I’ve seen a couple of articles within the past several months about the possibility of drug testing welfare recipients. My first thought when I read the information was, why hasn’t this already begun? Why are we even wasting our time “considering” this idea?

With a nation that has a drug problem of epidemic proportion, we have got to be proactive in coming up with some solutions to this problem. I’m not saying that all people who are on welfare are drug users, or even that everyone should be tested. What I am saying though, is that welfare recipients should be randomly tested, and there should certainly be consequences for those who do not pass.

As a working taxpayer, who helps to pay for the welfare system, I must say that I am not into the idea of anyone using that aid to buy drugs. There are people out there who use the welfare system to help them get on their feet through rough economic times, and that is appropriate. And, there are people who take advantage of the system. The latter group are the ones that need to be weeded out so they’re not taking benefits away from those who genuinely deserve them.

Ideally, the people who test positively for drug use should get help in a good drug rehab program. It would actually be great to offer some sort of services to get them in drug rehab programs so they can get through their addictions and back into the world living drug free.

I guess it’s a touchy and tricky subject. I felt strongly enough about it though to comment. What are your thoughts?

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Did you know that doctors receive about four hours of education on drug treatments during their entire education? With all of the drugs that wind up being prescribed, it seems as if there should be a little more emphasis on this part of their education. And, it leads me to believe that this contributes directly to drug addiction and abuse.

Since the doctors don’t have time to their own research, and the drug companies seem to go out of their way to hide any information that makes their drugs look bad, people are being prescribed medications based on almost no training. They rely on the “education” that they get from the drug manufacturers’ representatives, which often amounts to little more than propaganda.

With this being said, we MUST take it upon ourselves to get educated. It’s the only immediate solution to changing what’s happening in our current drug culture. We have to take some responsibility for ourselves and what we’re consuming and the risks that are involved. It’s obvious that our doctors aren’t going to do this for us.

With the little education the doctors receive about drug therapies, the lies and conveniently hidden information on behalf of the drug makers and the weak FDA regulations on research, beware of the risks involved with the drugs you’re prescribed. Drug dependence and addiction are all too common, even with people who take their medications as prescribed by the doctors they trust.

If this is a scenario you’re familiar with because of your own experience, or you know someone who has gotten hooked on prescription drugs, get help. Call a drug addiction treatment center right away!

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I hear the FDA is looking at banning prescription drugs containing acetaminophen, as well as drugs containing acetaminophen that are sold over the counter - Tylenol, Excedrin, and so on.

I realize that acetaminophen can cause liver damage but I don’t understand why that would be motivation to ban the prescription drugs containing it, like Vicodin, when there are so many other side effects - like shallow breathing, slow heartbeat, ligh-headedness and dizziness, fainting, confusion, fear, unusual thoughts or behavior and seizures, to name just a few – that haven’t been reason enough to get rid of those drugs. Not to mention the fact that every drug rehab program in the country is servicing people who’ve become addicted to these drugs.

It makes me wonder what the drug companies are up to. If Vicodin and Percocet are banned, that will probably increase the sales of OxyContin – which I’m sure have suffered since Purdue was fined $634 million for lying about how addictive it was. They even said it was less addictive than Percocet and Vicodin.

Also, if we can’t buy Tylenol or Excedrin we’re also more likely to get OxyContin from our doctor. Next thing you know we’ll be taking OxyContin for mild headaches and things we would normally take Tylenol for, and the drug treatment centers will continue to fill up. This time for OxyContin rehab – and there are already plenty of people in treatment for OxyContin addiction right now.

I think it would be wise for anyone who takes Tylenol or Excedrin, or any other drugs that might be included in this ban, to start finding another solution to their problem. Getting onto OxyContin could be far worse than Tylenol ever was.

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Great – now we’ve got drugs that cause addictive behavior. And I’m not talking about an inherently addictive drug like OxyContin or Xanax. The specific drug in question here is Mirapex, used to treat Parkinson’s Disease, and it can cause addictive behaviors like gambling and compulsive eating.

It’s true, a lot of drugs save lives. But there are so many successful methods, other than drugs, for dealing with many of our problems. Pain can be addressed with certain nutrients and natural analgesics (and if you have to get into drugs you can certainly find some a lot less dangerous than things like OxyContin – OxyContin abuse has probably put more people into a drug treatment center than heroin (of course, OxyContin IS heroin, so what can we expect?)

And you can also get physical therapy, chiropractic, or acupuncture – which I understand does wonders for pain. My father got over debilitating hip pain in just two acupunture sessions. And it’s never come back!

There are also nutrients and natural remedies to address depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and any number of things. These three can often even be addressed by just doing some exercise. But, instead, we put up with drugs, their outrageous side effects, and the possibility of drug overdoses, interactions, reactions, and so on.

What a mess.

A large percentage of people going into a drug treatment center program these days have a problem with prescription drugs – and they often started out by being prescribed the drugs by their doctors.

In some European countries, where people are much healthier than Americans, there is far more emphasis on natural remedies and prevention. Hopefully, Obama’s new health care plan will address some of these issues.

In the meantime … if you’re having trouble coming off a drug like painkillers, anti-anxiety or depression meds and would like to see if you can resolve your problems without them, contact us to find out if there’s a drug treatment center that can help you.

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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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Merry Christmas!!

We at Drug Rehab Referral have helped a lot of people over the last year. Thanks to their hard work in an addiction treatment center, they’ll be enjoying a sober Christmas – for some, it’s their first in many years. No drugs, no alcohol, and with new family and personal relationships that truly make the holidays the warm, joyous and fun experience they should be!

If you are among the millions of people who still have loved ones with a drinking or drug problem, even a problem with prescription drug addiction, contact us soon. No matter what you’ve been through already, no matter what you’ve tried or how hard you’ve worked at it, it is not a hopeless situation. Contact us, and we will find a way to help you.

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The University of Georgia has the right idea about preventing and handling alcohol and drug addiction. They have a program called SAAF (pronounced ’safe’ - stands for Strong African-American Families program), and its statistics show alcohol use reduced by 28% two years after starting, 25% six years after starting, and a decrease in sexual behavior problems, marijuana use, and caregiver depression. They also estimate that the likelihood of conduct problems was reduced by 74% – they checked that after two years.

They’re really changing lives. And that’s what it takes to get rid of or prevent problems with drugs and alcohol.

Unfortunately, the program is only for African-Americans. God knows there are just as many caucasians and other races that need the same thing.

How do they do it? With videos, games and activities, the parents learn how to monitor their kids and how to communicate with them and give them emotional support. The kids – both younger and older kids - learn to set goals, handle peer pressure, and build strong relationships with their parents and other adults.

The program also includes instilling pride in being African-American. Something I’m sure Obama’s election also strengthened.

Someone should Obama about this program so it can be used more widely.  And parents who are having trouble with their kids or want to form a better relationship should find out more about it. Even if they don’t live in Georgia, they may be able to get some helpful hints on how to do something like it on their own.

Parents whose kids are already involved in drug or alcohol abuse - or parents in the same position – should get into an addiction treatment center for help. A good alcohol or drug rehab program will actually address some of these issues.

But if your kids aren’t taking drugs or drinking, and you want it to stay that way, consider something similar to SAAF. It will do a lot more than curb alcohol and drug abuse.

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Prescription drugs are being called the new gateway drugs – not because they lead to taking other drugs, which is what marijuana is known for, but because they have overtaken marijuana as the first drugs people take illegally. And that has a lot to do with the reason why we have a prescription drug addiction epidemic.

There’s a big difference between smoking marijuana the first time you take drugs and taking a prescripion painkiller, sedative, tranquilizer, stimulant or antidepressant. Smoking grass isn’t good – it can cause physical and emotional problems and impair thinking and motor skills just like any other drug – but not too many people die from it, or turn into drug addicts who would sell their grandmother for a hit.

But that’s not the case with prescription drugs.

Here’s what the Prevention Services department of the East Alabama Mental Health Center had to say about prescription drugs in a recent news item:

“When taken without medical supervision, intentionally abused, or mixed with other drugs or alcohol, prescription drugs can be both dangerous and addictive. A single large dose of prescription painkillers can cause breathing difficulty and lead to death. Stimulant abuse can lead to hostility, paranoia, heart failure or fatal seizures.

“Even in small doses, depressants and painkillers affect motor skills, judgment and the ability to learn. Long-term risks include the potential of addiction and relying at an early age on a drug to cope with life’s stresses establishing a learned, lifelong pattern of dependency. It is also illegal to purchase medications without a prescription and to share or sell personal medication.”

A concise and accurate statement of the dangers – with one exception, all that stuff can happen even if you were prescribed the drug by your doctor. Why do you think drug companies are paying out billions every year in lawsuits? It’s not the people who are using them illegally that are suing them. It’s the one’s who got them from their doctors.

The only winners in the prescription drug game are the drug companies. It doesn’t seem possible that we let companies continue in business when their primary goal to is impair everyone’s awareness and ability to think and do by drugging them. And I mean everyone, they’re even trying to get unborn children tested now to see if they can find a way to drug them, too. But, that’s what we’ve got.

If someone you care about is on prescription drugs, prescribed or not, find out if they’re really necessary and, if not, get them into prescription drug rehab.

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The lockers of the students in three schools in Massachussetts were K9 searched for drugs earlier this week. They caught one kid, with a lot of marijuana – all bagged up and ready to go. He’s been arrested. The searches were done to demonstrate the zero tolerance policy of illicit drugs in schools – the only problem is that illicit drugs are probably not the major problem. What they need to focus on is prescription drugs.

Prescription drug addiction and abuse is more popular among teens these days that marijuana. OxyContin and other opiate painkillers, stimulants, tranqilizers – the kids get them free from their parent’s medicine cabinets, give them to their friends, take them to parties where they’re thrown in a big bowl so kids can take whatever they want, not even knowing what the drugs are – that’s what the schools are really up against. And it’s the hardest to detect. K9s are trained to smell Xanax.

Truthfully, half the kids in school could have been high that day – having a good laugh afterwards. If the kid who was arrested doesn’t go to jail, chances are he’ll start dealing prescription drugs instead. And while the search will certainly keep marijuana, heroin and speed out of the school – which may help – what’s really needed is a body search and a urine or other type of test that will identify the presence of prescription drugs. Only that way can you stop prescription drug addiction or abuse.

I admire the fact that law enforcement is doing something about the drug problem in schools – but they’ve got to get the right target. Then they can find the kids with a problem and get them into prescription drug rehab for help. 

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A second methadone clinic is opening in Pennsylvania, where heroin addiction is “rampant.” Methadone clinics are controversial – some says it’s trading heroin addiction for methadone addiction and, in fact, it is. Even the director of the clinic, Glen Cooper, acknowledges that methadone treatment is not a cure, and that it ”works best” in tandem with counselling. Which they also deliver. The counselling, I assume, is an actual drug rehab program that gets people off drugs completely – heroin and methadone.

The public in the area are suspicious – they don’t want a bunch of ’drug addicts’ around, and they don’t particularly care what drug they’re taking. Cooper’s response? ”I think people should keep in mind that people in methadone treatment programs, if they are successful, are no longer using drugs and don’t need to steal.”

I’m not sure what he means by ‘if they are successful,’ or they ‘are no longer using drugs.’ Does he mean that if they’re successful they’re no longer using heroin or methadone? If that’s not what he means then, yes, they are using drugs. They’re using methadone.

True, they don’t need to steal. They get their drugs from the clinic and it’s either free – not likely, since it’s a for-profit organization, or they’re relatively inexpensive.

Either way, it would be nice if we could expect something more than  they ‘don’t need to steal’ from a drug treatment facility. Sure, that’s a step in the right direction but how many are actually taking the next step – becoming completely drug-free?

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