It is rather unusual, however, to find everyday citizens who choose to lay bare their family secrets to the world. But when Paul and Cheryl Vanacore of Lancaster read about an attempted suicide by a man and a woman in their 20s who were addicted to heroin on The Buffalo News, they decided to share their story.

In another feature on The Buffalo News the Vanacores share their experience with their eldest son Joshua, who is now serving a ten-year sentence for robberies that he committed in order to get money to finance his heroin habit.

Joshua Vanacore, however, did not have the kind of childhood that is stereotypical of a drug addict. His family moved to Lancaster from California when he was in the third grade. He played soccer as a kid and graduated from Lancaster Central High School in 2003. Cheryl reminisces: “He was a good boy. He came home every night for dinner, he came home every night for curfew. We never had any issue like that — never, ever in his whole life. I just can’t even believe what happened.”

It was after his graduation that Joshua started experimenting with painkillers Lortab and OxyContin. As he needed an increasing number of pills to get high, a friend introduced him to a cheaper alternative – heroin.

Heroin abuse is often associated with various health problems such as overdosing, miscarriages, HIV and AIDS and hepatitis. Users are often at risk of contracting HIV, Hepatitis C and other infectious diseases through sharing and recycling of syringes that have been used by other infected addicts.

Heroin often has immediate effects after a single dose and dissipates after a few minutes to few hours. After the initial dose, there is a surge of euphoria which is often followed by a warming sensation around the body. There is a certain “rushing” effect that overtakes the body, making the addict feel at ease. There is also suppression of pain, clouded mental functioning, and depressed respiration.

Extended use of heroin results in many dangerous illnesses. The addict may develop an increasing tolerance to Heroin and may feel the need to match every time the same level of pleasure. Using Heroin, especially intravenously, may result to collapsed veins, infections in the linings of the heart and valves, cellulitis, liver disease and abscesses. There is also a risk of  pulmonary complications such as pneumonia and may contribute to a user’s overall poor health. Other long term effects include bacterial infections, arthritis and other rheumatologic problems.

Recently a study on drug abuse had been conducted at Kalindini and Mombasa districts. The study, sponsored by National AIDS Control Council and carried out by DARAT, an organization based in Mombasa, indicated that a sample of 120 narcotic users including injecting drug users showed an exceptionally high rate of Hepatitis C and HIV positive cases. The drug users were all residents of Mombasa and Kalindini.

Dr. Timothy Mugusia, who was involved in the study said, “Over 70 per cent of them were found to be infected with hepatitis C while half of them were HIV positive.” He also said, “An abnormally high rate of HIV and hepatitis among injecting drug users at the Kenyan coast points to ‘flashing blood’ among local users.”

The practice was first reported in Dar es Salaam two years ago. Sheryl McUrdy of the University of Texas and Paul Kilonzo of the University of Dar es Salaam first reported the incidents of flash blood in a study published in the African Journal of Drug and Alcohol studies in 2006.

Dr. Mugusia estimated that there are around 6,000 drug injectors in Mombasa and Kalindini and most of the users are in their early 20s. The women in Mombasa have threatened to strip publicly if the government fails to take any immediate steps to check drug use in this part of the city since it is eroding the productivity of the youth.

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.

Let us explore today some blogsites that I found to be informative and interesting. Hope our readers will like them too.

The first I found is Drug Addiction Support (http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-blog.html). The site discusses common issues related to drug addiction, drug addiction syndromes, most common causes behind drug addiction, effects of drug addiction, and treatment modalities.

You will find nice, information rich articles that are easy to read and understand. It has a section on various drugs like cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, suboxone, marijuana, etc.

Next I found Narconon of Georgia (http://narcononofga.wordpress.com/alcohol-awareness/) quite interesting. Nice topics and good, authoritative content may help you if you are seeking information on drug and alcohol addiction. The site has added some videos which you may find to be very appealing.

You may also see Recovery Connection (http://www.recoveryconnection.org/) website that focuses on drug, alcohol, and substance abuse recovery and treatment plans. It has published a state-wise database of addiction treatment centers and information on the types of treatments offered in specific centers. You will find lots of information on Addiction Treatment Programs and Drug and alcohol Rehab Programs, Drug/alcohol Detox Programs, Dual Diagnosis Treatment Programs, Eating Disorder Programs, GLBT Addiction/rehab/detox Treatment and Detox Programs, etc.

Drug Rehabs.Org (http://www.drug-rehabs.org/) is dedicated toward rehab programs. You can have specific information if you are searching rehab programs for yourself, friend, family, spouse, children and you can search their database depending on the age of the person. The site has option of searching on the basis of the type of drug as well.

See Alcohol/Drug Help Line (http://www.adhl.org/) is an exclusive help line–based service provider. They run their service during Sunday through Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (previously it was 24-hrs helpline). The site presents some useful links if you wish to be a part of the rehab services or volunteer for some counseling.

We request our readers to write to us if you find some interesting sites/resources. This would help us in fighting the menace more comprehensively.

Access to drugs has become so easy nowadays with computer savvy teenagers purchasing drugs online. Internet pharmacies are now preferred by most teenagers since they can access any dangerous prescription drug as well as other street drugs like heroin, without any question. But parents now can take a sigh of relief. The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) in collaboration with Unyos, a Maryland – based software developing company, are helping parents, professionals and others by developing a software which will deal with the dangers that the internet pharmacies pose to the teenagers.

The resource will be available at the website www.websafeparent.com from September, 2009. “Drug addiction is a major problem of our society. It destroys human potential and community and has led to an overburdened criminal justice system. We are excited by the opportunity to help TRI address this misunderstood health care problem and continue the shift to prevention and treatment” said Mr.Carey Krez, CEO of Unyos.

TRI is a non-profit making research and development organization. It conducts researches in the field of addiction and transforms the findings into products that can be of use to service providers, policy makers, etc. The innovative approach taken by the alliance will provide science-based information and other multimedia resources as well as an online network. The site will be extremely beneficial for professionals and parents who are concerned about drug abuse, in understanding and dealing with threats of internet pharmacies. The information available in the site will be downloadable as well.  

Constance Pechura, Executive Director of TRI said “TRI conducts some of the best addiction research in the nation and is committed to increasing the impact of our findings by communicating them as broadly as possible.” She also added that “the TRI – Unyos collaboration has the potential to extend the reach of our discoveries to the very people who need but otherwise might not get them.”

The human brain, in very simplistic terms, has two parts – the neocortex which is located in front of the head and which receives, processes and stores information for decision making and for remembering.

The other part is the limbic system whose function is to control all the automatic systems of the body and the emotions. It also controls the survival responses, i.e. in a threatening situation it tells you to adopt “fight or flight” responses, i.e., either to defend yourself or run away from the situation.

Drugs and alcohol program the limbic system to avoid uncomfortable situations instead of making healthy responses to resolve the associated stress and the Cortex protects such faulty behavior pattern by a filtering process called denial. The result is the addictive brain.

A communication system exists within the brain whereby the information is received and processed. The individual brain cells or neurons communicate with one another through neurotransmitters or biological messengers. Psychoactive drugs change the normal pattern of communication in two ways:

• By  imitating the brain’s natural communication
• By overstimulating the brain’s reward system with dopamine

The chemical structure of drugs like marijuana and heroin is similar to that of neurotransmitters. Thus they can easily deceive the brain receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages. Cocaine and methamphetamines, on the other hand prevent the recycling of brain chemicals by releasing large amount of neurotransmitters. This blocks the signal between the neurons and the amplified message thus produced, disrupts the normal communication patterns.

Almost all drugs target the dopamine secretion which is normally related with emotions and feelings of pleasure. When overstimulated, it produces euphoric effects in response to drugs thereby reinforcing the habit of abusing drugs.

Artificial stimulation of the brain undoubtedly leads to irreparable damages in the brain cells.

Would you compromise your BRAIN for DRUGS?

Make a healthy choice, stay away from drugs.

Is cigarette a drug? The obvious answer is “NO”. But cigarette smoking has a direct influence on alcohol and other drug use. Can you ever think of a marijuana or a heroin user who has never smoked cigarette? Drug abuse and alcoholism has been a source of major concern for ages. Today young people are being exposed to drugs at a very tender age. Most of us are concerned with addiction to marijuana, heroin, cocaine, prescription drugs and others. But why do we overlook nicotine? It is high time that we deal teenage and adolescent smoking professionally. Since nicotine exposure at an early age increases the vulnerability of other drug use.

Tobacco has often been termed as a “GATEWAY DRUG” since it is the first substance consumed by the teenagers.

Studies conducted to find the origins of alcoholism and addiction to other drugs have indicated that smoking facilitates drug abuse. According to National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), nicotine makes adolescents vulnerable to alcohol and drug addiction by affecting the structural and chemical changes in the brain. As compared to teenagers who do not smoke, smokers are 9 times more likely to meet the medical criteria for past year drug alcohol abuse and 13 times more likely to meet the criteria for drug abuse. In a press release, the Jr. Chairman and President of CASA said, “Smoking by teens may well signal the fire of alcohol and other drug abuse and mental illnesses like depression and anxiety disorders”. One of the studies found that those who started smoking before 12 years of age were 3 times more vulnerable than non-smokers to binge drink, 13 times more likely to smoke marijuana and 7 times more prone to use heroin, cocaine.

Spread the message. Reach out to children. Talk to them about the ill-effects of smoking. Help them in making healthy choices.

In my earlier posting I spoke about the legalization of marijuana. But as a counselor it is my responsibility to sensitize people on the risks associated with its use. It is high time that people understand that smoking pot is not as harmless as it is thought to be.

This is specially for kids and their parents since contrary to the popular belief that marijuana is not popular among kids, the fact is the number of teens in treatment for marijuana dependency is more than that for all other illegal drugs. Teenage is the age of experimentation which might lead to addiction. Research shows that the potency of today’s marijuana is very high and is thus highly addictive. It also serves as a gateway drugs for teenagers who might gradually switch over to other extremely harmful substances like heroine, cocaine, etc.

Smoking pot has hazardous effects on the health of the smoker. Marijuana smoke destroys and leads to abnormal functioning of the lung tissue. The amount of carbon monoxide absorbed and tar inhaled is 3-5 times greater than cigarette use. Loss of motor co-ordination, increased heart rate, heightened anxiety and panic attacks are short term effects of the drug.

Marijuana also affects the brain activities. It impairs the attention, memory and learning capacities leading to poor academic performance. Pot smoking creates a trance like state which impairs judgment leading to risky decision making and involvement in unsafe behavior.

Longitudinal studies show that chronic use of the weed leads to deviant behavior patterns like aggression, delinquency, rebellious, poor relationship with parents.

Often we have found teens resorting to marijuana as a way to overcome depression. But pot can worsen the situation by increasing the level of depression and paving a path for other serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and even suicide.

Will you still believe that marijuana is not harmful?

Be on the guard. Spread the message, save children from using marijuana.

Brown Sugar is one of the most commonly used drugs. It is an adulterated form of Heroin – a derivative of opium. It is highly addictive in nature and is available in a powdered form in small vials. Brown sugar is around 20% heroin mixed with other impurities like chalk powder, rat poison (yes! It is true), zinc oxide or even strychnine.

Though the presence of such impurities makes the drug cheaper than heroin, it makes the users even more vulnerable to casualties, which might even lead to death. The route of intake of the drug varies. I found many who prefer to smoke it as cigarettes and there is yet another group that inhale the fumes of the powder heated on a foil while some inject subcutaneously or intravenously. In the long run they develop ugly looking and painful polyps on their nasal cavities.

The first episode of drug taking, as reported by most of the users, is not a very pleasant experience, as it may lead to a feeling of restlessness, vomiting. A person may even lose his or her senses. Gradually, they start to get the kick or high and the demand to use the drug increases and become drug dependant. The drug completely overpowers them. And, the thoughts and actions are controlled by it.

There are many ill effects of brown sugar. On the physical side, it leads to weight loss, loss of appetite, insomnia, respiratory tract infection, tuberculosis, gastrointestinal problems, viral hepatitis, skin infections and even dental problems. On the psychological side, it leads to irritability, lack of concentration, depression and frustration. There are also behavioral and social effects of brown sugar that lead to socially deviant behavior, involvement in criminal activities, compulsive lying and manipulation.

The ultimate destination of a brown sugar addict is prison or a rehabilitation centre or in the worst case, death.

Never experiment with Brown Sugar. Be assertive and say NO the very first day. If you know someone get him or her to the rehabs as fast as possible!