AHS Views

News stories are talking about Amy Winehouse and her new boyfriend, Rugby player Josh Bowman. Some articles say they’re an item, others say Josh denies it and Amy’s grieving. Who knows if we’ll ever know the truth. And who really cares – except for the fact that it may help Amy beat drugs, as she reportedly says - and it’s none of our business who they go out with anyway. However, it does bring up an interesting point about addiction help.

For some people, a change of environment, including being around people who take care of themselves and are in robust good health, can motivate them to quit taking drugs.

Not only are they free of the usual negative influences, they are also in an environment that is not associated with the problems they’ve had in the past.

Will a person who quits drugs under these circumstances be able to stay off them when the new relationship, or the new environment, starts to present the same or similar problems they experienced earlier?

Really, it’s a crap shoot. In most cases it probably takes more than feeling better temporarily to make permanent changes. But, for some, that change may be enough to really enable them to stick to their guns.

Let’s hope Amy’s brief encounter with what she reportedly perceived as a better life will carry her through without the need for further addiction help services.

I’ve heard a lot of bad-mouthing about drug rehab. While it’s true that some rehab facilities don’t get down to the bottom of why the person is taking drugs, there are also many that do. And if the person is in a good facility and is determined to do it, they can do it. Even people who’ve gotten to the point where drugs landed them in prison can make it – and they have a lot more to face up to than most.

How do you choose a good facility? You have to screen them well and you should see if they do follow up and have info about how many of the people who did their program actually stayed off drugs. Addiction Help Services can give you more information and help you find the treatment program and facility that’s right for your situation.

But no matter what treatment you opt for, it’s basically going to be up to the addict who goes there to stick it out – withdrawal can be tough, and changing your life isn’t easy either. It takes guts and determination.

I’ve heard from people who say they’ve done rehab seven times and they still didn’t get off drugs. Okay – so maybe they went to short-term clinics when they needed something that lasted for months, or maybe they just couldn’t face up to doing their part of it. Maybe they thought there would be a miracle cure. Something painless that barely required their participation.

That’s not going to happen. I got off heroin and know many, many others who’ve done the same. And it’s one of the hardest drugs to kick. But I really wanted to. I had really decided that I didn’t want drugs in my life. And I worked hard at it. I had to examine myself, my life, my associations, my goals, my weaknesses, and I had to really face up to the damage I’d done to myself and others. And then I had to create a new life for myself.

If you know someone who’s been to rehab and failed, don’t blame drug rehab. Addiction help works, as long as they’re in the right program and are really participating. Get them into a long-term facility that will really help them face up to the hold drugs have on them, get to the bottom of why they’re taking them, and help them change their lives.

Parents, or soon-to-be parents, usually consider the safely of their kids when they’re deciding where to live. Primarily, they want to stay away from inner cities, crime and heavily trafficked areas. But there’s one thing they may not consider – the convenience of local stores that sell alcohol.

A recent study on alcohol abuse found that kids who live within 1/2 a mile of someplace that sells alcohol are more likely to binge drink and to drive after drinking.

One thing I didn’t know is that in California licenses will usually not be granted to places that want to sell alcohol if they’re within 100 feet from a residence or 600 feet from a school. That’s good.

But, still, if you can make it more difficult for kids to get alcohol by not living close to a place that sells it – although that may mean a little more inconvenience for you when it comes to regular shopping or popping down to the local store, which also sells beer, to get some milk – you could avoid drinking problems with your kids and the need for addiction help services in the future.

If we’re lucky, it may even deter some adults.

According to a recent news report in The Star about Shelby, North Carolina, law makers are considering allowing alcohol sales on the street. Apparently, you can only drink indoors in Shelby. Now they’re looking at restaurants and bars being able to serve alcohol outdoors. The news item reports the comments of several citizens. One of the said he didn’t see why it would be a problem because “vagrants do it all the time.”

I guess the that’s the point for those who disagree with drinking on the street - maybe they’d prefer to not have the townspeople acting like vagrants.

About 15 million people in the U.S. need alcohol rehab. But almost 98% of them never even try get addiction help because they don’t admit they have a problem. That opens the door to some pretty stupid, and potentially dangerous, things – like getting behind the wheel of your car. If being drunk isn’t a problem, why not drive?

Shelby doesn’t need more permissive alcohol laws – nor does anyplace else. Ask anyone who has a family member with a drinking problem. Anything that bumps up the potential for drinking and makes it even more attractive – like being able to sit outside on a summer evening and drink – will lead to an even greater need for addiction help services.

The FDA is really between a rock and a hard place. They’re criticized for approving drugs too quickly, and criticized if they approve them too slowly. The current issue is Remoxy – a painkiller similar to OxyContin but which can’t be abused. Well, it can be abused: someone can take too much of it, take it too long, get addicted to it, have side effects, have a negative reaction to it, etc., all the usual painkiller stuff, but they can’t crush it, which means they can’t inject it or snort it - which opens the door to abuse most people who take painkillers wouldn’t even consider. In fact, if that’s how they’re taking their OxyContin, you can bet they already have a serious drug problem and could use some addiction help.

The FDA isn’t chomping at the bit to approve Remoxy - they’ve asked for more information. After believing Purdue Pharma’s false claims about OxyContin, and after God-knows-how-many people became addicted to or dependant on it, the FDA wants more information before they approve a similar drug. Sounds logical to me.

What I’d like to see in the health care system, rather than approving another painkiller, is the promotion of alternative medicine for pain relief, and for addressing the cause of the pain. There are lots of pain clinics around but, unfortunately, many of them are just glorified drug dealers. They ‘manage’ your pain. In other words, they help you control the symptoms but don’t necessarily address the cause of the problem.

Painkillers allow some people to live somewhat normal lives – it’s true. But I would bet that many people who take them actually have tried much else: Largely because their health insurance, if they have any, doesn’t cover other things that might work – like chiropractic or acupuncture. Or, if they do cover them it’s for very few visits, not enough to handle anything but really minor or very short-term situations. But those situations aren’t likely to drive someone to take painkillers for more than a daya or two and, consequently, aren’t likely to lead to prescription drug addiction.

Some people do have insurance that covers alternative therapies but because they’re not educated in those therapies they never find out they’re covered – they simply don’t ask.

For most people, even those in chronic pain who’ve become addicted to painkillers, 2009 can be a happy, healthier year than 2008. Put that on your list of resolutions – ‘find a way to resolve my pain rather than having to continue taking drugs to manage it.’ If you need help getting off the painkillers, contact Addiction Help Services.