Our Views

The University of Wisconsin has a new strategy to curb alcohol abuse among students - calling the parents. If the kids are underage, they can also be given a summons and, no matter how old they are, can be sent to alcohol detox.

Some think of this approach as a throwback, out of touch with the modern world. Nevertheless, it seems to be working: Second offenses have markedly decreased and not one of the students involved has dropped out of school.

The University of Wisconsin has a history of tolerance when it comes to drinking: the snack bar used to serve beer, and campus buses were equipped with kegs. But, over the years, things changed. Drinking became antisocial instead of social. In fact, according to the University’s chancellor, “just about every unpleasant incident, every crime, involves alcohol abuse by the victim or the perpetrator.” This includes everything from theft to rape.

The Chancellor also said that alcohol abuse is the number one health and safety problem on every college campus.

Statistics show that kids whose parents talk to them about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse are 50 percent less likely to succumb to the temptation. That’s the kind of grass roots movement we need. If combined with alcohol detox for those who already have a problem, getting parents involved could eventually reduce the incidence of alcohol abuse significantly.

Popularity: 31% [?]

I read a very moving article today about the millions of people around the world who suffer pain daily because they don’t have access to painkillers – specifically, morphine.  I’ll be honest, my immediate reaction when I saw the headline was “What are the drug companies up to now?” But, as I read further, I found that this was not just another ploy to sell drugs: it is a heartbreaking story about Sierra Leone, a country that has had such severe problems with drug abuse and addiction in the past that even those suffering from the severe pain of late-stage cancer cannot get relief. The fear is that once morphine, or painkillers of similar strength, are made available the country will once again be awash with people needing drug addiction help.

While it is true that morphine can be prescribed by doctors, and prescriptions filled by pharmacists, access to doctors is almost impossible. Sierra Leone has one doctor for every 54,000 people. In the U.S. we have one for every 350. The affluent have access to these doctors, but not the very poor majority.

Critics can’t understand why officials think this is acceptable. They feel that if someone does get addicted, you can get them help through drug detox and rehab – if they recover. But some of the conditions are so severe dying with dignity is the best that can be hoped for.

Obviously, I’m not an advocate of drugs. Every day I write about the disastrous effects they create and the desperate need for effective drug detox and rehab. But, really, this is taking it too far. No one should have to suffer like the people of Sierra Leone. First, they need drugs, then they can get drug addiction help.

Popularity: 25% [?]

MASH, the movie and, later, the TV series made fun of war. The guys were constantly cutting up, playing practical jokes on each other, and laughing, mostly at themselves. Why did they do it? To lighten things up. To help them confront the horror they were faced with every day. Comedian Mark Lundholm is doing the same, to help himself and others get through the horrors of drug and alcohol addiction.

Lundholm started drinking when he was seven, and he didn’t stop. He became a full-blown alcoholic and drug addict. By age 27, he was living under a bridge. He tried to end it all, by committing suicide, but the gun in his mouth didn’t fire.

Miraculously – this doesn’t happen to too many people who live under a bridge - he got into drug rehab. Two months later, while still in rehab, he started doing standup comedy. He calls his routine dark and twisted but, for Mark, it’s a necessary part of recovery.

I’m sure many people wouldn’t find his routine all that funny. But for a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, the opportunity to laugh at themselves and their circumstances can be a life saver.

I don’t know one former addict who doesn’t have things to look back on that are uproariously funny. So, do drug and alcohol detox, and follow it up with a good rehab program, but don’t get too serious and every time you get the chance, have a good laugh.

Popularity: 27% [?]

The Australian government has proposed a zero-tolerance policy on drug addiction that, if implemented, could come close to putting an end to the drug problem. Unfortunately, it is steeped in controversy. Nevertheless, I’m quite certain that anyone with a heroin addiction problem, or a family member who’s lived through that horror, would be hard-pressed to disagree with the recommendations.

The Parliament is recommending a three-fold program: mandatory drug rehab for young addicts, re-channeling harm reduction funds into drug-free drug rehab programs, and adopting out the children of addicts.

Okay, so the adopting out the children of addicts part is obviously going to be a real sore point. And forcing young people into drug rehab might also be a stretch. But using harm reduction funds for drug-free drug rehab could be just what the doctor ordered – especially for heroin addiction, the drug problem that most lends itself to ‘drug replacement therapy’ and is prominent in harm reduction. What heroin addicts really need is a good heroin detox to help them through withdrawal and then a good drug rehab program that gets them pointed in the right direction.

The long and short of it this: heroin addicts are given methadone instead of heroin – they don’t get a handle on their heroin addiction, they just switch to methadone. How is this harm reduction? They’re getting their drugs legally, they don’t have to use someone else’s dirty needle so they’re not going to get AIDS or Hepatitis C, and they don’t commit crimes to get their drugs. That’s harm reduction.

But it really does nothing to address the heroin addiction. And it does nothing to address the problems that drove the person to drugs. So, we still have an addict – someone who can’t function without drugs. And a drugged society. Heroin detox and rehab that actually handles heroin addiction is obviously the better choice.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Heroin addicts around the world have traded their heroin habit for methadone. Now, instead of needing drug rehab, they need methadone detox for their methadone addiction. And, after that, they’ll probably need the drug rehab they never got when they originally asked for help with heroin.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think substituting methadone for heroin is acceptable. Obviously, they haven’t seen the statistics – many more people die from methadone than heroin. But, from some viewpoints, methadone has reduced heroin addiction. You could probably even find statistics ‘proving’ that heroin addiction is on the decline. But, really, it’s just swept under the rug. Like taking aspirin for a headache, methadone masks the problem. The headache’s still there, but the nerves are anesthetized so you don’t feel the pain. Similar to not feeling the pain of addiction when you don’t see addicts with needles in their arms in alleyways. But, they’re still there. And they’ll need methadone detox, and probably drug rehab, to really go away.

Trials have just been completed for another drug, Atomoxetine. This one was for cocaine addicts. Fortunately, it didn’t work. So, it’s currently being tested on marijuana. One test is on children, two others are on adults. If it works, we’ll probably need Atomoxetine detox.

Could it be that we’re losing the war on drugs because we haven’t really identified the enemy? If someone you care about is substituting methadone for heroin, get them into methadone detox and then into drug rehab. Don’t play into the enemy’s hands.

Popularity: 26% [?]

A flurry of articles appeared in the news today about a clinic in Indiana’s practice of giving addicts ‘take-home’ methadone doses. Apparently, lawmakers in Indiana have complained because the clinic draws heroin, morphine, OxyContin and other opiate addicts from other states – Kentucky and Ohio, for example – into Indiana. An Indiana county coroner also protested the practice: he’s already seen nine methadone overdose deaths in his county this year, and five of them involved methadone from clinics. The coroner also says that long-term doses give addicts and clinics little incentive to wean off the drugs – something that may require methadone detox and drug rehab.

The vp of operations for the company that owns the clinic says addicts aren’t drawn to the clinic from other states because of the long-term doses, rather it’s because other states have a two to three year waiting list to get into a methadone treatment. That certainly gives you an idea of the severity of the drug addiction problem. He also says the average patient stays on methadone for ‘only 18 months’. That may not seem like a long time him but for the addicts who came to his clinic for help, it means they now have a methadone addiction.

These clinics obviously have lines miles long of addicts needing drug detox and drug rehab. Instead of ensuring that more treatment centers are opened to get them off drugs, we start an entirely new industry – methadone clinics. The original idea with methadone was to ease the pain of withdrawal and then, in short order, wean the addicts off the methadone so they can be drug free. “Drug free’ should be the goal of methadone clinics, not ‘ever-increasing numbers of addicts who’ve switched to methadone instead of the drug they came in on’. As it is, owners/operators/employees of methadone clinics get rewarded for keeping people addicted. In fact, they’d lose their jobs and their livelihood if they actually accomplished their purpose. How’s that for a catch 22?”

Don’t fall for methadone treatment. If you or someone you care about wants to get off drugs, go to a drug detox or drug rehab center that doesn’t have a vested interest in keeping you hooked. And if you or someone you care about already has a methadone addiction, get them into methadone detox and on the road to recovery.

Popularity: 27% [?]

It appears that prescription painkillers are the new heroin: Since 1997, sales of OxyContin, Vicodin, and other opiate painkillers have increased by 90 percent, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. They’re easy to get and don’t label someone a ‘drug addict,’ but they’re just as dangerous as heroin. In fact, there is virtually no difference between heroin and opiate painkillers. And they’re just as hard to kick – many will not even attempt it without a medically supervised drug detox to ease the pain of withdrawal and they may also need drug rehab.

Why are prescription painkillers so popular? Aside from the euphoria they produce, they don’t have the same stigma as illegal drugs. If you don’t take drugs and someone offers you heroin, you’re going to say no. But if someone offers you a pill they got from their doctor that’s making them feel great, you might think twice. And you might even try it.

But, really, you have to think again. Think about the 30,000 trips to the ER within a few years of the release of OxyContin. Think about the quadrupled death rate. Think about how you’re going to get the drugs when your friend is no longer giving them to you for nothing, when your doctor will no longer prescribe them, when you have to go out into the street and get them at $40 or $50 a pill. And think what will happen to your family, your business, your life if you go down that road.

There’s a reason why heroin is illegal. It’s dangerous. It ruins lives, and it kills people. And it’s easy to get hooked. And the same goes for prescription opiate painkillers. If you or someone you care about is taking prescription painkillers, realize that it doesn’t take long to become dependant or addicted. Get into a medically supervised drug detox program to get off them before it’s too late.

Popularity: 6% [?]

A recent survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that 2.5 million Americans received treatment for alcohol or drug addiction or abuse in 2006. This is good news, but we still have a long way to go: according to the survey, 22.6 million had alcohol or drug abuse or dependency problems in the same year – which means we’re about 20 million behind on getting people into drug detox or rehab.

Looking at those statistics, I couldn’t help but wonder if there are really enough drug detox and drug rehab centers in the country to accommodate the number of people needing help.

According to the SAMHSA database there are currently around 10,000 treatment centers in the country. This includes both inpatient and outpatient programs, hospital programs, and drug detox centers. Some facilities have more than 100 beds, but many have less than 30. Some programs last 30 days or less, others are 90 days or more.

How are we going to help 22.6 million people with such a lack of resources? It’s especially troubling when you consider that the really successful treatment programs are the long ones.

If you’re trying to figure out why we have so many substance abuse problems, look no farther. If every city and every town had enough drug detox and rehab centers to handle their existing alcohol or drug abuse populations, we would be able to win the war on drugs very quickly.

And all it really takes is money. Surely there must be funds allocated for other activities that could be diverted into alcohol and drug treatment centers. A drug detox program, along with drug rehab, could completely change the lives of 10 percent of Americans, and the millions of lives that they affect adversely on a daily basis. What more does the government need to know to take this bull by the horns?

Popularity: 14% [?]

If you’re considering rapid detox for drugs or alcohol – beware. Yet another disaster was reported in a recent news article. This time a woman was admitted to the hospital dehydrated, with pancreatitis, low potassium levels and an elevated white blood cell count just a few days after her rapid detox from painkillers. She’s likely to suffer for months. But even without the above complications, long recoveries are not unusual with rapid detox: The procedure itself takes a matter of hours, but you can feel like death warmed over for months. Other medically-supervised drug detox procedures might take a week or so but, if it’s done right, you’ll come out of it feeling good.

Another nasty side to this story – the doctor who performed the detox procedure also owns a pain management clinic where he “stresses judicious use of opiate medications”, according to his website. However, opiate medications - painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet – are highly addictive. In fact, his patients have reported getting hooked on them. Once they’re hooked, he refers them to his rapid detox facility to get off them. Nice little set-up: Create the problem, sell them the solution.

One of his patients described her rapid detox experience: “It knocks you out physically for months. I would never recommend that to anybody,” she said. She also said that the doctor prescribed an anti-anxiety drug called Klonopin to relieve her after-rapid-detox symptoms. Klonopin is also known to be addictive. The article didn’t say whether she needed another drug detox for the Klonopin. ‘Round and ‘round we go.

Drug detox doesn’t have to be dangerous – it should be medically supervised, but, still, it doesn’t have to be dangerous. If you’re considering a drug detox program, or alcohol detox, you’re better off to get a procedure that detoxes you fairly quickly, but without the risk.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I was speaking with some friends today who are involved in drug detox and rehab. The conversation turned to the outrageous growth in prescription drug addiction. There’s a lot to say on the subject – it’s a real threat to society in so many ways and news stories abound about prescription drug abuse. But of even greater concern than the ‘abusers’ are the ‘users’ – in other words, they got the drugs from their doctor. Therefore, they don’t have a problem with prescription drug addiction – they are simply taking medication.

When does the fact that they have a problem become obvious? When the prescription runs out. They’ve been taking OxyContin or some such thing to cope with their back pain, they’ve taken it for several weeks, the prescription runs out and, before they can get more, they’re in more pain than they ever felt with their back.

People who contact drug detox or rehab centers under these circumstances usually have one burning question: What’s happening to me?

What’s happening is that you’ve become dependant on or addicted to the equivalent of heroin. That’s right, heroin. Basically, that’s what opiate painkillers are.

You’ve probably never met anyone on heroin. There’s a possibility you’ve never even met anyone who takes ‘drugs’. But I can guarantee you that there are people right on your street who have the same problem you do – prescription drug addiction.  And they are also basically addicted to heroin. And to get off them, you’re going to have to go through the same process as any other addict - drug detox and drug rehab.

Popularity: 17% [?]