AHS Views

Heroin users definitely need to get whatever addiction help they need to become drug free.

In a recent follow up study by the Drug Treatment Centre and Advisory Board in Dublin, Ireland, it was found that half the pregnant women treated for heroin addiction in 1985 are now dead. The women were in their late teens or early 20s in 1985 and the follow up study found 29 of them did not survive. HIV killed 17 of them, 28 died from medical illness such as pneumonia or heart failure and four died from suicide – two of which were drug overdoses.

Of the survivors, nine tested positive for heroin and 14 tested positive for heroin and at least one other drug.

The researchers also followed up on the children of the dead mothers and found that 37% had spent time in prison and 42% had a history of drug abuse.

It’s a sad outcome for so many women and their children. The ones who are still alive and still young might be able to get the drug addiction help they need. This is really something to think about if you know someone who is abusing prescription painkillers or heroin.

Addiction help services and treatment is available and you can lead a drug and alcohol free life. Heroin abuse and methamphetamines can lead to HIV and other illnesses that do kill you. Get the help you need. It is possible to end drug addiction, don’t end up dead.

Addiction help is needed by tens of thousands of people who are addicted to or dependent on prescription drugs. Those drugs certainly include OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet and Lortab, to name a few. But as prescriptions run out and Afghanistan produces more heroin, how many people with prescription drug addiction and dependency will turn to heroin instead of getting the addiction help they need.

In a recent article, Mohammad Reza Jahani, the deputy head of Iran’s Drug control Headquarters estimates that Afghanistan’s opium fields will produce 8,200 tons of narcotics in 2007 - up from 6,100 tons during 2006. His worry is that 2,500 hundred tons will end up in Iran. He says that 700 tons will stay in Iran for use by Iranians and that 1300 will be transported elsewhere.

Some 500 tons will be found and confiscated and the drug dealers will probably face some harsh penalties.

The concern that I have is that as heroin production increases, it has to be sold somewhere. And, more than likely, that is going to be in the U.S.

As the DEA becomes more aggressive in dealing with doctors and distributors of prescription drugs, addicts will be left out in the cold trying to support their addiction with expensive prescription drugs. They will either get the addiction help they need, or they will find alternatives. And some prescription drug addicts have already discovered that heroin is far less expensive and easier to get.

In other reports some experts have estimated Afghanistan’s heroin production at twice the amount necessary to supply the world’s heroin use. My question would be what do the opium farmers and producers see that would cause them to lower the price and produce twice as much?

It could be the weather, better farming or higher yield from their crops, or it could be that someone sees that more people are addicted to opiates then ever before and there’s no one else to supply this growing market.

As we move forward into 2008 and beyond, my hope is that people are addicted to prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs get the addiction help they need.
Addiction Help Services can put you, your family or friends in touch with a successful drug rehab program.

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.

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.

I don’t know of many drug addicts who want to get arrested, but I came across a story about NASCAR driver Aaron Fike who reportedly told a judge that he was thankful for an arrest that got him the addiction help he needed to handle his problem with heroin.
 
According to the article, Fike was arrested while shooting up in an amusement park parking lot and was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of heroin. After four days in jail, Fike was admitted into a drug addiction treatment program where he spent four months.

Fike had struggled with addiction for many years. It started with him taking prescription painkillers to handle a physical injury. He got hooked on them very quickly, then graduated to OxyContin, and then started shooting heroin.

After his arrest he was thankful for the opportunity to get addiction treatment help to handle his substance abuse issues. Today, although he still may face some sentencing for his arrest, Fike is trying to deliver drug education to schools, racetracks and other community venues in order to reduce his charges.

His personal story shows what can happen when a person gets the addiction help services they need.

Contrary to popular belief, relapse is not a part of recovery. When an individual relapses after receiving drug addiction treatment it’s because the addiction help they received was incomplete – some vital element of rehabilitation was omitted.
 
Most of the time there are indications that the person may relapse. In fact, some will even say they’re planning on it.  Rock star Pete Doherty is the perfect example: when he was handed his suspended sentence he commented that there was no way he could stay out of legal trouble. Now there’s a video online of Doherty shooting heroin. That shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Although heroin addiction is not easy to overcome, if a drug rehab program is thoroughly done, there’s no reason why someone would relapse. The only solution is to do exactly what Doherty says he’s doing: get back into addiction help services until relapse is no longer a threat.

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.

Although it’s usually parents who are looking for alcohol or drug rehab for their kids, sometimes the tables are turned – singer and actor Mario’s mother had a heroin addiction most of Mario’s life. He’s now produced a documentary about it called I Won’t Love You to Death: The Story of Mario and His Mom. She has been clean now for 3 ½ months - Mario says they’ve been the best in his life - thanks to Mario, family friends, an interventionist and drug rehab.

I’ve known a lot of people who’ve grown up with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. It’s a very hard life for both the parents and the kids.

I Won’t Love You to Death is a very appropriate title. Parents who are tolerant about their kids taking drugs or drinking, and kids who tolerate the same thing in their parents, really are in a life and death situation. Sometimes we think that being loving and tolerant will make the problem go away. But, it won’t. The number of alcoholics or drug addicts who recover on their own can be counted on one hand. Drug rehab is what they need.

A good drug rehab program counselor can help you with intervention, and make sure the person you care about gets into a drug rehab program that’s right for them. Don’t wait. Don’t love them to death.

Baltimore, Maryland has more heroin addicts and heroin-related crime than almost any other city in the U.S., but officials are now taking steps in the right direction: According to a recent article, two congressional leaders held a hearing at the University of Maryland School of Law to learn more about the city’s violence reduction and drug rehab plans.
 
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, one of the congressmen chairing the hearings, said he used to live in Baltimore’s ‘inner-inner city” where he saw “whole generations” being destroyed as a result of cocaine and heroin addiction.

There are currently some in-patient drug rehab centers in Baltimore but the relapse rate is high. The director of a recovery program blames the relapse rate on a lack of aftercare options that help addicts integrate into the community when they leave. No doubt that’s true, but a successful drug rehab program would address that problem before the program was considered complete.

Former heavyweight boxer George Chuvalo lost three sons to heroin addiction. A recent article reports that the 70-year-old is now traveling around the world speaking with kids about the dangers of addiction; with hopes that many won’t start drugs in the first place and that those on drugs will get through drug rehab before it’s too late.

Chuvalo has been talking to kids about the dangers of drugs since 1996. He lost two sons to heroin overdoses: one in 1993 and the other 1996. A third son committed suicide in 1985, which was also related to his drug addiction. Chuvalo tries to educate young people on the dangers of heroin addiction because “he didn’t want his sons to die in vain.”

While Chuvalo can’t go back in time and save his sons, all of them would probably still be alive if they had completed a successful drug rehab program.