AHS Views

According to a recent article, NIDA (National Institute on Drug Addiction) is set to begin a study through New York University’s Medical Center that would provide those addicted to prescription pain pills, more pills to “wean” them off the drugs. This is a similar concept that the methadone maintenance programs use to wean people off heroin.

This study will be called the Prescription Opiate Addiction Treatment Study and will not only be done at the NYU’s Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital but at 12 other sites around the country. Some of the substitute drugs will include buprenorphone/naloxone and Suboxone to handle addictions to drugs such as OxyContin and Vicoden.

With Suboxone, there are many side effects similar to those effects that people addicted to OxyContin and Vicoden experience. According to SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) side effects of Suboxone/Subutex®, include dysphoric (depressed) mood, nausea or vomiting, muscle aches/cramps, lacrimation (secretion of excess tears), rhinorrhea (excessive discharge of mucus from the nose), dilation of pupils, sweating, piloerection (erection of hair), diarrhea, yawning, mild fever, insomnia, cravings, distress and irritability.

According to the DEA website, some of the effects and withdrawal symptoms from OxyContin include: constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating, and weakness.

If you really look, there are more negative effects listed for the “replacement” drug like Suboxone. So, how does that solve the problem?

And, the long term success rates for sobriety from drug addiction by using replacement drug approaches does not top 20%.

Is giving people these replacement drugs the same as giving them more of the drugs they are already addicted to? Or is it worse?

Article by Eric

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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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A new documentary series on HBO that has been airing in recent weeks has been creating buzz about the use of medications in the treatment of drug abuse. As we announced a few months ago, this show is actually 9 short films by various directors and many are promoting the use of medications as a “cure” to handle addiction.

Basically, it is stating that putting people on drugs to get them off drugs is the best course of action to take.

Could this be just another way the pharmaceutical companies are seeking to increase profits?

If this type of thinking becomes more accepted, unfortunately many drug abusers will remain trapped as addicts and continue to tear their lives apart. A quick fix like this for a problem that has taken time to develop can’t be effective and will prevent many people from getting effective treatment.

What do you think? Should we be using drugs to get people off drugs or is this just another band-aid “cure”?

Article by Eric

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Currently there is a new drug being abused by many school aged kids called “cheese.” No, this is not the fattening, processed or non-processed, dairy product sold in grocery stores, restaurants etc. As we covered before, “Cheese” is actually a form of black tar heroin that is blended with crushed Tylenol PM or other similar cold medicines.

The abuse of this drug is spreading the fastest in the West and Midwest parts of the country. In recent days, Dallas, TX has reported having major problems with the abuse of this drug.

Because it is very inexpensive ($2.00 per hit on average) school age children are its most common abusers starting as young as age 9. Once someone uses this drug they become hooked almost immediately because of the addictive qualities of the heroin and will then continue to use this drug as many as 10-12 times per day.

Some that first try the drug will experience physical withdrawal symptoms after the first 6 hours of use. Many kids that start using this drug cannot stop once they’ve started using “cheese” because of these heavy physical withdrawal symptoms including nausea, vomiting and headache.

Apparently, “cheese” got its name because when the drugs are mixed, it looks like Parmesan cheese.

Currently areas that have the most problems with “cheese” abuse addiction are trying to get many people from the community educated on this drug and its signs and symptoms of use and abuse in an effort to stop new users from trying this drug.

For the many already hooked on “cheese” a drug rehabilitation program is the only solution.

Article by Eric

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Under the state of California’s Proposition 36, anyone convicted of drug possession has three chances to complete a drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation program before they are sent to prison to serve time for their offenses.

According to a recent article released by the San Francisco Chronicle, an assessment of California’s Proposition 36 has just been done and shows that half of those sentenced to drug rehab never completed a program and a quarter never showed up. And even those that complete most treatment programs often do not end up staying off drugs long term as many programs offered have a permanent recovery rate of 3-10%.

In fact, I spoke to a former addict who told me that while in a program he was told that only 1 out of 10 would complete it and out of those, one would stay off drugs.

Currently in California, the governor demanded that judges be allowed to put those in jail who do not complete treatment and/or who continue to use drugs. But, statistics show that jailing drug addicts also does not solve the problem.

There are a few drug rehab programs offered that have over 70% success rates for recovery but why are these not offered to those required to do treatment so that they have a very good chance for permanent recovery from addiction? Why would the government not fund or provide financing for those programs that achieve very good results?

Are we setting drug addicts up for failure by allowing them to go to programs with low success rates?

Article by Eric

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Presently, the Russian government is considering passing a bill that would require all child drug addicts to get into treatment.

The bill would require all children under the age of 16 to attend treatment after going through a judicial procedure. Parents’ consent would be required for those legally living with parents but for all other children, who are orphans and whose parents are out of the picture, treatment would be determined by school administrators.

In the country of Russia, this is a very controversial topic that has human rights activists in an uproar and specialists in the drug treatment field skeptical. According to the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia, between 80,000 and 100,000 people die annually in the country from overdoses and problems related to the use of dangerous drugs. Most are under the age of 30.

At least 1.8 million Russians (more than 1 percent of the country’s 143 million citizens) are officially listed as drug addicts by the organization. Experts say the real figure could be many times that. A further 6 million are said to have had experience using these drugs, and 15 million Russians admitted having tried them at least once.

Currently in the United States, there are over 20 million people suffering through drug and/or alcohol addiction and rehabilitation is usually not a requirement unless the individual is court ordered into treatment. This covers a very small percentage of drug addicts. Some make the decision to get help on their own while others are given ultimatums by loved ones’ or family members. A large percent of those addicted to drugs never make the decision to get help and end up in prison, or worse.

Should the United States require all drug addicts to get into treatment? Should there be a bill in our country that even requires minors (with parents consent) to get help if they are addicted?

Article by Eric

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Most people’s definition of detoxification is simply just withdrawing from the drug. In most cases, a medically-supervised withdrawal is not necessary, especially with most stimulants and even painkillers and heroin, although it is often preferred with the latter two.

Even though a common aide is to have someone ‘sleep it off,’ alcohol and some other drugs can be very difficult to withdraw from when a person is consuming large quantities. Medical detoxification helps someone to systematically withdraw from alcohol or drugs by reducing the amount and/or using other medicines to ease the process and eliminate the risk of seizure and other severe drug withdrawal symptoms.

People most often wanting or needing a medically-supervised detoxification before beginning addiction treatment include those on benzodiazapines (Xanax, Valium), opiates (prescription painkillers, heroin, methadone), barbiturates (Phenobarbital) and heavy amounts of alcohol.

One main problem with this is, though, that many drug users will try to stop their treatment after detox thinking that their problem is solved, but in actual fact they are much better off statistically to go into a longer-term drug-free residential rehabilitation program after detoxification.

In recent years there have also been other classes of prescribed drugs that require medical detox to step down from. These drugs include antipsychotics (Zyprexa, Risperdol, Seroquel), antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, etc.) and other mind-altering prescriptions.

Given that more information and side effects of these drugs are discovered each year, more and more people are deciding to not take them and are seeking alternative treatments.

These types of drugs have very severe withdrawal symptoms and people coming down from them often experience sudden psychotic episodes, so stepping down gradually in a medically-supervised environment is a good approach rather than weaning down at home.

Have you known anyone or heard stories of someone trying to withdraw from some of these drugs on their own? What was the result?

Article by Eric

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For the millions of people struggling with drug and/or alcohol addiction there can be lots of questions and not many answers.

We have seen that for many, completing any type of treatment is not usually an option until the addiction has gotten so out of control that many things in the addict’s life are destroyed as a result. Some don’t seek treatment even at this point and eventually end up in jail, or worse.

Unfortunately, it seems that the newest trends in drug rehabilitation is not actual rehabilitation but further drug use through replacement therapies. It is hard for someone to be sure they are not falling into the “drug treatment rabbit hole” where they will never actually be free from drugs, but be doomed to a life of chronic relapse and further drug use and where you can do several programs with no real results?

Currently, there are thousands of drug rehabilitation programs offered and there are several components that need to be checked out to ensure that you are receiving the best type of help.

When reviewing your options, questions should be asked regarding long term success rates for sobriety and permanent recovery from addiction. Also find out about the methods used to get a person to this point, the credentials of the program and testimonials from actual patients and their families communicating personal results.

Then, if you find the correct program that will help you, other questions you must answer include how long should you stay there, should you do residential (inpatient) treatment or outpatient, be close to home or away from home?

I have personally found that the most successful type of program is one that is inpatient, that uses drug free approaches to handle addiction and have not only successfully completed one myself but had several family members, friends and loved ones go this route with good success.

With drug rehabs it is important to do some digging and really find something that will provide the best type of treatment that provides long term sobriety from drug and/or alcohol abuse.

Article by Eric

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Did you know that there are over 13,000 drug rehabs in the United States. Of these thousands of rehabs, there are many different types of rehabs: all women; ages 17 – 35; CO-ED; and even one for pregnant women only.

I thought it was interesting that there are so many women only drug rehabs (and very few men only ones) and thought to compare them:

With an all women drug rehab there can be fewer distractions: from not having to worry about how you look, to not being preoccupied with the possibility of starting a relationship at a time when it could hinder the progress of your rehabilitation.

Also, having other women around you that have gone through similar situations and have the same demands as other women can be extremely helpful in the recovery process. Rehabs for women vary from city to city. Some offer educational tutoring, academic courses, computer skills, life skills, recreational activities like, swimming, hiking, yoga, and karate, as well as group and individual counseling.

CO–ED drug rehabs are more common and therefore, you have a greater number to choose from which could be helpful in finding just the right fit for your needs.

There is also the opportunity of a more diverse group and the opportunity to build relationships with the opposite sex based on your common situation. CO-ED rehabs offer many of the same classes and courses as all women’s drug rehab but may have some activities geared more toward males or mixed groups.

The length of stay varies greatly at any rehab whether it is all female or not. Some can range from 1-4 weeks, others 3-6 months, and even 9-12 month programs.

With all of these differences to be considered, not just in gender, you should talk to someone who has had some experience and can recommend a rehab that will best suit your needs.

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