It seems somewhat strange to me that when you check out the news about alcohol and drug addiction you find literally hundreds of stories about three or four celebrities and not very much about the actual drug scene. In colleges for example, the education of thousands of kids is going down the drain because of alcohol, street drugs and prescription drug addiction. And those kids, not Amy Winehouse, are our future. If these kids don’t get into drug rehab, they’re going to leave college as alcoholics and drug addicts.

And their kids, in turn, may well turn out to be the same.  

Parents, if that’s not what you want for your kids, and your grandkids, stop the cycle now. Don’t look at alcohol as just a normal thing all kids go through when they get to college. And find out if they’re taking drugs - just about any drug your kid is likely to be taking right now has the potential for drug addiction. And they’re dangerous.

Get your kids into a drug rehab program. A good one will address the reasons behind the alcohol or drug addiction problem and you can then feel safe about your kids being in college.

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In a recent letter to Dear Abby, parents who had been checking their son’s instant messages, with his knowledge, discovered that their son was considering using marijuana and that a friend he was messaging was offering it to him. They also found out that the ‘friend’ was the source for marijuana for several kids. The parents were primarily concerned about how to inform the other parents that their son was dealing drugs. Abby advised them to speak to them parents quickly and directly. Good advice: Who knows how many kids they’ll save from drug addiction and the need for drug rehab?

Although reading your son’s instant messages may seem extreme or invasive, you have to catch drugs early and take decisive action immediately if you want to have a good chance to prevent durg addiction. Also, kids whose parents talk to them about alcohol and drugs are 50% less likely to use them.

Kids are drinking and taking drugs younger and younger. Unfortunately, many of the treatment facilities don’t even take kids under 18. You’re going to have a big problem on your hands if you can’t get professional help. Getting people off drugs or alcohol - no matter what their age - isn’t easy.

Make sure you talk to your kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and, if they’re already involved in them, get them into a drug rehab program as fast as possible.

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We’ve been trying to get this point across for a while now - prescription drug addiction is a serious problem. Fortunately, we’re getting some help from the media: “Mention the words “drug abuse” and most people probably don’t think of “prescription drugs.”  perhaps they should,” began an article on wlox.com out of Biloxi, MS. Not only should we think about it - we should be doing everything we can to stop it. Drug rehab is a good start for those who already have a problem, and education is the answer for those who haven’t started yet.

But what is the answer for Big Pharma? Purdue Pharma was fined $634 million for lying to the public about OxyContin, Pfizer, the makers Xanax - which is apparently the most popular prescription drug in Biloxi - has numerous lawsuits filed against them, several other companies have also been sued, thousands have died, millions of lives have been ruined, and the drug companies keep getting sued and paying their fines - often settling out of court. But the fines mean nothing to them. It’s the wealthiest industry in the world.

Harrison County coroner Gary Hargrove, commenting on the number of prescription drug related deaths in Biloxi, hit the nail on the head: “Eventually, over a period of time of abuse, they’re going to see me. Or I’m going to see them.”

If you don’t want someone you care about to end up with the local coroner, educate them about prescription drugs or get them into a Missouri drug rehab program.  And if you agree that this destruction cannot continue, make yourself heard.

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Although it’s hard to tell exactly what good this will do yet, but the FDA is implementing a prescription drug surveillance program to look into problems with drugs. According to a recent news article, this move is in response to Vioxx being pulled off the market in 2004 when it was linked to heart attacks and strokes. My hope is that something like this will also help curtail the rampant prescription drug addiction epidemic that is exponentially increasing the need for drug rehab. 

This new surveillance program is supposed to allow the FDA access to information that was previously considered trade secrets or protected by privacy laws. I’m not sure which privacy laws are being referred to - I would hope it doesn’t involve the protection of an individual’s privacy - but trade secrets are another story, especially if this refers to the trade secrets of big pharma. Really, should an industry that controls the life and death of each individual and probably should be subject to the hippocratic oath be allowed to have trade secrets?

It’s more of an issue now than ever - I couldn’t even fathom a guess at how many people are suffering from prescription drug addiction or how many would need a drug rehab program to end it, but it’s clearly many millions more than reflected in the statistics put out by SAMHSA and other agencies.

Still, with the drug industry so intricately woven into the fabric of American society, it’s not likely much will change regardless of FDA monitoring. Our best chance of surviving this epidemic is to discourage the use of prescription drugs for non-life threatening situations, and to get anyone we know who is battling prescription drug addiction or dependency into a drug rehab program so they can be drug-free, and safe.

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For the second time in a week, a Cape Coral, Florida, student was caught with a bag of pills - prescription drugs. He bought the bag for $20 from another student. It contained the usual fare  - an antibiotic, a sleep aid and two types of painkillers - but it also contained a blood thinner that’s very similar to rat poison. Whoever takes these pills likely has more in store for them than drug rehab.

A pharmacist commented on the incident: “It’s a dangerous thing. It can kill,” he said. “To hear something like this being thrown in the mix is really scary because that means somebody’s going in someone’s cabinet, grabbing everything, and then selling it to whomever. They might think they’re getting a Vicodin and they might not have a clue what they’re getting.”

Who else is getting rat poision from their friends?

One of the major problems with drugs is that you often don’t really know what you’re taking or how you’ll react to it. There’s probably no question about whether someone would react negatively to rat poison, but an awful lot of people have died, overdosed, or wound up in the emergency ward just from taking the drugs - you really don’t need rat poison to get sick. Or worse.

Someone who’s already taking prescription drugs may not really consider taking drugs to be much of a problem - drugs do cloud your perception and, generally, disassociate you from reality. And they probably don’t think it’s necessry for them to stop. Well, that’s mostly the drugs talking. Get that person into a drug rehab program and I can pretty much promise you that their attitude will be different in a short while. And they’ll be safe. 

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A pharmacy on the Michigan Tech campus has been robbed for the second time in a month. All the thieves take is prescription drugs. Prescription drug addiction is a big problem in Michigan, but it’s the same all over the U.S. at this point. There are probably millions of people who need to get into a drug rehab because of prescription drug addiction, dependency and abuse.

“It starts in high school,” said local police chief, John Donnelly.  “It carries over to college.  We’ve also seen a lot of it in the professional world.”  In fact, it starts a lot sooner than that. Even grade school kids are taking them.

Parents have to be diligent. Did you know that most parents don’t find out their kids are taking drugs until the kids have already been taking them for six months to two years? At that point, they already need drug rehab.

If you know someone taking prescription drugs, it’s best to get them into a drug rehab program early. As with street drugs, the longer a person has a drug problem the less chance there is of them ever recovering.

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Centers offering drug rehab in Florida - the pill capital of the U.S. - are probably used to kids with prescription drug addiction problems showing up for treatment. But Florida’s not the only state with a problem: According to a recent news article, Kentucky and Indiana also have big prescription drug problems.  Will drug rehab centers have to open special facilities for kids?

Most drug rehab centers only service those over the age of 18. The two girls in this news story started when they were 13. They’re now 16 and 17, and in rehab.

Really, the future is starting to look surreal: Millions of teenagers addicted to the prescription drugs they find in their parents medicine cabinets, millions turning into drug addicts while they’re still in their teens, and millions needing drug rehab.

What can we do about it? Parents, find out about the drug scene today and talk to your kids about the dangers of prescription drugs. Kids whose parents talk to them about it are 50% less likely to get involved. And lock up the drugs in the house or get rid of them. And, for those kids who already have a problem, get them into a drug rehab program fast.

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Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a party drug that is not considered to be addictive. Here’s the story of one young man, Jeff, who, at 18, had been addicted to Ecstasy for three years when he was stopped by police. To hide the evidence, he swallowed all 16 pills in his possession. He wound up in the hospital. He’s now been clean for two years. Unfortunately, he did it the hard way - without the aid of a drug rehab program - but he made it.

Jeff started taking Ecstasy when he was 16. His habit grew to about $450 a week, and he was stealing to be able to afford it. He became seriously debilitated - went from 180 lbs to 90 in just a few months.

“What parents should know,” Jeff said in a recent news report, “is not only are the drugs bad, but so are the people dealing them. Most keep rifles and some have hand guns. If you cross them or aren’t able to pay them I guarantee they will not think twice about busting down your door and shooting you in the head. I’ve been there.”

Not quite the party Ecstasy users count on.

If you know someone taking Ecstasy, get them into a drug rehab program. Being stopped by the police was a stroke of good luck for Jeff. Who knows how long he would have laster otherwise.

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According to a news report in The Daily Iberian, a newspaper out of Louisiana, police recently arrested a ‘granny’ for selling prescription painkillers. She’s currently out of jail on $100,000 bond. Police said they don’t see grannies selling drugs too often. Unfortunately, the article didn’t say whether or not the person selling the drugs was also addicted herself. Many people who sell drugs do so to support their own habits. Is there any reason to think the same thing won’t happen with seniors? If that was the case with the granny, let’s hope she gets into drug rehab rather than prison.

Unfortunately, seniors who have a drug problem don’t usually tell anyone about it.  Sometimes even family members don’t know anything about it until their grandmother or grandfather dies of an overdose. Medical examiners have said that the problem might be much worse than is known - when an older person dies there often isn’t an autopsy: It’s assumed that there was nothing unnatural about the death because they were older and, possibly, had existing medical conditions.

If you know of any seniors taking prescription drugs - anything that could be addictive: painkillers, benzos, amphetamines - check out what they’re taking, how much of it, and for how long. And get them into a drug rehab program so they can get the help they need.

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Here’s another high school to add to the list of those in big enough trouble with drugs that they’re taking aggressive action. This one’s called Battle Mountain High School, and it’s in Colorado. Officials said they’re starting random drug testing at Battle Mountain High for all students involved in extra-curricular activities - that’s 75% of the student body. They hope the testing will keep people from using drugs, and that those who need help will get into drug rehab.

Yesterday I wrote about a high school in Fallbrook, CA, near San Diego, that’s going to start using drug-sniffing dogs to ferret out drugs.

As the prescription drug addiction and abuse epidemic continues to rage out of control, I think we can expect to see more and more of this kind of intervention in schools. Thank God.

It can be hard to control kids who are abusing drugs, but it’s a lot easier than trying to control adults in the same situation. Also, if you can stop kids from taking them there’s far less chance they’ll end up addicted to drugs as they get older.

Although there are always underlying reasons for addiction - and these are addressed in a good drug rehab program - a lot of those situations don’t have to be serious. Your kid doesn’t have to be totally messed up to get involved in drugs. They might just have a little trouble about wanting to look cool or go along with what other kids are doing. The problem is that the drugs themselves are so dangerous that the kids get easily hooked on the drugs and then the addiction has a whole life of its own. Taking drugs is no longer dependent on what others are doing.

Educating kids about the dangers of drugs helps them resist those temptations - kids are 50% less likely to get involved in drugs if they’ve been educated on the subject by their parents - and getting kids into a good drug rehab program early in the game if they do have a problem should successfully address what they’re running into and how they can handle it in the future.

Parents all over the U.S. have lost their kids to drugs. Thousands have died, and many thousands more are living in a different world - one that doesn’t include parents. Quite a disappointment when you’ve had a child and raised them. Not what you had imagined as they grow up and move into adulthood.

Get your kids the help they need through a drug rehab program. Do whatever you have to. If you have any doubts about whether or not it’s the right thing to do, just consider the alternatives - death, estrangement, a ruined life, or drug rehab? 

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