AHS Views

In Arizona Tina Tolbert was a supermom. How did she keep going? By taking meth. It gave her the energy she needed to play with her kids. She took them on night hikes in the mountains, climbed trees, and took them swimming at 3 in the morning. And she was on meth all the time. She was also on meth when pregnant with her son. He’s now in his second drug rehab program trying to get addiction help for his meth addiction, and he’s only 17 years old.

Tina lost her career as a respiratory therapist because of her meth addiction. “It will take all your hope” she said. And she feels her son’s addiction stems from her taking meth when she was pregnant.

Methamphetamines are used by 12 million people in America and it takes a toll on communities and households all over the country. It’s marketed in the Northeast, the Midwest - Iowa, Nevada, Idaho and Arizona all have big methamphetamine problems. And Tina is not the only supermom taking them. There are even Moms off Meth programs in many cities.

Addiction help services are going to be needed all over the country for the people with a methamphetamine addiction. Call us if you’re one of them, or know someone who is.

Drug abuse trends in Idaho are changing from methamphetamines to cocaine. Cocaine has always been easy to get in Idaho and now people are switching from methamphetamine abuse to cocaine abuse. Addiction help facilities are likely to see an increase in cocaine users coming for treatment. This trend change has been occurring over the past two or three months according to Nampa Special Investigations Unit Sgt. Joe Huff.

“I wouldn’t say meth is going away and it’s not a problem. It’s still a huge problem, but right now it’s taken a backseat to cocaine,’ he said.

The reason for the switch appears to be the price: cocaine runs between $600 and $700 and ounce while methamphetamines go for $1500 to $1600 and ounce. A year ago meth and cocaine were closer in price - meth sold for $850 to 900 dollars an ounce.

The price of meth has gone up because of stricter laws regarding some of the raw materials needed to make it. Also the supply is being directed more to the east coast cities rather than Idaho.

The anti-meth campaigns are useful in curbing meth abuse and should be continued, along with more drug education and treatment. As people switch to cocaine, the next logical switch will be to Ritalin or Adderall as they are just as useful as cocaine but are legal

If you have a friend who needs addiction help services because of methamphetamines or cocaine, call us.

Meth and meth addiction is Oregon’s number one crime problem according to candidate John Kroger. John Kroger is running for Attorney General for the State of Oregon and if elected he will help get more people into drug treatment. “Évery year meth costs us hundreds of millions of dollars in prison and law enforcement costs, health care expenditures, and lost workforce productivity.” He wants to see people get the addiction help they need.

Mr. Kroger understands that treatment can save tax payers plenty of money, “for every dollar we invest in treatment, we will save nearly six dollars by bringing down the crime and incarceration rates.”

His plan to send more people to drug treatment makes more sense then sending people to prison. Currently Oregon ranks 45th in the nation for addiction help overall and 49th for treatment in young adults ages 18 to 25. He will need to find a successful treatment program to help the meth users in Oregon, and he will need more treatment centers.

The number of small meth labs in Oregon has decreased since 2005 when the Governor put laws in place to limit the supplies that methamphetamine manufacturers needed to produce this deadly drug. But like other parts of the country, large drug trading organizations filled that hole by importing drugs from Mexico. Mr. Kroger wants to take on the drug cartel head on. We hope he is successful, we see the devastation meth and other drugs bring to society everyday.

If his plan works, Mr. Kroger will cut the supply and force more people into treatment instead of sentencing the addicts to long stints of incarceration which, in the long run, doesn’t usually result in them getting the addiction help they need. Instead, they often wind up back on drugs, and back in prison.

Addiction Help Services can help you, a family member or friend if you are having trouble with meth or any drug if you live in Oregon.

The Governor of Nevada requested a report on what to do about Nevada’s methamphetamine problems. The task force was headed by Nevada’s attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto. The report talks about combating the meth problem on four fronts: law enforcement, legislation, treatment and education/prevention. This four-pronged approach sounds just like the addiction help the state needs.

Nevada leads the nation in meth users, so this report and the execution of its recommendations are vital for the future of the state and the people who live there. How to deal with the problems that meth abuse presents are detailed in the report. Some of the problems mentioned include children of meth abusers and the amount of violent crime result from drug abuse.

It also emphasizes the need for more people to work in the addiction help industry – an industry with very high turnover.

Addiction help counselors currently make around $30,000 a year and the turnover at addiction treatment facilities runs at about 25% per year. Older workers are leaving the industry and, because of low pay and poor working conditions, new people aren’t coming on board to work with addicts.

Education and prevention will play a big role: It will be the most important element.  Teaching children early and often about the dangers of drug abuse should be on every state’s agenda, as will ensuring parents understand the problems drug and alcohol abuse present.

The Governor and the state are trying to tackle this problem head on, and we wish them well. If you, a family member or a friend need any help in Nevada because of drug addiction call us at Addiction Help Services.

The news has been full of stories about people – largely celebrities – who don’t stop drinking or taking drugs after drug rehab. But for every story out there like that, there are innumerable stories about people who go to drug rehab and make it. Fortunately, some of them are also making the news. Pop star, Fergie, for example has just revealed that she had a serious addiction to methamphetamine, which she kicked thanks to getting the addiction help she needed.

“I had chemically induced paranoid schizophrenia,” she told Allure. “At one point I gave myself an ultimatum, because I was absolutely sure the FBI and a SWAT team were coming for me. I said, ‘OK, if you walk through that door and they’re not out there, then it’s the drugs.’”

Thankfully for Fergie, she did receive drug addiction treatment, and today she has a successful career as lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas and as a solo singer.
 
Hopefully Fergie’s story inspire others to stay away from drugs and, if they’re on them already, to get the addiction help services they need.

Prescription drug abuse in Tennessee causes more deaths than heroin addiction

A recent article highlighting the prescription drug problem in Tennessee stated that prescription drugs now cause more deaths than heroin addiction, methamphetamine and cocaine. Over 1200 deaths were linked to prescription drugs from 2002 to 2005, according to Medical Examiner (ME) records, and the number increased by 62 percent over that four year period. The deaths of several people are covered in the article, one of them the daughter of a man who, in retrospect, wished he had gotten a court order to force his adult daughter into drug rehab when he saw there was a problem.

That would have been exactly the right thing to do.

The State ME said that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the overall problem as most people who abuse prescription drugs don’t die, they just live with the consequences. What are the consequences? The daughter who was not forced into drug rehab was a nurse who damaged vertebrae in her neck while on the job. The doctor prescribed mild painkillers, but they didn’t work. More prescriptions followed, as did dependency and addiction. She became completely non-functional, had to quit working, moved back home with her parents and couldn’t even cook a meal. On four prescription drugs simultaneously – methadone (which used to be used to help end heroin addiction but is now prescribed as a painkiller and is highly addictive in itself), an antidepressant, and two other powerful medications – she finally died of an overdose at age 42.

Those are the consequences. Don’t let them happen to someone you love. Get them into a successful drug rehab program.

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.

Methamphetamine use, in particular, has been a growing problem in the rural South for years, reports The Herald Banner.

Illegal drug use takes a heavy toll on families and relationships torn to the breaking point by chemical addiction and the poor decisions it causes people to make…

Police statistics link drug use to property crimes and violence, both of which can be spurred by the drugs themselves and the irrational need to acquire more of them. Drug users waste millions of dollars to feed their habits, taking money from the legitimate local economy and giving it to criminals. Lives are lost as a direct result of drug use. People are killed in car accidents, by overdose and in violent, drug-related crimes.

Effective drug rehab programs that do not substitute one drug for another, but actually free the person from their addiction and help them to rebuild their lives can impact these statistics.

A recent report by a non-profit children’s advocacy group has found that there is a lack of good information to determine the effects of methamphetamine on Arkansas’s child welfare system.

Methamphetamine “is seen as the leading cause of all the problems that plague the child welfare system and is considered a significant factor and something that has to be addressed, but you can’t prove that,” said Paul Kelly, senior policy analyst with Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “With all the public attention on it, is that warranted, and, should we be focusing on methamphetamine or should we be focused on substance abuse?” he said.

The report by the AACF did find that meth was one of the drugs abused by adults that harm children.

According to the study, pregnant mothers are more likely to test positive for cocaine and amphetamines. The study, “Poison, Problem and Perspective: the Impact of Methamphetamine on Arkansas Child Welfare System,” also found that in 2004, parental substance abuse surpassed parents going to jail as the most prevalent factor for placing children in foster care.

Kelly said this is troubling because there is a shortage in Arkansas of substance abuse treatment for women and children.

Arkansas is widely believed to have a statewide problem with methamphetamine abuse and with the lack of good treatment available this will continue to be an issue.

What do you think? Should the focus in Arkansas be on methamphetamine or substance abuse in general?

Article by Eric

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According to a recent study done by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the use of methamphetamine and amphetamines increase the risk of stroke in young adults. This includes the use and abuse of the illegal drug methamphetamine, which is a dangerous stimulant that is widely abused in the United States, as well cocaine and other amphetamines.

Currently there are many legally prescribed amphetamines for “diseases” such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) that produce the same effect as a drug like methamphetamine and/or cocaine that have been widely abused over the last few years.

The abuse of prescription drugs like Adderall and Ritalin is a national problem.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, visits to U.S. emergency rooms rose 21% from 2004 to 2005 because of the misuse of prescription drugs. Visits to the ER because of abuse of illegal drugs stayed the same.

Many people who were prescribed drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin as children later end up abusing illegal stimulants such as methamphetamine or even cocaine as adults. According to many drug treatment centers and those using both methamphetamine and/or legally prescribed amphetamines are at a higher risk for stroke and other health issues as young adults and later in life.

The most alarming thing about this is that many school age children are put on these drugs on a daily basis. But, do we really understand the side effects and long standing damage we are doing by putting kids on drugs?

Are we setting them up for major medical problems and even addiction later in life? And is there a better way to handle learning disabilities and problems in school that does not involve drugging children?

Article by Eric

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