As if Michigan didn’t have enough alcohol and drug addiction problems to worry about - not to mention the crime associated with them which has contributed to Detroit’s standing as the number one crime city in the U.S. - prescription drug addicts are now injecting the drugs intravenously. Michigan drug rehab facilities are going to have their hands full.

According to Delta County Prosecutor Steve Parks, about four cases a week come up that involve people shooting up prescription drugs. And, since he’s a county prosecutor, he’s only seeing the ones that find their way into the justice system. For every one of those cases, there’s got to be hundreds or thousands who don’t ever wind up in front of the county prosecutor.

Law enforcement officers have also seen the trend. Police have started wearing puncture proof gloves to avoid being stuck by needles when ‘patting down’ suspects. And more and more, the substance in the needle is a prescription drug.

Delta County Sheriff Gary Ballweg said “I don’t have a single day of work that doesn’t go by without dealing with a prescription drug,” and Public Safety Det. Sgt. Joe LeMire said “What we’re seeing on the roads with addictions is people are taking more drugs or going to heavier drugs like Fentanyl, Oxycontin and Morphine.”

However, according to LeMire, those aren’t the only prescription drugs being shot up. There has also been an increase in Methadone, Xanax, Vicodin, Percocet, Laracet and tranquilizer drugs. One young girl, a Michigan student, was found barely alive at her home - the needle was still sticking in her arm when police found her, cold and blue. She had extracted Fentanyl from a patch and injected it.

If you or someone you care about has a problem with prescription drug addiction, or any other drugs, Drug Rehab Referral  can help you find the right Michigan drug rehab program to help overcome the problem. Do something about it now, before it’s too late.

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It looks like somebody, I don’t know who but I would guess we could follow the money right back to big pharma, is trying to get alcoholics and drug addicts going to their family doctors for help with their addiction problems rather than going through drug rehab.

On the surface, it looks good: someone who has an alcohol or drug addiction problem could go to their local family doctor and get drugs to control the craving and, somehow, they don’t quite have this part worked out yet, counseling. The problem is two-fold: first, the addicts are put on other drugs and, second, they’ll be getting drug rehab from docs who aren’t trained in it. I foresee this leading to prolonged drug taking - perhaps an addiction to a drug other than the one they came to the doctor to resolve. Which is what happened with methadone.

The thing I found most alarming about this article was comparing the addiction situation with the ‘depression’ situation of the ’80’s. “In many ways, we are with alcoholism where we were with depression 30 years ago,” said Mark Willenbring, director of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The article goes on to describe what happened with depression: “As a new generation of antidepressants came to market in the early 1980s, physicians on the front lines of patient care grew more attentive to the signs of depression and more willing to treat it. Patients with protracted bouts of blue mood turned to their family doctors for help in increasing numbers. In the process, depression was transformed from a highly stigmatized mental illness that rarely was treated before a suicide attempt or outside a psychiatric hospital to a condition for which 80 percent of patients turn first to a general medical practitioner.”

That’s right. And now we have a culture completely infused with prescribed antidepressants - including for kids who are killing themselves and others - and people who many experts say weren’t ill in the first place but are being made ill by the drugs themselves.
 
Prescription drug addiction has become epidemic in the U.S. and what happened with antidepressants is the exact mechanism that caused it. Marvelous PR guys these drug companies have. Feeling blue? Here’s the drug. Don’t bother finding out why you’re blue, don’t bother finding out what you have to change in your life to be happy - just take this drug and it will all go away. But nothing went away, except the person taking the drug. They went away.
 
The drug companies have invaded just about every sector of our lives but, judging by the $ billions being spent on prescription drugs and the alarming increase in the number of people who take them, we’re not getting any better. In fact, we’re getting worse. More and more people apparently need these drugs, and more and more people are taking them.

Are we really getting more unstable and less able to handle our lives without drugs with with every decade? I don’t think so. But if we keep taking drugs, that’s exactly what will happen.

If you want to get someone off drugs or alcohol, stick with a good drug rehab program. Don’t fall into the trap of choosing a solution that may well just become another problem. Addiction help is possible, whether for alcohol, street drugs or prescription drugs - through drug detox and drug rehab.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Ocean County, New Jersey may be seeing an old drug with a new, more dangerous, facelift hitting the streets: “Extreme Ecstasy”. And it’s bound to increase the number of people looking for drug rehab in New Jersey.

Methamphetamines and Ecstasy are dangerous drugs in themselves, but when they are mixed together you have a lethal combination.

Ecstasy can cause brain damage, sharp increases in body temperature and cardiovascular failure. It can also loosen your inhibitions and cloud judgment – which can lead to more cases of HIV, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Methamphetamine has similar qualities, but it is also highly addictive. Many states are already trying to curb meth use with education and drug rehab - Nevada is a good example.

If this drug combination becomes popular, let’s hope you are dropping someone off at a successful rehab center and you aren’t making a trip to the morgue.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were already starting to see signs of increased Ecstasy use but, mixed with meth, New Jersey’s really in trouble.

The drug is being smuggled into the United States from Canada as the DEA had stopped supplies from Europe and elsewhere.

The marketing campaign from drug cartels is calling this combination the “Extreme Ecstasy”. Federal authorities are concerned that Extreme Ecstasy may take off in a big way; Drug Czar John Walters says that the Canadian drug cartels have the potential to roll back the “historic progress against Ecstasy availability and use.”

If you know someone from Ocean County who needs help because of drug or alcohol abuse call or email Drug Rehab Referral today so we can help you find a drug rehab program in New Jersey that’s right for your situation.

Popularity: 2% [?]

A recent article about prescription stimulant abuse at Ohio State University highlights several problems. The pressure of succeeding at school is taking a toll on students: they think that buying someone else’s prescription is taking medicine. Most see little or no risk in using stimulants that are the prescription equivalent to cocaine and most students, if not all, don’t realize how addictive Ritalin and Adderall are or that they might well need drug detox and a drug rehab program to stop taking them..

The side effects of the drugs are commented on by two students: Bill, who said he” feels like a zombie or very groggy” when the medicine wears off and Tom, a self-described drug whore who says he gets scatter brained and cannot sleep but crashes the next day.

Another student, Jake Heppner, who takes Adderall  recreationally knows it is addictive and dangerous - he had a friend end up in a mental hospital because of Adderall abuse.

I wonder if students and alumni realize that long term use of Adderall can cause brain damage similar to that of cocaine.

Ohio State is ranked in the top ten party schools so the use of prescription drugs is no real surprise. Alcohol and other drugs are also part of the party atmosphere.

Drug rehab will certainly be needed by some portion of the 52,000 students. If you or a fellow student needs help call Drug Rehab Referral. We can help you find the drug detox and, if needed, drug rehab in Columbus that’s right for your situation.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The success of drug courts varies across the country - meaning that people who finish the drug rehab programs have varied success in staying of drugs.

In Cook County, Illinois, 40 to 45% of the people entering rehab through the drug courts actually finish their program.

There are almost 1700 drug courts nationwide, 19 drug courts in Illinois, and three in Cook County – which has graduated 537 since its inception in 1998, less than half of those who started. According to Sue Stanger, coordinator of the program, people with criminal records are harder to rehabilitate.

How does this success rate compare with that of people who go into rehab as a result of intervention or help from a friend? If they go to a private drug rehab chosen as the best one for that individual, the success rate should be much higher than that of the courts..

If you need to choose a rehab program for yourself or someone else, taking the time to investigate several rehabs and programs before you make a final choice will give you a much better chance of success. If you are on prescription drugs it is recommended that you go through a medical drug detox before doing a drug rehab program. The drug detox will help you get off the drugs safely and set you up to get more out of rehab.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Although prescription drug abuse is as large a problem in Kansas as it is anywhere in the U.S., prescription drug rehab in Kansas is still in its infancy.

A task force from Kansas wants to make prescription drugs more difficult to get. The task force - made up of doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists and law enforcement personnel – is planning to make prescription painkillers, prescription stimulants, tranquilizers and sedatives part of a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. “The information that we have seen indicates that prescription drug abuse is emerging as one of the most serious prevention issues in the country today,” said Debra Billingsley, executive secretary of the Kansas State Board of Pharmacy.

Ms. Billingsley said she has heard of people going to open houses to pilfer drugs from medicine cabinets, children taking drugs from medicine cabinets for pharma parties with their friends and, of course, doctor-shopping.

In fact, pharma parties, doctor-shopping and drug pilfering has been happening all over the U.S. for years. Ms. Billingsley is only incorrect when she says it is emerging - it has emerged.

Lucky for Kansas, they may have a Prescription Drug Monitoring act in place in 2008. Unfortunately, this act will also require more drug rehab as the addicts have a more difficult time obtaining their drugs, and that’s another thing the Kansas task force is going to have to ensure is available.

Rehab for prescription drugs is the emerging trend, and it will continue for a long time.

To get off of prescription drugs the best method is to go through a drug detox first and a drug rehab second. People who have become dependent on prescription drugs, but not addicted, may only need to do a drug detox.

Drug Rehab Referral can help you find the Kansas drug rehab program and drug detox services you need.

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The efforts of the law enforcement agencies in El Paso, Texas haven’t stopped the need for drug rehab. Binge drinking and prescription drug addiction and abuse are still a concern there.

In March of 2006 El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
In his testimony he described how drug trafficking organizations not only transport drugs but also transport and profit from human cargo otherwise called undocumented immigrants. The need for drug rehab is obviously not the only fallout from border security problems.

In the testimony he talked about the overwhelming job of dealing with border security from the drug side and the human cargo side.

Drug trafficking into the U.S. is profitable even with all the drugs that are stopped at the border - you know that because if it was unprofitable or the losses were too great, it would stop. In his testimony, Sheriff Samaniego talked about the overwhelming job of dealing with border security: the enforcement agencies in Texas deal with a border that covers 778 miles, not an easy task.

Using hundreds of undocumented immigrants to shield drug trafficking activities is not a new idea. If law enforcement agencies are busy trying to round up hundreds of immigrants either daily or weekly, wouldn’t it be easier to smuggle drugs into El Paso and then the rest of the U.S.

Sheriff Samaniego doesn’t think the smuggling of drugs into El Paso has a larger impact on his city than others and the statistics for El Paso suggest he is right. For example, in Tennessee a far greater percentage of the population smokes marijuana than in El Paso.

Binge drinking in both areas is roughly the same when you look at the percentages.
Sheriff Samaniego was saying that we need better security on our borders and I would agree. In the meantime, the need for a successful alcohol and drug rehab program in El Paso is still necessary.

If you or someone you know needs help in El Paso, Drug Rehab Referral has a specialist available to speak with you.

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Meth abuse is on the rise in Utah according to rehab counselor Roland Parent, and more drug rehab in Utah will be needed to overcome the problem.

Utah has been successful in shutting down the methamphetamine labs and production in Utah - the Cache/Rich Drug Task force hasn’t shut down a meth lab in more than two years, according to Logan Police Detective Rob Italasano.

However, shutting down the meth labs has not done much to help the methamphetamine problem, and addiction to methamphetamines is still one of Utah’s biggest concerns.

According to Mr. Parent, “there has been no change in the trend. In the last 4 years, the number of clients that we serve has gone up 100 fold”.

Why didn’t shutting down the meth labs make a difference? Because super labs in Mexico can make hundreds of pounds of it and smuggle it in to either El Paso, Texas or San Diego, California and then transport it to distribution points in Utah. Utah doesn’t need its own labs.

So what is Utah going to do about it? Mr. Parent thinks drug education will play a big part in remedying the problem and Utah’s Governor Jon M. Hartman, agrees. To that end, the governor has started a campaign to educate and thereby slow the meth problem.

“Meth use harms all Utah citizens regardless of whether they have fallen prey to addiction or if they fall within the circle of influence of someone using” says Governor Huntsman. The campaign is aimed at educating people that anyone could be having a problem with meth; it could be your sister, mother, a friend or a child.

Drug addiction doesn’t take any prisoners and the in-your-face campaign is a good start by the governor and the State. At Drug Rehab Referral we understand the odds of drug and alcohol abuse. If you or someone you know has a problem with methamphetamines or any other substance call us now to find a successful Utah drug rehab program.

Popularity: 2% [?]