I read a news article today about a woman who recovered from a crack cocaine abuse and addiction habit after 23 years. The thing I found most interesting was that the woman said she had been looking online for a drug treatment center while she was high. And she didn’t just do it once, she did it over and over again. She carried the phone number of one drug treatment center in her wallet for a year. When she finally reached her breaking point, she called. And they helped her get into the program. 

This is quite unusual – a good 80% of drug addicts wind up in a drug treatment center because a family member got them to go there.  She got there on her own steam.

Family members probably expect that to happen more often – which is why they don’t always take the initiative to make sure people get help.  But it’s really not a chance you want to take. This girl got there on her own, true, but it took her 23 years. Can you imagine the hell she, and her family and friends, went through during that 23 years?! She’s a mom, by the way, and had long since lost her kids. And her husband, and every successive boyfriend. She was living in her car when she finally called the rehab center.

Drug Rehab Referral helps people find a suitable drug treatment program. There are literally thousands of them, and choosing the right one is imperative. Drug Rehab Referral staff have the experience needed to advise you.

As a matter of fact, I know that one of the programs they refer to is the one this woman used. Call them at 1-877-211-7428 if you or a family member has a drug problem.

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According to a recent news item about Bossier Parish in Louisiana, about one person is dying every week from combining drugs like crack, cocaine, and methamphetamine with prescription drugs.  The street drugs keep them awake, and the prescription drugs are used to enable them to sleep.

Both the police chief and the medical examiner think they’re not going to be able to stop people from combining these drugs and agree that education is their only hope.

For a county with less than 100,000 people, that’s a pretty severe drug problem. Especially when you consider that the deaths are only those the police know about and were autopsied. The estimate is probably low.

Once again, prescription drugs are killing people. Probably more than illegal drugs ever did. It’s amazing how dangerous these drugs are.

Maybe the news item and whatever education officials have planned will motivate more people to get into an addiction treatment center, or get those they know have drug problems to get help.

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I wrote a post not too long ago about the dangers of marijuana and received a few comments about how ignorant I am and calling me names you wouldn’t really want to publish.

One of the things I talked about was marijuana being laced with other drugs. That, too, was considered ignorant.

Since I’ve been around for a while and have endeniable proof that’s the case, the comments didn’t really bother me.

In the news today is a warning from police about marijuana laced with crack cocaine.  In England, the mixture is known as Mach5 and, according to the police who’ve been busting people with the stuff, this combination is used so the marijuana is more addictive and dangerous.

That’s the kind of people most drug dealers are, actually. They make their living from people coming back for more on a regular basis, not from the occasional user, and they’ll go to great lengths to accomplish that. If they can get the user to come back every day or start buying larger amounts, they make more money.

It’s the same with many industries. They depend on repeat business to keep going. Big Pharma’s a good example. They lie, cheat, steal and would probably kill their grandmother to turn more people onto prescription drug addiction.

Drug dealers also get referrals from repeat customers. Another important avenue to business growth. People who get a more dramatic high from one guy’s marijuana than another’s are going to tell their friends about it, and their friends wil switch suppliers.

Not everyone who sells marijuana is some laid back guy who just happens to sell some to an occasional friend who comes to the house to kick back.  They’re business people. They’re in it for the money.

Some don’t even take drugs themselves – they’re just looking for a way to make money and don’t really care who they hurt doing it, whose lives are ruined, or who ends up in an addiction treatment center.

Again, don’t take smoking marijuana lightly. Remember, when someone buys marijuana, they’re not doing business with a pillar of the community. They’re doing business with a criminal. They’ve chosen a path in life that is anti-social. Is that really someone you want to trust?

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Parents who educate their kids on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse are 50% less likely to use them.  But finding ways to educate your kids (or yourself) can sometimes be a problem. The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) has published a booklet that can help. It covers alcohol, street drugs and prescription drug addiction, dependency and abuse. It was recently included in the Washington Times newspaper as a supplement but it’s also available online for anyone to print out. The ‘booklet’ link I just gave you is a direct link to it.

It’s good to finally see something readily available to the general public that covers the problems with prescription drugs – although it could probably devote a little more space to OxyContin, hydrocodone and other prescription painkillers. Especially since they are the most abused prescription drugs and the most likely to cause prescription drug addiction.

It also contains some starting facts: Nearly 50 million people in America over the age of 12 have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. That’s one out of every six people. In other words, at least one person who lives only two or three doors from you in any direction has used prescription drugs to get high. That’s alarming.

It also means that about one in every two or three kids over 12 in school – the kids your kid spend most of their day with – have either already taken prescription drugs to get high or live with someone who has.

That really demonstrates how easy it is for your own kid to be introduced to these drugs.

Right now, it’s more likely that your kid will be offered prescription drugs than marijuana. And I doubt there are too many kids over 12 who don’t know at least one person who has smoked marijuana.

Prescription drug addiction and abuse is extremely dangerous for both kids and adults. Prescription drug rehab can help with the problem, and it’s important to do something about it right away if you suspect, or know, that someone is taking prescription drugs without a medical reason. Download the booklet on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, read it carefully and start doing something about it. If you need help, you can contact Drug Rehab Referral.

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I watched a medical show on television about a young man with a wife and two small children who was diabetic; injected insulin everyday. He also drank alcohol (which is high in sugar and should be avoided by diabetics) and he didn’t eat properly to keep his blood sugar in check. His wife found him dead one morning - he had overdosed on heroin and cocaine. There was no information on whether he had a heroin or cocaine addiction.

The medical examiner who did the autopsy was shocked to find that he didn’t die from the things one would expect from someone in his condition. She was also surprised that someone with a wife and children would be irresponsible enough to not take care of himself as a diabetic, and even more so that he would take heroin or cocaine. Addiction didn’t seem to be a problem yet – at least, not to heroin. He had spent the day at work and home until after dinner. If he’d had a heroin addiction he wouldn’t have been able to go without the drug all day.

Eventually, that’s where it would have ended up. He would be a diabetic with a cocaine addiction, or an addiction to heroin, and life for his wife and kids would have deteriorated severely someone managed to get him into a drug addiction treatment center for help. 

His wife had no idea about his drug use so she didn’t have the opportunity to get him into a drug addiction treatment center before it was too late. She’s now a widow with two small children to support as a single parent and raise without a husband and father.

It just goes to show you that it can happen to anyone – even someone who is apparently responsible in life, and to someone who has a drug problem, but it not yet an addict. 

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Although there aren’t many people with a cocaine addiction who would send themselves to cocaine rehab merely because they realized what kind of person profits from their habit, Helen Mirren was in the news today talking about how she quit using cocaine when she found out the money was supporting a Nazi war criminal.

Ms. Mirren is obviously not an addictive personality, unless she was using some other drug, because she said she used cocaine only occasionally when she was at parties. Hopefully, this statement won’t encourage people to try cocaine or other drugs with the idea that they, too, will only use them occasionally and won’t develop a cocaine addiction. Really, you never know whether you’re going to end up using it a lot and needing cocaine rehab, or taking another drug that you’ll need drug addiction treatment to quit. When people start using drugs, they’re not usually aware of the fact that addiction could happen.

One other factor one might take into consideration when looking at the possibility of using cocaine, or any other drug, is where the money is going. Most people with a social conscience would not support mass murderers, terrorists or others who are bent on the destruction of others. But that’s what drug dealers are. The person doesn’t have to also be a Nazi war criminal – their role in getting people addicted to drugs is quite enough.

If you know of someone who has a problem with cocaine addiction, or a problem with any other drug, get them into a drug addiction treatment center. It will not only save their lives, it will help cut the supply of drug dealers who are murdering people every day. 

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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.

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You really have to watch out for your kids around people doing drugs. Here’s a story about a woman who passed out in a car with a four year old in the back seat. Cocaine was found on the dash. Obviously, the woman needs drug rehab. Florida, where this incident happened – in Pinellas County, right next to Tampa, a major drug center in Florida -has several good facilities she could go to.

The news story doesn’t say if the child is hers or not.

I’m sure there are grandparents all over the U.S. who worry about their grandchildren because they know the mom or dad is on drugs. Although you hate to do it, it is possible to get custody of the kids. A better solution would be a drug addiction treatment center for the parent(s). Then you won’t have to worry about the grandchildren, or your own.

I remember being in the drug world years ago. One family had a child not more than a year or so old. Both parents were on heroin, although the mother didn’t seem to be doing too much anymore. The dad, however, was not only on heroin himself, he constantly had people over to the house who were also shooting up. Unbelieveable environment in which to raise a child. But, honestly, I barely noticed there was a child there. When you’re on heroin, you’re just too out of it and too disassociated from the real world for that sort of thing to effect you. I don’t know whatever happened to those people – I left town shortly thereafter. But you can be sure they’re no longer together as a family, unless the dad did get into a drug addiction treatment center.

If you know anyone using drugs who’s around children, help them get the drug addiction treatment they need now.

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I read a column online today with a letter from a woman asking “is my boyfriend addicted?” She said he does cocaine and Vicodin and takes Xanax to come off the cocaine high when he goes to sleep. He told her he does it at least once a week and that his friends ‘drag him into it.’ He also uses drugs alone and the night before the letter was written he had gone on an alcohol and cocaine binge. The next day he told her he felt like a loser. Is this guy addicted? Absolutely. At this point he probably is addicted to cocaine and has a prescription drug addiction problem.

He may not be a loser – he could be a great guy. She wouldn’t be with him if he didn’t have some redeeming qualities and the relationship might have great potential. But, honestly, the way he’s going – especially when he’s combining drugs with other drugs, and with alcohol - if he doesn’t get into an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center they might never get the chance to find out.

He’s not a loser. He’s an addict. And he needs help. She can either make sure he gets it, or she can leave him – which is what she is considering doing. It’s not fun taking on a person with a drug addiction problem but, on the other hand, if she can get him into an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center, she may save his life. Whether or not the relationship will continue is another story. But if she doesn’t help him by getting him some real drug addiction help, there’s a good chance no one else will either.

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In Naples, Florida, a man saw a little boy, dirty and covered in bug bites, walking in a ditch along the road. He called the police, who followed up on it, and found their mother  and the little boy’s twin brother in their filthy home with no electricity, nothing in the fridge to eat and moldy food in the microwave and on the dishes piled in the sink. The mother was arrested and her children were taken by social services. Her house was full of evidence of her drug addiction. There are plenty of centers that offer drug rehab in Florida, and one of them could have helped her, and the kids. She is 25 years old.

This, of course, sounds like an extreme situation that could probably never happen to you or your 25-year-old daughter. But I would bet money on the fact that her parents thought the same thing.

I’ve seen similar situations. Things are better if only one parent is on drugs and the other is taking responsibility for the household, the kids, etc. But in a one parent household, things really can get that bad. Drug addiction isn’t pretty.

A next door neighbor commented to a reporter that if she’d known the situation was that bad, she would have made sure the woman got help. The neighbor’s 15-year-old son has spent time in the woman’s home but said he’d never seen her with drugs. An unlikely story, frankly, when the police found white powder scattered on the couch, in the kids’ room, in the kitchen etc. There’s no doubt she has a serious drug addiction problem – in her case, it appears it was cocaine addiction.

This woman’s life was obviously ruined by drugs, although no one really knows what drove her to it. She could find out if she went through a drug rehab. In Florida there are several programs available. However, whether she’ll ever get the chance or whether she’ll end up in the never-ending cycle of drug addiction and prison, no one knows at this point. At least her kids are safe.

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