West Virginia is a good example of what happens on a smaller scale – in families – when drugs and alcohol enter the picture. Sometimes it’s the parents with the drug or alcohol problem, and sometimes it’s the kids. In either case, the result is the same.

How did West Virginia become, basically, an entire State with the same problems drugs create in a family. West Virginia was one of the hardest hit States when the OxyContin addiction problem surfaced in the U.S. Purdue Pharma. Purdue promoted OxyContin as less addictive than previously used painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet – and was later fined $634 million for intentionally lying to the public and doctors.

Not only were people getting addicted to the drug left, right and center, OxyContin pills were also labeled as ‘killers’ because of the rapidly escalating toll of overdose deaths connected to the drug.

People in West Virginia tended to be older and suffer from many chronic illnesses and debilitating diseases caused by years of working in the mines, so they jumped all over OxyContin.

And, now, many years later, the State is still caught up in prescription drug addiction. And many of them can’t afford to get off the drugs – since they’re almost impossible to stop taking without a drug addiction treatment program offered by professionals. There just aren’t enough of them – not good ones, anyone – offered free of charge by the State.

Back to families – this is, of course, is tearing families apart. Not only are parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and kids suffering from addiction, the kids who want to make something of their lives are likely to move to another State to do it. They want opportunity, and there’s not much of it in West Virginia. So, they leave, and the families are left behind.

Anyone who has a family member abusing alcohol or drugs needs to get help immediately. It really will tear the family apart, and someone may even die.

We have enough to regret in our lives without also having the fact that we could have helped someone, and saved their lives, but didn’t do it. A successful drug rehab program is the answer.

If you are looking at drug rehab options, there’s one specific method of so-called drug treatment that you really don’t want – and that’s methadone treatment.

Methadone treatment is used for people addicted to heroin or other opiates – like prescription painkillers.

Sometimes methadone is recommended as a ‘stop gap’ – a drug to take that will prevent withdrawal symptoms but does not get you high. You should know that people who are put on methadone for this reason almost never get into drug rehab. They are given methadone for years. Sometimes for life.

Other people, usually those who have gone back to taking drugs after drug rehab, are told that their body is no longer capable of producing the natural endorphins that make us ‘happy’, and that their only choice is to take methadone.

What has usually happened there is that the person hasn’t done a good drug addiction treatment program – and there are plenty out there that usually don’t work.

People who are on methadone, and have been on it for some time, say that the drug has no negative affect. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that it does.

A recent study in Norway, for example, found that people who are on methadone are twice as likely to have car accidents as those who are not on it. For the study, they spent two years following 2,500 people who were on methadone.

Perhaps the worst thing about methadone is that it’s almost impossible to quit. It’s harder to get off it than heroin and the prescription painkillers the person was taking before. In fact, many drug rehab centers won’t even accept someone on methadone because getting off the drug is so very difficult – even when being treated by professionals who’ve gotten hundreds of people off heroin and prescription opiates.

The real solution to opiate addiction is a good drug rehab program. One that has a very high success rate. At Drug Rehab Referral, we’ve helped thousands of people get off those drugs.

If you’re looking into drug rehab, check with us first. We can help you find the addiction treatment program that’s most likely to guarantee success. Of course, there are no real guarantees, but you might as well start off with a program that has a better chance of success than with one that has a low success rate.

The alternative is having an addict go through treatment and fail – in which case they lose their faith that they can actually get off drugs and are more likely to fall for the idea that they need to be drugged forever – on methadone.

It is amazing what has happened with prescription drugs. When first developed they saved lives – and that was their purpose. Now they’ve turned into a multi-billion dollar industry – one of, if not the most profitable industry on the planet and one of the most dangerous. They’ve turned into public enemy #1.

They are ruining people’s lives. People are dying from them, going to jail because of them, having their lives and families torn apart, filling up drug rehab facilities.

Prescription drugs are not just for saving lives anymore; they are now taken for everything from pain – much of which could be addressed with drug-free therapies like chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy, lifestyle changes, and so on – to ‘treating’ anxiety, depression, fidgeting in class and just about every other problem. All problems that used to be considered part of every day life and are now labeled as mental illness – needing treatment with drugs.

In fact, so many of our emotions and mental states are now categorized as mental illness that you’d be hard-pressed to not find yourself, your family members or friends falling into at least one of the current mental illness categories.

Pharmaceutical companies pay out billions of dollars in fines for false and illegal advertising and marketing, for injuries and deaths – but, for them, it’s all just part of doing business. They are a powerful industry. Any other industry with business practices that unethical and products or services that created that much damage would have been stopped long ago.

Despite these disasters, the industry is looking for even more customers – pushing for legislation for ‘screening’ to make sure that those with a ‘potential’ for ‘mental illness’ are drugged as a preventative measure. It has even been suggested that children be screened before they are born!

Many of the most commonly taken drugs are highly addictive.  OxyContin addiction, addiction to oxycodone, hydrocodone, Fentanyl, Vicodin, Percocet, Xanax, Valium, and others – are highly addictive. And we now have a prescription drug-addicted society. A problem far worse than street drugs ever were.

These are now the drugs that you “just say NO” to.

Has someone in your family fallen prey to prescription drugs? Are they taking prescription drugs for something other than life-saving purposes and getting addicted to them? Find a good drug rehab program to get help. You may not be able to stop the nationwide epidemic, but you can stop prescription drugs from ruining your life and the lives of your family and friends.

In 2010, there were over 9,000 drug-related deaths, which is up nearly 10% from 2009.

The worst drug is Oxycodone, which goes under the trade names Tylox, Percodan and OxyContin. OxyContin addiction has been taking the country by storm for years – ever since it gained popularity as a prescription painkiller when the manufacturer (Purdue Pharma) lied to doctors and the public by saying it was less addictive than other painkillers. Purdue was taken to court and fined $634 million for lying about the drug, but that did not stop the firestorm of addiction.

Florida has been one of the hardest hit. In fact, of the 9000+ drug deaths in 2010, 1516 were related to OxyContin addiction and abuse. Also, even though 2010 drug-related deaths were up about 10% from 2009, OxyCodone (mostly OxyContin) went up 28%.

The second type of drug involved in the deaths was benzodiazepines (sedatives) at 1,304. And methamphetamine was third at 694. Other drugs, obviously, were all less than methamphetamine. Alcohol is also on the list – it isn’t often that you see a drug overshadowing the damage done by alcohol.

It’s obvious that prescription drug addiction is leading the way with drug-related deaths in Florida: they are responsible for nearly 1/3 of the deaths.

Many people believe that prescription drugs are safer than others since they are given out by doctors. Nothing could be further from the truth – the statistics speak for themselves.

If you know or suspect that you or someone you care about is suffering from OxyContin addiction, or benzodiazepine addiction, or is involved in other types of prescription drug abuse, you can get help. Not all drug rehab facilities are experienced with prescription drugs but many do an excellent job. At Drug Rehab Referral, we can help you find the best programs for your situation. Call us at 877-211-7428 for help.

Did you know, for example, that …

• More than one in five kids who drop out of college do so because of something related to alcohol?

• Each year there are nearly 2,000 college students die from alcohol-related incidents?

• Over 600,000 college students are unintentionally injured due to alcohol?

• One in four people aged 18 through 34 binge drink – five drinks or more in one sitting?

• Alcohol is involved in 90% of college rapes?

• 70% of college kids say they had unplanned sex because of alcohol and that 20% did not use protection?

• 22.9% of college students meet the medical definition for alcohol or drug abuse or dependence. The rest of the population averages 8.5%.

• That the number of kids using prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Percocet non-medically is rising dramatically?

• That more than 20% of college kids use Adderall as a study drug or to party?

• That 90% of the students who use Adderall also binge drink and are heavy drinkers?

• That full-time college students who use Adderall are 3 times more likely to use marijuana, 8 times more likely to use cocaine, 8 times more likely to use tranquilizers, and 5 times more likely to use pain relievers?

This is pretty serious stuff – and not at all what parents had in mind when they sent their kids off to college with the money the family had been saving for years.

These kids aren’t just having a good time – they are doing things that are very dangerous.

If you have a son or daughter that’s drinking or taking drugs, don’t take it lightly. It’s easy to think that something bad won’t happen to your kid, or that your kid’s drinking or drug taking won’t get worse – some parents even think that going to college will straighten them out. But, statistically, that’s just not true. Get them through a drug rehab program – they also address alcohol – before they go to college. A good program will help them resist the temptation when college comes around.

And, remember, 25% of college students say that drinking alcohol has adversely affected their performance as a student. Don’t be afraid to take your college kid out of college for a while to sort them out. They have far more chance of getting the education and having the future both they and you envisioned.

Opana is made by Purdue Pharma, the same company that brought us OxyContin – which set off an epidemic of prescription drug addiction and drove huge numbers of people into drug rehab for OxyContin addiction. I don’t know why more people don’t know about Opana – it’s possibly because doctors are less willing to prescribe it since it’s stronger than OxyContin and gets circulated throughout the body faster.

Doctors were also less willing to prescribe OxyContin until Purdue came out with the time-release version which, according to Purdue’s marketing people, was less addictive. Of course, they lied about that, as we all now know, and for which they paid a $634 million in fines.

You can understand why docs are perhaps less willing to listen to drug reps.

But back to Opana – one guy on a forum about the drug said he switched from 80 mg OxyContin pills to 20 mg Opana pills – on the advice of his doctor – and the Opana did a much better job of controlling his pain, even at just ¼ of the dose. But the side effects were much greater.

This also explains the overdoses: OxyContin addicts – and those addicted to other painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and even methadone – who are used to taking 80 mg of OxyContin, for example, probably think they can also handle 80 mg of Opana. But the dose they take could be fatal, even though it’s less than they would have taken if it were some other similar drug.

I don’t know how much Opana costs on the street, or otherwise, but the fact that you can take 20 mg of it for the same effect as 80 mg of OxyContin would probably mean it’s cheaper in the long run – which is a very bad thing, except for those who really do have a legitimate painful situation that warrants taking drugs.

In any case, it’s something to watch out for. If you hear mention of Opana, Numorpha, Numorphone or oxymorphone, know that it’s a drug – first of all – and then realize that it’s a serious drug. Could well be more deadly than OxyContin. Anyone who is already taking drugs and could go near Opana should get into a drug addiction treatment program.

Of course, anyone taking any kind of drug should get into a drug rehab program anyway – whether they’re likely to use Opana or not. Really, you never know what’s going to happen with drugs. People die from them all the time.

Anyone with a legitimate reason to take prescription painkillers and is getting them from their doctor for an injury, surgery or other illness should be aware of the potential of Opana for addiction and side effects. And anyone who is educating their kids on what’s going on with the drug scene needs to add Opana, Numorpha, Numorphone and oxymorphone to the list.

People come here because the drugs are so very easy to get.

Some interesting Florida statistics regarding painkillers:

• Among the 50 top painkiller prescribers in the U.S., 49 are in Florida.

• In the first six months of 2008, the nation’s top 25 oxycodone-dispensing doctors were all located in Florida.

A just-completed three-month investigation that focused on making undercover purchases of painkillers (mostly Oxycodone) in Florida arrested 135 people, seized 17,000 pills and $3.6 million.

Are all the people getting these pills in pain? Absolutely not. But even those who are in pain generally get a lot more pills than they need. They sell the remainder to pay for their trip to Florida.

Geez. Big Pharma must be thrilled with all the ill-gotten profits. Has anyone out there ever figured out how much profit the manufacturer of Oxycodone is making on actual abuse of the drug? Whatever the number, I would bet it’s not something any company would be thrilled to give up.

Somehow, prescription drugs are going to have to get under control. In some areas, like Florida, they’re a far worse problem than illegal drugs. And that’s just for the people who aren’t really in pain and don’t need them. There’s also a serious addiction problem for those who are actually in pain.

I think a major solution might be more, and more accessible, insurance coverage of things like chiropractic, acupuncture, natural, herbal and alternative medicines, massage therapy, physical therapy, and so on – things that are known to help people with pain. That won’t get rid of the problem of people taking painkillers when they’re not in pain; but it will help people stay off painkillers in the first place (or only use them for a very short time), get people off painkillers (although they might also need drug rehab if they’re addicted), and stop people who need painkillers from turning into pushers so they can get the drugs they need.

What do you think?

A list was published sometime ago – during the Purdue pharma hearings where they were fined $634 million for lying to the public about how addictive OxyContin was – of people who had died from OxyContin. Not everyone was on the list of course, but it does have the names of about 500 people.

Although there are some people in their 30′s and40′s on that list, the vast majority were in their late teens/early 20′s when they died. And many of them weren’t taking tons of pills. In fact, many weren’t even addicts – they were just testing the drugs out, experimenting.

With just about every death that gets publicized – Michael Jackson’s death is the most recent tragedy, and there was Heath Ledger not too long ago – there are a lot of drugs involved. It looks like Michael Jackson was taking at least 10 different prescription drugs.

But a drug rehab specialist recently told me that it’s not terribly unusual for someone to die the very first time they take them. One drug, one time.

If you know of someone taking prescription drugs, you should know that the DEA says prescription painkillers alone are now causing more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined. The agency also said there are more than 7 million Americans abusing prescription drugs – more than ecstasy, heroin, hallucinogens, cocaine and inhalants combined.

You think those drugs aren’t all over the street available to any kid or adult? They are. And based on the majority of OxyContin deaths happening from age 18 to 25, it’s clear that a large percentage of 7 million abusing prescription drugs are in that age group.

Is it happening with your young adult kids? Relatives? Friends? Get them into an OxyContin rehab center. If they’re taking other drugs, any facility that can handle OxyContin can handle other drugs as well. Don’t take the chance of them being added to the overdose lists. Call Drug Rehab Referral today. We can help.

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.

Purdue Pharma, OxyContin’s manufacturer, tried to pull a fast one on the FDA by claiming OxyContin was less addictive than other painkillers on the market. They were successful – they got FDA approval and the sales of the drug took off like wildfire. Years later, after disastrous effects on thousands of users and their families, the government finally caught on and sued Purdue for lying about the dangers of the drug.

Purdue pled guilty and was fined $634 million, a slap on the wrist for a company that makes billions, but no one went to jail, and the drug stayed on the market.

More and more people are showing up in drug rehab centers for OxyContin treatment, but the drug is still legal, still being manufactured, and still prescribed by doctors. And you can get it on the street from pushers all over the U.S.

Why is it okay to continue to sell this drug when it wasn’t okay to sell heroin? Some people don’t think it is. If you’re one of them – sign the petition to ban OxyContin.