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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Parents of kids going to the University of Florida - now the number one party school in the U.S. - may breathe a little easier knowing that the rules drinking rules on the UF campus are being changed. No more kegs, drinking games and other behavior that leads to alcohol poisoning, injuries, accidents, rapes, and so on will be allowed. Punishment includes everything from wrist slapping to expulsion but, unfortunately, alcohol rehab is not included.

While it’s not a school’s responsibility to get kids into alcohol rehab, it would be an interesting turn of events. If kids were told they have to go to alcohol rehab to continue in school, it would open the door for them to stay and get their education - and would also drastically change their life. They’d no longer be alcoholics, and they’d still have a chance to accomplish their education and career goals.

Do you think college students should be ordered to alcohol or drug rehab? Florida has plenty to choose from. At the very least, parents should ensure it happens.

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Florida has a serious prescription drug addiction problem. It is also one of only 15 states holding out on implementing the pharmacist and physician prescription drug database that would enable both to identify those with a drug problem to get the drug addiction treatment they need. The concern is privacy.

While I couldn’t agree more privacy is worth protecting, sometimes it just might be over-rated when it comes to taking responsibility for our fellow human beings, and for ourselves.

Prescription drug addiction is a dangerous epidemic - it’s not like having a favorite TV show that you just have to watch every Tuesday night. It ruins people’s lives, it kills them, it spreads like wildfire, people on drugs steal, lie, cheat, are dangerous to others and to themselves - really, they belong in a prescription drug addiction treatment center, not in a pharmacy getting another prescription.

Do we have the right to protect people from themselves by invading their privacy? It’s a question that is in constant debate. Perhaps the answer depends on the situation and the real intention behind it. Would you, for example, see your son or daughter, husband addicted, their lives ruined, or dead rather than invade their privacy? I wouldn’t think so.

Getting someone into a drug addiction treatment center when they need help is sometimes uncomfortable - chances are they’re not going to agree to do it without you being a little pushier or invading a little more of their privacy than is comfortable for you. Or them. But … consider the alternative. And then find a drug rehab. Florida has plenty. Call us to find out which is best for your situation.

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The new party school ratings from the Princeton Review are in and the number one position has been taken over by the University of Florida, in Gainsville - which means a lot of college students will need alcohol and drug rehab. Florida State, in Tallahassee, has moved to number 10.

Prior to gaining this number one party school position, an estimated 10,000 of the University of Florida’s 51,000 students may have needed alcohol or drug rehab. There’s a good chance that being the number one party school in the U.S. will bump this up even more. 

With prescription drug addiction and abuse being a problem with about 15,000 students as well, it looks like roughly half the kids at U of F may be either taking drugs or drinking - both to excess.

Parents should be on the lookout for drugs and drinking and do something about it. With about $50,000 being spent on most State college educations, you want to make sure that, if needed, your kid gets alcohol and drug rehab. Florida has several alcohol and drug addiction treatment centers to choose from. If you need help, call Drug Rehab Referral - they can help you find one that’s good for your situation in or around Gainsville.

Of the 51,000 students in the University of Florida

With prescription drug addiction and abuse also being so prevalent in Florida, it’s

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After a death related to prescription drug addiction and abuse - a 24-year-old man had obtained prescription drugs from 17 different online pharmacies - Minneapolis authorities cracked down on drugs available on the Internet. One of the pharmacies is under investigation and two pharmacists have been disciplined and fined, thanks to new state laws. Florida could really use something like that. Prescription drug addiction is rampant in Florida, it’s nicknamed ‘the pill state’, and Tampa is considered ground zero for Internet pharmacies.

In another Minnesota case a pharmacy was fined $25,000 for filling 4,500 Internet prescriptions over a period of less than three months. Give me a break!!! How many people went to the ER, got sick, died, or developed a prescription drug addiction because of his prescriptions? $25,000 is peanuts compared to the harm that pharmacist did. Shouldn’t he be in jail?

What is the deal with fining people like that. If they were drug dealers on the street and had sold 4,500 people drugs, they’d be in jail. No question about it. But the same does not apply with prescription drugs.

But, at least it’s something. I think things will get tougher on these guys in the near future. Not even the judge in the Purdue case was happy about the guys not going to jail.

Each of the recipients of those 4,500 prescriptions could be contacted. Find out what condition they’re in and, if they have developed a prescription drug addiction, the pharmacist could pay for drug rehab. Florida could certainly make some headway if there was a law like that! 

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There are some parents who think their kid’s drug addiction will get straightened out in prison. They’ve tried what they thought should work to get their kid to stop doing drugs, or alcohol, and it hasn’t worked. The kid may even have gone into a drug addiction treatment center of some sort - not usually the long term residential treatment that has the best success rate but, still, it was “treatment” and he had a chance.

So, parents kind of throw up their hands and decide to let the chips fall where they may. Whatever happens, happens. If he winds up in jail, so be it, he brought it on himself. And he’ll probably get straightened out in jail.

Not so. Check out this news story about the arrest that just took place in Miami-Dade County, Florida - a drug ring of five corrections officers and eight inmates and civilians were arrested for conspiracy to traffic drugs inside a prison. And, believe me, it’s far from the first time something like that has happened. I’ve heard prisoners say they had absolutely no problem getting drugs in prison.

The longer someone takes drugs, the higher the chances of them not making it out alive. Especially when it’s gotten to the point where the person is in jail - they’ve now entered the criminal element end of drug addiction.

If you’ve given up, try again. Get your kid, or someone else you care about, into a drug addiction treatment center. If you’re in Miami-Dade County, there are hundreds of facilities that offer drug rehab in Florida. If you need help, contact an intervention specialist who can help you.

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Want to get rid of drugs in your community? Check out what happened in Tallahassee, Florida. Several members of the community told the police that people were growing marijuana - in about 1/2 dozen different locations - and now the offenders are busted. The result could be a lot of kids who aren’t looking for a drug rehab in Florida.

The program that furnished the police with the information for the bust is called Crime Stoppers - it has, among other things, an anonymous tip line for members of the community who want to report criminal activity. The organization is funded by the State.

Great idea. In many communities it’s hard to remain anonymous when reporting something to the police. People think it’s dangerous to ‘get involved.’ And, in truth, it can be. Especially when you’re talking about drug addiction - drug addicts, and dealers, can get pretty nasty when someone comes between them and their drugs, or their money.

Check in with the police in your area to see if a similar program is available. There are literally thousands of drug addiction treatment centers in Florida and many are supported by taxpayers. Programs like Crime Stoppers could reduce the drug addiction problem, and enable communities to put their money into education and other beneficial programs.

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This week’s Prescription Drug Addiction Radio Show (on WGUL 860 AM on Sunday night, July 20 - 9:05 p.m. Eastern, live online at www.860wgul.com) will feature pharmacists talking about the problem of - guess what - prescription drug addiction. Here’s what Larry G, the show’s host, has to say about the problem:

“The drug companies call them pain pills and the drug addicts call them Oxys, Roxies and Blueberries. The doctors call them alprazolam and on the street they are called Ladders, Bars and Totem Poles, but horribly it is now estimated that deaths that include prescription drugs are surpassing deaths from guns in the United States.”

Drug rehab in Florida has especially got it’s hands full - Florida medical examiners reported 8,620 drug-related deaths in Florida in 2007, and about 69% of them involved prescription drugs. The drugs that were involved in the majority of deaths were methadone, benzodiazepines, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine.

The saddest thing is that, unlike people who take street drugs, many of the people who overdose on and die from prescription drugs though the drugs were safe, and never saw it coming.

Larry G, a pharmacist for 30 years, is doing our society a great service with this radio show. Tune in, find out more about prescription drug addiction, and get anyone you think might need help into a drug addiction treatment center asap.  Also, check out Drug Rehab Referral for additional info on prescription drug addiction, street drugs, and drug addiction treatment.

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I was recently reading information about drug rehab in Florida and the substance abuse problems in various Florida counties. I came across an alcohol and drug abuse survey from Hernando County that had a section on protecting your kids from drug use. In 2000 the drug problem was much different than it is today - prescription drug addiction and abuse is as big a problem as illegal drugs.

According to the Hernando County document, you are more likely to prevent drug use if your kids have healthy beliefs and clear standards, if you have bonded with your kids and are involved in their lives, if they have opportunities for development, if their efforts are recognized, if they have the skills necessary to be successful, and if they have a sense of hope.

Have you checked the above list as it applies to your kids lately? If these things are in place, and if you talk with your kids and let them know about the dangers of drugs, there’s a much better chance of them saying no when they’re offered drugs - which you can bet they will be. Prescription drug addiction is growing at epidemic proportions and often requires drug detox and drug rehab. In Florida there are several facilities to get help, but the only real way to be safe is prevention.

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I’ve just run across some amazing statistics about drug abuse in Sarasota, Florida. Alcohol consumption is the highest rate in the state - as it is in any area - but centers offering drug rehab in Florida are being inundated with people taking prescription drugs. In fact, the number one cause of accidental death in Sarasota County is now poisoning, and 96% of those are from drug overdoses. And I can guarantee the majority of that involves prescription drug addiction or abuse.It’s worse than Tampa, worse than Miami - and those places are pretty bad.With so many drugs around, and with so much drinking going on, the chances of someone you know – even your kids or your spouse – not taking drugs or drinking to excess are slim to none.  One out of every ten high school kids have used prescription drugs illegally, and one in five young adults in college or work got high on some drug or other in the last month - those are Florida-wide statistics, but Sarasota is at the top of the list.Families should be aware of this problem and ensure that their kids, their husbands and wives and so on are aware of the dangers. And if there’s any kind of problem – with alcohol, illegal drugs, or which prescription drug addiction or abuse, get help immediately. Finding a drug rehab in Florida is easy, but finding one with a high success rate isn’t. Contact Drug Rehab Referral to get the help you need.

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