There are very few “antidotes” when it comes to drugs. You drink too much booze and you can only snooze it off. However, the drug Narcan can completely sober up individuals who are over-dosing heroin or even OxyContin.

Victims of overdose given this drug, often by firefighters or other emergency personnel, recover within minutes. Usually it only takes a couple of squirts of Narcan up the nostrils to do the trick.

The drug, widely sold under its generic name, naloxone, counteracts the effects of heroin, OxyContin and other powerful painkillers and has been routinely used by ambulance crews and emergency rooms in the U.S. for decades. This as reported by the AP.

While only available to emergency personnel in the past, public health officials across the nation are distributing it to the public, specifically addicts and their loved ones.

It is estimated that such giveaways could save as many as 10,000 lives per year in the United States.

Those opposing the free distribution of Narcan think that it will keep more addicts from seeking help. I think that is total nonsense. It will save lives.

I think this is especially pertinent given the current situation with respect to drug addiction. Heroin overdose deaths in the U.S. nearly doubled over the last decade, from 1,725 in 1999 to 3,278 in 2009. During the same period, deadly overdoses from opiate-like drugs, including painkillers, have nearly quadrupled, from 4,030 to 15,597.

So how does Narcan work? It works by blocking certain drug receptors in the brain. It has no effect on alcohol or cocaine overdoses but can be used against such painkillers as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin.

The state of Massachusetts has spent $841,000 on Narcan this year and estimates it will save as many as 1,300 lives.

Does it work? Just look at New Mexico for proof.

In New Mexico, which has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the country, health officials estimate the statewide naloxone distribution program that began in 2001 has counteracted 3,000 overdoses.

Do any of you think this is a bad idea? I f so, please share your thoughts with us. I think a quick wake-up from a near-death experience has the potential to shake any addict into sobriety!

I love statistics. I love history. I am a firm believer that statistics tell the story. It is always interesting to look at an issue at a statewide level. One of the hot topics lately has been prescription drug use and abuse.

Here is a statistical look at Colorado’s prescription medication problem from the Colorado Attorney General.

Just how bad has the problem gotten in Colorado? If deaths related to prescription drug abuse are any indication, the problem has almost doubled in the past 10 years. In 2000 there were 228 deaths attributed to abused prescriptions. In 2010 414 people lost their lives to prescription medication abuse and addiction.

What caused more deaths in 2010 drunk driving or prescription medications? I know that all my loyal followers guessed, due to the nature of this blog, that it must be meds and you are correct! Drunken driving incidents caused 127 deaths in Colorado in 2010, versus the 414 from prescription medications.

In 2010 more than half the drug-related deaths involved prescription medications in Denver.

If things don’t change they are not going to get any better. It has been estimated that the use of oxycodone in the Denver area has increased 53% in the past three years alone!

On the bright side, Coloradans tend to be environmental friendly. This is also true for the recycling of prescription medication where they recycled more than 35,000 pounds of unused medication in 2010.

On the dark side, it has been estimated that one in three high school students had already abused prescription medication. This is significantly higher than the national data of 1 in 5 teens (20.9%), reporting the abuse of prescription drugs in 2009.

Is Colorado an exception? No way! Its problem mimics that of every other state in the Union. Does this not frighten you? Do you think more drug classes will help? What solution can you provide?

Is using drugs an impulse decision? For some yes, for others no. Generally speaking people who abuse drugs have little impulse control. That is certainly an inhibiting factor when they try to quit using.

A recent study reported in US News, revealed that teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and teens who start using cigarettes, drugs or alcohol both share impulsiveness in their personalities.

But a new brain-imaging study of nearly 1,900 14-year-olds finds that the brain networks associated with impulsivity in teens with ADHD are different compared to those who use drugs or alcohol.

This is groundbreaking research if it can be corroborated in other studies. This would mean that the impulse to blow off chores is completely different from an impulse to experiment with drugs or alcohol.

ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder marked by excessive levels of activity, inattention and impulsiveness beyond what's normal for a child's age.

People with ADHD are at higher risk of substance abuse and alcoholism. The explanation was thought to lie in the lack of self-control or inability to curb impulses that are part of the disorder.

Researchers did find distinct patterns of brain activity in ADHD and in kids who'd tried alcohol, cigarettes or drugs while taking the test.

Among the kids who had tried alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs (mostly marijuana), scans showed different patterns of brain activity compared to teens who had abstained.

Even teens who reported having only tried a drink or two by age 14 showed a different pattern of activity.

This is groundbreaking in that we see that the brain differences aren't caused by the substances, but are already present and play a role in what drives certain teens to experiment with alcohol and others to abstain.

I look forward to more research on this topic. If it can be determined that we are wired differently, perhaps drug and MIP classes combined with some blocking medication can help kids with ADHD from becoming victims of substance abuse.

Often in life one bad thing begets a string of others.  That is why it is best to try and do the right thing every time.  Treat our fellow man with love, kindness and respect. Following is a sad story that has affected many lives.

A young man said that he was sexually assaulted as an altar boy by two Philadelphia priests and that he soon turned to drugs for relief according to the Huffington Post.

So far the policeman’s son has been in and out of rehab 23 times trying to battle his addictions to heroin, painkillers and other drugs.  He started smoking marijuana at age 11.

The 23-year-old testified that parish priest Edward Avery twice raped him after Mass in 1999, when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

He also had been raped by his fifth-grade teacher from the parish school.

The next part is sick skip if lighthearted

The priest was a freaky dude, making Avery put on church music and do a striptease in a small anteroom inside St. Jerome's Church in northeast Philadelphia in 1999, then engaged in mutual oral sex and masturbation. He said he once had to use his shirt to wipe the priest's semen off of him before walking home.

Start again here

He said his 14-year-old brother – who did not know about the alleged abuse – introduced him to marijuana and alcohol at a party that summer. He got high nearly every day for 10 years.

There is a lot of sickness and negativity out there.  Drugs and alcohol are the scourge of society.  Mandatory Pennsylvania drug classes might be a possible and partial solution.

Drug classes are not only for people who have been arrested for a drug-related incident. Anyone using any type of drug, including prescription medication could benefit from a drug class.

A recent report revealed that nearly two-thirds of patients neglect to take prescribed medications, use it too frequently or take medicine that was not prescribed to them. This as reported by ibtimes.com. Drugs that patients misused included painkillers such as Vicodin or oxycodone and amphetamines such as Adderall.

The high cost of some medication may be partially responsible for the use and misuse of medications. Some patients didn’t take meds they could not afford, while others skipped treatments or illegally sold their meds.

The report also showed that most of the patients who abused the medications, took them in higher doses than prescribed or took non-prescribed pills.

Few will deny that the world is facing a near-epidemic problem with prescription medication abuse!

Almost 15,000 people died of prescription drug overdoses, more than cocaine and heroin combined, in 2008.

How bad is the problem? In 2010, two million people reported using painkillers that were not prescribed to them for the first time -- almost 5,500 per day.

What do you think the answer is? I think more education, drug classes combined with counseling to help rehabilitate addicts. If you or someone you care about has a drug problem, please seek help. If you prefer to maintain anonymity, there are online drug classes too.

Do you take any prescription medications that were not prescribed for you? If not, you soon will be in the minority. That’s how rampant prescription medication abuse is in this country right now!

According to a recent US Government study, more than 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers obtain the drugs from friends or relatives, usually with permission and for free.

The study, reported in Reuters, based on an ongoing national survey of nearly 70,000 Americans aged 12 and over, offers a snapshot of a growing health and safety problem that is already responsible for more fatal overdoses than cocaine and heroin, combined, and has begun to spawn other crimes including gang violence.

It estimated that more than 7 million Americans abuse pharmaceutical drugs. Prescription drugs account for about 75 percent of all drug-related U.S. overdose deaths. Pain killers like oxycodone are responsible for ¾ of all pill overdoses in the US.

With data showing the home medicine cabinet to be a prime source, law authorities around the country face a daunting public education challenge to persuade legal drug users to dispose of medication properly before it can fall into the wrong hands.

A program devoted to media outreach, which originated under President Bill Clinton, is no longer being funded by Congress.

The president has requested $20 million for a media campaign that had been run successfully from this office. Unfortunately, last year, Congress did not fund it.

In the meantime, the criminal threat posed by illicit pill mills and dealers - who can include doctors and pharmacists - has begun to spread across the United States. We need more drug classes and education to keep kids and adults off of drugs.

Make no mistake about it, the mind is a very powerful thing. With respect to addiction, it can make you justify your aberrant behavior for many, many years, but it also can help you stop using drugs and alcohol.

A recent Chinese study reported by myjoyonline.com, revealed that manipulating memories of drug use may help reformed addicts avoid a return to a life of drug abuse.

It has long been believed that memories linking "cues" - such as needles or cigarettes - and the pleasurable effects of drugs caused cravings and relapsing.

The study claims to have rewritten people’s memories. How is that possible?

Re-Writing Your Memories

The researchers at Peking University tried to rewrite the original memory so that it would be as if the link between cue and the craving never existed. The work relies on the idea that a memory can become malleable after it is accessed, creating a brief window during which the memory can be "rewritten".

The memory procedure decreased cue-induced drug craving and perhaps could reduce the likelihood of cue-induced relapse during prolonged abstinence periods.

This is a fascinating subject that I hope to read more about in the future. In the meantime, drug classes and counseling and complete abstinence are the keys to staying clean and sober.

Disney child and teen sensation Demi Lovato certainly has experiences some highs and lows in her short 19 years. Going from the pinnacle of success to a depressed drug addict she has experienced the gamut of emotions.

Lovato is in a really good place these days according to the Huffington Post. With a new music video for her hit song, "Give Your Heart A Break," and currently enjoying a successful South American tour, things seem to be good again for Lovato. She was looking quite attractive in her bikini on a Brazilian beach of late.

Demi spent three-months in rehab in November 2010 to treat physical and emotional issues--including cutting, bulimia, and bipolar disorder. She blames peer pressure and loneliness led her to experiment with drugs in 2010.

Lovato says it wasn't hard for her to get drugs. Any restaurant or club was a locale to get drugs. Promoters also provided her with whatever she needed.

Forced into rehab in 2010 by her loved ones, Demi says she's thankful she ended her addiction before it became life-threatening.

This isn't the first time Demi is opening up about her battle with depression. Last year, the talented singer opened up about her struggles to Good Morning America and Seventeen Magazine.

It is nice to see she has gotten back on the right path. Hopefully she will stay sober and continue to educate others on not using drugs.

Photo courtesy: Angela George at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharongraphics/

British actor Russell Brand is a recovering drug addict. As such he is well-aware of why people use drugs, how they become addicted, and how to get clean. Now he is taking his personal knowledge to the government to help them deal with an ever-increasing drug problem in the United Kingdom.

Brand told the British government that it needs to adopt a pragmatic approach to address the social issues that lead young people to take drugs. This according to Reuters.

Brand, a former heroin addict who has been arrested 12 times, appeared before politicians to give his views on the government's drug policies and his battle with drug addiction. Typical of Brand, he made a flashy statement with his attire. Dressed in a flamboyant ensemble of black, Brand struck a contrast against the formally attired politicians with his long coat, vest, hat and leather wristbands.

Based on his experiences, Brand stressed the importance addressing addiction as an illness rather than a criminal or judicial matter.

Brand rightly stated that the status of a drug is irrelevant to a drug addict. If you're a drug addict, you're getting drugs. I am not sure I agree with his stance that they should consider decriminalizing drugs, but he did make a few valid points.

Brand called for more awareness and research into abstinence-based recovery, which he underwent to treat his addiction at rehabilitation charity Focus12, of which he is a patron.

The comedian has written about his struggle with drug addiction in his autobiography "My Booky Wook" in 2007 and wrote a touching obituary about singer Amy Winehouse when she died last year after battling alcohol and drug abuse for years.

Again I am not sure what the answer is, but just do not feel right to make drugs easier to access and easier to morally justify its use. I think more drug classes and rehabilitation is a step in the right direction.

Are you addicted to something? Do you know people suffering from addiction? How many times have they tried to quit, only to re-start and exacerbate their problem?

If only were it so easy to take a pill or a shot and be able to quit forever, right?

Lately they have been talking about a breakthrough heroin vaccine. The idea of an anti-addiction vaccine is not new. According to the LA Times, for nearly 40 years scientists have been working on vaccines against all kinds of addictions, including nicotine, marijuana and alcohol. There are even trials of vaccines to prevent obesity. None of the anti-addiction vaccines has yet received Food and Drug Administration approval, however, and most of the studies are still in their early stages.

The headlines trumpeting a heroin vaccine were based on a finding that the drug had proved to be effective on mice during trials in Mexico (a nation that could use some good news related to drugs). Scientists now plan to test the patented vaccine in humans.

It is estimated that there are 1 million heroin addicts in the United States. Perhaps.

I have personal ties to the problem of addiction, and have studied the social and historical influences of drug use, and that has made me skeptical about the idea of a vaccine. Entrenched poverty, social inequality and personal despair all promote drug use, and these things profoundly shape the unequal outcomes of the addicted.

The development of an anti-addiction vaccine still faces major challenges. In the past, vaccines that were effective in animal models have proved ineffective in humans. This is partly because the molecules introduced into the blood to generate antibodies against the effects of the drug on the brain are incredibly tiny.

The Difference Between Mice and Men

One problem, though, is that even the most effective anti-addiction vaccine can't cure the underlying factors that make people prone to using drugs, including poverty, violence and lack of opportunity. Rather, the vaccines are aimed at preventing a drug user from experiencing the pleasure associated with a particular drug. When a mouse no longer feels pleasure from a drug because of a vaccine, it doesn't have the option of turning to another pleasure-producing substance. But humans do.

The best way to not be addicted is to abstain. Don’t plan on some future scientific breakthrough to cure your addiction problems. Start by taking a 8 hour drug class and join a social network of people who also are trying to stay clean and sober.