AHS Views

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.

Officials have determined that Heath Ledger died of an overdose involving a combination of six prescription drugs - painkillers, tranquilizers and sleeping aids. “We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications,” the New York City Medical Examiner’s office said in a statement. Could addiction help have prevented Heath’s death or was this yet another incident of doctors prescribing drugs without full investigation into which drugs Heath was already taking?

I, for one, would like to be sure there wasn’t one single doctor prescribing all of these medications. Has that been looked into yet? Shouldn’t a doctor or even multiple doctors who are legitimate and prescribing so many medications be held accountable in some way for a person taking so many drugs?

President Bush has made several statements about prescription drug abuse in the past several years - needing addiction help services for prescription drug abuse isn’t new just because the White House ran an ad during the Super Bowl. It will be interesting to find out where all the drugs came from. I am sorry for the Ledger family’s loss and hope that if a doctor or doctors should be held responsible that they are.

A lot of people get the alcohol or drug treatment they need through drug court. Here’s the story of one young Kentucky woman, a mother, who started taking drugs and drinking casually while she was a senior in high school. It seems she wasn’t really interested in drugs, but because the people she hung around with took them and they were conveniently available, she went along with it. It took five long years before she got the addiction help she needed, and that was only after an overdose.

Her story demonstrates how easy it is to fall into the trap of drugs. And to get addicted. As a high school senior she started going out with an older guy who took drugs, drank, smoked, and so on. Things she had never done, and she didn’t know anyone else who did. She tried drugs out of curiosity, really. She continued the relationship, and the association with people who took drugs. Truthfully, had she stopped seeing this guy early enough she probably would have gone back to her old drug-free friends and her life would have turned out just fine.

Instead she wound up a 22-year-old addict shooting cocaine, morphine and OxyContin - which was very easy to get in her Kentucky hometown. She was also living a life of crime to support her habit. Within a short time, she lost everything she had.

This was a girl who, while still going to school, worked, bought a car and rented a place to live - that’s quite an exceptional teenager. But drugs ruined it all.

When she overdosed there was some kind of crime involved because she ended up in the justice system. She begged for drug court - which offers drug rehab instead of jail so the offender can get the addiction help they need.

Fortunately, she made it. But for every story like this, there are thousands of drug addicts who never get the addiction help they need and never have a chance to get their life under control.

If you’re in trouble with drugs or alcohol and are looking for drug rehab in Kentucky, give us a call. We can help you find the addiction help services you need to get out of the trap and get your life back.

When will Purdue Pharmacy and the other manufacturers of painkillers step forward to help the thousands of people who became addicted to OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin? “Nearly a decade after OxyContin slammed into southwestern Virginia and much of Appalachia, the abuse of prescription painkillers in the region is worse the ever, police and public officials say,” (Nick Miroff, Washington Post). Who’s going to pay for the addiction help they need?

One person who could have used addiction help was Jeff Trapp. He went through $60,000 of his retirement savings supporting his habit. Jeff is now on methadone and drives 120 miles a day to a clinic to get his dose. He spends $18 dollars a day at the clinic ($540 a month) and probably $300 dollars a week on gas ($1200 a month).

Would things be different if the addiction help he needed had been available? Maybe not, 37% of the people in coal mining regions have ended up on disability. But I would say none of these people were warned about the dangers of OxyContin or painkiller addiction and that may have helped Jeff and countless others.

OxyContin addiction and dependency has cost people like Jeff far more then the $640 million Purdue Pharmacy has paid. Does anyone know how much Purdue has made selling these drugs to unsuspecting people?

If you or anyone you know needs help with any kind of drug or alcohol addiction, call Addiction Help Services.

“We know alcohol and drug abuse is high nationwide, Utah’s numbers are high and Granite District matches both of those numbers” says Martin Bates, interim assistant superintendent of Granite School District’s program services. Granite just received a $1.2 million grant to educate athletes about drug abuse, and to test them. Those who test positive for drugs will be disciplined, but those who are open about their problem will get the addiction help services they need.

The need to succeed in sports is driven by a variety of factors; one of the roads to apparent success is the use of prescription drugs. The prescription drugs used to enhance performance may include painkillers, stimulants and, of course, steroids.

Prescription painkillers and stimulants are used recreationally by students and athletes as well. These same people may be binge drinking for fun or using a variety of other drugs such as meth or MDMA.

No matter what drug is being used, including alcohol, it’s about time for parents to demand drug free sports so their children aren’t faced with addiction treatment issues as they grow older.

Coaches and athletic directors should be responsible for their programs and if the programs aren’t drug and alcohol free, perhaps they should get fired for not adhering to strict drug free disciplines.

The noise from the major league baseball investigation should be a wake up call to the high school coaches in Utah and the rest of America; Winning at any cost is not acceptable.

Drug free programs should be demanded by parents or more addiction help will be needed.

If student athletes are playing through pain with the use of painkillers or gaining any advantage with the use of prescription stimulants, with or without a prescription, aren’t you really putting their lives at risk? Shouldn’t team members be taught that winning under these conditions is unacceptable?

Addiction Help Services can help you with any dependency problems that you or a family member may have. Demand drug free sports in America, and take away the trophies of those who try to gain an edge or turn a blind eye to alcohol or drug abuse.