Posts Tagged drug overdose

Will “Good Samaritan” Laws Be of Help?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Addiction on July 12th, 2010

The Good Samaritan is a staple figure in Christian belief, that one man who had compassion to help a troubled fellow man lying on the wayside. In this day and age, this same symbolism is being invoked, in the hopes of saving troubled lives due to drug abuse.

heroin abuseIn a feature on Newsweek early this month, recommendations given by researchers from Roosevelt University in as far as medical care for heroin overdoses were concerned were discussed. The study determined that Chicago had the highest number of emergency room visits related to heroin; those who were able to make to emergency rooms and constituted this statistic, however, are the lucky ones.

The feature shared stories about friends leaving their friends – addicts and users all – who overdose on heroin to die. Some are left in bedrooms and bathrooms as they OD, their bodies dumped and disposed of unceremoniously. This choice is made so as to stay away from prosecution, which is what both the victim and the one who calls for help will face.

In most states, a friend who dials 911 or takes the time to bring a friend who has OD’d to a hospital can be prosecuted for use, possession and distribution. Meghan Ralston, of the Drug Policy Alliance, shared: “That sends a chilling, disturbing message to all people who will one day witness an overdose… People who use drugs tend to be highly aware that they can be arrested for drug possession at any time, under any circumstance.”

It is for this reason that there is a push towards what are being termed as “Good Samaritan Laws,” which essentially calls for the granting of limited immunity from prosecution for drug users who seek help for a companion during an overdose. There are those, however, who oppose these laws, saying that it is tantamount to condoning drug dealers.

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Family and Drug Addiction

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing on December 7th, 2009

family

The family of an addicted person plays a pivotal role which could be either detrimental or beneficial for his recovery. Family members may be closely involved with several aspects of addiction: their response to addiction, their response to the dependent person and influence on the course of addiction and their role in the individual’s treatment and aftercare, which may either aid or precipitate relapse.

Most of the family members suffer from tension, anxiety, depression, insomnia and other such symptoms. They may also have serious social and psychological problems. Strong senses of anger, guilt as well as a desire for vengeance are not uncommon. Denial of the existing problem by the family members worsens the situation. Denial is an unconscious process of blocking out reality. The problem of denial is manifested in different ways like failure to see the problem entirely, recognizing the extent or severity of the problem, realizing the connection between drug use and the problems it has caused and above all understanding the fact that the drug dependent needs help in dealing with the problem.

The family members try their best to cover up the misdeeds of the addicted person, completing his unfinished work, paying the bills that he did not pay and rescuing him from various kinds of problems like legal problems. They usually take up the responsibilities which the addict has abandoned. Denial allows everyone to pretend that there is no problem. The longer the denial goes on, the longer it takes before the drug user changes his behavior.

A significant family member can thus be either supportive or inductive. The former category can greatly reduce damage and can be extremely useful in treatment. But the inducer shows extremely unsupportive behavior which actually induces the individual to continue drug use. He constantly rebukes him, imposes excessive surveillance, restriction and threats all of which actually worsen the situation and induces drug use.

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Women and Drug Addiction: Any Correlation?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 14th, 2009

drug and women copy
Drug addiction is a serious problem that has been affecting both the genders without any bias. Women have been known to play the multiple roles of home makers as well as bread earners. But the common notion about the fairer sex is that they are emotionally stronger than males and have a strong shoulder to bear all the responsibilities that their counterparts fail or resign from doing. But the truth is that the more you are tough the easier it is to break you.

The underlying vulnerability is masked by the toughness and the burden of responsibilities and constant stress make them internally vulnerable and a physical or emotional disturbance might cause a turmoil triggering drug abuse leading to drug dependency.

Women drug abusers face serious challenges to their well-being during their lives. Researches show that a large number of them present a history of physical and sexual abuse. The condition worsens when such women get into flesh trade just to earn the money to sustain their drug taking habit. The result is obvious – sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS.

Often it is found the initiation of the habit is through her male counterpart – spouse or boyfriend- who is also an addict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the women to abstain from drugs since the lifestyle of the partner supports it.

Research indicates that women become more easily dependent on certain drugs like cocaine even after experimental or casual use. Thus by the time she seeks treatment she may be severely addicted.

A problem with female addicts is that most of the time they do not seek treatment due to fear of rejection from their family members, community. But treatment is an absolute necessity for them. A comprehensive treatment approach that takes care of the special needs of women together with support and encouragement from the family and community is essential to help them in refraining from addiction.

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Legalizing Pot – will that really help?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 12th, 2009

Pot
The ban on cannabis use in California had been in effect since 1913. After 96 years the state Assembly is considering the issue of legalizing the use of pot just like alcohol. The Assembly Public Safety Committee considered the legal, financial and criminal consequences of legalizing the drug. The state has been going through budget crisis and it is being held that the millions of dollars that goes towards fighting cultivation, sale and use of this cash crop could be utilized to aid the state to overcome this crisis. Tax officials believe that the struggling state could earn revenue of around $1.4 billion annually.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said, “It is time to take our heads out of the sand and start to regulate this $1.4 billion industry. By doing so, we can enact smart public money that will bring much needed revenue into the state and improve public safety by utilizing our limited law enforcement resources more wisely. The move toward regulation is simply common sense.” The $1.4 billion is Ammiano’s estimated value of both illegal and medical marijuana. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger does not support the matter but said that he is open to a “robust debate” since the legalization could save money and generate state funds.

The law enforcement agencies stand against the issue. According to them, legalization of pot will increase the use of the drug and crimes associated with it. But Ammiano felt that regulation would decrease the accessibility of the drug to young people, “specially those recruited to sell it.”

Opponents like John Redman of Californians For Drug Free Youth said, “This is bad to tax something that is going to be harmful to our youth, harmful to our communities, harmful to our churches.”

Problems related to alcohol and prescription drug use has been growing by leaps and bounds in the state and the nation as a whole. Don’t you think legalization of pot will add to the problem?

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Cocaine Addiction Escalates in London

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 10th, 2009

new-cocaine-vaccine_1

Britain has the highest number of cocaine abusers than any other country in the European Union – a report furnished by the Home Office (interior ministry) declared this.

The official figures showed that 12,354 adults were now receiving treatment for dependency on cocaine. The figures also indicate that 3 percent of all 15-69 years olds used cocaine in the previous year meaning that almost a million people had taken the drug – the highest number since data was first collected in 1996.

The workers of the finance sector have been worst affected and the major responsibility for this critical situation has been attributed to the constant stress and depression that has resulted from recession. Don Serratt, the Chief Executive of Life Works, said he has noticed a 25 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for alcohol or cocaine abuse in the past few months. American born Mr. Serratt was addicted to drug and alcohol but has maintained sobriety for the past 27 years.

“It has a lot to do with the current economic environment,” voiced Serratt. “Either they have been made redundant or (they have) fears around being made redundant or fears around lowered income because many of these people have high personal overheads,” he said. “Even if you keep your job but you are looking at making a fraction of what you made, it adds quite a bit of stress.”

The users generally did not admit that they were having a problem until their performance was affected. Thus it took nearly nine months for the problem to surface. He accused the firms for not being able to handle the problem and for not treating it seriously. “Most of them do not even have a drug or alcohol policy,” he said. A lot of firms even have no training to identify and to deal with addiction.

Britain’s economic crisis might be easing now but the situation regarding drug use might not improve with that ease.

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Prescription Drug Abuse Needs Special Attention

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 4th, 2009

prescription drug

The dangers associated with prescription drug abuse were brought to light in 2007 when a 24 year old man and a 13 year old girl overdosed within a spell of three months. Since then abuse of Rx drugs has reached alarming proportions. It is high time that the government pays special attention to the issue or else the loss that the country is sure to face in terms of youth potentials, is beyond imagination.

Inland Rep Mary Bono Mack told the members of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee that the nation’s domestic drug policy should give emphasis on the problem of prescription drug abuse – a problem which is growing beyond proportions. “Just because it’s sitting in the medicine cabinet doesn’t mean its safe,” she said before the subcommittee that had approved legislation that would create a commission to assess the effectiveness of U.S. counter-narcotics efforts.

The members of the legislation agreed to what Bono Mack said. Subcommittee Chairman Elliot Engel said, “For too long our country has been overly focused on the supply side of the drug trade, while paying far too little attention to what happens here at home.”

Bono Mack’s own son, Chesare is a recovering addict who first started taking Oxycontin, a painkiller, after the death of his father, former entertainer and Inland Rep. Sonny Bono. Chesare’s Oxycontin addiction later escalated to heroin addiction. This transition from prescription drugs to heroin is a common feature amongst this population.

A special drug-diversion unit is being formed by the Montana Department of Justice to fight against the growing problem in the state. The special unit will be funded by a $ 1.2 million stimulus grant through the U.S. Department of Justice. The team will comprise of six members – three investigators, a public outreach and education co-ordinator, a prosecutor and an administrative assistant. Their approach will include prevention, law enforcement and treatment.

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