AHS Views

Well, here’s an interesting twist - a vaccine for cocaine addiction. But this vaccine doesn’t prevent addiction, it’s used to get somone who’s already hooked to stop taking it. Does that mean they won’t need addiction help?

Not likely. The researcher developing the vaccine said, “At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won’t get high and will lose interest.”  

Well, let me tell you something - if this vaccine is so ineffective that ‘most users will give in to temptation and relapse’, it sounds like the only people it will really help are those who can probably get off cocaine on their own steam.

Neverthless, it is an interesting concept. The vaccine works on the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to the cocaine and thereby prevent it from reaching the brain. I’m not crazy about anything that messes with the immune system - you never know where that kind of thing can lead - but if it helps someone get off drugs, and doesn’t do any other damage, it might be a good idea.

It’s supposed to be used in conjunction with drug rehab and other addiction help. I don’t know quite how that would work since if a person is in drug rehab he’s not going to be using cocaine anyway.

Although physical dependency is one element of addiction, or can be, it’s not really the most pivotal. Getting off a drug can be relatively easy - the urge to escape from whatever drove the person to drugs in the first place is another story. And no vaccine is going to handle that.

If you or someone you know is using cocaine, Addiction Help Services can help you find the drug detox or drug rehab program you need to get off the drug. If you really want to do it, it can be done without a vaccine. 

Getting the addiction help you need is still necessary – even though you’re on prescription drugs now, not cocaine or heroin 

Your broker or money manger may be addicted to drugs, or at least crazy enough to use them. Addiction help is going to be needed by a few rich and successful wall streeters -  if you don’t believe it, read on.

On Wall Street, if you want to control your emotions you can use OxyContin or Vicodin - which people believe will numb their emotions. I would guess wall streeters would need that so the pressure of their investments doesn’t make them throw up.

If you want to concentrate better and get an edge, you can use Ritalin or Adderall.

More than likely, OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin and Adderal have replaced cocaine and heroin as drugs of abuse, although they are basically the same thing.

And let’s not leave out Xanax or Valium - which may make it unnecessary to worry about anything at all.

The great thing about all of these drug is they are legal – all you need is a prescription.

Statistics about drug addiction or abuse are not available for the investment community but, having been involved in that community myself, I suspect it would be worse on Wall Street than in the general population. Is certainly wouldn’t be any better.

Years ago, cocaine and heroin abuse was widespread on Wall Street. And drugs are much easier to get now because they’re legal.

Most of the population believes these drugs to be safe because of the campaigns run by drug companies. And doctors are willing to just dole out prescriptions for any minor pain or emotional upset.

On Wall Street an emotional upset could include any financial loss for the day or any deal gone bad that you no longer have control over. The stress of making money and doing large deals can lead you straight to alcohol or prescription drug addiction.
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The investment banks and mutual fund companies will all find their problems are no different than with doctors, lawyers and other professions. Addiction help is available and should be used.

The idea of performance enhancing drugs on Wall Street is certainly different than sports but, nevertheless, that is what people probably believe - they perform better while numb and on speed.

Addiction Help Services has the resources to help you find the most successful drug rehab program for your situation, and a drug detox if necessary.

Massachusetts and the rest of the North East have prescription drug addiction problems, along with the heroin addiction, and some doctors are getting rich preying on these addicts instead of getting them the addiction help they need.

According to a recent article, doctors are charging up to $3000 for the first visit, and hundreds for subsequent visits, just to examine the addict and give them a prescription for Suboxone, a drug used to suppress withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.

Doctors are meeting patients in parking lots and telling them to come to the back door of their house to sell Suboxone prescriptions.

The cost of a safe medical drug detox and good addiction help at a rehab would be far less, and they would really get the addict off drugs.

If the addicts coming to these doctors knew they could go through a drug detox to help them get off drugs, and then get further addiction help at a drug rehab, they wouldn’t need to pay thousands of dollars to stay on Soboxone. They could go through a two-step process and become drug free.

It’s unfortunate that parents and friends don’t realize what they are doing by paying this sort of doctor instead of insisting the addict live drug free. Doctors who would prey on addicts certainly have confusions about the Hippocratic code. Parents should do whatever they can to get their kids the addiction help they need and turn the doctors who are extorting money from them over the DEA or the police.

All over the country there are unprincipled doctors using their licenses to get rich by prescribing drugs such as OxyContin or Soboxone to desperate addicts.

The important thing for families to remember is there is an option of a safe drug detox to get someone through withdrawal and physically fit. And they can then get further addiction help in drug rehab.

Not only is it the best thing to do, it would actually be cheaper than paying a doctor thousand of dollars for a visit and a prescription.

Dealing with addiction is hard –the first thing you have to do to get it out of your life is a little research, and then get help. If you need have a problem with addiction to prescription painkillers, or heroin, don’t go to an unethical doctor who will take advantage of your situation. Contact Addiction Help Services and they can help you find the real addiction help you need.

Drug addiction help will be needed by more adults as teens graduate from high school and enter college. With 50 percent of high school students thinking prescription drugs are safe because they come from the doctor, the prescription drug problem can only get worse. And even more people will be checking into drug detox and drug rehab for prescription drug addiction help.

One study said that 40 percent of kids think prescription drugs are safer than street drugs, but when the Drug Czar spoke last week in Tampa, Florida, he said the number was actually 50%.when it comes to high school students.

High school students don’t seem to be particular when choosing a drug, Adderall, Vicodin, OxyContin, and Xanax are mentioned frequently. Prescription drug addiction is definitely going to be a problem for tens of millions of people in the future and those people will need addiction help services just as if they were on cocaine or heroin.
 
The drugs are available from friends and in many families’ medicine cabinets. If they aren’t available there, many students buy them on campus - Ritalin and Adderall on any high school campus go for $2 a pill.

Locking up your medicine cabinet will help, keeping track of your prescriptions and your kids’ prescriptions will also help.

Although everyday use of opiates or benzodiazepines will cause addiction sooner rather then later, drug addiction may come about slowly for some and quickly for others. As everyone metabolizes drugs differently, addiction doesn’t depend on taking a drug for a certain length of time, or at a certain dosage.

The hardest drugs to withdraw from, and the ones that need the most medical attention, are opiates (Vicodin and OxyContin) and anti-anxiety drugs such as Xanax and Valium. Addiction help services for those drugs almost always requires drug detox prior to drug rehab.

Facing up to drug addiction in the family can be very difficult – we see it every day. But if someone needs addiction help services, the sooner they get it the higher the chance of recovery and you could be saving their life. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Not too many people paid an awful lot of attention to methadone when it was used primarily as a substitute drug for heroin addicts. But now that it’s used as a painkiller and the death toll is rising, it’s in the news. Perhaps the increase in methadone-related deaths will prompt the right people to realize what an abomination methadone ‘treatment’ really is and heroin addicts may start to get the addiction help they need instead of being put onto another addictive, dangerous drug.

What took them so long? I suspect that junkies dying didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, and wasn’t particularly newsworthy. You don’t see too many stories about how many junkies are dying from methadone, although the number of methadone-related deaths have been about double those related to heroin. And many more people take heroin than methadone.

Thinking of getting into a methadone maintenance program? If someone is telling you that’s the way to go, forget it. Contact a medical drug detox program that can get you through withdrawal and into drug rehab. And if you’re already on methadone, do the same. You don’t have to settle for replacing one drug addiction for another. Get the addiction help services you need.

The state of North Carolina is currently investigating 16 methadone-related deaths that occurred in a handful of clinics across the state. According to the Charlotte Observer, the victims went to the clinics for drug addiction help and, instead, lost their lives.

Unfortunately, the 16 deaths being investigated are just the tip of the iceberg: 245 people in North Carolina died from methadone poisoning last year.

If you or someone you care about is looking for addiction help, treatment that gets you addicted to another drug shouldn’t be an option. Personally, I’ve never met anyone who needs to become addicted to methadone or any other replacement drug to handle their heroin addiction. Don’t fall for it. If someone you know isn’t getting the drug addiction help they need, it’s not because they need another drug to replace it, it’s because they haven’t gotten the drug detox and drug rehab that’s right for their situation.

Why people choose this route despite the fact that it doesn’t get people off drugs is beyond me. I know some have been led to believe that heroin addiction, for example, is difficult to overcome but, in reality, it’s not if you have the help you need. I know, I’ve done it.

There are many different options in drug treatment. Your best bet is to contact an experienced drug rehab counselor who can help you find the right addiction help treatment right for your situation.

In the UK, one category of offender goes to an ‘open’ prison – prisoners are allowed to wander freely, but must show up for roll calls. Sounds ideal but prisoners are walking out and sometimes even committing additional crimes to get into prisons with higher security. Why? Drugs. The pressure to take drugs in UK open prisons makes it almost impossible for an offender to stay drug free. A recent article described the experience of several prisoners, including one who had completed a drug rehab program but knew he couldn’t stay off drugs if he remained in the open prison system.

Another prisoner who walked out told the court that the inmates of the open prison he was in were “all using drugs and sharing needles.”  He was rearrested 30 minutes after walking out and, according to the article, he cheered when the court sent him to a higher security prison.

The UK government spends over $160 million a year on their anti-drug campaign. Mike Trace, chief executive of the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust, says the open prison system is undoing all the good the government program has done.

An unbelieveable scene. Sounds like the drug scene is worse in the prisons than out. Unless the open prison system starts getting control of the situation by implementing drug rehab, enforcement and other controls, prisoners coming out of the system will create havoc on the streets.

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.

Although not true of all drugs, the withdrawal process for some is so severe, and potentially dangerous, that medically-supervised detox is vital as a first step to drug rehab. Heroin, methadone, alcohol and benzodiazepines such as Xanex, are good examples - about one in four people coming off these drugs are at risk of seizure or other medical complications. To avoid life-threatening situations, and help with the extreme pain one can sometimes encounter during withdrawal, I usually recommend medical detox. Some drug rehab programs offer detox as part of the treatment, but others may require patients to attend an outside medical detox facility before admission. It’s important when trying to locate a detox that you give complete information about the drugs being used so they can determine exactly what will be needed. High dosages of methadone are especially difficult to handle. However, once the detox is done, full drug rehab that gets down to the bottom of why the person started drugs in the first place can begin.

If you or someone you know needs treatment and you’re not sure if drug detox will be needed as the first step, call Addiction Help Services at 1-877-554-7308. We’ll help you determine whether detox is needed, and help you find a safe medical detox, and a successful drug rehab program.