Archive for December, 2011

Prescription Drugs and the Internet

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

What do you suppose those two have to do with each other?  Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California wrote a piece in the Journal Health Affairs that stated that there is an alarming growth in prescription drug abuse and it appears to be linked to people’s access to the internet and the number of rogue online pharmacies that are on the internet.  The report also gave the information that the states where access to high-speed internet grew the fastest between 2000 and 2007 also had the largest increase in the number of people seeking treatment for prescription drug abuse.

If you are aware of the prescription drug problem such as I am then you can just about observe that perhaps this problem is made bigger by the easy access to pharmaceutical drugs on the internet.  Many pharmacies on line do sell drugs like Oxycontin and Percocet and they do not require that you have a prescription from your doctor.  These sites also sell tranquilizers, sedatives, stimulants and painkillers on a daily basis.  There are sites that are doing business all over the world and they mail things into America on a regular basis.

Dana Goldman, PhD and a team set out to determine whether there is an association between online availability and prescription drug abuse.  They gathered date from the Federal Communications Commission and looked at data from each state and its people’s access to high speed internet from 2000 to 2007.  They also collected date from SAMHA telling the admissions to substance abuse clinics during that same period.  They found that in each state, a 10% rise in high-speed internet availability went hand-in-hand with a 1% increase in prescription drug abuse admissions.  The increases were in narcotics painkillers, anti-anxiety medications, stimulants, and then sedatives.  It was found that addiction to substances that are not available on the internet either grew very little or dropped.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that if you need some drugs you can search the internet and order some online and chances are you will find a site that will sell them to you and ship them to you.  Now I really thought that Customs would be on the lookout for some drugs coming to the US in the mail.  So they may be doing their jobs and maybe some of these drugs slip through the cracks.  Knowing the behavior of an addict I know they will try this avenue of getting their drugs and keep doing this on many online sites.  Prescription drugs abuse is increasing there is not doubt about that.  If you know some of friends or family that is doing this kind of thing; step up to responsibility and talk to them about getting help. If you or someone you love needs help from a drug treatment facility, we can help.  Our prescription drug abuse help can solve your problems.  Call our rehab now at 1-877-340-3602.

 

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Arrest and Prescription Drugs

Sunday, December 11th, 2011

The Office of National Drug Controls issued a study and it is called Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring ADAM II.  One of the unique things about this study is that they are the only federal survey that backs up their information with a urine test.   That is how they gathered their information.

When they did the survey they had 4,700 males in the age group of 18 years and older and these arrestees were involved in the criminal justice system.  They were booked in jails in some of the larger cites of the US.

The drug test were for any substance and it showed that drug use among arrestees ranged from 52% in Washington DC to 83% in Chicago.  Some were tested for multiple drugs in their system.  This survey was done in 2010 so we can safely say that these figures are most recent.  It shows that for males under the age of 21 the use of meth and cocaine is declining and positive tests for prescription drugs and heroin is increasing.  These arrestees are being booked with Opioids in their blood stream.  From all this information we are confirming the national surveys that indicate a large increase in prescription drug abuse across all age groups.

One Sheriff told reporters that he sees an increase of Oxycodone and heroin use in men under the age of 21.  So what kind of effect does this have for this sheriff?  Every year he has about 40,000 drug users who are booked into his jail.  This really works his nursing staff because they work around the clock every day treating withdrawal symptoms of these arrestees.  That is an additional burden to the county.  Most all of their medical budget goes to treating the effects or after effects of the drug abuse.

In this nation we are having a serious drug problem.  It is affecting us in all walks of life.  We need to get educated about drugs.  Something can be done about it.  If you or someone you love needs help from a drug treatment facility, we can help.  Contact our drug abuse help line now and get connected with a long-term drug rehab with a proven track record.  Call 1-877-340-3602.

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Drugging our Foster Children

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Yesterday morning Diane Sawyer on ABC world news broke with an exclusive story how the federal government has not done enough to oversee the treatment of America’s Foster children.  Well done Diane Sawyer.  There was a Government Accountability Office report and it gave information on the overuse of the most powerful mind-altering drugs on nearly 425,000 foster children.  They looked at five states, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Organ and Texas.  So they now know that thousands of foster children were being prescribed psychiatric medications at doses higher than the maximum levels approved by the FDA and we are only talking about these five states.  Now that it has come to our attention, thanks to ABC World news, we will probably find many more foster kids who are being drugged.  Why do you suppose they would drug these children?  To test their drugs maybe or when a child is not having “good” behavior then people want to drug them.  Drug them so they can be quiet and be still.

According to this report children in foster care are more likely to be given mind altering drugs.  This report looked at children in the Medicaid program and they found foster kids were more likely to be prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs at an age and a dose that exceed the maximum FDA approved levels and this has serious health risk.  Experts are saying there is not good reason for these children to be taking these drugs.

A 12 year old from Texas was put on up to five drugs at a time while in foster care.  They had diagnosed him with bipolar disorder.  The drugs had an effect on him that made him irritable and exhausted he had actually loss his appetite.  Listen to what he had to say at a senate hearing just recently.  “put me in a lights-out mode 15 minutes after I’d taken them”   “ I think putting me on all of these stupid meds was the most idiotic thing I experienced in foster care, and the worst thing someone could do to foster kids, I was upset about my situation, not bipolar or ADHD.”  There are statements from senators and other officials that are observing that the government has not done enough to monitor the program.  That is very obvious.  I know if we dig even deeper you will find someone is lining their pockets with millions of dollars at the cost of the sanity of these children.  Have we gone so far down in this society that these children should be treated like this.  Thanks to ABC world news this is getting the right coverage it deserves.  As a society we have to educate ourselves about drugs and we have to educate ourselves what the officials of this country are doing to US the citizens. If you or someone you love needs help from a drug treatment facility, we can help.  Contact a counselor at our holistic treatment center by calling 1-877-340-3602.

 

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Policeman and Painkillers

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

A young boy looks at a police officer and has great dreams of being, “just like him when I grow up” and that is a very good dream to have.  Police Officers work hard each day to keep our communities safe from reckless people and people with intentions to commit crimes.  This young child goes to the academy and gets to put on a uniform and then he is out on the streets.  What will he run into?  There will be crimes that he has not seen before.  He has to answer to his boss as well as the public.  Policeman work very hard each day and they have low pay so is it any wonder that after being on the force for many years they may come up with the idea to help criminals, you know “be on the take”  .  Stamfordadvocate.com reported just recently about the arrests of 20 people in drug trafficking ring that smuggled tens of thousands of prescription painkillers through Florida and Westchester County airports.  It seems there was a drug trafficker who made more than 65 trips via car or airplane from Florida to Connecticut in less than a year and he was carrying up 8,000 pills of painkillers each trip.  When he was caught he became a cooperating witness and so that is how the police officers and TSA agents were identified and arrested.  They had taken gift cards or cash bribes for helping this trafficker travel through airport security.

That my friend is an example that represents a very small percentage of what policemen do each day.  They do put up with crimes that a mostly drug related.  It has to be very frustrating for them because addicts can be destructive and most times don’t care what they are doing to their families and society.  They can’t care they only have their next fix on their mind.  Theweek.com reported that the number of Americans killed each year by drugs is on the rise largely due to prescription substances that are perfectly legal.

A day for a police office may go like this.  One call is family disturbance because the wife does not want her drunken husband to beat her anymore.  Call number two can come from the local pharmacy because someone broke in last night and stole several boxes of painkillers and other prescription drugs.  Call number three is to an apartment complex where someone suspects that their neighbor is cooking up some meth and can they please investigate.  That is how their day goes.  He deals with people all day and most of the calls are drug related.  Whether it is painkillers, alcohol, heroin, cocaine.  Police officers need help to get the message out that doing drugs is not the answer to life’s problems.

The real answer to drug abuse is to help people to never do them in the first place.  And if they do start abusing drugs, they need help with their prescription drug addiction.

If you or someone you love has a drug problem, call our toll-free hotline now at 1-877-340-3602.

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