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?

Unless you have been on a deserted island for the past few years, you have to realize that prescription drug abuse is rampant in America and around the world. Celebrities too fall victim to the virulent talons of prescription medication.

This most certainly is the case for those entering the Malibu Beach Recovery Center, a rehab clinic for the rich and famous, clings like a determined survivor to a picturesque hillside a short drive from the Malibu movie colony in California.

According to nbclosangeles.com, in just the past year alone, street drugs have given way to something just as deadly among the high-end clientele seeking help here.

It is hard to believe that the biggest “dealer” in the area is parents’ medicine cabinet!

A long time veteran in Hollywood said that 60 percent of her new clients are addicts hooked on prescription meds – and not just the anti-anxieties, like Xanax or Klonopin. More and more of them, she said, are zoned out on heavy-hitters like Fentanyl, often used by cancer patients.

Fentanyl, a pain killer many times more powerful than morphine, is sometimes applied by skin patch.

Actors tend to use their skills to keep their medicine cabinets well-stocked with extras. Two brothers put together a traveling tear-jerker in which one wheeled the other into an ER, posing as a disabled man in desperate need of instant high-powered pain relief.

They were so convincing that the state of Colorado later hired one of them to help spot scam artists working the urgent-care circuit.

Another actor became so practiced at playing the all-suffering clinic-crawler that she knew exactly how many milligrams of a certain pill a doctor should prescribe to keep her high. The doctor was so relieved at having his diagnostic chores eased that he promptly put her on a diladin drip. After taking several hits of the drug, the woman asked to be unhooked so she could grab a cigarette break.

Holy crud!

One paramedic referred to her as the “perfect patient.”

For some, their special taste was for booze laced with Xanax, an increasingly popular combo with pill addicts.

The same debilitating cocktail popped up as a featured player in news stories about Whitney Houston’s last days of hard partying. Houston was never a patient at the center.

The biggest problem is that there’s no public database for tracking prescriptions nationwide, from state to state.

The epidemic of both celebrities and the mainstream population becoming addicted to prescription medication cannot be ignored. We need more drug classes and counseling. The truest remedy lies in keeping our youth from ever experimenting with drugs in the first place.

I have long averred that celebrities should not be role models. However, given America’s and the world’s fascination with celebrity there is no doubt they impact society – even when their behavior is bad. Perhaps this is true especially when their behavior is shameful. This is the 2nd part of my blog series on Celebrity Drug Use. You can read part 1 here.

We have been shocked by the deaths of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Before them we were shocked by the deaths of Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin. Really, we were not that shocked.

Celebrities have a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

Recent weeks also brought news that 42-year-old Scottish actor Gerard Butler and comedian Artie Lange, 44, both successfully completed rehab for addiction and are back working.

On the other end of the spectrum, is one of my favorite actresses and sex symbols, Demi Moore. The 49-year-old Moore, who was hospitalized after smoking something that gave her convulsions , sought "professional assistance" for her problem.

Then there is current heartthrob, Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin, star of CBS's Hawaii Five-0, who just announced he would take time off to get "supervised treatment" for pain drugs prescribed after a recent shoulder injury.

This sort of thing is not uncommon in Hollywood: Actress Tatum O'Neal, 48, who comes from a family of addicts and has long battled to overcome substance abuse, also is in "supervised treatment" to prevent a recurrence of addiction, to painkillers recently prescribed for back surgery.

Again, celebrities are not role models. Model your life around the teaching of God and you can never go wrong. This most-especially is true with addiction. 

Anyone been to Columbus, Ohio lately? Let me tell you – it sure ain’t a mecca of tourism. Rampant drug abuse has created a metropolis in decline.

The heroin problem in Ohio is especially bad. According to www.mercurynews.com, Research is showing that kids as young as 13 are hooked on heroin. It is considered to be an inexpensive substitute for prescription medications. Hmm?

The drug’s supply and use is thought to be at epidemic levels. Ohio has struggled with soaring rates of addiction to prescription painkillers, with a record number of fatal overdoses in 2010.

A report showed that there were 338 deaths due to heroin overdose in Ohio in 2010. Heroin is responsible for 20% of the state’s overdose deaths.

So what is the answer? Perhaps they need to cut the supply of both heroin and prescription pain killers. Pain medications are a gateway drug to heroin. Less than 1% of heroin addicts claim that heroin was the first drug they experimented with.

Another government report finds heroin abuse on the rise nationally.

In Michigan, heroin trafficking and abuse are now nearly equal to cocaine sales and abuse. Michigan studies show that heroin is considered a cheaper alternative to prescription medications as well.

In Florida the exact opposite is true. Florida reports a decrease in heroin use as it has seen a huge increase in prescription painkiller abuse.

Heroin is a terrifying drug. If you, or someone you love uses heroin, please seek help immediately. 

Sir Richard Branson has long been outspoken on his views and opinions regarding drug use, abuse and enforcement. Once again he makes headlines by saying he believes drugs should be legalized.

The founder of the Virgin Group who has been involved in some crazy things over the years, including attempting to circle the globe in a balloon and selling space travel to the affluent is all for legalizing drugs. This according to the Daily News.

The British billionaire believes punishment fails to stem drug abuse, and is calling on countries to decriminalize drug use and eliminate criminal penalties on narcotics consumers.

Branson has been involved in the anti-drug movement for many years. He serves on the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which has among its member’s former presidents of Colombia, Brazil and Switzerland. His group released a scathing indictment about the ineffectiveness of the war on drugs. The report went so far as to dismiss the threat of prosecution as a deterrent for drug use.

Portugal Lead by Example

One of Branson’s favorite examples is Portugal which abandoned criminal prosecution for drug use in 2001. Portugal’s Institute on Drugs and Drug Addiction has reported that the percentage of drug addicts in newly diagnosed HIV patients dropped to 22 percent in 2008 from 40 percent in 2002. Illicit drug use is linked to the spread of HIV, due to factors such as sharing needles.

The billionaire business owner was asked the difficult question about his workers’ productivity falling behind if marijuana was legalized. His response was to attack the alcohol and tobacco industries claiming both hurt productivity more than marijuana.

It is time to think outside the box on this war on drugs. Obviously what we currently are doing is not working. However, I certainly do not condone legalizing drugs. I think the answer lies in prevention – more drug classes and counseling.

One of the latest ideas circulating around the country is to drug test welfare recipients.

There are some who think it is unconstitutional. Others believe it is a waste of time and money. Yet a growing number of people do not want to see government subsidy going to promote the use of illegal drugs.

What do you think?

Begin with a premise — welfare recipients often use drugs — and build state law based on it.

Kansas is among the latest states with a proposal to drug-test welfare recipients, with expulsion for too many positive results.

No one likes the idea of welfare recipients using drugs. Besides the use of taxpayer money, drug habits undercut achieving self-sufficiency or harm children in the household. It’s pretty easy for most people to conjure the image of the lazy, crack-addicted mother abusing food stamps. That’s the problem.

Studies have shown that taxpayers, that is, the general public, use drugs at higher rates than welfare recipients. And where drugs are a problem, it’s often combined with other factors.

Is it a Waste of Money?

Using the state of Florida as an example it would appear so. The state passed such testing last year. Preliminary findings showed 2 percent of people getting aid failed the tests. And 96 percent passed, meaning the state had to eat the costs of their tests.

People who didn’t test clean had to pay for the test. That’s the plan in Kansas too, under a recently introduced bill.

Wanting to help people become self-sufficient is often behind such laws. Good objective. Wrong approach.

A 2004 study by the National Poverty Center concluded that while substance use, abuse, and dependence are barriers to self-sufficiency, so are poor education, lack of transportation, physical and mental health problems, and many other difficulties that are more common than substance abuse among welfare recipients.

Does that lead to the conclusion that even if all welfare recipients stopped using illicit drugs, society would see little decline in welfare rolls?

I do not like the idea of government money going to buy drugs and alcohol. My solution might be to require any welfare recipient who ever has been arrested for drugs or alcohol should have to take a drug and alcohol class before receiving welfare payments. They should be tested randomly for up to three years. If they fail another drug or alcohol test they should forfeit their welfare payments.

Source: www.kansascity.com

Drug addiction does not merely affect the user. Friends and family members as well as colleagues also are affected when someone they are close to abuses drugs. In addition to both in class and online drug classes there are other things families can do to cope with a drug-addicted loved one.

Families affected by substance abuse and addiction often are caught unaware, with no idea how to deal with the problems they face. There is no road map for dealing with a family member suffering from drug and/or alcohol abuse or addiction, but there are strategies to keep in mind that can help.

Following are a few tips I like to offer in my drug education classes:

• Act Quickly: If you suspect a family member has a problem with drugs and/or alcohol. Express your concerns and contact an addictions professional for guidance and direction. It is not true that a person must "hit bottom" before he or she can get help.
• Look for Signs: Signs of a drug or alcohol problem include difficulty meeting expectations at school or work, behavioral changes, change in friends, secretive behavior, legal problems, diminished personal hygiene, relationship problems, friends who negatively impact individual.
• Get Help for Yourself: Seek help for yourself through a counselor or support group such as Al-Anon.
• Establish Rules: Don't be afraid to establish rules for teens and young adult children, and hold them accountable to following them.
• Keep Track: Keep a record of behaviors and incidents that disrupt your household or use in the event that the affected individual denies such incidents occurred.
• You May Need a Pro: If the individual's behavior becomes intolerable to the point that it's affecting the safety or well-being of other family members, seek advice from a professional about putting the individual out of the home.
• Follow Through is Key: When setting rules and establishing consequences for rules not followed, be prepared to follow through. Acting early and decisively maximize the possibility of positive outcomes for your loved one and you. 

All of these will help when dealing with someone battling addiction. The key is to not keep it a secret. Seek help. A good drug class is a place to start. If you prefer to maintain anonymity there are online drug classes too.

source: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=362181

Yes, you read that headline correctly – nicotine addicts need to take a drug class. Whether you smoke cigarettes, chew tobacco, use dip or smoke a pipe, nicotine is a powerfully-addictive chemical substance.

You have long heard that marijuana is evil because it is a gateway drug. Well, a new study using mice is seeking to prove that cigarettes are a gateway drug as well.

Is Nicotine a Gateway Drug?

A recent study reported in Psych Central, in mice identifies a biological mechanism that could help explain how tobacco products could act as gateway drugs, increasing a person’s future likelihood of abusing cocaine and perhaps other drugs as well.

The study is the first to show that nicotine might prime the brain to enhance the behavioral effects of cocaine, according to the researchers who conducted it.

The gateway drug model is based upon epidemiological evidence that most illicit drug users report using tobacco or alcohol prior to illicit drug use. This model has generated significant controversy over the years, mostly relating to whether prior drug exposure to nicotine, alcohol or marijuana is causally related to later drug use.

Earlier studies have not been able to show a biological mechanism by which nicotine exposure could increase vulnerability to illicit drug use.

The mice were exposed to nicotine in their drinking water for at least seven days showed an increased response to cocaine.

The study found that the rate of cocaine dependence was higher among cocaine users who smoked prior to starting cocaine compared to those who tried cocaine prior to smoking.

These findings in mice suggest that if nicotine has similar effects in humans, effective smoking prevention efforts would not only prevent the negative health consequences associated with smoking, but could also decrease the risk of progression and addiction to cocaine and possibly other illicit drug use

Nicotine is also a highly-addictive drug that is legal. If through drug education classes we also could curb the number of adolescents who smoke cigarettes, we all would be a lot better off. 

Marijuana use seems to be on the rise everywhere. From Europe to the US and Canada to the farthest reaches of the planet, societies are being smoked out. Australia is perhaps the place best-known on the planet for chronic marijuana abuse.

Australians are world-class dopes, according to research.

And cops say residents of Victoria are doing more than their bit to keep the nation up in cannabis smoke.

The study found over 200 million people used illicit drugs globally, with those in wealthier countries most likely to abuse illicit substances.

It found Australia and New Zealand were the highest users of cannabis in the world, with up to 15 per cent of 15 to 64-year-olds having used the drug at least once in the past year.

The popularity of illicit drugs was linked to cost and supply.

Victoria Police has seized record amounts of cannabis in recent years, confiscating 9000 plants in a two-day blitz a little over a year ago.

Why do you think marijuana use is on the rise? Back in the 70s, when marijuana smoking first became a significant part of the Hippie culture, dope smokers were just that – dopes. Now it seems like it is almost completely accepted. We need more drug education classes.