For decades, drug trafficking, smuggling and dealing has been a common practice all over the world. And, while there has been the ‘war on drugs’ in most countries, the illicit drug industry flourishes and prospers for those individuals who don’t get caught. They’re raking in the big bucks!

With big bucks being the main appeal to taking up this profession, there are some major drawbacks involved. What happens if you do get caught? In countries like America, you usually pay a hefty fine and do a little or a lot of prison time. Since we’re not down with capital punishment for this type of offense, like chopping off ones hands or head, the risk to benefit ratio could seem smaller compared to other countries with more sever punishments.

There was an article this week in the news about a French citizen who got caught manufacturing large quantities of crystal methamphetamine in China. Do you know what his punishment is for getting caught? He’s going to be put to death.

This made me think about the various news headlines I come across on a regular basis. It made me realize that it’s a rarity to read news headlines about drug-related incidents in Asia. Perhaps it’s because they will kill you if you threaten their society with illegal drugs? I’m sure that could factor into the equation somehow.

The cycle of drug trafficking to get the drugs to the dealers and finally into the hands of the end users is a constant problem. While I’m not a proponent of capital punishment, it does seem like we could be a little bit soft on the contributors. If we’re actually going to succeed in the ‘war on drugs’ we’re going to have to attack it from all angles. We need to think about the penalties given for drug trafficking and dealing offenses, possibly make them a bit harsher, as well as effective drug rehab programs for the users.

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There are many forms of child abuse, all of which are treacherous, in my opinion. But, what do you call drugging children to make them be more relaxed, quiet and sleepy? There was an article this week about his very subject, which stated that it’s an “unrecognized form of child abuse”. I’d say that I have to agree.

Giving babies cough syrup, or even more popular, Benedryl, to calm them and make them stop crying, is not only dangerous, but just plain wrong. The article talked about a woman who gave her infant cough syrup to put the child to sleep.

The baby wound up in the intensive care unit and almost died. The article went on to say “in this case, it was not an intentional overdose, it was a lack of information”. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you probably shouldn’t give cough syrup to an infant. It clearly states on the label how old a child should be to administer it. Plus sleep is not its intended used.

Unfortunately, there are some “uneducated” folks out there who are practicing this same type of medicating to “soothe” their children. I read another article a little over a month ago about a couple who continually gave their 14 month old baby methadone (a synthetic drug usually prescribed to heroin users to help in the process of overcoming their addiction) to help the baby sleep. And, the outcome; the baby died.  And by the way, this isn’t the only article that I’ve come across about parents giving their babies methadone.

This isn’t limited to babies though, it can happen with older children as well. Some people are experimenting with the effects of marijuana on children who have been labeled autistic as well as obsessive, compulsive disorder (OCD). Hello? Really?

Let’s NOT drug our children to shut them up. If they’re crying and upset, there’s something wrong. It’s an alert to us as parents that we need to fix something for them, or perhaps just soothe them. And, if it takes a label like “child abuse” to stop parents and get them educated on the harmful effects of drugging children, then I say so be it. Not to mention the path it could lead a child down as they get older and figure out that there are other drugs out there and start abusing them. Then the only hope will be a good drug treatment center.

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People from all walks of life can very easily get sucked into a life of drug and alcohol addiction. It’s not a problem that any one group of individuals is more prone to experiencing. But, have you ever thought that your own doctor could be addicted to drugs or alcohol?

Unfortunately physicians can also fall into the grips of addiction. They not only wreck their own personal lives and those of their families, but what do you think this does to their ability to effectively treat patients? Scary thought, huh? I certainly wouldn’t want a doctor who is high on drugs managing my health, especially if I was sick with a major disease that required critical thinking. And what about surgeons who are operating on patients?

There was a recent survey done that showed some pretty alarming information, most notably, that doctors are not likely to report their colleagues if they know about or suspect drug abuse. The survey found that only one in three doctors would report the problem. The reasons being that they feared retribution by the offender or that they would be getting their colleague into trouble.

In Florida, a program has been put in place for this type of scenario to be avoided. They offer a reporting program for doctors to be able to report their colleagues or themselves, with a solution to the problem being offered, rather than revoking their license and turning them away. Doctors have the opportunity to clean up. They are required stop practicing medicine and attend a drug or alcohol rehab program, but once they’re clean, they can go back to practice.

What a concept! Why is this only available for doctors? Most of the time, you not only lose your job, but chances are, you could wind up in jail if you’re doing drugs. This gives people a great opportunity to regain their lives and live sober again. I’m in full agreement and think this is a great program. Give people a chance to make the right choice!

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A California judge is fed up with Lindsay Lohan’s inability to comply with her probation requirements. Lindsay got into trouble in 2007 for a number of offenses. She drove drunk twice, had cocaine in her system and drove recklessly.

Lindsay is no stranger at this point to the world of alcohol and drugs, or the court system. She was put on probation for a three year period and has been wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet since May, and well before that, ordered by the court to attend alcohol treatment classes. But, she keeps pushing her luck. She’s been caught drinking with the alcohol bracelet on and she’s missed several of her treatment classes.

Well, it looks like her luck ran out. She’s been sentenced to 90 days in jail and has to go to an in-patient drug rehab program. When the judge came down with that sentence, Lindsay started to cry and plead with the court not to do that to her, but it was too little, too late. The judge basically looked at the apology as insincere and the tears as those of a crocodile.

News has also surfaced about Lindsay being prescribed a very strong painkiller called Dilaudid. This is a drug that has been compared to morphine and even heroin. She’s also prescribed Ambien (to help her sleep) and Adderall (to combat anxiety). There are too many bright, young stars being prescribed whatever drugs they want with tragic outcomes like overdose and death.

Honestly, I think the judge is doing right by Lindsay to up the ante in terms of her consequences. So far, probation and an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet haven’t worked. And, with doctors being willing to prescribe whatever drugs she wants, coupled with the idea that she’s basically untouchable, she obviously doesn’t have a clue about responsible behavior and moral values. If she’s not willing to help herself, the law will.

Hopefully she actually dives into the drug rehab program portion of sentence and gets a clue. It would be awful if she wound up dead like so many of our favorite celebs and singers in recent years.

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This weekend, a lot of people in the US will be celebrating Independence Day (July 4th). There will picnics and barbeques and fireworks, you name it! There will also be drinking at those get-togethers, and not just for adults over the age of 21, but by minors who shouldn’t be partaking in alcoholic beverages.

There was a study done across hospital emergency rooms in the US and it showed that kids who wind up in the emergency room for underage drinking dramatically spikes during this holiday weekend. It was an 87 percent increase, to give you an idea of what I meant when I said “dramatic increase”.

In addition to kids visiting hospital ERs for alcohol, injuries, arrests and embarrassment can all be attributed to them making the choice to drink. And, to make matters worse, about 5000 people under the age of 21 die each year with alcohol related to their cause of death.

Do you know what your kids have planned for this weekend? It might not be such a bad idea to find out, or to make sure to include your children and their friends in your plans. If they’re going out with their friends, have a talk with them about the dangers of drinking alcohol. Most people chock it up to “kids being kids”, especially if they drank underage. It’s incorrect. It’s not a good example and kids should not be allowed to drink. Oh yeah, and it’s actually against the law.
Let’s vow to lower that dramatic spike in ER visits this weekend by helping our kids learn the facts and dangers about alcohol abuse. It could save their life!

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Did you know that a single alcoholic drink can triple your chances of dying in a car accident while you’re driving? A new study that was done in New Zealand has proven this startling information to be true. Most people are unaware of how little alcohol it takes to make it dangerous to get behind the wheel.

The legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit in all of the United States is .08%. Since everyone is different, reaching the legal limit will depend on the number of drinks, the amount of time in which they were consumed, your weight and your gender. And, apparently there is enough impairment after only one drink that it increases your chances of dying behind the wheel.

This information is really scary when you think of young people who are not only inexperienced drivers, but also inexperienced drinkers. They don’t know their limits when it comes to either activity. Binge drinking is very common amongst younger drinkers and they’re most likely going way beyond the legal limit.

But, you certainly don’t have to be young to make it dangerous. If one drink raises the level of danger by 30%, it’s better to play it safe and not get behind the wheel. Since you can’t plan on being in an accident, why not plan on having someone else drive who isn’t drinking? Draw straws, take turns being the designated driver or cab it for the night. It’s not safe to get behind the wheel with any amount of alcohol in your system.

Shedding new light on drinking and driving has caused other countries to look at decreasing their legal limit. I think this would be wise to do globally. Victims of drunk driving are not only the drinkers, but other people who get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Over the last 8 weeks, a doctor from Kansas and his wife have been on trial for illegally prescribing prescription medications to dozens of patients who wound up dying. In total, they were linked to 68 overdose deaths.

This week, they were finally found guilty of the charges. And, the reason behind all of the prescription writing was money. So, the “doctor” was no more than a glorified drug dealer.

With prescription drug abuse being such a rampant and devastating problem here for us in the US, it’s amazing that they got as far as they did before getting into trouble. I mean, how come 68 people had to die before anything was done?

This makes it more important than ever to put prescription monitoring programs into place. Not only are we dealing with addicts who “doctor shop”, but we’re dealing with shady doctors who don’t care what the effects are in terms of prescribing dangerous medications as long as their pockets continue to be padded with cash. I’m not referring to all doctors, of course, but there are some out there, apparently, who need to have this enforced. Such a shame!

Prescription drug overdoses are the second leading cause of death in the United States right now. We seriously need to get on the ball and start putting some programs in motion to straighten out the mess that has been created. And, that doesn’t mean sending all of the heroin users to methadone clinics either! We need to get people rehabilitated and living drug free lives.

If you know of anyone who is suffering from prescription drug abuse, or uses them recreationally for a “little bit of fun”, it’s no joke! They need help! Drug rehab help, to be exact. Don’t let them become a prescription drug overdose death statistic.

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This week, there was an article in the news about a professional soccer player, the captain of the team actually, who got caught through a drug test for smoking marijuana. What was interesting about this article to me, was the way the Players’ Union handled the issue. He wasn’t just thrown out and told not to come back.

There are preset rules in the league that deal with drug abuse. Not only a way to deter use, but a way to help the players through, should they find themselves faced with drug addiction issues.

The soccer player was drug tested, which is a bi-annual, no prior notice procedure, administered to everyone in the league. An independent company tests the players for common street drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana as well as performance enhancing drugs.

Instead of throwing players out of the league for testing positively, they have the option to attend a drug rehab program. Then, after successful completion, they can play again. To me, it’s truly a winning solution. And, I think a lot of people would benefit from this type of program in many different work-based scenarios. The player who got busted is through his time in rehab and back to doing what he loves, playing soccer.

Rather than throwing someone out, which doesn’t help the situation at hand, they are assisted. And while marijuana seems like a fairly harmless, non-addictive drug to a lot of people, it is illegal and many, many people enter drug rehab to battle the havoc it causes in their lives.

President Obama is currently working on a new anti-drug strategy. I really hope this headline makes its way to his desk. Perhaps it could be a positive addition to what he’s working on to clean up America. We need all the help we can get!

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This week, I came across a headline about a young man who died from a drug overdose. Since I read mostly drug-related news headlines and the stories that are related, I see quite a few articles like this during any given week or month. But, why did this one jump out at me? Because the young man’s mother taught him how to use drugs starting at the age of 14 or 15!

It was reported that the Wisconsin mother smoked marijuana and crack-cocaine as well as used heroin with her child. How sickening is that? And, to top it off, she’s now left without a child and facing a jail sentence. She attributes her behavior to substance abuse and mental health issues.

Many people in the world are faced with substance abuse problems. The effects of these problems are reflected in the news stories that are about drug violence, trafficking and tragic overdoses. But when parents are involving their children into the mix, it brings it to a whole new level.

Apparently there were witnesses who told the investigators of the overdose death about the drugs she was doing with her son. Why on earth didn’t anyone get them help? Were they scared? Were they fellow drug users? Did they feel like it wasn’t their place to intervene? A plethora of questions fill my mind. But, what I do know, is that if they would have spoken up, it’s possible that the boy would still be alive today. And both the mother and son could have received help to live healthy drug-free lives.

If you know anyone who is either abusing drugs or alcohol, or if, god forbid, they’re giving drugs to their children, it’s important that you speak up. Get them some help by contacting a drug rehab center or addiction specialist, before it’s too late.

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Do you have any unused prescription drugs hanging out in your medicine cabinet or around your house? A lot of people do, but don’t really even think about them. You just stop taking them and sort of forget about them. Well, it’s something that you should think about and they should really be disposed of.

With prescription drug overdose being the second leading cause of death in the US, we should all think about the dangers of leaving them around the house for anyone to find and take, especially teenagers. Let’s face it, there’s no need to make them easily accessible for recreational use.

But, how do you get rid of the unwanted pills, patches or liquids? Do you throw them in the trash? Do you flush them down the toilet? Toss them out your car window on a deserted highway? Just kidding about that one!

The best way to properly dispose of your unused prescriptions is to take them to your prescription give back type of program. Kind of like bringing your paint and chemicals to the chemical collection programs that are offered through solid waste facilities. Just call your city or county government’s household recycling and trash service to see if there’s a program in your community.

If you don’t have a program like that in your area, the bottle label or patient instructions will generally indicate how to dispose of the medication that you need to get rid of. Sometimes it will say to just throw them in your trash and others will say to flush.

If there is no indication of how to get rid of your medication, take the unused substance out of its original bottle and mix them with undesirable substances like used kitty litter or coffee grounds. This makes it much less appealing to children and can make it almost impossible for someone to find who might go through the trash. It’s important NOT to flush any prescription drugs down the toilet unless they specifically indicate that you should do that.

Also, if you’re throwing out old medicine bottles that have a label with your personal information, scratch out the identifying specifics. This helps to protect your identity and personal information.

And, for all of you green lovers out there, this is all especially important to follow to help keep our water uncontaminated. So, let’s keep our planet safer and cleaner and most importantly, keep our unused prescription drugs out of the hands of people who might abuse them.

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