AHS Views

Some people don’t want addiction help, and some people do. Yesterday I wrote a blog about methadone. I received numerous comments from people who are on methadone for pain, or because they were addicted to heroin and wanted to overcome that addiction, but when drug rehab and other addiction help treatment didn’t work for them, they turned to methadone.

I don’t see that anyone would have a problem with someone in chronic pain using methadone because they just can’t function without it. I certainly don’t.

However, there are a few things I would like to say to those who are using it to overcome heroin addiction, or addiction to other opiates.

• Everyone who commented felt strongly that methadone was not a replacement for heroin. Okay, so why is it called Methadone Replacement Therapy - MRT?  Because that’s exactly what it is. Methadone replaces the heroin. If you search “replacement for heroin” on the Internet, methadone is what you will find. So please tell me what would be a better description.
• One commenter said that methadone is used only for those who have not been successful with drug rehab or other addiction help. That may be the case for those who are on methadone more or less permanently, but it is not the case for people who are taking methadone as a step towards full recovery – i.e. no longer dependent on or addicted to any drug.
• After receiving the comments, I called several people connected to rehab and detox facilities to do an informal survey. What I learned from that survey was that between 40% and 60% of the people who want to get off methadone are also taking benzodiazepines. Xanax is the most commonly prescribed benzo. Whether they get it from a methadone clinic or not doesn’t seem relevant. Nor does the fact that most, not all, methadone deaths happen when methadone is combined with other drugs – or alcohol. Perhaps those people who are taking methadone think they’re not going to be taking any other drugs so there is no risk. Well, many of them may not take other street drugs but there’s obviously a good chance – about a 50% chance, according to my little survey -  that they have been, or will be, prescribed another drug by their doctor. What happens to the risk factor then?
• I have worked with many former heroin addicts. In fact, I employ and work with several currently. All of them have been completely drug free for over five years. I also have two kids who received addiction help and are now drug free. I have a son-in-law who was a heroin addict and is now drug free - he kicked cold turkey. And I have a friend who edits for me – she was a heroin addict and also kicked cold turkey, with no addiction help, two decades ago. It can and has been done by thousands of people. It is not an incurable disease.
• One commenter mentioned that methadone was not harder to get off of than heroin and said it just takes longer. I would say that if someone is experiencing pain and discomfort for a longer period of time that you could describe that as ‘harder’. The longer the withdrawal process, the less likely you will have success. Most people cannot withdraw by themselves; in fact I have seen failure rates in the 90% range - which is why some people do better when they also have medically assisted drug detox. You use some drugs for a brief period of time, but then you’re off them altogether.
• I have yet to see any scientific proof that former heroin addicts cannot produce enough endorphins and therefore need methadone. I have also not heard of anyone getting their endorphin levels tested prior to being put on methadone replacement therapy. So, where is the proof that endorphin deficiency is the source of the problem? Where is the proof that the right addiction help couldn’t work? If you have real data on this, I would appreciate receiving it.

I was never addicted to heroin so I cannot feel what you feel. But the fact is, with enough persistence, people can get off heroin and not need methadone. People can live drug free and none of you should have a problem with that. You may have chosen the methadone path, but addiction help is possible - which is why I do what I do.

If you don’t want addiction help, if you would prefer to stay on methadone, then you certainly don’t need anyone’s permission to do so. But if you think it would be a good idea to live drug free, by all means look for other alternatives. I don’t know how many thousands of people have been successful finding the addiction help they need to overcome heroin without having to replace it – yes, that’s what it is – with methadone, but I do know that, for most, it is possible. Call me if you would like to look into it. 877-554-7308. That’s Addiction Help Services.

When you are addicted to something like OxyContin the easiest path to take if you want to get off it is to switch to methadone or some other replacement drug. The hardest path is to get the addiction help you need to be drug free. You can, of course, go to a rehab facility where they’ll give you methadone for heroin or OxyContin and, more than likely, you’ll also get Xanax or Valium along with it. But is it really better than getting addiction help?

Taking these drugs is a relief to the drug companies that make them - they profit every time you go to the methadone clinic and every time you take a Xanax. Drug companies spend a lot of money trying to convince people that life is better on drugs.

But before you make a decision like that, there are few things you should know:

First, Xanax is one of the most addictive drugs around, and also extremely hard to stop.

Second, once you start on methadone it is very hard to stop - much worse than the heroin withdrawal you may have gone through or are so reluctant to go through.

In fact, even using methadone as a painkiller, which is becoming very common, is dangerous. Nancy Garvin of Mothers Against Medical.Org points out that methadone is the number one killer of all the prescription narcotics in the U.S. Thousands of people die from it every year – and you don’t have to abuse it for it to kill you.

Get the addiction help services you need – it may be harder than settling for a replacement drug but it doesn’t fill anyone’s pockets, and it definitely won’t kill you.

Pledging to help “the millions of elderly Americans who can’t get through the day without popping pills or shooting up insulin,” President Bush announced his committment  to wiping out prescription-drug use among seniors around 2001. Last year 184,000 people went for addiction help for things like OxyContin, Vicodin, and Xanax.  Roughly 10% of them were over the age of 50. I don’t think the millions of Americans President Bush was talking about received any addiction help at all.

In 2001 there were an estimated 1.7 million elderly who needed addiction help according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are saying 4.4 million will need addiction help by 2010. While I don’t have any sophisticated systems to tell me the right number, I would bet there are four million people over the age of 50 who need addiction help now. They are on painkillers, sleeping pills and tranquilizers.

You could reread the first sentence of this blog: Bush said there were millions in 2001. The growth rate for prescription drug addiction and abuse is rising dramatically according to most reports. My guess is that 4.4 million in need of addiction help in 2020 will be low.

Get  addiction help services if you are on prescription drugs that you no longer need.

This is a follow up to yesterday’s blog about the four students from Ringgold High School in Catoosa County, Tennessee. Timothy Lebron Smith died from an overdose after taking four 80mg pills. Pharmacists have reminded me that OxyContin was originally marketed for terminally ill cancer patients in extreme pain. It seems that the purpose for the drug has been changed – now anyone in pain uses it. The pharmacists from Catoosa County want to take it off the shelves. Purdue Pharma should have some risk here if people don’t know how dangerous OxyContin is. Drug education will help, as will locking up the medication, but if people don’t realize they are holding a loaded gun then the fault lies with the pharmaceutical company. Doctors also need more education concerning the addictive nature of all prescription drugs; they especially need to warn their patients about the dangers of getting addicted to OxyContin or Oxyodone and what sort of addiction help services they will need if they do become addicted.

Would fewer people become addicted to prescription painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin if Massachusetts Rep. Steve Walsh’s bill passes?  Rep. Walsh wants doctors to be required to 10 hours of training on pain medications and pain management in order to get or renew their license. I think Rep. Walsh has the right idea. It would give doctors the knowledge they need to help stop the prescription drug epidemic and reduce the number of people needing addiction help for drugs they got from their doctor.

Massachusetts has a serious prescription drug problem - doctors should be made to study what happens when people become addicted to those drugs and what they have to go through to get the addiction help necessary to get off them.  They should also be made aware of and study the addictive nature of Valium and Xanax, which are often even harder to withdraw from than painkillers like methadone and OxyContin. In fact, they can be even worse than heroin.

If doctors understood more about the drugs they prescribe, they could ensure they prescribe the right dose for the right length of time.

One of the problems with prescription drug addiction and dependency is that it also increases the number of people using heroin. If a patient becomes addicted to or dependent on a prescription painkiller, they often turn to heroin when their prescription runs out. Heroin will continue to be a growing problem in Massachusetts as long as people are becoming addicted to OxyContin or other painkillers. Training the doctors, whether they’re applying for their license or renewing is a great idea. It will cut down on the need for addiction help services and it should be required in every state by every doctor.

What prescription drugs are being used by kids? According to former DEA agent and renowned drug expert, Robert Stutman, OxyContin, Ritalin and Adderall are most common. In 1969 the average age of first drug use was 16 ½; in 2006 the age was 12. One in four of those 12-year-olds will need addiction help according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, and they have be dependent on drugs for their entire lifetime.

Because kids are taking prescription drugs so early in life, we’ll probably be looking at a might higher percentage of the population needing addiction help in the future – by 2015, when some of these kids grow up, they’ll be addicted to or dependent on a drug.

One of the biggest problems is that people don’t realize how dangerous these drugs are. But they’re killing people. In 1969 it would be extremely rare to pick up a newspaper and see an article about a kid dying from a drug overdose. In 2008 you can find an article every single day if you look at local papers across the country.

Robert Stutman addressed the drug problem earlier this week, speaking to about 100 parents in Polk County, Florida. Another interesting piece of information – Stutman said that half the 300 students in George Jenkins High School said they drank alcohol weekly. That’s also a bad sign – and there’s also a good chance they’ll also need addiction help.

Prescription drugs and alcohol generally come from people’s homes. If you don’t want your kids to get into trouble and needing addiction help services in the future, keep your alcohol and prescription drugs locked up.

If you are the parents of a cheerleader you might want to examine whether your daughter or son needs addiction help.

“In 2005 NCAA colleges noted that one quarter of their insurance claims involved cheerleaders injured in sporting events,” according to a recent review of  Lisa Torgovnick’s book, ‘CHEER! THREE TEAMS’ QUEST FOR COLLEGE CHEERLEADING’S ULTIMATE PRIZE’ in StarNewsOnline.com. “The tumbles, stunts and pyramids demand strength, agility, pure athleticism and a willingness to endure pain”.

That sounds like a formula for painkiller abuse - OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin are the most likely. If you are the parent of a cheerleader, make sure your child isn’t so injured they end up on prescription painkillers for a whole season. If they do, getting off the drugs will be difficult if not impossible, and it’s likely the kids will need addiction help.

If your kids are flyers and need to maintain a low weight they are also likely to be using prescription stimulants such as Ritalin or Adderall. And, possibly, cocaine. You may also want to make sure they aren’t using methamphetamines – often used as a weight loss solution for high school and college-aged kids.

If you are a parent, don’t kid yourself that these drugs are safe because they come with a prescription.

The pressure to succeed in sports or in school puts pressure on students to use solutions such as prescription stimulants and prescription painkillers. Don’t assume your kids aren’t using drugs to perform, lots of athletes do. Avoid the need for addiction help services, and check it out.

Do we need addiction help for the 3.1 million teenagers who turn to cough syrup when painkillers, depressants or other stronger drugs aren’t available? Its coming, that’s for sure. Neil Cline, a counselor for Integrated Counseling Services said that “despite the numbers, the teens he counsels are usually not addicted to cough meds, but rather use them when other, illegal drugs are not available.” There’s no question that they need addiction help.

Abusing prescription drugs is nothing new, but using cough medicine when other stronger drugs aren’t available is a new twist. Kids want the pills and they will buy them from friends: they’ll buy them from freidns who were injured and got prescription painkillers from their doctors; college students buy their friends’ prescribed stimulants; and sometimes they just lift them from people’s homes.

Some estimates say 25% of people between the ages of 18 and 26 abuse prescription painkillers and stimulants. This does not include the normal street drugs such as heroin or cocaine. Some percentage of these people will need to go for addiction help services, no doubt about it.

The onslaught of Oxycontin addiction and dependency is going to be the cause of more need for drug addiction help for heroin addicts. In 2007 a huge crop of opium from Afghanistan drove down the price of heroin. At Addiction Help Services we are starting to see or hear of people switching from OxyContin to heroin because of the cost and an inability to get prescriptions filled.

In 2008 you can expect to see more of the same because Afghanistan’s output is expected to be ’shockingly’ high  - although perhaps not quite as large as 2007 if government crackdowns are successful. Neverthless, the price of heroin should continue to stay low, and may come down even further. You can buy heroin for as little as $3 dollars a bag in Ohio and other places.

With prescription painkillers becoming the drug of choice among high school students from Kentucky to Ottawa you can expect heroin addiction will follow suit as those abusing painkillers discover that heroin is cheaper.

As long as prescription painkillers and other prescription drugs remain easy to get, their use will boost the demand for heroin and other street drugs, and addiction help will be needed by many more people.

Baseball should really investigate the use of prescription drugs in their sport. If a player can’t perform without Adderall or Ritalin, why isn’t that considered performance enhancing? If he can’t get off the bench without painkillers, shouldn’t that considered performance enhancing? To make matters worse, these athletes are going to become, or already are, dependent on or addicted to these drugs and many of them probably already need drug rehab or some other form of addiction help.

Don Fehr and the players union should put a stop to the use of any drugs. It really sends a wrong message when 103 players are allowed to use drugs to play. If you’re on a high school or college baseball team wouldn’t you start taking drugs to try and reach your goals when that’s what the pros are doing? If the players union and major league baseball approve of the use of any prescription drugs then why shouldn’t you start early, like in little league or t-ball?

Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds might have used steroids, but to crucify them is ridiculous when you’ve got 103 pro baseball players taking Adderall or Ritalin. Are Valium or Xanax also allowed before you’re at bat if you’re nervous?

Unfortunately, instead of sending the message that should be sent by our sports professionals, baseball is helping spread the use of prescription drugs. And the result is going to be the need for more addiction help services, both within the sport and among the general public.