The combination of high poverty and unemployment rates, jobs that lead to chronic pain and other health problems, and being hit more directly than any other region in the U.S. by the unethical marketing of Purdue Pharma has left Appalachian area with more than its fair share of physical and emotional pain and OxyContin addiction. 

The region is desperate for help. Where is Purdue Pharma? Where is the company whose misleading marketing and advertising, false claims and outright lies helped cause the OxyContin addiction problem? $634 million dollars came out of that company, and yet there are Appalachian states in a what is basically a competition to receive a piece of a $240,000 grant that will help only a handful of people.

Appalachian mines provide more than a third of the nation’s coal, and their electrical utilities provides 15% of the nation’s electrical output. It is rich in natural resources that could be harnessed to help solve very serious energy problems in the U.S. And yet it is crippled by OxyContin addiction, and many other drugs are right on its heels.

While it’s true we can’t blame Purdue Pharma for all the areas problems, it’s also true that if the company had not marketed a very addictive drug so heavily, lying about it all the while, the region would have nowhere near the OxyContin addiction or all of the problems that go with it. Are they ever going to pay for it? Will they ever really be held accountable? 10% of the U.S. population is in prison for crimes far less destructive than Purdue’s, but none of the principals or employees are in prison.

OxyContin rehab can help solve some of these problems. No one is in a position to change their lives while they’re addicted to drugs. Find a drug addiction treatment center that can help you out.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I read an article today about hackers - in this case, hackers who get into computers and steal personal data. The article had nothing whatever to do with drugs, but I was surprised to find that one of the major industries being attacked by hackers is health care. They are stealing personal information so they can sell it to people who want free medical care and prescription drugs. We’re not talking about heart medication or some other life-saving drug, we’re talking about the painkillers, tranquilizers, sedatives and other drugs that are part and parcel of the current prescription drug addiction epidemic.

Of course I’m aware of doctor shopping, theft of drug stores, crooked doctors who sell prescriptions in the alley behind their home or office, medical  workers who steal from the hospitals and other facilities where they work, online pharmacies that give drugs to just about anyone - all the ways people get drugs they can’t just get through normal channels. But I was not aware that computer hackers were also behind prescription drug addiction.

Amazing what happens where there’s money. You can see why some people see it as the root of all evil. It definitely motivates people to do some pretty destructive things.

But money is really what the prescription drug addiction epidemic is all about. That, and turning us into a nation of pliable zombies. Don’t fall for the ads on TV saying drugs will change your life for the better. Don’t be enticed by the easy way out of life’s problems. Face up to whatever has to be faced up to, do something to change your circumstances, and if you or someone you care about already has a problem with prescription drug addiction and is already dependent on those drugs, get them into a drug addiction treatment center for help.

Popularity: 7% [?]

It is fairly well known by those who are paying attention that prescription drug addiction is a real problem in Florida. Hernando Today, a Florida newspaper, recently published an article by Kyle Martin all about it. The article - which begins with the sentence “We live in a zombie nation“ - is spot on. Prescription drug addiction is producing a nation of zombies.  People who walk, talk, go to work every day and seem pretty normal but, as Martin said, their minds are clouded and their body is numb. And they probably couldn’t stop taking the drugs without drug rehab. Florida, fortunately, has plenty of them. And many are seeing as many or more people coming for help with prescription drug addiction than are coming for a problem with street drugs.

Martin also tells the story of a person who is now a drug counselor getting addicted to opiates. He started with methadone, prescribed for him for pain following a traffic accident, built up a tolerance to the drug and needed more and more of it to control the pain. Eventually it doesn’t control the pain any more - in fact, recent research shows that prolonged use of painkillers actually causes pain - but you’re hooked on the drug and can’t get off it.

There are millions of people in this position. Not necessarily on methadone, they could be on OxyContin, hydrocodone, Percocet, Vicodin - opiate painkillers that are basically legal heroin. Most of these people may also still be functioning in life right now but, if they don’t get into a drug addiction treatment center to get off them, that won’t last.

Prescription drug addiction sneaks up on you. While it’s doubful that many people who try heroin, for example, think they’re going to get addicted when they start, they at least know it’s a possibility. With OxyContin and other prescription painkillers, it’s really not expected. Several surveys have shown that people think those drugs are safe because they came from a doctor.

Well, they couldn’t be more wrong. And they couldn’t be in more danger.

A drug addiction treatment center can get someone off those drugs. But it’s a good idea to go to one with experience in dealing with them. And with a good success rate - i.e people complete the program AND they don’t relapse. Call Drug Rehab Referral if you’re looking for something like that.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Here’s a typical story of prescription drug addiction. This guy started on painkillers for a sports injury and 10 years later finally got some help from a drug addiction treatment center. He says he doesn’t know what happened. He just became addicted.

That’s not unusual. First of all, he got the painkillers from his doctor. Drugs from doctors aren’t supposed to be dangerous. Right? Nor are you supposed to turn into what is basically a heroin addict.

The article mentions a survey done in 2002 - and the situation has become much worse since then - that showed that 30 million Americans had illegally used prescription painkillers. Of course, not all of them became addicted and not all need a drug addiction treatment center but even if it was only 10%, we’d have an almost insurmountable problem in terms of the number of people we have facilities to treat.

The director of the local Drug Task Force blames it on the fact that the drugs aren’t illegal to possess and thousands of households (obviously it’s more than thousands) have them right in their medicine cabinet. While that is definitely a factor, I don’t think it’s getting down to the basic.

Finding the real source of the problem would lie more in the answer to questions like “Why do so many people have them in their medicine cabinets?” “What’s wrong with our health care system that so many people are in pain?” “Why are so many people prone to drug use, drug abuse, and prescription drug addiction?”

Realistically, there are only so many drug addiction treatment centers around. And it usually takes  several months to get someone through a program successfully - i.e. they’re actually rehabilitated and aren’t going to go back on drugs. And there are millions of people who need help.

We can help family members and friends, but until we get the answers to some of those questions and start addressing them effectively as a society, we’re not going to really resolve the problem of drug abuse - including prescription drug addiction.

If every person who knew someone with an alcohol or drug problem made sure that person got into treatment - a good drug addiction treatment center that really got the job done, not just a little detox and they’re out of there back on drugs or alcohol in no time - we’d make a serious dent in the problem.

Who will take this step?

Popularity: 7% [?]

A lot of people think that taking a drug just once won’t kill them. Kevin Stoll, who died when he shot up heroin apparently for the first time, proves otherwise. Kevin has completed a drug addiction treatment program but then relapsed. He took cocaine, and a 1/2 hour later took heroin, and died..

What went wrong? While it’s obviously hard to say exactly, chances are that something that needed to be addressed while he was in the drug addiction treatment center fell through the cracks.

Kevin’s problems started long ago. He was about 12 or 13 when he started drinking. Something was up with him even at that age. Did the treatment he received find out what it was, really? 

If someone you care about is in trouble with alcohol or drugs, make sure you send them to an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center that has a good success rate when it comes to relapse.  And make sure you get them there as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for them to quit.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I’ve written several blogs about how difficult it can be to get off methadone. A drug addiction treatment center that gets someone off heroin or other opiates is almost always preferable – it gets the person off the original drug without getting them hooked on another. The methadone is an added, usually unnecessary, step and it can be more difficult to stop taking than the heroin or opiate they started with.

Case in point - Tara Tovey started with an OxyContin addiction. Her doctor put her on methadone treatment. She started at 140 mg/day and stayed at that dose for 6 months. She then worked with her doctor to gradually decrease the dosage - she only dropped it by 2.5 mg every two weeks, and even that would sometimes be so devastating she’d wind up spending a whole week sick in bed.
 
She’s been tapering off for nearly one year and should be completely off it in September – one and a half years after she started her drug addiction treatment program. Tara is 19 years old.

Most people who go onto methadone treatment are parked on the drug for years without any further attempts at a real drug addiction treatment program that will get them off it.
This story demonstrates how easy is it to develop an OxyContin addiction, and how difficult it can be to get off methadone. In the beginning she tapered the dose by less than 2% every two weeks and still suffered.

With all due respect for Tara and her doctor’s persistence and hard work, I have to say if they had been able to find a good drug addiction treatment center, they would have been able to get her off the Oxy without methadone. It still would have taken several months for full rehab, but she wouldn’t have had to go through the agony of methadone withdrawal. I would advise anyone who has a heroin or OxyContin addiction to explore that avenue first.
 
Nevertheless, the most important thing is that her doctor cared enough to get her through it and not park her on the drug. And Tara persisted. Hats off to both of them.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Follow up after a residential alcohol and drug addiction treatment program is extremely important. But it’s hard when you’re in college, where alcohol and drugs are plentiful and, worse, if you don’t drink or take drugs you’re somewhat of an outcast. Sad situation.  Take a look at the reaction college student Maggie Howard gets when she tells other students she doesn’t drink. Maggie recently completed a stint in an alcohol rehab center. She quit drinking, and she’s determined to stay sober..

Many colleges have alcohol and drug-free dorms but, as the agreements to be substance free are loose, they’re not as effective as they could be. One current solution in Texas is the ’sober dorm’ facility. The majority of people living there are college students who, like Maggie, have completed a program in a residential drug or alcohol rehab center and they too want to stay sober.

Sober dorm is strict - men and women are segregated, there’s a curfew, and everyone has to attend regular 12 step meetings.

It’s not exactly the carefree college life, but for students who really want to quit drinking or taking drugs so they can get through college and get the most out of their education, it may be the only option.

‘Just say no’ hasn’t worked very well as an anti-drug/alcohol campaign, but it’s imperative that you do just that after getting out of an alcohol rehab center. Living in a dorm with others as determined as you are could be pivotal. The first step is an alcohol or drug addiction treatment center, but make sure arrangements are made for what’s going to happen when the program is complete.

Popularity: 8% [?]

As I covered in a recent article, methadone-related deaths increased by 700% between 1999 and 2006, and the numbers are still rising. Yesterday’s New York Times article about methadone deaths definitely shed some light on what’s going on. Until a couple of years ago, the dose recommended by the FDA was 80 mg/day - enough to kill some people who are not used to taking opiates. And it’s killing some people very quickly - they don’t even have time to get addicted or get into a drug addiction treatment center.

Doctors not understanding how to prescribe the drug is another major factor. Of course, they followed the FDA’s recommendations.

The third factor is that patients sometimes take more than is prescribed because they don’t get the immediate relief they expect. But because the drug is already in the blood-stream, they overdose.

The fourth factor is the combination of drugs and alcohol. This is probably where drug addiction treatment should come into play. Doctor’s aren’t looking at the patient’s history to see if they can be relied upon to not take other central nervous system depressants - including alcohol. The doctor who prescribed the methadone to one person who died knew of this history and said he told the patient to stop drinking. Well, as anyone familiar with addiction knows, telling someone who’s taking drugs or drinking a lot to stop is simply not enough. They need the help of a drug addiction treatment center.

Bottom line - this is one area where doctors just don’t know what they’re doing. Nor do the patients. Nor does the FDA.  There might be studies out there somewhere that could have predicted something like this happening with methadone but, since drug companies that conducted the studies don’t exactly have a reputation for putting all the cards on the table, we don’t really know.

Drugs are a little like politics - if you don’t really do your research and understand the issues, you can wind up voting for someone who can wind up with some big, and unfortunate, surprises.

Do your research, look for drug-free solutions, and if you or someone you care about has a drug or alcohol problem, get them into a drug addiction treatment center. The prescription drug addiction epidemic is bad enough - we don’t need people getting killed by these drugs right off the bat.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I recently found out that doctors get about four hours of education on drugs during their entire education. If you’re wondering why we have such a big problem with prescription drug addiction and abuse, that might be a big part of it.

The doctors, not having the time to do the research themselves - especially since drug cmpanies go out of their way to hide information that makes the drugs look bad either because they’re ineffective, can cause prescription drug addiction or are candidates for abuse - largely rely on drug company info - which often amounts to little more than propaganda.

This is one big thing that’s going to have to change if we want to get rid of our current drug culture. Right now, to avoid problems with prescription drugs, patients are obliged to do their own research - thoroughly. That’s really the only way you can come close to guaranteeing your own safety.

The doctors don’t know, the drug companies lie, and the FDA doesn’t even insist they have all the research. Buyer beware. If you’re already taking prescription drugs and think you might be in trouble - or it might be someone you care about - get help in a drug addiction treatment center.

Popularity: 8% [?]

A recent news story about the relationship of drugs and crime really highlights how easy it is to make the transition. Here’s the story of a young man, now 29 and drug-free for three years, who spent much of the last decade in jail. And all the crimes he committed were simply to get drugs - not a lot of them, just enough to stave off withdrawal symptoms. If he had gotten into a drug addiction treatment center early - he started on drugs at the ripe old age of 12 - his ife would have been different.

Some parents think that kids will grow out of their interest in alcohol or drugs but, more often than not, the younger they start the lower the chances are of them stopping. Also, the longer it takes to get them into drug addiction treatment, the lower the chances of them ever getting rehabiliated and the harder it’s going to be.

Read this story. Realize that it’s not an isolated incident. And that, no matter how great your kids are, drugs can do this to them. And if you have kids doing any drugs or even drinking more than rarely, contact Drug Rehab Referral to speak with a counselor and see if your kid does need alcohol rehab or drug addiction treatment.

Popularity: 9% [?]