In Louisville, Kentucky, a community mental health clinic that services 30,000 patients in the area is no longer going to prescribe the sedative Xanax or its generic version, alprazolam. They’re hoping this move will prevent prescription drug addiction, overdoses, deaths, and the need for drug rehab. They are also hoping to reduce the ‘constant stream of patients seeking Xanax” and the drain on resources caused by “pacifying, educating, bumping heads with people over Xanax.”

They started weaning people off the drugs in April, and plan to have all patients weaned off them completely by the end of 2011.

Xanax and alprazolam aren’t the only addictive prescription drugs causing problem in Kentucky. OxyContin addiction has been a major problem, as have other prescription painkillers like hydrocodone and methadone.

In fact, they been so busy trying to address the painkiller addiction problem that benzodiazepines like Xanax have kind of slipped through the cracks. But abuse and addiction to benzos is also widespread.

Alprazolam, for example, was the eighth most prescribed drug in the country in 2010. And there was an increase of 89% in emergency room visits.

The medical examiner in Kentucky said a combination of opiate painkillers, like OxyContin, and benzodiazepines, especially Xanax, is common in fatal overdoses.

Unfortunately, the clinic is going to replace Xanax and alprazolam with other drugs that don’t give you the ‘high’ that keep people clamoring for Xanax and alprazolam. Also, the body builds up a tolerance to Xanax and alprazolam so people have to take more and more of the drugs to get the same effect. This makes them even more prone to overdose.

Who knows where the other drugs will lead?

But, the clinic is also committed to spending more time with patients and actually working with them to relieve the anxiety they’re experiencing in life so they don’t need drugs at all.

Doctors get paid more for seeing a patient for 10 minutes and prescribing a drug than they do for actually sitting down with the patient and helping them work out the problems in their lives that are causing their emotional state. So it’s possible that their new protocol will affect their bottom line.

It’s good to see a clinic willing to take the hit in order to reduce the damage done by these dangerous and highly addictive drugs. Now, if we could just get them to stop prescribing dangerous drugs altogether …

If you or someone you know has a problem with prescription drug addiction, dependency or abuse, contact Drug Rehab Referral for help in sorting out how to get them into a drug rehab program that will enable them to live drug-free.

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Recent research into the drug scene in New York City shows that prescription drugs are the #2 drugs of abuse and addiction. Second only to marijuana. And that’s only the people who are taking them without a prescription.

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.

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A recent news report called Xanax the new date rape drug. It’s usually prescribed for anxiety, is addictive, and can have pretty serious side effects. A girl quoted in the report said it’s commonly being given by guys to their dates, then followed with alcohol, at which point the girl becomes quite unaware of what’s happening cause she passes out.  At least she knew she was taking the drug. She could have refused.

Others aren’t so lucky. The medical director of a substance abuse treatment program said it’s becoming more and more common for guys to crush the pills and put it into girls’ drinks. They never know what hit them.

The girl interviewed, Leigh, not her real name, said prescription drugs are becoming very popular in college, for all kinds of students, not just in date-rape situations. She says they’re easy to get - all you have to do is go to a doctor and complain about the right symptoms. The students also give them to their friends. Or sell them.

As if all that weren’t enough, there’s the possibility of prescription drug addiction – not something most students think about because they believe that pills that come from a doctor are safe.

What can you do about it as a parent, a friend, or a college student? Educate others. Not just about date rape, but about prescription drugs in general, their dangerous side effects the possibility of addiction. And if you know someone who’s already taking them and can’t, or won’t stop, get them into an addiction treatment center. 

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