Is America winning the “war on drugs?” I don’t think so, and apparently, neither does the White House.

According to a recent statement from the White House reported at thebostonchannel.com, the U.S. government's drug strategy should focus more on treating addiction and less on imposing harsh prison sentences. This would include more drug education classes and counseling.

The White House office submits an annual report to Congress, and this year’s suggests a new national approach that includes criminal justice system reforms aimed at stopping the revolving door of drug use, crime, incarceration, and recidivism.

One issue from the White House report that I totally disagree with is that overall drug use in the United States has "dropped substantially” over the past 30 years. While cocaine consumption in the United States had decreased 40% from 2006 to 2010, and methamphetamine use had dropped 50% in that same period, the use of marijuana and prescription medications have replaced them.

President Barack Obama has said point-blank that the prescription drug abuse problem in America is especially worrisome.

It is nice that the White House and the Obama Administration see the need to change their tactics. Obviously, as a counselor for both in-class and online drug classes I think education and support is the best way to help get people off of drugs and stay sober

If you are alive and paying any attention you know that prescription drug abuse is a major problem all around the world. The United States is no exception. Efforts to curb prescription medication abuse have proven quite difficult.

One great idea is prescription drug collection. Unwanted and unused prescription drugs need to be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly way. They do not belong in the water supply and they do not belong in the medicine cabinet or under the sink where they are vulnerable to children and others.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's recent initiative to collect expired or unwanted prescription drugs netted some good results.

The collection is intended to prevent the drugs from falling into the hands of the wrong people — drug dealers, addicts and curious teenagers.

In one Pennsylvania county, Chester County, local participating police departments collected nearly 600 pounds of prescription drugs. Despite the great collection effort, bad weather condition may have hampered the overall haul. Back in April, 2011, 1,254 pounds were collected in the county.

"As you can see, compared from last year, the weather had a big effect on the results," Cannon said. "Nonetheless, it was a big success, considering the snow and storms."

The DEA is starting National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

The number of Americans who abuse prescription drugs is greater than the number of those who use cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin combined.

The scariest statistic involves our children. It is estimated that one in every three new prescription drug abusers are age 12 to 17.

Are prescription drugs a gateway to crystal meth and heroin?

Experts say those who abuse prescription drugs often switch to common street drugs, such as heroin, because they are cheaper.

In May, the DEA collected 24,650 pounds of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs at more than 400 collection sites.

Prescription drug collections are important both by taking drugs out of circulation and also not polluting the environment. I would like to see drug education classes targeting youth increase the emphasis on the dangers of prescription medications.

source: http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/collection-nets-600-lbs-of-prescription-drugs/cbcc322ed4534db7b68967db5fdffb92

The battle to curb the ever-growing problem of prescription drug abuse has definitely gotten the attention of federal authorities. This Friday the U-S Attorney's Office will host a first-of-its-kind Prescription Drug Summit. It is an effort to educate the public about the growing problem of prescription drug abuse that is now an epidemic.

How A Family Was Devastated

A Buffalo, New York family is trying to recover from the devastation that occurred in their home this past June related to prescription drug abuse.

Here are the words of a very distressed father, Avi Israel

“Michael committed suicide on June 4th in our home while my wife and I were less than 20-feet away from him. This event, that morning have changed my life forever," said the 59-year-old Israel.

Israel blames his son's death on a mix of prescription drugs he was taking to treat a severe case Crohn's disease. The medicines were prescribed by various doctors.

"Michael had a medically and socially sanctioned addiction. Michael was prescribed opiate and psychotropic drugs without any kind of supervision or control nor was he or us, his parents, ever informed of the serve consequences of a long term use of those drugs," said Israel.

The key is that physicians and pharmacies work together to cross-reference and safe guard the amounts and types of medication patients are taking.

Half of DEA Undercover Buys are Prescription Drugs!

According to the DEA more than half of their undercover buys right now are for prescription drugs -- Oxycodone, Lortabs, Opanen and Phentol.

Prescription drug abuse is a major problem. If you or someone you care about is abusing prescription medication, please seek help immediately. If you prefer there are also online drug classes as well.

When you think of Boeing what comes to mind? Airplanes, of course. Ah, but a lot more goes on at Boeing besides aircraft!

Agents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested employees and former employees of Boeing’s Ridley Park, Pennsylvania plant and one non-employee in a coordinated, long-term, undercover effort aimed at prescription drug abuse at the manufacturing plant.

Of course, the company, Boeing, is in no way culpable here, but this certainly is press that the company does not need as it continues to battle Airbus for supremacy in the aircraft industry. Of course, like many companies, including General Electric, Boeing is most definitely diversified in to many industries.

Indictments against 23 individuals were unsealed today charging each with the illegal distribution of a prescription drug. The drugs being distributed by these defendants include but are not limited to fentanyl (Actiq), oxycodone (Oxycontin), alprazolam (Xanax), and buprenorphine (Suboxone). The charges allege that each defendant either sold a controlled substance to an FBI cooperator or bought what was believed to be a controlled substance from the cooperator but which was, in fact, a placebo.

The drugs were being distributed on Boeing’s property. Boeing officials brought their suspicions of drug activity to federal law enforcement and have cooperated fully with the long-term investigation.

Drug abuse and the illegal sale and purchase of controlled substances are serious criminal problems in the U.S. today. The abuse of prescription narcotic drugs can be as dangerous and devastating as the use of illegal drugs.

Well, if there is a positive side to this thing it is Boeing – they didn’t try to sweep something under the rug and stood up and helped law enforcement.