AHS Views

Lindsay Lohan is in trouble again. According to a recent article, she was picked up at 1:30 a.m. after a car chase with police and was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving, cocaine possession, bringing a controlled substance into custody and driving on a suspended license. This is just weeks after her stay at a treatment center in Malibu, California. She’s obviously not doing much for their reputation as a successful drug rehab center.

Out of jail on bond, Lindsay is currently under medical care, her lawyer said. He didn’t specific where, or whether she was in another drug rehab center.

I’m sure many people are wondering what it’s going to take to get Lindsay drug free. She has been in two drug treatment programs this year alone, she currently has several legal charges against her which could land her in prison and, as a result of her addiction and legal problems, her career is suffering. She had to cancel a Jay Leno spot, and the movie she was slated to make with Shirley MacLaine has been delayed since May. The producers said they are going to announce a start date very soon, so it looks like their going to do it without Lindsay.

Despite her celebrity status, Lindsay is not much different from millions of others addicted to drugs and alcohol.  I’ve known people who have done as many as nine treatment programs before they finally found one that worked. There’s a lot to be said for finding a successful drug rehab program the first time. Let’s hope Linsday’s close.

Having fueled and profited from the habits of other drug addicts for years, Dr. Harry Black was arrested on June 7th for felony drug charges. The judge’s first ruling gave Black the option of treatment, but Black was ousted after only a week for breaking the rules. He’s now going to trial and facing 20 years in prison with fines of up to $1 million. I don’t know how many lives Black ruined, but I do know that had he personally completed drug rehab years ago, many may have been saved.

According to the story in the Post Standard, Black used his status as a physician to write medically-unnecessary prescriptions for drug addicts. Dr. Black and his wife, who admittedly has a problem with drug addiction, also kept some of the drugs to support their own habits.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t surprise me. These days there are plenty of doctors addicted to drugs, dealing them, and even being paid by pharmaceutical companies to put people on drugs they don’t need. As a result, more and more people are becoming addicted.

I struggled with my own drug addiction for several years, but it was made worse when I was prescribed a very strong painkiller after routine surgery. Once the pain was gone, I stayed on the drug and was taking it daily.

Eventually I went into drug rehab program. I was able to do a drug-free program, and have now been off all drugs for nearly six years. I know it’s possible to recover from addiction with a successful drug rehab program and had Black taken advantage of one, his life would be far different now, as would the lives of his patients.

Do you know a dad who needs alcohol or drug rehab? Help him, and help the kids.

I just read a study on the impact of fathers on their children. It’s not about drugs or drug addicts; it’s just about dads and their kids. For years we’ve been hearing that stepfathers aren’t as good as biological fathers, that fathers in the home are better than fathers out of the home, that single parent families can ruin kids, and so on and so on. But the truth of the matter is that none of that really matters: what’s important is the closeness of the relationship. Since I spend a fair amount of my time focused on drug addiction, it’s hard not to think about how many of those fathers are alcohol or drug abusers and what a huge difference it would make in a kid’s life to have his father complete a successful drug rehab program.

How does the relationship with dad affect the child? It affects their school performance and academic achievement, whether or not they become juvenile delinquents, their general behavior, and even their health. Just being there is not enough. A father has to be involved in his children’s lives, and the closer they are, the better the child will do. If a father has all his attention on where the next hit’s coming from, you can be pretty sure he’s not also forming a close relationship with his kids. If you know one of those dads, get them into drug rehab. It will help him, and could be a major factor in the health, happiness, well-being and future of his children.

A recent article in the Novus Medical Detox newsletter addressed the issue of being able to afford the cost of getting yourself or someone you love through drug detox and a successful drug rehab program.

With so many lives in ruin because of alcohol or drug addiction and dependency, the obvious question is ‘can I afford not to?’ Nevertheless, cost is a consideration.

The article specifically addresses prescription drug abuse, which is right on the heels of heroin, methamphetamine and other street drugs and, in some areas, has actually become the bigger problem. As the author points out, when someone starts taking prescription drugs, the cost is often covered by insurance. But dependency and addiction change all that and, when their doctor can no longer justify continuing the prescription for its original purpose, the person starts looking for the drug elsewhere. And that can cost big money.

OxyContin, for example, costs 11 to 16 cents per milligram at the drugstore, but the price goes up to 50 cents or a dollar on the street. With 160 milligrams/day being a low average of daily consumption for an addicted person, what was costing them $18 to $26 dollars a day when obtained legitimately suddenly turns into $80 to $160/day, and it’s no longer covered by insurance. Where does somebody get $160 a day – that’s about $58,000 a year - to spend on drugs? Now you know why drug abuse often leads to a life of crime.

If someone you love is addicted to drugs, find a successful drug rehab program fast. No matter what the cost, it’s not going to be $58,000 a year for years and years on end, and it may save their life.

Abuse of OTC drugs may indicate a deeper problem, and the need for drug rehab

I read an article this morning on cough medicine abuse. Amazing. Nearly 17 visits to the ER, every day, for abuse of cough and cold medicines containing dextromethorphan. That’s ‘abuse’ – i.e. non-medicinal use. Just taking it to get high. One third of the visits from 18 to 20-year-olds also involved alcohol. I’m sure some people assume that this is primarily a problem with young people, but more than half the visits involved adults. Anyone at the point of using cough medicine to get high is a prime candidate for addiction, and there’s a good possibility that they’re already using street drugs and hit the cough medicine because they didn’t have any of the other stuff. Someone who cares about that person should get them into drug rehab.

Over 100 over-the-counter medicines contain dextromethorphan. If you’ve ever watched television, you’ve heard of them. Cute little TV commercials that depict people with a cold or cough going about their usual daily activities all bright and chipper, or sleeping peacefully through the night. Are they bright, chipper and peaceful, or are they high on Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine, Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, Dayquil LiquiCaps, Dimetapp DM, Robitussin, Sudafed, Triaminic, Tylenol Cold products, Vicks 44 Cough Relief, or NyQuil?

Side effects: confusion, dizziness, double or blurred vision, slurred speech, loss of physical coordination, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, rapid heart beat, drowsiness, numbness of fingers and toes, and disorientation. And the ‘high’ end of it - mild distortions of color and sound or visual hallucinations, “out-of-body” dissociative sensations, and loss of motor control.

We live in a medicated society. For the person who is stressed out, looking for an escape from life’s problems and confusions, these over-the-counter drugs can easily lead to addiction. If your cough medicine supply is running low, but no one in the household has a cough, suspect the worst. Find out who’s using it, and you might well find someone with a drug addiction problem who is, or soon could be, taking serious drugs. Get them into a successful drug rehab program before they become one of the ER statistics.

Successful drug rehab saves one lucky guy’s career – do the same for someone you love

This morning I read an article about the reinstatement of a pharmacist whose license had previously been revoked because of addiction to Vicodin. Reinstatement took two years, during which time he was subjected to random drug tests. He’s under drug watch for another five years, but, nevertheless, he’s one of the lucky ones. For every life that’s saved, there are millions out there who never get into a successful drug rehab program that can help them end their addiction.

What’s his story? A clean guy, no drug problem, he got started on Vicodin when suffering from a painful knee problem. Before you know it, he was hooked. At one point he was taking 45 pills a day. All told, he admitted to stealing thousands of pills from work.

Is it really that easy to get dependent on or addicted to a prescription drug? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, prescription drug addiction has become so common it’s threatening to overtake heroin and methamphetamine. That’s a big problem.

Don’t for a minute think that because a doctor prescribed a pill, you cannot become addicted to it. You can. And those drugs are no less dangerous than street drugs. If someone you know is taking prescription drugs, make sure you do something about it. Unlike this pharmacist, not everyone gets a second chance. The longer you leave it, the harder it will be. Get them into drug rehab.