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Posts Tagged ‘treatment center’

New tip line for pill mills

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

The prescription drug abuse problem and proliferation of pill mills in Florida has led to the creation of a tip line. The Drug Enforcement Administration has started a tip line for pill mills in the hope of fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
 
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, undercover law enforcement officers have made hundreds of purchases of prescription painkillers from pill mill physicians in the last year.
 
The tip line is 888-954-4662. The website is

 

 Florida.Pill.Mill.Tips@USDOJ.GOV 

 

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Prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Oklahoma

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

According to autopsy reports in Oklahoma, hydrocodone abuse cost 130 people their lives in 2009. This figure is more than overdose deaths from methamphetamine and cocaine combined, reinforcing the fact that prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Oklahoma.
 
On a per capita basis, Oklahomans were prescribed more hydrocodone than Californians. This is compelling evidence that the epidemic of prescription drug abuse is escalating in Oklahoma, as in every other state in the country. The Drug Enforcement Administration found that only Nevada, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama exceeded Oklahoma in hydrocodone prescriptions in 2008. According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control, residents were prescribed 120 million hydrocodone pills in 2008.
 
“I used to say that prescription drug abuse is a silent cancer. But it’s manifested itself to the level where you don’t need an MRI to detect this cancer now. We’ve got to get a grip on this,” said Darrell Weaver, bureau director.

Prescription opioids are replacing traditional drugs

Monday, March 7th, 2011

More and more Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription drugs. An addiction researcher for Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health can explain the increase.
 
“In the illegal street market, prescription opioids have replaced traditional drugs, such as heroin,” said Dr. Jurgen Rehm. “The second reason pertains to the general population. When more and more people…have been using painkillers for medical purposes, a certain percentage become hooked on them.”

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health estimates that about 5 percent of adults in the province of Ontario are addicted to prescription pain medication. A 2010 study found that there was a 60 percent increase in admissions to drug treatment centers in Ontario between 2004 and 2009. The Canadian Medical Association Journal found that there was a 41 percent increase in deaths form opioids – both legally and illegally prescribed – in the period between 1999 and 2004.

Just Turn It Over

Friday, September 17th, 2010

At times in the beginning I wanted to just turn something over all right, most likely their chair, Due to the fear and anger I had when I walked in these doors. I was incapable of comprehending this well repeated suggestion. No one was explaining the process, just sharing as everyone understood what turning it over meant. As in the first step understanding my powerlessness over my addiction, yet again I was faced with relinquishing the control I had fought all my life to hold on too, even to death and back. To make this process even harder the slim faith I had was based in a non Judeo Christian belief which I was afraid would alienate me from those who were my last chance at having a productive life.

Through my sponsor I began to ask, those questions, how do I turn something over?, how do I know I turned something over?, what do I do when I take it back?

As always he smiled, He said the next time something comes up, ask yourself, is there anything I can do now or in the near future that will make the situation better for everyone not just myself? If I do take action am I doing it to make my life more comfortable or to truly make a positive difference in the world? Not that this instantly fixed everything, but it ran inline with my faith which believes for every action there is a positive or negative reaction. If I do have faith in something, and if I realize my powerlessness in any given situation and no positive can come from me in the situation, turning over to my faith or Karma is just leaving the situation alone and believing at least I will not be making it worse. This has begun to lighten my load and allow me to be more productive in the positive change I can effect these days. The more I have stepped aside the more I have been able to witness how spiritual energy will guide and protect me as long as I am willing to Turn It Over

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My Recovery

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis is most proud of her recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

“My recovery is the single greatest accomplishment of my life. And without that, the rest of my life would have fallen apart,” Curtis said.

“Some people get it. Robert Downey Jr. was in prison for a year. And he is not only the greatest movie star in the world, he’s a fantastic representative of someone who can repair the damage of their life. Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in a shambles and you have to change it. I was lucky. I didn’t have to lose anything.”

Curtis became addicted to prescription painkillers at the age of 35. Now 51, Curtis has been sober for more than 10 years.

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Prescription Opioids Causing Addiction to Street Drugs

Monday, September 6th, 2010

New research from the University of Buffalo found that prescription opioids are causing people to become addicted to street drugs like heroin and cocaine. Once addicted, almost all of the patients prescribed opioids wind up transitioning to drugs like heroin simply because they are generally cheaper and can be more readily accessible.

Of 75 patients hospitalized at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, New York, for detoxification, more than 41 percent told their physicians that they became addicted to street drugs after being prescribed prescription opioids like methadone, oxycodone, and fentanyl.  Ninety-two percent of all patients in the treatment program said the use of the prescription opioids actually led them to use street drugs. 

“This information suggests that there is a progressive nature to opioid use, and that prescription opioids can be the gateway to illicit drug addiction,” said Richard Blondell, M.D., professor of family medicine and the author of the study.

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Run for Recovery – Raising Money for Addiction Treatment

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

A man from Pasadena, California is raising money for addiction treatment by running. And running. The “Run for Recovery” will take Robin McGeough, 46, about 225 miles in ten days along the scenic Pacific coast. 

McGeough is a recovering alcoholic. Nineteen years ago, while drunk, McGeough was mugged in San Francisco and thrown out a window. The fall shattered both his feet.

“That’s when I bottomed out,” McGeough said. “My mother had to spoon-feed me during recovery, and doctors told me I’d probably never walk normally again, and that I’d have to use a cane. This is the miracle. Today I’m running. It’s a gift, and I want to give back to others.”

McGeough is now the program director for the 12-bed Charter Oak Recovery Center, a residential treatment center in Covina, California.

“I got involved in running to develop calm and spiritual healing, and I worked my way up to where I could do marathon runs. It got me to thinking, how can I do something extra to help?” 

Last year, McGeough did his first fundraising run and raising $4,800 for local addiction treatment programs.

This run is the equivalent of one marathon a day for 10 days.

McGeough said he likes stopping and talking with people about the importance of addiction treatment.

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Lindsay Lohan Completes 23 of 90 Day Alcohol Rehab

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Lindsay Lohan was released Tuesday night from court-ordered rehabilitation at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after only 23 days of treatment for addiction. Judge Marsha Revel ordered Lohan to complete 90 days in rehabilitation. Physicians at UCLA Medical Center, however, believed that Lohan should be released from treatment. The physicians did not specify why they believed an early release would be beneficial to Lohan. 

Lohan entered treatment after spending two weeks in jail in July for a probation violation for a 2007 drug case.

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Kennedy’s Wife Arrested and Charged with DUI

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s wife has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs. This arrest comes one month after Mary Richardson Kennedy’s license was suspended after her guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol.

New York state police said Kennedy was initially pulling over Saturday for speeding on the Taconic State Parkway. Kennedy had told the police she was on her way to a yoga class. Kennedy was allegedly going 82 miles an hour. At the time, the police suspected Kennedy was using prescription medication. 

Last month, Kennedy pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in her May DUI case. As a result, Kennedy avoided any jail time.

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