We Restore Hope

Goodman Could Be Freed From Jail

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:51:09 +0000

John Goodman could leave the Palm Beach County Jail this week. Despite being sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday, Goodman is expected to pay $7 million dollars bond while his defense attorneys work on his appeal.
　
The Wellington polo mogul was convicted in March of DUI manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson.
　
Judge Jeffrey Colbath is expected to sign a bond order, allowing Goodman to leave the jail. Colbath will require Goodman to remain on house arrest and have an off-duty officer supervise him 24 hours a day. He will have to wear a GPS anke bracelet at all times. Goodman will be expected to pay for the off-duty officer and the GPS bracelet.
　
The maximum jail sentence Goodman could have received in the case was 30 years. The prosecution had asked for 20 years, and the defense team had asked for 11 years. Colbath settled on middle ground with a sentence of 16 years in prison.

Positively Negative

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:43:09 +0000

This poem was shared with us last week. It was originally published by AA Grapevine in April, 1973. Written by Dick H.

Positively Negative

We can be positive that our drinking was negative. We drank for happiness and became unhappy. We drank for joy and became miserable. We drank to be outgoing and became self-centered. We drank for sociability and became argumentative.

We drank for sophistication and became crude and obnoxious. We drank for friendship and made enemies. We drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self pity. We drank for sleep and awaked without rest.

We drank for strength and felt weak. We drank for sex drive and lost our potency. We drank “medicinally” and acquired health problems. We drank because the job called for it and lost the job.

We drank for relaxation and got the shakes. We drank for confidence and became uncertain. We drank for bravery and became afraid. We drank for certainty and became doubtful.

We drank to stimulate thought and blacked out. We drank to make conversation easier and slurred our speech. We drank for warmth and lost our cool. We drank for cooleness and lost our warmth.

We drank to feel heavenly and knew hell. We drank to forget and were haunted. We drank for freedom and became slaves. We drank for power and were powerless. We drank to erase problems and saw them mulitiply. We drank to cope with life and invited death, or worse.

Chicago News Anchor To Enter Alcohol Treatment Program

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:52:11 +0000

Chicago news anchor Mark Suppelsa announced that he will enter a monthlong alcohol recovery program.
　
“Simply put, I have been abusing alcohol at the end of my work day as my family slept. It was my secret, and I became very accomplished at hiding it. I do my best to function at a high level and I know that it is my responsibility to correct anything that potentially interferes with my family or my work,” said Suppelsa in a written statement on WGN’s webiste.
　
Suppelsa hopes to return to his anchor job in June. He has the full support of the station’s management.

Job Loss Key To Drug Abuse

admin — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:52:09 +0000

The economy, stress and more drug and alcohol abuse. It is a dangerous combination in Florida, a state already struggling with the negative effects of the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
　
Unemployment in Florida has also reduced state revenue, which has resulted in less outpatient funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs. Treatment centers in the state are operating at maximum capacity and the system is stressed. That, in turn, has resulted in a doubling of Marchman Act commitments in Florida.
　
According to the Highlands County Clerk of Court’s office, 392 people were involuntarily committed to substance abuse programs through the Marchman Act in 2011. In the first quarter of this year, that number increased to 177. If commitments proceed at the same rate for the rest of 2012, they will reach 766.
　
Job loss and the inability to find another job are contributing to the problem. Families are stressed, and unfortunately, many people find themselves turning to drugs, prescription and illegal, as well as alcohol, to cope with the depression and misery of the situation.

New App To Locate Drug Disposal Sites

admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:52:10 +0000

The American Medicine Chest Challenge (AMCC) announced a new mobile app – AMCC Rx Drop – connecting users to the locations of permanent prescription drug collection boxes. The boxes are exclusively for the disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medications and targeting the highly addictive prescription drugs in medicine cabinets across the country.
　
The free app will link to the AMCC directory of local, county and state law enforcement sponsored permanent collection sites across the United States. The app links to hundreds of sites in 41 states and is available in both the Apple and Android stores.
　
“Having 24 hour access – in the palm of your hand – to locations of permanent sites will help parents and grandparents protect their families by safely disposing of their medicine,” said AMCC Chief Executive Officer Angelo M. Valente.
　

Teacher Fired After Drug Arrest

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:57:08 +0000

A teacher at Seminole High School in Sanford was fired this week after his arrest in April on charges of possessing marijuana and drug equipment.
　
The Seminole County School Board approved the firing of Richard Joy, Sr., a social studies teacher, after he was arrested on April 7 and charged on April 19 with felony possession of more than 20 grams of cannabis.
　
The district cited employee misconduct, violation of Florida Board of Education rules and School Board policy on professional ethics as the reason for the termination. Joy, Sr. was employeed since 2006.

Peak Age For Prescription Drug Abuse Is Sixteen Years Old

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:14:11 +0000

A new study by researchers at Michigan State University finds that the peak risk for abusing prescription pain pills happens at 16 years of age, and earlier than many experts previously believed. The study results are based on recent nationwide surveys of almost 120,000 American adolescents, and suggest that prevention programs may need to be introduced earlier – in childhood and early adolescence.
　
“While much of the previous thinking was that misuse of these drugs emerged in the final year of high school and during the college-age years, we found that for adolescents the peak risk of starting to misuse these painkillers generally occurs earlier, not during the postsecondary school years,” said James C. Anthony of Michigan State University’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
　
“We suspect many physicians, other prescribing clinicians and public health professionals, will share our surprise in this finding.”
　
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Michigan State University.

One In Eight Older Teens Abusing Painkillers

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:52:09 +0000

New research has learned that one in eight older teenagers has used powerful painkillers when they were not prescribed. Many of the teenagers begin abusing the drugs earlier than was previously assumed. This news is based on two nationally-representative surveys that asked teenagers about their recent or prior use of prescription painkillers.
　
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 14,800 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2008. That is three times the number of overdose deaths 20 years earlier. The country is experiencing a prescription drug abuse epidemic, creating societal problems that were not imagined two decades ago.
　
“The non-medical use of controlled medications in (teens) has surpassed almost all illicit drugs except for marijuana,” said pediatrician Dr. Robert Fortuna of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. “It’s just an alarming trend.”
　
More physicians are prescribing teenagers pain pills for conditions like back or knee pain. Many of the teenagers are in genuine need of the drugs, but some of the teenagers end up abusing the drugs. Despite this, researchers agreed that there are still valid reasons for prescribing these drugs to teenagers that really need them.

Connecticut Approves Medical Marijuana

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:34:10 +0000

The state Senate in Connecticut has approved a bill legalizing medical marijuana. The vote came after almost ten hours of contentious debate in the Senate chamber.
　
“Long term and chronic marijuana abuse has now been associated with adverse effects on the heart too,” said Senator Toni Boucher, a staunch opponent to the measure.
　
The bill will legalize marijuana for medical use and set strict regulations on who can use the drug and who can grow the drug.
　
Medical marijuana use is a controversial issue across the United States. Proponents talk about the benefits of the drug in alleviating chronic pain caused by cancer and other chronic diseases.

Three Airport Workers Indicted On Drug Smuggling Charges

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:49:06 +0000

A federal grand jury has indicted three U.S. airport workers on charges of conspiracy to smuggle methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.
　
Carlos R. Springer, Kelvin Rondon and Luis Marroquin are accused of conspiring to bring more than $500,000 worth of drugs into the country on a Delta Air Lines flight from Mexico City to Atlanta. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million dollars.
　
“We will continue to work with airline security teams and our law enforcement partners to prosecute those who attempt to use their airport credentials and access as a means to engage in illegal drug trafficking,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.