As a recovering drug addict and a counselor for both in-class and online drug classes I am always shocked when a seemingly sane person claims to believe marijuana should be legalized. The latest “intelligent” mind to voice this opinion is Pat Robertson. He could not be more wrong!

Evangelical patriarch Rev. Pat Robertson has long been a leader in the conservative movement advocating for a better civil and moral society. But his recent support of marijuana legalization couldn't be more off the mark. This as reported in cnn.com.

He claims marijuana and alcohol should be treated the same, both legal and heavily regulated.

Regulating marijuana like the way we regulate alcohol (or cigarettes) will only result in the increased use and abuse of marijuana, particularly among youths. All you need to do is look at recent statistics for adolescent marijuana use in states where it is has been legalized for medicinal purposes. Those states have seen as much as an 80% increase in marijuana use among teens!

Stats on Marijuana Use

Among cannabis users in treatment in the United States, 80.5% are not married, 90% have obtained an education of 12 years or less; 25% are unemployed and 46% are not in the labor force (of which 55% are students). Of the cannabis users who entered treatment services from 2000 to 2008, nearly a quarter report psychiatric problems. In addition, driving under the influence of marijuana could double a person's risk of getting in a serious or fatal car crash.

Legalizing marijuana is not the answer. We need to take drugs out of society and make them as difficult as possible to obtain. Drug classes combined with vigilant efforts to keep drugs out of the mainstream will go a long way to a better future.

The National basketball Association has had its share of bad press due to the actions of its players. It is always nice when the NBA can get some positive attention for the actions of its athletes. Such is the case with former NBA player Chris Herren.

Herren has been traveling the country and preaching about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. He should know as they ruined his career. He recalls being in a high school gym and not listening to the anti-drug message. He regrets every minute of his drug use.

While he only drank and smoked an occasional joint in high school, he realizes that he was laying the foundation to give in to much harder drugs like Oxycontin and heroin.

Speaking to adolescents around the country, Herren talks about how after those around him gave him chance after chance to get clean and his own unconscious mind delivered warnings, he still gave in to his addiction, eventually escalating to two near-death experiences due to heroin overdoses.

Herren truthfully talks about his introduction to cocaine at the age of 18. He never imagined it would take him almost another 18 years to quit the cocaine addiction he developed.

Players like Herren have the ability to change the behavior of our youth. Through their experiences kids see and understand how the decision to never start using drugs is the best one!

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are one of Hollywood’s dynamic couples. Their names have never been associated with anything negative. Their reputations are intact, however, that of Jada’s mom, has been blemished.

Jada Pinkett Smith’s mother, Adrienne, admitted she took drugs while her daughter was very young.

The most disturbing aspect of her admission is that it came out on a home video where she was discussing her problems with both Jada and Willow Smith (Will and Jada’s daughter).

Perhaps even more disturbing, or maybe education is that the video was made by the father and highly acclaimed Hollywood actor Will Smith’s own Production Company, the video named ‘Red Table Talks’ was released online.

It featured the three generations discussing hard hitting topics within their family. Perhaps this is a good thing. I always believe it is best to be open and honest with your kids. If they ask, tell the truth. If they don’t there is no reason to share.

Adrienne admits she was on drugs for the first 18 years of Jada’s life!

On a positive note, Adrienne assures young Willow she has been clean for 22 years.

I would like to hear from you, my loyal onlinedrugclass.com bloggers. What do you think? Was this video a good idea? Should the entire Smith family take a drug class?

Americans have a reputation abroad of being somewhat gluttonous. Granted our food portions are three sizes too large as are our waistlines. Thus it is not surprising they were gluttonous when it comes to drug use too.

Americans consume 80 percent of the world's supply of painkillers -- more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year -- as the country's prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes. This according to the Daily Mail.

That's enough drugs to give every single American 64 Percocets or Vicodin. The situation looks even bleaker. Pain pill prescriptions continue to surge, up 600 percent in ten year, thanks to doctors who are more and more willing to hand out drugs to patients who are suffering.

As more people get their hands on these potentially-dangerous drugs, more are taking them to get high. Almost 15,000 people die per year from prescription medication abuse -- more than from heroin and cocaine combined.

With the surge in addiction to prescription meds, it is no surprise that police have noticed a huge increase of other crimes by people who are addicted to oxycodone and hydrocodone, the key ingredient in most prescription pain pills. 

If you or someone you care about abuses prescription medication please seek help ASAP. If you prefer to maintain anonymity there are online eight hour drug classes too.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black – Bobby Brown is worried about his daughter having substance abuse issues. He recognizes his issues and is again speaking publicly about his addiction issues. Only time will tell if he gets clean and stays sober.

Brown recently voiced concern for his 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Brown abuse of narcotics. Specifically he mentioned her cocaine and marijuana use. This according to the Daily Mail.

However the 43-year-old then went on to say he doesn't believe his daughter, from his marriage to the late Whitney Houston, is currently in any real danger.

Smoking Weed

Photos in the National Inquirer showed Bobbi smoking what appeared to be marijuana from a water pipe shortly after her mother’s death. Not helping her claim of sobriety were previously published photos snorting what appeared to be cocaine.

There were also numerous reports about Bobbi getting 'wasted' in the wake of Whitney's death in February.

Most people believe it was Brown’s bad influence that got Whitney hooked on drugs. Of this, Brown is not ready to come clean. He claims he only drank beer and smoked pot when he and Whitney started dating. He claims she was into the heavy drugs long before he was.

I hope for Bobbi’s sake she will make the decision to learn from her mother’s tragic death. I hope she enrolls in a drug education class and seeks counseling for addiction and grief issues.

Adena Health System is applying for grant money to help stem the tide of babies being born to drug-addicted mothers.

According to Adena, and reported in chillicothegazette.com, in the past seven months, women at the new Women and Children's Center have given birth to 47 babies who have tested positive for opiates in their bodies -- including heroin -- because of substance-abusing mothers. Ten of those babies had to be treated for opiate addiction before they could be released from the hospital.

For one of those 10, the addiction was so severe it took 42 days before the baby was safe enough to be allowed to leave the hospital.

The total number of births at the center during that seven-month period was not available at press time.

Opiates are types of narcotics that act as depressants in the central nervous system.

"It's definitely a problem, and southern Ohio seems to be seeing a lot more than other places," said center nursing director Jackie Rebman. "Unfortunately, this area also is strapped for funding to help with the problem.

"We need resources for moms. Ideally, drug-addicted moms need help at the beginning of their pregnancy so they are clean during the pregnancy and have an opportunity to deliver a healthy baby."

Heroin use has become a concern across Ohio and locally, with Pike County Sheriff Richard Henderson saying this past fall that he had seen more heroin overdose deaths in 2010 than in the entire previous decade. The drug is becoming a substitute for prescription drug abusers, Henderson said, because it is cheaper and becoming easier to obtain than some prescription drugs.

Heroin is making its mark in Ross County, resulting in a September summit in Ross County that brought area officials and agencies together to learn more about opiate addiction and how to combat both it and prescription drug abuse.

Battling the addiction itself is not the only type of help needed, however. Sarah Fallow, nurse manager of nursery and pediatrics at Adena, said mental health issues often need to be addressed as well. Those issues often contribute to the substance abuse, Fallow said, and many abusers often are using more than one illicit drug.

Rebman agreed, saying that she has seen several cases in which the women don't appear to want to abuse drugs but they can't find a way to break the addiction.

Rebman also said although she hasn't seen firsthand any data that clearly shows the long-term effect on babies born to drug-addicted mothers, she is worried about what the effects might be -- especially with the increase showing up locally.

"There have always been cases of drug abuse in this area, but we have seen not only an increase in the extent of usage, but also in the type of drug being abused. Opiate addiction right now is a major problem. It has transpired from being the pill type of opiate to something as extreme as heroin."

The March of Dimes, which researches factors that affect the health of babies, indicates the long-term outlook for babies exposed to heroin before birth depends on several factors -- among them whether the child is born prematurely and whether there are other complications during birth. The organization pointed to some studies that suggest a higher risk of learning and behavioral problems might be a result of heroin use by the mother.

Adena Women and Children's Center staff is working with Kim Jones, grants manager for the Adena Health Foundation, to pursue funding to help expectant moms with substance abuse problems through social work support and addiction treatment programming. The center is hoping that federal funding will be available through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Health Resources and Services Administration.

While awaiting the results of that effort, Rebman said the center staff is trying its own treatment approach, focusing on changing the mindset of addicted moms-to-be.

"If you provide dignity and support to these patients during the few days you have them, you might be the one who changes their perspective and helps to get them off these drugs," she said.

The tragic, if not surprising death of Whitney Houston from a drug overdose has got to be a wake-up call for all of us. I have long espoused that celebrities should not be role models. Nevertheless, given Americas and the planets adoration of celebrities, they are in fact role models.

Whitney Houston now needs to be a model of what drug addiction can do to a person. A greater God-given talent I have never heard. Yet her time to shine was relatively short. Much of that time in the spotlight was spent drug addled and sick. Her death a lesson to everyone that drugs kill!

Sober in 2010, the singer who passed away at age 48 died addicted to a plethora of drugs.

A friend of Whitney’s claims the singer would spend thousands of dollars a week buying drugs and stockpile it in the house so she wouldn’t run out. This as reported in Fox News.

Like many families, Houston’s feared the embarrassment of intervention and ultimately it was too late.

Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston are two sad stories about celebrity drug addiction. It seems like their daughter is well on her way too. For Bobbi Kristina’s sake I would like to see Brown lead by example. He should take a drug class, get sober and then get his daughter into an online drug class.

Soccer players are human too. As great as they are as athletes, they too can fall victim to the influence of drugs. Such is the case for one Major League Soccer player.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be lost to the Galaxy for an indefinite period after being enrolled in the MLS’s substance abuse treatment program. This according to the LA Times.

The Galaxy was informed that Saunders would be unavailable to play until he completes a treatment protocol, despite the fact that he did not fail a league-administered drug test but have been evasive in explaining his absence. Saunders missed last Saturday’s tie with FC Dallas and is unavailable for Wednesday night’s match in Seattle, with Coach Bruce Arena saying only that the keeper was missing for “personal reasons.”

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the MLS has a player who needs treatment for substance abuse. An earlier version of this story said that New England Revolution player Shalrie Joseph was suspended for six weeks in 2010 for being in a substance abuse program. Although Joseph missed six weeks that season while he was in the program, Major League Soccer said that he was not suspended.

This could be the end of the line for the 31-year-old who has been a backup most of his eight-year pro career. Saunders took over the starting keeper position last year after Donovan Ricketts broke an arm and he went on to set career highs for games, starts and minutes played. After posting eight shutouts in the regular season he recorded two more in the 2011 playoffs, including a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup final.

The Galaxy seems to have a short leash for keepers with health issues. The Galaxy rewarded Saunders by trading Ricketts, a former MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, to Montreal a week after the season ended. Could this be his last chance to start for the Galaxy?

Perhaps he will get a second chance after taking a California drug class and finishing the league’s substance abuse program.

Florida is seeing a surge in the number of babies born addicted to crack and prescription medication. Not only are they born addicted, but due to parents’ use of illegal drugs, they stay addicted!

The effects of a methamphetamine addiction don’t just stop at the user. From the moment of conception to the rest of their lives, children feel the effects of their parent’s or guardian’s addictions - physically, emotionally, mentally and socially.

In Florida, out of every 1,000 births, about seven infants die before their first year in this area. This according to jcfloridan.com.

One of the major reasons for this high statistic is a major increase in drug use in the state!

The mother shares everything she eats, drinks and breathes with the baby – including drugs. This causes the baby to become addicted to the drug. Once the baby is born and the sharing stops, he or she experiences withdrawal, or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Hospitals can catch a withdrawing baby and relieve him or her of the symptoms.

Rarely is the addiction caught in the hospital. It is estimated that 75 percent of infants exposed to drugs are sent home with their ailments undetected.

Babies with NAS undergo a number of symptoms, from inconsolable crying to seizures. These symptoms can take up to 14 days to become apparent and can last up to 8 months.

The first few weeks of life are crucial bonding time for infant and mother. A screaming, unhappy baby facing drug withdrawal and a tired, drug-addicted mother don’t set up the ideal scenario for bonding. The mother probably is not feeling too well either.

This all could be avoided if drugs are not used. No parent would wish their addiction upon their children. Why start them off on the wrong foot. If you are confused as to how your behavior affects your body and your baby, please take a Florida drug class. Our future is at stake

Florida is seeing a surge in the number of babies born addicted to crack and prescription medication. Not only are they born addicted, but due to parents’ use of illegal drugs, they stay addicted!

The effects of a methamphetamine addiction don’t just stop at the user. From the moment of conception to the rest of their lives, children feel the effects of their parent’s or guardian’s addictions - physically, emotionally, mentally and socially.

In Florida, according to jcfloridan.com, out of every 1,000 births, about seven infants die before their first year in this area. 

One of the major reasons for this high statistic is a major increase in drug use in the state!

The mother shares everything she eats, drinks and breathes with the baby – including drugs. This causes the baby to become addicted to the drug. Once the baby is born and the sharing stops, he or she experiences withdrawal, or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Hospitals can catch a withdrawing baby and relieve him or her of the symptoms.

Rarely is the addiction caught in the hospital. It is estimated that 75 percent of infants exposed to drugs are sent home with their ailments undetected. 

Babies with NAS undergo a number of symptoms, from inconsolable crying to seizures. These symptoms can take up to 14 days to become apparent and can last up to 8 months.

The first few weeks of life are crucial bonding time for infant and mother. A screaming, unhappy baby facing drug withdrawal and a tired, drug-addicted mother don’t set up the ideal scenario for bonding. The mother probably is not feeling too well either.

This all could be avoided if drugs are not used. No parent would wish their addiction upon their children. Why start them off on the wrong foot. If you are confused as to how your behavior affects your body and your baby, please take a drug class. Our future is at stake.