Monday, August 9, 2010
Anna Nicole Smith "Obsessed" with pills
Friday, June 25, 2010
Real healing begins only after drinking stops
Here are two questions I have wondered about off and on for a while:
1. Why are alcoholics, and for that matter recovered alcoholics, the most self-dramatizing people I know? I'm never surprised to find that a self-dramatizing person is an alcoholic. I mean people whose lives are "epic" -- no one has ever had as great a joy, as deep a disaster, as brilliant an idea, more eloquent (and usually broken) promises, that sort of thing. Or is it a chicken-and-egg sort of deal? Does problem drinking create that kind of personality, or is that sort of personality drawn to problem drinking?
2. A friend said to me, "I was really down last month, did x, y and z, and got over my depression. But then I figured, if it really were depression, then I couldn't have cured myself of it."
Can you cure yourself of depression?
-- H.R., New Mexico
While it's not true that all alcoholics are self-dramatizing, you might well be on to something when you wonder if self-dramatizing people are more vulnerable to compulsive/addictive behavior such as alcoholism.
Larger-than-life personalities often are larger than life precisely because they need to stimulate an artificial drama/enthusiasm around them so that they can dodge the deadness/emptiness within them. And it is the emptiness -- and companion depression -- that compulsives are trying to self-medicate.
You also are describing other common companions in the lives of most compulsives: some combination of narcissism, grandiosity and entitlement. "Ordinary" is just not enough for these types. And so they spin a dramatic narrative yarn. Their lives are epic, as you say.
Ah, life as hyperbole! And life as dichotomy! Every moment is narrated as "the best of times" or "the worst of times." Fame or infamy. Sainthood or sinner.
This is why, when treating alcoholics, the work is so much more than the mere cessation of drinking. It would be more accurate to say that the real work begins only and after the drinking stops.
H.R., you notice a self-dramatizing drive in alcoholics. For me, the opposite also is true. I recognize authentic recovery in compulsive personalities because I notice an essential humility. In recovery, people make peace and find peace in ordinary, neutral and average. Life can occasionally be epic, but human beings don't tend to be epic.
As I write, I'm smiling an embarrassed smile. While not an alcoholic, though they swing from the branches of my family tree, I certainly lived too much of my adult life with a need for the artificial stimulation of self-dramatizing. Alas, poor Yorick!
I knew I was growing up when a colleague said to me, "How are you today, Steven?" And I said, "About a B."
"What?" he said.
"I'd give the day a B," I said. Then I shrugged and added, "It's not a bad grade." And then I chuckled with the freedom and relief an ordinary man feels living an ordinary life on an ordinary day.
2. Episodes of mood disorder -- including depression -- strike most people at least once in their lifetime. Some people have chronic struggles with mood disorder. Still others appear to have been born with the bad luck of genetically crummy brain chemistry -- a brain that produces insufficient or the wrong combinations of serotonin, dopamine, etc.
Modern pharmaceuticals, especially in combination with talk therapy, often are very helpful for mood disorders. But, in the recent past, a new array of interventions have brightened the future for these patients.
Some depressed patients can and do "cure" -- or greatly mitigate -- their symptoms through art, meditation or other contemplative discipline, intentional breathing exercises, laughter/comedy or the machinations of better self-talk. One of the most promising disciplines to come along recently is Brain Training. There is now excellent reason to believe many patients can "teach" their brain to "fire" differently. Better. Especially as it regards the emotional centers of the brain.
Sometimes I tell myself I could put pharmaceutical companies out of business if only depressed patients would exercise and eat better. Spiking and collapsing blood sugar levels are typical of modern American diets. And moods track those spikes and those collapses hand in glove.
So, yes, many depressed patients can and do "cure" -- or greatly mitigate -- their symptoms with the help of pharmaceuticals or talk therapy or new, emerging interventions. But not all.
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Clear View Counseling Wellness Center in Las Vegas and the author of "Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing" (Stephens Press). His columns also appear on Sundays in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Contact him at skalas@reviewjournal.com.
1. Why are alcoholics, and for that matter recovered alcoholics, the most self-dramatizing people I know? I'm never surprised to find that a self-dramatizing person is an alcoholic. I mean people whose lives are "epic" -- no one has ever had as great a joy, as deep a disaster, as brilliant an idea, more eloquent (and usually broken) promises, that sort of thing. Or is it a chicken-and-egg sort of deal? Does problem drinking create that kind of personality, or is that sort of personality drawn to problem drinking?
2. A friend said to me, "I was really down last month, did x, y and z, and got over my depression. But then I figured, if it really were depression, then I couldn't have cured myself of it."
-- H.R., New Mexico
While it's not true that all alcoholics are self-dramatizing, you might well be on to something when you wonder if self-dramatizing people are more vulnerable to compulsive/addictive behavior such as alcoholism.
Larger-than-life personalities often are larger than life precisely because they need to stimulate an artificial drama/enthusiasm around them so that they can dodge the deadness/emptiness within them. And it is the emptiness -- and companion depression -- that compulsives are trying to self-medicate.
You also are describing other common companions in the lives of most compulsives: some combination of narcissism, grandiosity and entitlement. "Ordinary" is just not enough for these types. And so they spin a dramatic narrative yarn. Their lives are epic, as you say.
Ah, life as hyperbole! And life as dichotomy! Every moment is narrated as "the best of times" or "the worst of times." Fame or infamy. Sainthood or sinner.
This is why, when treating alcoholics, the work is so much more than the mere cessation of drinking. It would be more accurate to say that the real work begins only and after the drinking stops.
As I write, I'm smiling an embarrassed smile. While not an alcoholic, though they swing from the branches of my family tree, I certainly lived too much of my adult life with a need for the artificial stimulation of self-dramatizing. Alas, poor Yorick!
I knew I was growing up when a colleague said to me, "How are you today, Steven?" And I said, "About a B."
"What?" he said.
"I'd give the day a B," I said. Then I shrugged and added, "It's not a bad grade." And then I chuckled with the freedom and relief an ordinary man feels living an ordinary life on an ordinary day.
2. Episodes of mood disorder -- including depression -- strike most people at least once in their lifetime. Some people have chronic struggles with mood disorder. Still others appear to have been born with the bad luck of genetically crummy brain chemistry -- a brain that produces insufficient or the wrong combinations of serotonin, dopamine, etc.
Modern pharmaceuticals, especially in combination with talk therapy, often are very helpful for mood disorders. But, in the recent past, a new array of interventions have brightened the future for these patients.
Some depressed patients can and do "cure" -- or greatly mitigate -- their symptoms through art, meditation or other contemplative discipline, intentional breathing exercises, laughter/comedy or the machinations of better self-talk. One of the most promising disciplines to come along recently is Brain Training. There is now excellent reason to believe many patients can "teach" their brain to "fire" differently. Better. Especially as it regards the emotional centers of the brain.
Sometimes I tell myself I could put pharmaceutical companies out of business if only depressed patients would exercise and eat better. Spiking and collapsing blood sugar levels are typical of modern American diets. And moods track those spikes and those collapses hand in glove.
Steven Kalas is a behavioral health consultant and counselor at Clear View Counseling Wellness Center in Las Vegas and the author of "Human Matters: Wise and Witty Counsel on Relationships, Parenting, Grief and Doing the Right Thing" (Stephens Press). His columns also appear on Sundays in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Contact him at skalas@reviewjournal.com.
Pharmaceutical Drugs and Teens
During his immersion in his new job, Gil Kerlikowske attended a focus group of 7-year-old girls and was mystified by their talk about "farm parties." Then he realized they meant "pharm parties" -- sampling pharmaceuticals from their parents' medicine cabinets. What he learned -- besides that young humans have less native sense than young dachshunds -- is that his job has wrinkles unanticipated when he became director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
People want a different conversation about drug policies. With his first report to the president early next year, he could increase the quotient of realism.
Law enforcement has a can-do culture, but it also instructs its practitioners about what cannot be done, at least by law enforcement alone. Kerlikowske, who was top cop in Buffalo and then Seattle, knows that officers sweeping drug users from cities' streets feel as though they are "regurgitating perps through the system."
He dryly notes that "not many people think the drug war is a success." Furthermore, the recession's toll on state budgets has concentrated minds on the costs of drug offense incarcerations -- costs that in some states are larger than expenditures on secondary education. Fortunately, the first drug courts were established two decades ago, and today there are 2,300 nationwide, pointing drug policies away from punishment and toward treatment.
Kerlikowske is familiar with Portugal's experience since 2001 with the decriminalization of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. Nature made Kerlikowske laconic and experience has made him prudent, so he steers clear of the "L" word, legalization, even regarding marijuana.
Asked whether he thinks that it is a "gateway" drug leading to worse substances, he answers obliquely: "You don't find many heroin users who didn't start with marijuana." And he warns that more intense cultivation of marijuana is yielding a product with notably high THC content -- the potent ingredient.
In 1998, the United Nations, with its penchant for empty grandstanding, committed its members to "eliminating or significantly reducing" opium, cocaine and marijuana production by 2008, en route to a "drug-free world." Nowadays the United Nations is pleased that the drug trade has "stabilized."
The Economist magazine says this means that more than 200 million people -- almost 5 percent of the world's adult population -- take illegal drugs, the same proportion as a decade ago. The annual U.S. bill for attempting to diminish the supply of drugs is $40 billion. Of the 1.5 million Americans arrested each year on drug offenses, half a million are incarcerated. "[T]ougher drug laws are the main reasons why one in five black American men spend some time behind bars," the Economist said in March.
"There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug-taking: citizens living under tough regimes (notably America but also Britain) take more drugs, not fewer." Do cultural differences explain this? Evidently not: "Even in fairly similar countries tough rules make little difference to the number of addicts: harsh Sweden and more liberal Norway have precisely the same addiction rates."
The good news is the progress America has made against tobacco, which is more addictive than most illegal drugs. And then there is alcohol.
In "Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson," historian David S. Reynolds writes that in 1820, Americans spent on liquor a sum larger than the federal government's budget. By the mid-1820s, annual per capita consumption of absolute alcohol reached seven gallons, more than three times today's rate. "Most employers," Reynolds reports, "assumed that their workers needed strong drink for stimulation: a typical workday included two bells, one rung at 11 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m. that summoned employees for alcoholic drinks."
The elderly Walt Whitman said, "It is very hard for the present generation anyhow to understand the drunkenness of those years. . . . It is quite incommunicable." In 1842, a Springfield, Ill., teetotaler named Lincoln said that liquor was "like the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not the first, the fairest born in every family." Which helps explain why the nation sobered up (somewhat -- these things are relative). One reason crack cocaine use has declined is that a generation of inner-city young people saw what it did to their parents and older siblings.
Kerlikowske can hope that social learning, although slow and intermittent, is on his side. But perhaps he knows the axiom that experience is a great teacher but submits steep bills.
Law enforcement has a can-do culture, but it also instructs its practitioners about what cannot be done, at least by law enforcement alone. Kerlikowske, who was top cop in Buffalo and then Seattle, knows that officers sweeping drug users from cities' streets feel as though they are "regurgitating perps through the system."
He dryly notes that "not many people think the drug war is a success." Furthermore, the recession's toll on state budgets has concentrated minds on the costs of drug offense incarcerations -- costs that in some states are larger than expenditures on secondary education. Fortunately, the first drug courts were established two decades ago, and today there are 2,300 nationwide, pointing drug policies away from punishment and toward treatment.
Asked whether he thinks that it is a "gateway" drug leading to worse substances, he answers obliquely: "You don't find many heroin users who didn't start with marijuana." And he warns that more intense cultivation of marijuana is yielding a product with notably high THC content -- the potent ingredient.
In 1998, the United Nations, with its penchant for empty grandstanding, committed its members to "eliminating or significantly reducing" opium, cocaine and marijuana production by 2008, en route to a "drug-free world." Nowadays the United Nations is pleased that the drug trade has "stabilized."
The Economist magazine says this means that more than 200 million people -- almost 5 percent of the world's adult population -- take illegal drugs, the same proportion as a decade ago. The annual U.S. bill for attempting to diminish the supply of drugs is $40 billion. Of the 1.5 million Americans arrested each year on drug offenses, half a million are incarcerated. "[T]ougher drug laws are the main reasons why one in five black American men spend some time behind bars," the Economist said in March.
"There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug-taking: citizens living under tough regimes (notably America but also Britain) take more drugs, not fewer." Do cultural differences explain this? Evidently not: "Even in fairly similar countries tough rules make little difference to the number of addicts: harsh Sweden and more liberal Norway have precisely the same addiction rates."
In "Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson," historian David S. Reynolds writes that in 1820, Americans spent on liquor a sum larger than the federal government's budget. By the mid-1820s, annual per capita consumption of absolute alcohol reached seven gallons, more than three times today's rate. "Most employers," Reynolds reports, "assumed that their workers needed strong drink for stimulation: a typical workday included two bells, one rung at 11 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m. that summoned employees for alcoholic drinks."
The elderly Walt Whitman said, "It is very hard for the present generation anyhow to understand the drunkenness of those years. . . . It is quite incommunicable." In 1842, a Springfield, Ill., teetotaler named Lincoln said that liquor was "like the Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not the first, the fairest born in every family." Which helps explain why the nation sobered up (somewhat -- these things are relative). One reason crack cocaine use has declined is that a generation of inner-city young people saw what it did to their parents and older siblings.
Kerlikowske can hope that social learning, although slow and intermittent, is on his side. But perhaps he knows the axiom that experience is a great teacher but submits steep bills.
New Method To Create Meth
Due to the fewer number of pseudoephedrine pills needed to create a batch of Meth, it is easier to obtain pills even under the strictest anti-meth laws which only allow an individual to purchase roughly 300 pills a month.
The “Shake and Bake” method only produces a few hits, so more and more individuals are using this method instead of buying from a lab producer. Since it is so much easier to create Meth in this new form, there has been a spike in the declining Meth related arrests over the past year. In Mississippi there has been a rise of nearly 275 percent in Meth related accidents and arrests.
Legalized Pot Concerns Growers
The smell of pot hung heavy in the air as men with dreadlocks and gray beards contemplated a nightmarish possibility in this legendary region of outlaw marijuana growers: legal weed.
If California legalizes marijuana, they say, it will drive down the price of their crop and damage not just their livelihoods but the entire economy along the state's rugged northern coast.
"The legalization of marijuana will be the single most devastating economic event in the long boom-and-bust history of Northern California," said Anna Hamilton, 62, a Humboldt County radio host and musician who said her involvement with marijuana has mostly been limited to smoking it for the past 40 years.
Local residents are so worried that pot farmers came together with officials in Humboldt County for a standing-room-only meeting Tuesday night where civic leaders, activists and growers brainstormed ideas for dealing with the threat. Among the ideas: turning the vast pot gardens of Humboldt County into a destination for marijuana aficionados, with tours and tastings — a sort of Napa Valley of pot.
Many were also enthusiastic about promoting the Humboldt brand of pot. Some discussed forming a cooperative that would enforce high standards for marijuana and stamp the county's finest weed with an official Humboldt seal of approval.
Pot growers are nervous because a measure that could make California the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use will appear on the ballot in November. State officials certified Wednesday that the initiative got enough signatures. The law, if approved, could have a profound effect on Humboldt County, which has long had a reputation for growing some of the world's best weed.
In recent years, law enforcement agents have seized millions of pot plants worth billions of dollars in Humboldt and neighboring counties. And that is believed to be only a fraction of the crop.
"We've lived with the name association for 30 or 40 years and considered it an embarrassment," said Mark Lovelace, a Humboldt County supervisor. But if legalization does happen, he said, the Humboldt County name becomes the region's single most important asset.
"It's laughable at this point to try to be hush-hush about it," he said.
Humboldt County's reputation as a marijuana mecca began in the 1970s. As pot users began to notice a decline in the quality of Mexican weed, refugees from San Francisco's Summer of Love who moved to the forested mountains along California's conveniently remote North Coast began figuring out better ways to grow their own. The Humboldt name soon became a selling point for marijuana sold on street corners across the country. These days, the small towns in this region about five hours north of San Francisco are dotted with head shops and garden supply stores.
California is one of 14 states that allow people to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes, but recreational use remains illegal. (And will remain illegal under federal law, regardless of how California votes.)
For decades, the outlaws, rebels and aging hippies of Humboldt County have been hoping for legalization. But now that it appears at hand, many clandestine growers fear it will flood the market with cheap, corporate-grown weed and destroy their way of life.
About 20 pot growers gathered on a patio outside the meeting Tuesday to discuss the dilemma posed by legalized pot. Many wore baseball caps and jeans, just like farmers anywhere else in America. No one addressed anyone else by name, a local custom driven by fear of arrest, but that didn't stop some in the group from lighting up their crop.
Many complained that legalization would put them in the same bind as other small farmers struggling to compete against large-scale agribusinesses. A dreadlocked younger grower who said he had already been to prison for marijuana objected that no one could replicate the quality of the region's weed. When he was a kid, he said, "Humboldt nuggets — that was like the holy grail."
"Anyone can grow marijuana," he said. "But not everyone can grow the super-heavies, the holy bud."
Under the ballot measure, Californians could possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. They could cultivate gardens up to 25 square feet, which is puny by Humboldt County standards. City and county governments would have the power to tax pot sales. Some growers Tuesday fantasized about mobs of tourists in limos streaming to the county. Others were not thrilled with the idea of paying taxes on their crop.
Many agreed with the sentiment on a sticker plastered on a pizza joint's cash register: "Save Humboldt County — keep pot illegal."
"The legalization of marijuana will be the single most devastating economic event in the long boom-and-bust history of Northern California," said Anna Hamilton, 62, a Humboldt County radio host and musician who said her involvement with marijuana has mostly been limited to smoking it for the past 40 years.
Local residents are so worried that pot farmers came together with officials in Humboldt County for a standing-room-only meeting Tuesday night where civic leaders, activists and growers brainstormed ideas for dealing with the threat. Among the ideas: turning the vast pot gardens of Humboldt County into a destination for marijuana aficionados, with tours and tastings — a sort of Napa Valley of pot.
Many were also enthusiastic about promoting the Humboldt brand of pot. Some discussed forming a cooperative that would enforce high standards for marijuana and stamp the county's finest weed with an official Humboldt seal of approval.
In recent years, law enforcement agents have seized millions of pot plants worth billions of dollars in Humboldt and neighboring counties. And that is believed to be only a fraction of the crop.
"We've lived with the name association for 30 or 40 years and considered it an embarrassment," said Mark Lovelace, a Humboldt County supervisor. But if legalization does happen, he said, the Humboldt County name becomes the region's single most important asset.
"It's laughable at this point to try to be hush-hush about it," he said.
Humboldt County's reputation as a marijuana mecca began in the 1970s. As pot users began to notice a decline in the quality of Mexican weed, refugees from San Francisco's Summer of Love who moved to the forested mountains along California's conveniently remote North Coast began figuring out better ways to grow their own. The Humboldt name soon became a selling point for marijuana sold on street corners across the country. These days, the small towns in this region about five hours north of San Francisco are dotted with head shops and garden supply stores.
California is one of 14 states that allow people to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes, but recreational use remains illegal. (And will remain illegal under federal law, regardless of how California votes.)
For decades, the outlaws, rebels and aging hippies of Humboldt County have been hoping for legalization. But now that it appears at hand, many clandestine growers fear it will flood the market with cheap, corporate-grown weed and destroy their way of life.
About 20 pot growers gathered on a patio outside the meeting Tuesday to discuss the dilemma posed by legalized pot. Many wore baseball caps and jeans, just like farmers anywhere else in America. No one addressed anyone else by name, a local custom driven by fear of arrest, but that didn't stop some in the group from lighting up their crop.
"Anyone can grow marijuana," he said. "But not everyone can grow the super-heavies, the holy bud."
Under the ballot measure, Californians could possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. They could cultivate gardens up to 25 square feet, which is puny by Humboldt County standards. City and county governments would have the power to tax pot sales. Some growers Tuesday fantasized about mobs of tourists in limos streaming to the county. Others were not thrilled with the idea of paying taxes on their crop.
Many agreed with the sentiment on a sticker plastered on a pizza joint's cash register: "Save Humboldt County — keep pot illegal."
Drunk Driving Lawsuit
A restaurant in New York City is being sued after fueling a drunken driving accident that killed a student from Cyprus. Attorney Sanford Rubenstein filed a lawsuit against Cavo Café Lounge on behalf of the family of Panayiota Demetriou. He is accusing the Lounge of contributing to Demetriou’s death in November by serving the driver Daryush Omar “an unreasonable amount” of alcohol before the crash. Omar has been sentenced to 3 ½ to 10 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter.
Cops Raid U.S. Justice Associates
Last Tuesday Las Vegas Metro Police raided the office of a counseling company that regularly does business at the courthouse. They were looking for evidence that the company was involved in an alleged extortion scheme that took place on the Strip. The raid took place at the United States Justice Associates, which is run by Steven Brox, who has been charged on six counts originating from sexual assault on one of his relatives, a fifteen-year-old girl.
The counseling company offers programs for alcohol and drug abuse, anger management, AIDS awareness, and petty larceny to those who have been charged with misdemeanors. Majority of this business is directly referred through the Court system in an effort to sway individuals from returning back to the courts and help indentify their problems.
The United States Justice Associates had another scheme going on under the radar of the Courts. They allegedly pitched a program to local casinos to avoid a run-in with the police and justice system. The plan was to go like this: When security at these clubs and casinos detain people on petty charges such as trespassing, they were to be routed to the United States Justice Associates’ program rather than having the police make the arrests. Once enrolled in the program, the detainee’s would be charged $500 and then the Company would kick back $100 to the casinos for each person enrolled into the program. The detainee’s were showed a video that stated was “very threatening” and said the detainee’s would land in jail if they comply with the program.
According to a chief of security, Brox approached him with an endorsed letter from a District Judge that “carried weight with it”, but the chief did not remember the judges’ name.
Broxs’ attorney stated that “nothing illegal has taken place. This program is run by high-ranking police officials, who thought this program was a good idea.” He also stated that a “number of Casinos” also agreed with it. Deputy Chief McCurdy claims of no ranking officers have ever signed off on it.
The counseling company offers programs for alcohol and drug abuse, anger management, AIDS awareness, and petty larceny to those who have been charged with misdemeanors. Majority of this business is directly referred through the Court system in an effort to sway individuals from returning back to the courts and help indentify their problems.
The United States Justice Associates had another scheme going on under the radar of the Courts. They allegedly pitched a program to local casinos to avoid a run-in with the police and justice system. The plan was to go like this: When security at these clubs and casinos detain people on petty charges such as trespassing, they were to be routed to the United States Justice Associates’ program rather than having the police make the arrests. Once enrolled in the program, the detainee’s would be charged $500 and then the Company would kick back $100 to the casinos for each person enrolled into the program. The detainee’s were showed a video that stated was “very threatening” and said the detainee’s would land in jail if they comply with the program.
According to a chief of security, Brox approached him with an endorsed letter from a District Judge that “carried weight with it”, but the chief did not remember the judges’ name.
Broxs’ attorney stated that “nothing illegal has taken place. This program is run by high-ranking police officials, who thought this program was a good idea.” He also stated that a “number of Casinos” also agreed with it. Deputy Chief McCurdy claims of no ranking officers have ever signed off on it.
Alcohol and Pot Use on the Rise for Teens
Alcohol and marijuana use among teens is on the rise, ending a decade-long decline, a study being released Tuesday found.
"I'm a little worried that we may be seeing the leading edge of a trend here," said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which was releasing the study. "Historically, you do see the increase in recreational drugs before you see increases in some of the harder drugs."
The annual survey found the number of teens in grades 9 through 12 who reported drinking alcohol in the last month rose 11 percent last year, with 39 percent — about 6.5 million teens — reporting alcohol use. That's up from 35 percent, or about 5.8 million teens, in 2008.
For pot, 25 percent of teens reported smoking marijuana in the last month, up from 19 percent.
Until last year, those measures for pot and alcohol use had been on a steady decline since 1998, when use hovered around 50 percent of teens for alcohol and 27 percent for pot.
The study also found use of the party drug Ecstasy on the rise. Six percent of teens surveyed said they used Ecstasy in the past month, compared with 4 percent in 2008.
If parents suspect their teen is using, they need to act quickly, Clarkin said. Monitor them more closely, talk with them about drugs, set rules and consult outside help, like a counselor, doctor, clergy or other resource, he said.
The researchers asked teens how they felt about doing drugs or friends who did them. The study found a higher percentage of teens than in the previous year agreed that being high feels good; more teens reported having friends who usually get high at parties; and fewer teens said they wouldn't want to hang around kids who smoked pot.
Stacy Laskin, now 21 and a senior in college, said marijuana was everywhere during her high school years. Laskin said she tried pot and drank alcohol in high school, but didn't make it a habit like other kids she knew.
"The behavior I saw people go through — and to see how far people can fall — really turned me away more than anything else," Laskin said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Her close friend from high school died in 2008 from a heroin overdose. Laskin, a psychology major at Salisbury University in Maryland, was so torn by her friend Jeremy's death that she decided to help others and is working on her second internship at a drug treatment center.
"Just seeing the negative impact made me want to get involved," she said.
"I'm a little worried that we may be seeing the leading edge of a trend here," said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which was releasing the study. "Historically, you do see the increase in recreational drugs before you see increases in some of the harder drugs."
The annual survey found the number of teens in grades 9 through 12 who reported drinking alcohol in the last month rose 11 percent last year, with 39 percent — about 6.5 million teens — reporting alcohol use. That's up from 35 percent, or about 5.8 million teens, in 2008.
For pot, 25 percent of teens reported smoking marijuana in the last month, up from 19 percent.
Until last year, those measures for pot and alcohol use had been on a steady decline since 1998, when use hovered around 50 percent of teens for alcohol and 27 percent for pot.
The study also found use of the party drug Ecstasy on the rise. Six percent of teens surveyed said they used Ecstasy in the past month, compared with 4 percent in 2008.
If parents suspect their teen is using, they need to act quickly, Clarkin said. Monitor them more closely, talk with them about drugs, set rules and consult outside help, like a counselor, doctor, clergy or other resource, he said.
Stacy Laskin, now 21 and a senior in college, said marijuana was everywhere during her high school years. Laskin said she tried pot and drank alcohol in high school, but didn't make it a habit like other kids she knew.
"The behavior I saw people go through — and to see how far people can fall — really turned me away more than anything else," Laskin said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Her close friend from high school died in 2008 from a heroin overdose. Laskin, a psychology major at Salisbury University in Maryland, was so torn by her friend Jeremy's death that she decided to help others and is working on her second internship at a drug treatment center.
"Just seeing the negative impact made me want to get involved," she said.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Probation Has A Silver Lining
Fleiss said she shouldn't have any trouble living up to the terms of her probation as she has to stay off of drugs for the rest of her life, so three years is no problem. In July, she pleased guilty to use of methamphetamine and possession of Hydrocodone without a prescription. It started from a 2008 traffic stop where she was found in possession of six Hydrocodone pills and after a blood test, methamphetamine was shown in her system. From then, she was banned from gambling because her probation report showed it might fuel her addictions.
The only problem Fleiss has with her probation is that she has to get permission to leave the state. She has many pending issues to sort out but if she makes it through her three years of probation without any violations, the felony convictions will be removed from her record.
"Part of me likes acting"
A state psychiatrist who has posted 600 videos online under the persona “Doctor of Mind” — some in his underwear, others talking glibly about suicide, wrist slashing and mind-altering drugs — is having his moonlighting activities examined by the Nevada Division of Health and Developmental Services, officials said Monday.
Dr. Mark Viner, a board certified senior psychiatrist who works for Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, has posted the Doctor of Mind clips on the sites medclip.com and YouTube. Viner appears in the videos, which are apparently intended to be funny, with his hair mussed like a mad scientist’s, speaking in affected, slurred and spaced out tones about psychiatric drug recommendations and mental health problems.
“I’m trying to present a topic in a way people will watch and learn," he said. “I’m trying to be provocative, unconventional. It’s comic, or quirky. I wouldn’t say bizarre. I think it’s what you have to do to get attention.”
Viner’s videos have been viewed 1.14 million times, his YouTube channel has more than 250,000 viewings and he has more than 2,000 regular subscribers. Almost all the feedback is positive, he said. The state pays Viner an annual salary of $176,902. State officials have not contacted him about the videos or any pending personnel action, he said. As a side business, he sells T-shirts, mugs and CDs, and eventually wants to have a professionally produced show for television, radio and the Internet. Viner also sees patients in his private practice, and specializes in medications and suicide prevention. Viner says he turns off the Doctor of Mind persona when he’s seeing patients or giving presentations. He said he never mentions Nevada in his videos, so he didn’t think they could be a reflection on the state’s mental health system.
“I was born and raised in Hollywood. Part of me likes acting, comedy,” he said.
The state has known about the videos since mid-2009, a spokesman for Health and Developmental Services said, but decided to review them this past week after a citizen complained to legislators and state officials. Some mental health professionals find Doctor of Mind totally inappropriate. Dr. Ole Thienhaus, a psychiatrist and dean of the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine, said Viner has always been known to be eccentric, but the videos are “disturbing” and undermine the practice of psychiatry. “I think they’re terrible at a time when we’ve made some strides in establishing psychiatry as an ethical and medical subspecialty,” Thienhaus said. “They send exactly the wrong message: (that psychiatry) is weird or strange. It’s almost like magic, a little voodoo-like.”
Viner is an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine because he supervises medical residents at the Dini-Townsend Hospital, a mental facility in Sparks. Thienhaus said that if Viner worked for him, he would examine his practice patterns.
“He sounds like he could be high on something” in the videos, Thienhaus said. “That’s all I can say.”
The “Doctor of Mind” character comes off a bit like a character that would be played by comedian Dana Carvey — except he’s not as funny.
In an episode called “Tonight Show starring Doctor of Mind MD,” Viner wears a yellow sport coat and flips through note cards detailing the “top 26 methods of suicide” that are reported at the emergency room where he works. He races through a stack of cards, listing each method and then glibly tossing aside the cards. “... Firearms ... hanging ... stabbing with a knife, driver suicide — where you want to drive off a cliff, let’s say ... suffocation, starvation ...”
Nevada has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation and experts say is underfunded in the area of suicide prevention. Viner is a nationally known expert on the topic. He wrote a book called “Suicide,” lectured on suicide prevention in Washington, D.C., this year and published on the subject in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The point of the “Tonight Show” spoof on suicide is unclear. There are no punch lines. Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, a longtime advocate for mental health services in the Legislature, called the videos “extremely unprofessional and disappointing.”
She said the videos “weren’t funny. They weren’t entertaining. They’re just disturbing. It doesn’t reflect good judgment.”
In a video called “Are you healthy enough for sexual activity?” Doctor of Mind lounges on a bed in red bikini briefs, his shirt unbuttoned exposing his chest and belly, saying he hates the commercials where consumers are told to call a doctor if they’re “in the middle of sexual activity” and worried about their health.
“Do me a favor, don’t call me,” Doctor of Mind says. In another video he bounces on his bed in his underwear briefs to the tune, “That’s the Way I like It.”
Las Vegas psychiatrist Dr. Lesley Dickson, secretary-treasurer of the Nevada Psychiatric Association, said if Viner wants to be an actor, he should play roles that are separate from the profession. He’s blurring the boundaries, she said.
“I don’t think it portrays our profession or mental illness very well,” the psychiatrist said. “I just have to question his judgment to do something like this.”
In another video about the potential dangers of psychiatric medications, Doctor of Mind lies on his back with his feet propped on a table facing the camera, as if they are in obstetric stirrups. He’s wearing no pants but is draped by a towel. His hands are high in the air and he’s saying that “these are mind-altering drugs that can be more dangerous than a pelvic exam.”
When asked if he made any videos of himself in his underwear, Viner said at first that they may have been “Photoshopped.” Later in the interview, he said, he “might have made one, but I took it down right away. He uses his wife and friends to give him feedback, he said, and sometimes removes videos from the Web sites.
“I’ve made 600 videos. There are probably a couple of questionable ones,” he said.
Thienhaus called the Doctor of Mind videos “funny in exactly the wrong way. It’s like a joke about a schizophrenic patient — it may make you laugh but it’s of very superficial value.”
Michael Beasley In Rehab
“Being locked down for as long as I was gave me a chance to really get back in touch with myself. I think over this past year, I’ve got caught up in the NBA life, as most of us do. I think this gave me the opportunity to just sit down and evaluate my life and get the good separated from the bad.” During a 17 minute interview with a few reporters he was asked if he has a substance abuse problem to which he replied no. He also does not expect to face further sanctions from the NBA, though he did acknowledge that he does expect that another violation would end up in suspension.
Beasley said he was able to spend 60 to 90 minutes a day working out at the rehab facility. The Heat shuttled many of their staff members to Houston to work with Beasley daily, including head coach Erik Spoelstra, who personally saw the second-year forward three times during his stay. Beasley commented that “During this worst hour, in my lowest hour, to know that my team and organization backed me up 100 percent, it gives me comfort, it gave me confidence in myself that I might have a lost and that might not have bee there first. It’s just making me feel a whole lot better as a player and a person.”
Largest Meth Bust in Mexico's History
Two raids by security forces have captured the largest seizure of methamphetamine chemicals in Mexico’s history. Agents seized over 20 tons of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine at Manzanillo port in the Pacific state of Colima and 17 tons the border city of Nuevo Laredo, across form Laredo Texas. These seizures are apart of a national crackdown launched in 2006 against drug gangs.
Hard Rock Rehab Bust
These stings follow a July 9th complaint by the Nevada Gaming Control Board about the Prive nightclub at Planet Hollywood. The complaint stated that there was lewd sexual behavior, illegal drug use and dangerous levels of drug abuse occurring at the club. The stings are routine and have been doing them for quite some time.
Drugs Linked to Downtown Shootout Death
Drugs may have been the motive behind the Sunday slaying of a man near downtown Las Vegas, an arrest report revealed Tuesday.
Jose Lopez, 57, was arrested Monday in the shooting death of Juan Valdez, 55. Lopez was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon.
According to the arrest report, Lopez told police that he was the driver and Valdez the passenger in a car parked at Fourth Street at Adams Avenue, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Lopez had picked up Valdez at a bus station and was taking him to meet a drug dealer, the report says.
Lopez told police that Valdez got out of the car to meet the drug dealer, described by Lopez as a black man. The dealer then started firing a handgun at Valdez, Lopez said. Valdez retreated to the driver's side of the car as the shooter approached and fired another shot, the report states.
Lopez said he drove away, accidentally running over Valdez, the report states.
Witnesses told police the suspect was "white or a light-colored Hispanic man" and said the initial gunshots came from inside the car, with another shot fired after Valdez was pushed out of the car.
When Lopez was caught hours after the shooting, detectives found blood and cocaine inside the car, the report says.
According to the arrest report, Lopez told police that he was the driver and Valdez the passenger in a car parked at Fourth Street at Adams Avenue, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Lopez had picked up Valdez at a bus station and was taking him to meet a drug dealer, the report says.
Lopez told police that Valdez got out of the car to meet the drug dealer, described by Lopez as a black man. The dealer then started firing a handgun at Valdez, Lopez said. Valdez retreated to the driver's side of the car as the shooter approached and fired another shot, the report states.
Lopez said he drove away, accidentally running over Valdez, the report states.
Witnesses told police the suspect was "white or a light-colored Hispanic man" and said the initial gunshots came from inside the car, with another shot fired after Valdez was pushed out of the car.
When Lopez was caught hours after the shooting, detectives found blood and cocaine inside the car, the report says.
Children on medication for ADHD
What is ADHD and how do drugs play a part in its treatment, and can those medically assisted treatments become dangerous to the child in the form of substance abuse? Dr. Lisa Glasser, pediatrician with Sunrise Children’s Hospital, treats and assists in the dangerous in the diagnosis of children with ADHD. She agrees parents should be on top of what medications their children are taking, but no to be afraid of ADHD medications, when used correctly. According to the center for Disease Control 4.5 million children, ages 5-17 years diagnosed with ADHD as of 2006. The CDC estimates 3 to 6 percent of school children in the United States have ADHD. By state, Nevada falls in the middle range of 7.1-8 percent of ADHD diagnoses, with a low percent in Alabama.
While more boys than girls have it, across the board the disorder can persist into adulthood. The cause is unknown; however, environmental, neurological, and hormonal factors have been pointed to as possible culprits. The terms ADD and ADHD are often used interchangeably whether the patient has symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsiveness or not. ADHD is the official name used by the American Psychiatric Association. The main medications used to treat ADHD are methylphenidate-based medications and Adderall or mixed amphetamines, Glasser said. The main drug used to assist ADHD, such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine, affect the regulation of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. The drugs regulate these chemicals in the brain in different ways so that the ADHD patient can focus their attention and control impulses, thoroughly think through plans and organize thoughts. Some side effects include decreased appetite, difficulty sleeping, increased anxiety, nervousness or restlessness, irritability and headache. If all goes well, the patient should have a greater overall quality of life and is not dependent on the drugs used in the process as most children adjust on their own and tend not to show symptoms as they enter adulthood.
Some parents simply don’t want to start down the road of stimulant medication assistance in the treatment of ADHD. The medications themselves don’t cure ADHD and often other stimulants outside of drug therapy do a world of good for a child. Behavioral therapy is also an effective method in accordance with medications. This includes time where a child spends time outside actively playing instead of in front of a television. The current thinking that stimulant or medication therapy can eventually lead to substance abuse of other drugs, alcohol, or nicotine is off base. Children who are diagnosed with ADHD and are not medicated often have a higher risk of substance abuse. But that doesn’t mean should not be involved in prescription, delivery and monitoring of the medications in their children’s diagnosis with ADHD.
While more boys than girls have it, across the board the disorder can persist into adulthood. The cause is unknown; however, environmental, neurological, and hormonal factors have been pointed to as possible culprits. The terms ADD and ADHD are often used interchangeably whether the patient has symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsiveness or not. ADHD is the official name used by the American Psychiatric Association. The main medications used to treat ADHD are methylphenidate-based medications and Adderall or mixed amphetamines, Glasser said. The main drug used to assist ADHD, such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine, affect the regulation of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. The drugs regulate these chemicals in the brain in different ways so that the ADHD patient can focus their attention and control impulses, thoroughly think through plans and organize thoughts. Some side effects include decreased appetite, difficulty sleeping, increased anxiety, nervousness or restlessness, irritability and headache. If all goes well, the patient should have a greater overall quality of life and is not dependent on the drugs used in the process as most children adjust on their own and tend not to show symptoms as they enter adulthood.
Some parents simply don’t want to start down the road of stimulant medication assistance in the treatment of ADHD. The medications themselves don’t cure ADHD and often other stimulants outside of drug therapy do a world of good for a child. Behavioral therapy is also an effective method in accordance with medications. This includes time where a child spends time outside actively playing instead of in front of a television. The current thinking that stimulant or medication therapy can eventually lead to substance abuse of other drugs, alcohol, or nicotine is off base. Children who are diagnosed with ADHD and are not medicated often have a higher risk of substance abuse. But that doesn’t mean should not be involved in prescription, delivery and monitoring of the medications in their children’s diagnosis with ADHD.
Alcohol Abuse in the Army on the Rise
The Army needs to double its staff of substance-abuse counselors to handle the soaring numbers of soldiers seeking alcohol treatment, said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army's No. 2 officer.
About 300 more counselors are needed to meet the demand, cut wait times and offer evening and weekend services, Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
Last year, 9,199 soldiers enrolled in treatment after being diagnosed with alcohol problems, a 56% increase over 2003, when the Iraq war started, according to Army records released Monday. Overall, 16,388 sought some type of counseling, data show.
In 2003, 5,873 enrolled in treatment from the 11,309 soldiers who sought counseling.
"There's no doubt in my mind that since 2001 and being involved in two wars ... that we probably have a higher incidence of alcohol abuse," Chiarelli said.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Horne, chief of Army human resources and policy, said "we need the nation's help" in finding more counselors. The service is currently down 20% from its authorized staffing level of 290, said Les McFarling, director of the Army Substance Abuse Program.
Last year, then-Army secretary Pete Geren asked Chiarelli to work to reduce the Army's record rate of suicide. Chiarelli said substance abuse has been identified as an issue in many of the deaths, which reached 160 confirmed and suspected cases in 2009.
McFarling said many soldiers are referred for substance-abuse counseling after an incident such as being cited by police for drunken driving. If counselors determine they do not have an alcohol-abuse problem, the soldiers are required to go through a two-day educational course instead of a formal treatment program.
Alcohol remains a much larger problem than drug abuse, making up 85% of the Army substance-abuse treatment caseload, McFarling said.
Last year, the Army started a program aimed at reducing the stigma associated with seeking help for alcohol problems. At three Army installations, soldiers can seek alcohol-abuse counseling without their commanders being notified. The program allows soldiers to receive counseling off the post and during nights and weekends.
The Army would require more counselors to expand the program throughout the service, Horne said. The Army wants to have one counselor for every 1,600 soldiers instead of the current target of one for every 2,000, he said. The officials did not give a cost estimate for the additional counselors.
"We'll have more counselors on the scene that can see more people quickly," Horne said.
About 300 more counselors are needed to meet the demand, cut wait times and offer evening and weekend services, Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, said in an interview with USA TODAY.
Last year, 9,199 soldiers enrolled in treatment after being diagnosed with alcohol problems, a 56% increase over 2003, when the Iraq war started, according to Army records released Monday. Overall, 16,388 sought some type of counseling, data show.
In 2003, 5,873 enrolled in treatment from the 11,309 soldiers who sought counseling.
"There's no doubt in my mind that since 2001 and being involved in two wars ... that we probably have a higher incidence of alcohol abuse," Chiarelli said.
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Horne, chief of Army human resources and policy, said "we need the nation's help" in finding more counselors. The service is currently down 20% from its authorized staffing level of 290, said Les McFarling, director of the Army Substance Abuse Program.
McFarling said many soldiers are referred for substance-abuse counseling after an incident such as being cited by police for drunken driving. If counselors determine they do not have an alcohol-abuse problem, the soldiers are required to go through a two-day educational course instead of a formal treatment program.
Alcohol remains a much larger problem than drug abuse, making up 85% of the Army substance-abuse treatment caseload, McFarling said.
Last year, the Army started a program aimed at reducing the stigma associated with seeking help for alcohol problems. At three Army installations, soldiers can seek alcohol-abuse counseling without their commanders being notified. The program allows soldiers to receive counseling off the post and during nights and weekends.
The Army would require more counselors to expand the program throughout the service, Horne said. The Army wants to have one counselor for every 1,600 soldiers instead of the current target of one for every 2,000, he said. The officials did not give a cost estimate for the additional counselors.
"We'll have more counselors on the scene that can see more people quickly," Horne said.
Wisconsin has been known as a hotbed for social reforms, yet cracking down on drunken drivers has never been high on policymakers' to-do lists. Maybe that’s because so many have had to recite their ABC's on the side of the road. Big breweries once dominated the state and ties to the beer industry remain stout, giving way to a belief that hard drinking is as much a part of the Wisconsin culture as the Green Bay Packers and cheese. That's created a blind spot of sorts for the socially conscious state: drunken driving.
Wisconsin has long had the nation's highest rates of drinking among adults and some of the most lax laws on drunk driving. There's also a history of lawmakers who have been caught behind the wheel after having a few too many. It's a paradox for a state in which leaders pride themselves on being on the forefront of welfare program, health care, and workers' rights. The latest accused legislator is state Rep. Jeff Wood, who was charged with driving under the influence three times over a 10-month period. He has pleaded not guilty and appears poised to serve out his term with only a ceremonial slap on the wrist.
"Jeff Wood is a perfect example of protecting their own," said Judy Jenkins, whose pregnant daughter and 10 year old granddaughter were killed by a drugged driver. II would be surprised if they kicked him out."
For decades, lawmakers got busted for boozing and driving and never faced any repercussions from their colleagues. In one prominent example, Democratic state Sen. Russ Decker was arrested in 2005 for DUI. He lost his drivers license for six months but later rose to become state Senate Majority Leader. There was also the notorious 2004 arrest of then-Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. She drove her state-owned Buick into a ditch and had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 percent. Voters ended her political career two years later.
Wisconsin's tolerance of drunkenness goes against national norms, said Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor who was in the legislature for 13 years. And a 2008 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report showed 15.1 percent of the country's drivers age 18 and older drove under the influence of alcohol at least once in the past year. Wisconsin drivers let the nation at 26.4 percent. Utah was the lowest at 9.5 percent.
Lawmakers have been slow to strengthen drinking laws, partly out of fear the penalties one day may apply to them, Lee said. Wisconsin is the only state where the first drunken driving offence is a traffic violation and not a crime. It also was one of the last to lower the legal blood alcohol content limit from .10 to .08. And though Wisconsin's legal drinking age is 21, it's also legal for a child to drink alcohol if they are with a parent at a tavern.
Late last year, legislators toughened drunken driving penalties after public outcry over the state's lax laws. The changes included making the fourth drunken driving offence a felony and the first offence a misdemeanor if someone under the age of 16 is in the car.
Jenkins said more needs to be done. "I think things will slowly but surely change and that's our hope," Jenkins said, "but I would like to see it change more quickly before more people get killed."
Wisconsin has long had the nation's highest rates of drinking among adults and some of the most lax laws on drunk driving. There's also a history of lawmakers who have been caught behind the wheel after having a few too many. It's a paradox for a state in which leaders pride themselves on being on the forefront of welfare program, health care, and workers' rights. The latest accused legislator is state Rep. Jeff Wood, who was charged with driving under the influence three times over a 10-month period. He has pleaded not guilty and appears poised to serve out his term with only a ceremonial slap on the wrist.
"Jeff Wood is a perfect example of protecting their own," said Judy Jenkins, whose pregnant daughter and 10 year old granddaughter were killed by a drugged driver. II would be surprised if they kicked him out."
For decades, lawmakers got busted for boozing and driving and never faced any repercussions from their colleagues. In one prominent example, Democratic state Sen. Russ Decker was arrested in 2005 for DUI. He lost his drivers license for six months but later rose to become state Senate Majority Leader. There was also the notorious 2004 arrest of then-Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. She drove her state-owned Buick into a ditch and had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 percent. Voters ended her political career two years later.
Lawmakers have been slow to strengthen drinking laws, partly out of fear the penalties one day may apply to them, Lee said. Wisconsin is the only state where the first drunken driving offence is a traffic violation and not a crime. It also was one of the last to lower the legal blood alcohol content limit from .10 to .08. And though Wisconsin's legal drinking age is 21, it's also legal for a child to drink alcohol if they are with a parent at a tavern.
Late last year, legislators toughened drunken driving penalties after public outcry over the state's lax laws. The changes included making the fourth drunken driving offence a felony and the first offence a misdemeanor if someone under the age of 16 is in the car.
Jenkins said more needs to be done. "I think things will slowly but surely change and that's our hope," Jenkins said, "but I would like to see it change more quickly before more people get killed."
Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise in Las Vegas
"Prescription drugs are a huge problem in our state, second only to marijuana in terms of substances of abuse," Las Vegas Recovery Center Medical Director Dr. Mel Pohl said. "We're talking mainly about prescription pain killers. Second is anti-anxiety drugs like Valium, and the third is stimulant drugs." Pohl says deaths related to prescription drug abuse have skyrocketed in recent years. "That correlates with the increased number of prescriptions being written and increased abuse of these drugs over time," he said.
Hunt says, despite the state's efforts, the problem of prescription drug abuse is widespread. "I would be more worried about being in an accident and being hit by someone who was on a prescription drug than someone who was drinking alcohol," he said.
"(The) fact of the matter is that these are very addicting drugs. People become habitual and physically dependent on them. Their lives spin out of control," Dr. Pohl said. "The solution is (to) look at your drug use and stop the use. Get some help. Get some professional help."
Experts say most of the abusers are ages 18 to 25. They often get their medication from the medicine cabinets of family members. That is why experts urge people to properly dispose of their medications when they no longer need them.
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Opium In Afghanistan
Rates of individuals becoming addicts are supposed to increase, which in turn widens the window of war and poverty in Afghanistan. Unlike the United States, the close-knit nature of these communities of the Middle East makes these addictions a family affair. Instead of passing from one teenager to another, the habit passes from mother to daughter, father to son, and it turns entire villages into a landscape of depredation. Most families have pawned their belongings in order to pay for more drugs.
The country’s few drug rehabilitation centers are in the large cities far from these villages where opium addiction is at its worst. Even those who do seek help from these rehabs are often unable to get the help they need. A drug clinic in Takhar providence has a waiting list of over 2,000 people and only 30 beds. This leaves the villagers to drown in their opium addictions. They begin taking opium when they were sick, relying on it to for the anesthetic properties; opium is used to make morphine. In many of these small villages, the few shops in these towns do not even sell aspirin, which leaves sick individuals with smoking opium as the only solution. Its is common for parents or grandparents to blow opium smoke in their baby’s faces when they cry or get hurt, and from there it’s a downward cycle to a life addicted to opiates.
Mexican Drug Laws Become More Lenient
Mexico has experienced thousands of deaths form warring cartels for many years. It defies all logical actions to pass a law that would encourage drug-use. The law is part of a growing trend that is spreading across Latin America who considers treating drug use as a public health problem in order to make room in overcrowded prisons for violent traffickers instead of small-time users. Brazil and Uruguay have already eliminated jail time for individuals carrying small amounts of drugs. Argentina ruled out prison time for possession of pot last Tuesday. Colombia has decriminalized marijuana and cocaine, but still retains penalties for other drugs. Officials claim they are just drawing a line between users and traffickers.
These laws being put into action still makes the U.S. border feel concerned who consider it providing an official sanction on consumption of dangerous drugs.
Jail Time for City Councilwoman
Former Boulder City councilwoman, Karla Burton, had a less than bright day when she showed up to her DUI hearing intoxicated. This hearing was supposed to be the beginning of a year long process in which she could have avoided imprisonment. Instead the judge, Nancy Oesterle, ordered Burton to 25 days of jail time starting immediately after she had taken a breathalyzer and blew 0.115. She is to return to court the 27th of October.
Burton pled guilty September 16th to driving under the influence and was given a first offender break of going through the DUI Specialty Court rather than receiving a harsher punishment. Tuesday was her first appearance in the Specialty Court. Along with the initial jail time, Oesterle gave Burton a six month suspended sentence. If she does not complete the year-long DUI program, she will have to serve the entire six month sentence. Burton’s case has already been delayed five times since her arrest in February of ’07 at a gas station in Boulder City. Her Blood-alcohol content was .0274 at the time, which is over three times the legal amount.
Burton pled guilty September 16th to driving under the influence and was given a first offender break of going through the DUI Specialty Court rather than receiving a harsher punishment. Tuesday was her first appearance in the Specialty Court. Along with the initial jail time, Oesterle gave Burton a six month suspended sentence. If she does not complete the year-long DUI program, she will have to serve the entire six month sentence. Burton’s case has already been delayed five times since her arrest in February of ’07 at a gas station in Boulder City. Her Blood-alcohol content was .0274 at the time, which is over three times the legal amount.
Fight Against Meth Abuse
Law Enforcement officials, professionals in drug prevention and treatment, and many others have been working has to eliminate Meth from peoples lives. And it's working - Meth use has declined among young adults since 2002.
There is still much work to be done, however. In areas across the country where Meth use and production continue, this leaves a path of destruction that rips apart communities and families, endangers children, and overburdens police forces
Left untreated, drug addictions costs communities millions of dollars and places untold burdens on families. But treatment for addiction, including Meth, works. Not only does it work, but it's a no-nonsense way to fight the disease of addiction and break the cycle of drug abuse and crime often associated with Meth.
For every $1 invested in drug treatment programs, there's a $12 savings in crime and health care costs.
People can - and do- recover from Meth addiction.
Find out about substance abuse treatment, and support Meth treatment in your community.
There is still much work to be done, however. In areas across the country where Meth use and production continue, this leaves a path of destruction that rips apart communities and families, endangers children, and overburdens police forces
Left untreated, drug addictions costs communities millions of dollars and places untold burdens on families. But treatment for addiction, including Meth, works. Not only does it work, but it's a no-nonsense way to fight the disease of addiction and break the cycle of drug abuse and crime often associated with Meth.
For every $1 invested in drug treatment programs, there's a $12 savings in crime and health care costs.
People can - and do- recover from Meth addiction.
Find out about substance abuse treatment, and support Meth treatment in your community.
Drinking Causes British Health System Problems
The report was published by the NHS Confederation, a medical provider’s organization, and the Royal College of Physicians, which represents doctors. It warns that about 10.5 million adults in Britain drinks above the sensible limits, and 1.1 million have some form of alcohol addiction. The government recommends that men should not drink more than three or four units of alcohol per day, and women should not consume more than two or three. A small glass of wine or beer has just over one unit. A study at a hospital in Leeds found that one-fifth of all emergency room admissions were for alcohol-related problems, according to the report. At the current rate, the National Health Service cannot afford to continue treating alcohol-related problems at the current levels, and that health care provider’s need to more proactive in preventing adults from consuming too much alcohol. National statistics show a steady rise in the number of alcohol-related deaths among heavy drinkers in their 40s and 50s who have abused alcohol for decades. From 1991 to 2006, the number doubled to 8,758. The government’s top medical adviser has suggested raising the price on alcohol to help curb the binge drinking culture, and the government has promised to launch public awareness campaigns about the dangers of alcohol.
Alcoholics Misread Expressions
How does alcohol do all that? A new study finds that the brains of long term alcoholics, even those who have long abstained, often differ from nonalcoholic’s' in ways that make them poorer judges of facial expressions. In particular, alcoholics register less intensity in the amygdala and hippocampus (collectively known are the limbic system) when observing faces. For the study, 15 abstinent alcoholics and 15 nonalcoholics have looked at pictures of faces and were asked: "How intelligent is each person?" Each face expressed positive, negative, or neutral emotions. Meanwhile, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University peered into their brains using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, which tracks brain activity form second to second. Nonalcoholic’s' limbic system showed strong activity when the photos projected emotion, but were relatively quiet for neutral expressions. The alcoholics' limbic system, on the whole, responded no differently whether the faces expressed strong or no emotion.
The participants in the two groups were matched on factors such as age, IQ, education and socioeconomic status. But their brains reacted completely differently when confronted with evidence of anger, joy, sadness, or disappointment.
Ksenija Marinkovic, one of the study's authors, cautioned that it left one of researchers' most burning questions unanswered: Did alcoholism blunt emotional sensitivity, or did emotional insensitivity come before the alcoholism? The idea that alcohol abuse damages the brain makes intuitive sense. But some research suggests instead that a child's cognitive deficits - especially in the realm of emotional intelligence - may set off a cascade of events leading to alcoholism.
Past research has shown that the children of alcoholics often exhibit the same deficits in reading emotions. Children of alcoholics are at far greater risk of becoming alcoholics themselves.
18 Killed in Mexican Rehab
Drug rehabs in Mexico have been targeted by Mexican Cartel's and Gangs. September 3rd a Rehab in Ciudad Juarez was attacked by a gang which resulted in 18 patients lined up and shot dead. This was the third recent attack on a rehab in Ciudad Juarez. Authorities are investigating centers that have potentially turned into hideouts for drug smugglers who are being sought after by Police or rival gangs. Several of the rehab centers have also been transformed into recruitment and training facilities for the cartels. It's been claimed by recent drug recruiter and smuggler Raphael Cedeno, that over 9,000 individuals have been recruited for the cartel since 2008. Cedeno claimed that the centers were retreats to train member and if addicts didn't cooperate they were executed.
Ciudad Juarez is the most dangerous city in Mexico which is within eye-sight of the U.S. Border. More than 1,300 people were killed this year alone. The blood-shed has continued despite the build-up of troops since March. The city is home to the Juarez Cartel, which is fighting rival gangs for routes into the U.S.
In June, 5 men were killed in an attack at another rehabilitation canter, while 50 patients scrambled over a back fence.
In August, gunmen barged into a pastor's sermon at a rehabilitation center and opened fire, killing 8 people.
Authorities don't know if the attacks were related. Many of these rehabilitation centers are left without guards or regulated. In response to these attacks, U.S. rehabilitation centers on the border, in El Paso TX, have been strengthened as a precautionary method.
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702.228.8520
http://www.solutions-recovery.com/
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