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I read a truly amazing statistic today: In 2005 – the latest year for which figures are available – U.S. hospitals delivered 108 million emergency department visits. That’s like saying every third person in America hit an emergency ward at least once that year. Since that’s out of the question, it means some people have to be going to emergency over and over again. I don’t know who they are or why they’re going so often, but that’s another story. I also noticed that 1.5 million of those 108 million visits were for drug misuse or abuse. I wasn’t surprised that illicit drugs were involved in 57% of them, but I was surprised that 49% involved pharmaceuticals abuse or misuse. That sends a clear message about how bad the over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse and misuse problem has become. It also says that hundreds of thousands of people need drug detox and drug rehab to get their lives together.

These statistics, released by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), showed that the problem is increasing every year. The greatest increase involves stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine, a 33% increase, followed by respiratory agents such as antihistamines and decongestants, a 31% increase. Opioids such as the addictive pain relievers OxyContin and oxycodone increased 24%. And there were increases for antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals.
 
A lot of people turn up at emergency departments with problems from taking combinations of substances, like alcohol with pharmaceuticals or illicit drugs, or combinations of all three. In fact, when we look at these figures and include drug combinations, the picture gets even darker. And the numbers of people needing drug detox climb. Here are the figures – take a look for yourself and check out the numbers for pharmaceutical combinations:

TYPE OF EMERGENCY - NUMBER OF VISITS
All types of drugs misuse/abuse - 1,449,154
Illicit drugs only - 450,296
Pharmaceuticals only - 395,617
Illicit drug combinations (all) - 559,218
Illicit drug combinations (no pharmaceuticals) - 199,008
Pharmaceutical combinations (all) - 701,486
Pharmaceutical combinations (no illicit drugs) - 590,834

Well, there you have the whole picture – and remember, that was two years ago, it’s estimated to be worse today. If this isn’t a good argument for taking America by the hand and leading us toward a pharmaceutical-drug-free alternative lifestyle, nothing is. Instead, pharmaceuticals are taking over the drug scene. We need to ensure that at the first sign of any kind of abuse or dependence among our friends, family members or even ourselves, we get busy, get help, and get into drug detox and, possibly, drug rehab as a follow up.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Almost 10 percent of full time workers in the U.S. have drug or alcohol abuse problems serious enough to require drug or alcohol detox and, possibly, rehab, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. This percentage represents over 10 million people.

The article goes on to say that food service employees, construction workers, and people who worked in mining and similar jobs are at the top of the list, but nearly 8 percent of corporate CEO’s also said they are alcohol dependent.

The study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, also showed that employers who utilize drug testing are less likely to have problems.

As a former addict, I can say that drug testing certainly would have deterred me. I may have lost some jobs, but I like to think that I would have stayed away from drugs rather than being fired.

Getting an employee through a drug or alcohol detox program can cost far less than the lost productivity that inevitably comes with the territory, especially since these programs are often covered by insurance. But you have to ensure the employee does a program that doesn’t substitute one drug for another, or put the person on a drug rather than alcohol.

Although it might be necessary for the person to take a drug to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, they should definitely not be taking that drug when they leave.

If you are, or have, an employee with a drug or alcohol abuse problem, getting them into a successful drug and alcohol detox program will increase your productivity, and save their lives.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Alcohol abuse and dependency report shows that 30 percent of Americans have met the criteria, yet only a fraction receive treatment

A new report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) found that more than 30 percent of Americans, at some time in their lives, have met the criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence. Most of these people never received any treatment, and those who did often didn’t get treatment for 10 years or more – 10 years of alcoholism that could have been avoided with early and effective alcohol detox and rehab.

These report refers to data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), which surveyed 43,000 U.S. adults. The researchers found that only 24 percent of those who met the criteria for alcohol dependence received any type of treatment, and just 7 percent of those who met the criteria for alcohol abuse received treatment. That’s a very disheartening statistic. And just as bad or even worse is the fact that most of those people surveyed developed alcohol problems in their early 20s but didn’t get treatment until their early 30s, if at all. Think of the damage caused by that lost decade – lost families, lost jobs, lost lives – all for the lack of a few weeks or months of alcohol detox and rehab.

The survey had no answer for why so few people received treatment, or why it took so long for many of them to get it. However, other studies indicate that both those who provide treatment and those who receive it may have low expectations when it comes to results. Bridget Grant, Ph.D., the principal investigator in the NESARC, said statistics prove that treatment can significantly and substantially increase the likelihood of recovery, and that both professionals and the general public need to be educated on the signs of alcohol abuse and dependence.

If you or someone you care about has a problem with alcohol, don’t wait for 10 years to get help. A successful alcohol detox program followed by alcohol rehab if needed could prevent a lot of damage.

Popularity: 10% [?]

We frequently hear or read about people who have become addicted to painkillers after being prescribed them by their doctor for chronic pain. The problem is that once the pain is gone or manageable, the person can find themselves trapped by the drug and has to keep taking it. Next thing you know, they’re “doctor shopping”, stealing drugs from medicine cabinets, buying them off the Internet, or from drug dealers. Really, their only hope at that point is a drug detox program that will help them get off the drug.

These stories are always sad and somewhat frightening. For me, they also raise a number of questions: How many people actually suffer from the severe chronic pain that requires these prescriptions? And how do they become addicted? Some of the answers I found were shocking.

A study conducted by Stanford University Medical Center found that one in five adult Americans suffer from chronic pain – pain lasting for several months or longer. And, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, common and chronic pain costs American workers more than $61 billion a year in lost productivity. These facts alone provide significant incentive to ask for, and write prescriptions for painkillers. People don’t want to be in pain, and they do want to go to work. So, they are likely to be on these drugs for an extended period of time.

But will they become drug addicts? That depends on a number of factors. First, the type of drug they’re taking; If they’re taking opium-based painkillers like OxyContin, Dilaudid, Vicodin, Percocet, oxycodone, or morphine, it is almost certain the person will become physically dependant and, if taken for a long period of time, they’ll probably require drug detox to safely get off the drug with a minimum of debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

However, even though the risk of becoming addicted to opioid painkillers is higher than with other drugs, addiction goes beyond mere physical dependency. It is more a mindset – it’s a solution that enables a person to cope with the stresses of living life. And it takes more than drug detox to handle it. Drug detox helps the person handle their physical dependency, but they’ll need drug rehab to conquer the addiction.

Whether or not someone is addicted to a drug is a complex question. But the bottom line is this: given the right set of conditions, there is a great risk of addiction.

The best way to find out if someone is addicted is to get them treatment in a medically-supervised drug detox center that helps them withdraw safely from the drug and then provides counseling to determine if further treatment is needed.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The road to prescription drug addiction is well traveled. Don’t let it happen to someone you care about.

I recently worked on a project with two people who were taking prescription drugs. Both of them had started young – the drugs were prescribed by a doctor when they were school kids, and they were still on them. They have since graduated from college with professional degrees. In fact, they are practicing doctors, both are suffering from prescription drug addiction, and neither has ever considered the possibility of drug detox or drug rehab.

One of them told me she tries to take as little of the drug as possible – it’s Ritalin - but the last time she tried to stop she had a breakdown and had to resume. It was now a year later, and she described herself as still recovering from that breakdown.

Within a month both of them had to stop working on the project because they were incapable of doing the simple steps necessary to complete it - actions done with ease by millions of people every day.

Neither of them are over 30, but both are already failing in their careers, and neither of them have had success in personal relationships. Drug detox and drug rehab could help them.

I tried to hook one of them up with a doctor who could help her get off the drugs but, frankly, she was so messed up she couldn’t even make the phone call to set an appointment.

Many people choose to be doctors so they can help people. These two will help very few. In fact, unless they get into drug detox and drug rehab, they’ll never even make enough money to pay off their student loans.

If you know someone who’s taking prescription drugs, don’t let it slide – get them into drug detox and rehab. Don’t depend on them to do it on their own. Years of taking prescription drugs can really mess you up. Help them out.

Popularity: 5% [?]

But does that mean the raging fire of drug abuse is squelched? No way.

A recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said that 200 million people around the world are using illicit drugs – cocaine and opium or its derivatives, such as heroin, being the most popular. The same report stated that the global drug problem was being contained and that the production of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and Ecstasy have stabilized. Does that mean we can back off on drug detox? No way.

I looked at that report and couldn’t help but remember the last time I heard the word ‘stabilized’. My mother had had an operation, her liver was damaged in the process, and she was being poisoned to death. The doctor said her condition had stabilized. He made it sound like good news. But a week later, she was dead.

And, let’s face it, without drug detox and real treatment the same could be true of those 200 million people who are using illicit drugs. Within the next week any one of them could overdose, any one of them could take a fatal drug combo, any one of them could be hit by a drugged driver, any one of them could be caught in the crossfire of a dealer protecting his territory.

But, every one of them could also be saved. Get them into a drug detox that works, now.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Too bad we don’t have as much money to spend as the advertisers

Georgetown University’s Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) recently conducted a study on alcohol advertising. They unearthed some remarkable data: between 2001 and 2005 alcohol companies spent $4.9 billion on TV advertising and only $104 million on what is known as ‘responsibility’ ads – ads that discourage alcohol abuse and addiction.

Adonis Hoffman, Senior VP and counsel for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said he felt the CAMY study was slanted. “These ads, when combined with messages from parents, schools, churches, coaches, and peers, reinforce the notion that responsible consumption is everybody’s business.”

Yes, it is everybody’s business. But those parents, schools, churches, coaches and peers don’t have $4.9 billion to invest in counteracting the effects of the advertising. And, quite frankly, when you’re talking about 14 million Americans who drink enough to meet the criteria for ‘alcohol abuse’, that might be what it takes. It certainly will take more than the $58 million taxpayers already spend to fight it.

Selling alcohol must be an interesting occupation. Really, how does it feel to make a living selling something that could cause another driver, who consumed your product, kill your kid or family the next time you go for a Sunday drive. How does it feel to know that you’re at least partially responsible for helping 14 million Americans overcome life’s barriers with something that causes brain damage?

From where I’m sitting, selling alcohol is a form of alcohol abuse in itself. Perhaps we’d start getting a handle on the problem if the manufacturers and advertisers were first in line for alcohol detox.

Popularity: 18% [?]