility that can give them the addiction help they need.

I would try another intervention - a good, qualifed person who has also had a drug problem in the past and who the addict can relate to. Call Addiction Help Services to find the right interventionist. They’ll also help you find an addiction help center that’s suitable for the situation and help make arrangements to get him there.

More and more college students are taking prescription drugs like Adderall and Ritalin as study aids. Health services at colleges are wondering where the kids are getting the drugs - the prescriptions filled by the on-campus services don’t add up to anywhere near what’s being taken. More and more schools are going to need on-campus addiction help - and not just counselling. They’re going to need full drug addiction treatment facilities, with medically-supervised drug detox and long-term drug rehab.

Is this really practical for the educational community? Probably not. Especially since getting addiction help can take months of being in a residential treatment center where the person is completely removed from things and people that may influence them to take drugs. And if they go right back into the drug-infested college environment when they complete the program, the addiction help they’ve gotten may not be enough to prevent relapse.

I would think that a zero-tolerance policy would be the only really effective method of curbing drugs in schools. Drug testing should also be done - for all kinds of drugs. Many testing systems don’t test for prescription drugs at all, and they’re a bigger problem than street drugs in most places. And the tests should be widespread, not just a few people, and random enough so it’s not expected.

Yes, it would cost colleges a lot of money to do that. But at least half of the students in any college would prefer to not be around people who are taking drugs. And to be able to advertise they are a drug-free enviroment would be excellent incentive for parents and students to go there instead of one of the ‘party schools’ where kids are taking drugs constantly, getting into accidents and getting injured, binge drinking and getting ill, overdosing, rapes, and so on.

Parents would also be wise to ensure they get addiction help services for their kids before they go to college. That will help proof them against the onslaught of drugs they’re likely to encounter. 

Brigitte Nielson, former wife of Sylvester Stallone, blames her marriage to Raoul Meyer for her becoming an alcoholic. She said she was so miserable she drank to escape. And she couldn’t stop. She’s now gotten the addiction help she needs, and is well on her way to recovery.

Relationship problems are a common reason people resort to drugs or alcohol. You don’t have to be married or have children, a relationship going bad can be devastating under any circumstances. And there may not always be an easy solution. However, what you don’t want to do it let it go on and on and turn you into a drug addict or alcoholic. Once you start going down that road, the relationship is even more difficult to handle. In fact, if you quit drinking or taking drugs you would be able to think more clearly and possibly figure out how to salvage the relationship or, at least, agree to part amicably.

If you or someone you care about has a relationship problem that’s driving them to drugs or alcohol, the first step should probably be addiction help services. That will clear their mind so they can look at the relationship objectively and come up with some answers. The longer the drug or alcohol addiction goes on, the worse the relationship will get.

Really good addiction help services also help the person address the issues that are causing the problem, and help them figure out what to do about it.

There have been several news stories lately about parents testing their kids for drugs. Some feel it’s an invasion of privacy but the fact is, it could save their lives. And if there’s a problem it will be known about so early that it’s quite possible drug testing will prevent them from ever taking drugs or, at least, taking them more than once or twice, and they’ll never wind up needing addiction help.

Kids may resent it but they just don’t realize how tempting it can be when you’re being urged by so many people around you to just try it out. While there are kids who wouldn’t fall prey to that temptation, it’s hard to know who will and who won’t. Young adults who seem happy, goal oriented, in control of their lives and with no problems at all are often the same kids that wind up taking drugs.

Addiction help services are available to get someone off drugs or alcohol but, really, it’s best not to start them in the first place. Each person’s metabolism is different, and each reacts differently to different substances. Honestly, you never know what’s going to happen. Drug testing may be the only option for parents who want to be 100% sure and, eventually, as kids see others in trouble and needing addiction help services, they’ll be glad they got it.

I’ve written a lot of blogs in the past about the dangers of methadone. Check out yesterday’s New York Times article about methadone-related deaths and you’ll find out more about the problem. And why people who are already taking other drugs or drinking alcohol, or could possibly do either, need to get addiction help before they ever do anything like take methdone or other opiate painkillers.

Methadone is dangerous enough all by itself, but when you combine it with other drugs or alcohol, you’re really taking a very big risk.

Imagine this scenario - you drink, or take drugs that aren’t really necessary for your survival. They’re not saving your life, they’re just enabling you to escape whatever’s bothering you. Tranquilizers, sedatives, etc. You could probably use addiction help, but you’re not getting it.

Then you’re in an accident or have an unexpected illness. The doctor has to give you prescription painkillers. But you’re also taking other drugs. Or drinking. Now you have to take a drug that could kill you.

Do you really want to be in that position? Do you want someone you care about to be in that position? No. So, get some addiction help now. Life is the school of hard knocks. To get through it, you need to be in good shape. And the better you’re doing mentally, emotionally and physically, the greater your chances are to be happy and make life what you want it to be. Don’t take drugs - become more able to handle your problems.

And the first problem you can handle is your addiction to or dependence on drugs. Start with drug addiction help services.

Many parents are reluctant to use home drug testing on their kids. But, really, when you consider the amount of peer pressure they run into - with so many kids in schools taking drugs these days - it’s not inappropriate for parents to be exerting some pressure of their own. And you could prevent your kid from needing drug addiction help in the future - which is a lot harder to come by than home drug tests - not to mention the agony both you and your kid would have gone through while on that path.

Okay, so you think you know what’s going on with your kids.  But according to a recent study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, there’s a good chance you may not. For example, 46% of teens say they leave the house to hang out with their friends on school nights, only 14% of parents thought the same thing. Also, 28% of kids say drugs are the biggest problem they face, only 17% of parents thought that.

So, where’s the disconnect? Well, kids don’t always tell their parents everything - even when they think they’re not doing anyting wrong, they’re reluctant to tell their parents if they think they’d meet with disapproval.

I’ve seen lots of kids thank their parents for drug testing. Help relieve the pressure - and you’ll keep them safe. And, unlike many other parents, you won’t be searching for drug addiction help services in the future.

Tonight I read a review of a play called ‘Runaways’ currently showing in Maryland. A cast of twenty two tell their stories about abuse at home, drug addiction, prostitution and everything else they ran into at home and on the street. Many of these kids really need addiction help, but they have even less chance of getting it than those who have a family to back them up. One thing runaways don’t have.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Los Angeles where there are literally thousands of kids  who’ve run away from home. Seeing these kids really makes you appreciate having a relationship with your own. But I know from experience that drugs can really destroy that relationship - whether the drug problem is with the parents or the kids.

My relationship with my mother was almost non-existant for many years. However, she eventually got me to get addiction help - I was an adult by that time - and backed me up in every way she could after that. And, thanks to her, I never looked back. And our relationship was completely restored.

If you have a kid taking drugs, realize that the drugs will eventually ruin their lives, and probably yours. Get them the addiction help services they need and both your lives will be better.