Harm reduction is the latest buzz work in the treatment industry, drawing both praise and controversy. Politically and socially, the concept of harm reduction draws fire from Darwinist conservative thinking which shadows America’s judicial system and drug laws. America’s need for toughness in this respect, demands that addicts face the attrition of success or failure. Failure equates to jails or death. The other side of this is really the recognition of addiction as a disease. Partly as a result of scarce availability of treatment and recovery, compassionate liberal American’s have recently sought to reduce harm to addicts through the acceptance of the disease and by minimizing the hazards present on the streets. Dr. Andrew Tatarsky has become a lead source in providing information on harm reduction. His website page, Harm Reduction News is a great place to stay on top of what is going on in the world regarding harm reduction.
MOMS UNITE TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS ! EFFORTS BEING PLANNED
Experts Struggle to Determine Overdose Deaths. “Overdoses from prescription drugs have sometimes led to civil or criminal charges against prescribing physicians, but even toxicologists have problems distinguishing between overdose deaths from other causes, Time Magazine reported June 16. The result is that the courts, not heath officials, are often left to determine drug users’ cause of death. Complicating factors include use of alcohol or other drugs in combination of prescription medications and underlying health conditions…” Read on in Time Magazine. links and quotes by Gretchen
HOT TOPIC The jailing of mentally ill drug addicts. Senator Jim Webb states in his address to the U.S. Senate that there are four times as mentally ill prisoners currently incar
cerated than there are in treatment facilities. Drug addiction is the number one conduit for persons who have mental illness to find themselves in jail. This piece focuses on one family’s impact from this reality. Read ” The System is Crazy”.
methadoneman.com wants to stop the spread of HIV by reducing street based heroin use. Click on the image above to view a PDF comic book fact sheet.
Meet The Five Moms, featured on the website; Stop Medicine Abuse. These moms have a message for any parent who might be in denial about their kids playing to close the edge of that slippery slope of drug abuse. Chances are, if your kid is seeking out a high at age 13, 14 or 15; the writing is on the wall and you better get on it quick. Dr. Drew Pinsky talks about one early warning sign; the use of DXM found in off the counter cough medicine. Now they want to thank you. Links by Dave Levy
Sherry McGinnis is a member of the Parent Advisory Board of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The loss of her youngest son prompted her to write three books on drugs and addiction. Online: theaddictionmonster.com This past Father’s Day Sherry wrote a tribute to the dads that have lost a son or a daughter; a loss that is all too often to the disease of addiction that haunts thousands of fathers and mothers across America “…The empty chair at the dinner table is a silent but painful reminder of his loss; the phone that doesn’t ring. Gone is the playful teasing between father and son or the special glow in a dad’s eye as he watches his daughter grow from daddy’s little girl into a young woman…” Read the rest of her tribute at this link: Father’s Day good time to honor men who have lost their children These links are provided by Sherry McGinnis.
Statistically, two years goes by before a parent discovers their child is an addict. Common pain killers in the average medicine cabinet are opiate based, and young prescription drug abusers unable to escape the clutches of addiction eventually turn to street heroin for its affordability and availability. By then it’s horribly impacting on families and communities. Best for folks to educate themselves. Here are some resources: Time to Act • Not My Kid • Clear Choices • Parents: The Anti Drug • Adolescent Services Chances are if something doesn’t feel right, well, it probably isn’t. Opiate based drugs are indiscriminate killers. Not long ago one promising young Chandler, Arizona athlete played around with pain killers too long. Drifting into heroin addiction, he met a tragic fate at age 17. Links by Mary Slivinski
Sheryl Letzgu
s McGinnis is not just another parent who lost a child to drugs
She collected accounts of 39 other parents who experienced similar loss and published, I am Your Disease: The Many Faces of Addiction. Two years later Sheryl published, Slaying the Addiction Monster which illustrates her own all-inclusive look at the world of drugs and addiction and its personal impact. Knowing how insidious the disease of addiction is; often luring our children, she wrote the book, The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat, geared to tweens from age 10 and up. Drug addiction touches many people. It is a bigger problem that most care to admit. People like Sheryl are waking up America.
Dadonfire is on The Partnership for a Drug Free America. The first piece is now featured on their outreach blog: INTERVENE. We may not eliminate drug addiction in America; but we can cut it half, saving billions. Loved ones of addicts can start taking back their lives while putting their best foot forward by taking a stand. The Partnership reaches out to families impacted by the addiction of teens and young adults with prevention, education and treatment programs. The parents resource center is one of PDFA’s education sites that is rich with information like: talking to kids • alcoholism in the family • the hows and whys of kids and drugs. Links courtesy of Mary S.
An Archetypal Understanding of Criminalized Drug Addicts An interesting and socially-important psychological review of the criminal archetype, that views the phenomenon of criminalized drug addiction both from the inside, as well as from the academic perspective. Dr John Smethers takes us on a deeply personal journey, looking at the root causes and effects of a sub-culture populated by society’s social outcasts. Sample from the 2008 bookBarbara Sinor asks America to wake up to the reality of addiction. She lost a son to this disease and is talking and writing about it in her newest book; Tales of Addiction. She talks about you…about us. Dr. Sinor also has written a piece in a Southern California newspaper called California Together. Download the PDF file and check it out. She is asking America to “wake up” What can we do to make an impact. Links by Dr. Barbara Sinor, PhD
“…Stephen King has written 63 books, and is estimated to be worth over $150 million. But in his recently re-released memoir, “On Writing: 10th Anniversary Addition: A Memoir of the Craft,” King tells us that for years, his drug and alcohol addictions were so bad, he can barely remember working on some of his best-known best-sellers…” “…most psychological theorists credit our inner fears, anxieties and primitive urges as the fuel that drives intellectual growth. The ordinary citizen seeks to avoid them. The artist dives right in…” These quotes are from an piece called Why Do So Many Writers Struggle With Drug and Alcohol Addiction. Millions of alcoholics and addicts all across America may not have celebrity status, but certainly share a commonality with addiction. A commonality with famous people we have always admired. I don’t need to re-create a massive historical archive of celebrity personalities that share this commonality to make this point. Most of us know this. Addiction simply is not an isolated issue and America needs to accept that. Pretending that addiction is isolated to just bad people and treating it like leprosy; not only denies a stark reality, but avoids taking care of a problem that is undermining our chances at greatness. Links by Mary S.
For those who have not seen The Oxycontin Express, click on the link to view.
Gwendolyn Noles…The Straight Story. Gwen was interviewed on Prescription Addiction Radio. Check out the last hour of the show. Gwen talks about her Season in Hell as she battled through an addiction on benzodiazepines Benzos, as they are sometimes known can have a cruel withdrawal. Gwen went on to write a short memoir about her experience called A Season in Hell.
Diabetes and Drugs This is definitely a subject worth further research. It’s surprising that little is really known about how a diabetic really fares after prolonged opiate or amphetamine use. It is more clear with alcohol. We know it is a deadly mix. Legal and Illegal Drugs: What Every Person With Diabetes Should Know Before They Party is a piece from Diabetes Health Magazine that offers some street smarts on diabetes and drugs. One thing for sure the resulting impact on a diabetics body and the costs to society that follow the erratic behavior of a diabetic addict is profoundly negative. Consider this personal witness in the piece: Just One Addict! Breaking the Back of a Los Angeles Budget. Clearly half of these costs stem from an acute diabetic complication call DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis. A diabetic addict easily can succumb to DKA from neglecting insulin intake which is common among addicts. A famous diabetic heiress with drug problem, Casey Johnson, recently died from what was thought to be drug related. Now it is known she died as a result of DKA. Diabetes and drugs, despite how much science knows or doesn’t know is simply a bad combination. Links by Mary S.
Hillary Clinton’s March 23rd “high level” visit to Mexico is a start. She says we need a “shift”. Still, no one is hitting a home run on U.S. demand. Its time to stop sweeping that part of the equation under the rug. America needs sweeping new policy changes to squash demand in ways we still don’t acknowledge. While the DEA amps up its PR for more drug war funding and new narco-terror strategies they readily admit to 7 million junkies in the U.S. See DEA Statement . This report indicates a status quo approach to preserving a broken paradigm. CNN’s Anderson Copper did this 60 minutes report one year ago. He is ready to do another because the problem is blowing up. Likewise the Brookings Institute published The Violent Drug Market in Mexico…a year ago. Clearly the situation is escalating as violence hits new lows in its victims, which includes U.S. citizens. We need a war on demand. Fighting a Mexican Drug War is countering violence with more violence. Here are two more excellent historical pieces on the drug war. Mexico’s Drug War, Council on Foreign Relations and Mexican Drug Trade Hits the Border, STRATFOR Global Intelligence. links by Mary S. and dadonfire.
Tales of Addiction resonates a message to all impacted by addiction and moving into recovery. Barbara Sinor weaves her life and wisdom in and out of the book’s logical succession and acumen of the disease of addiction. Read a review of this great book. Available at Amazon. See also Barbara’s website: “INSPIRATION FOR RECOVERY”
Unforeseen Benefits: Addiction Treatment Reduces Health Care Costs, July 2009. Report produced by the Open Society Institute.
Some significant facts that the report shows is that 165,000 hospital stays surveyed in 2004 were related to substance abuse, and a drop of 26% to 37% hospitalization occurred among patients receiving addiction treatment and counseling respectively.
Read the full report: Unforeseen Benefits right here.
TAMPA – Dozens stood in protest on Thursday to push for a ban on OxyContin, a powerful prescription drug. Though the cause is common, each protester has their own individual reasons. Gail Graves says she lost her son Justin to addiction on Halloween of 2007. “I know he struggled. I know that’s not how he wanted to be,” offered Graves. Read “Protesters Say Oxycontin is Too Strong” Link by Larry Golbom of Prescription Addiction Radio.
Dr. Drew Pinsky has earne
d somewhat of a reputation to speak out on treatment, enabling, etc. Back in 2004, in fact, he wrote an excellent book on the subject. This past week however, Dr. Drew caught flack in publicly proclaiming that Lindsy Lohan’s parent’s need to go to the wall in: If I Were Lindsay Lohan’s Father I Would Go to Any Lengths to Get Her Into Treatment. You may recall the recent tragic loss of Casey Johnson and Corey Haim. They were both peer celebrities who had illegal prescriptions at their fingertips and may be alive today, had intervention took place. In context to the Dr. Drew piece, “any lengths” really implied having your addict jailed, even if one had to illegally plant drugs on them. Addicts do have rights and a big decision to make. Recovered addicts with previous jail experience have sometimes referred to jail as a “rescue”. It is not always the worst thing that can happen to your addict. However, a celebrity’s jail experience is not the same as that of a run of the mill addict. Many jail guards hate addicts not to mention effective treatment in jail is still rare. That’s another topic, but Dr. Drew may do all of us more of a favor to go back to the roots of his solid base of knowledge and advocacy for the problem. There he can really impact America’s issue with drug abuse and addiction in an effective manner, now that he has your attention. His focus these days is on celebrities and funky radio shows like Loveline and the content of his input on the subject has to be taken in that context. What do you think? Dr. Drew Link by Valerie Allen Public Relations
A New PATH brings moms and addiction treatment advocates together. On Wednesday, April 28th, 6pm to 7:30pm at 220 W. Broadway, San Diego, CA., there is a rally and vigil to bring focus to the failed war on drugs and the destructive results of drug prohibition. If you live in Southern California, show your support. Download the PDF flier Moms Unite to End the War on Drugs
Social media is a growing phenomena and more than 10 million online messages written by teens in 2007 shows they regularly chat about alcohol, drugs according to Nielson analysts. This problem was first written about in USA Today in a article called Teens Use Internet to Share Drug Stories. The website: Parents, The Anti Drug talks about what parents can do. Link by Mary S.
John Marohn’s web
site, Recovery Journey, A Process; Not a Destination is also the title of his book. His website offers an interesting view into his writing. You can check out his great collection of mini books on recovery called ebooklets. They can be downloaded in seconds to be read on line.
Inspiration for Recovery is new Blog with great articles, books, and inspiration!; to further your healing and recovery from life’s traumas, passages, and addictions. Barbara Sinor is the author of five books. She is a Psycho-spiritual Therapist with a background in metaphysics. Be a fellow adventurer on the journey toward peace and compassion. Visit Inspiration For Recovery
In 2010 A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing is launching a campaign to stop the violence, mass incarceration and overdose deaths resulting from a failed war on drugs. We will be partnering with ParentsACT and Drug Policy Alliance, and linking organizations and individuals from San Diego to Orange County, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Sacramento in a massive collaborative effort to change our current policies of arrest and imprisonment to therapeutic strategies and regulation. Mothers are again uniting and leading the charge to end drug prohibition, just as they did with alcohol prohibition in the 1930’s. We must stop the pointless and punitive incarceration of drug users, and end the needless deaths created by the illegal drug trade. The campaign will start with a rally/vigil in San Diego in April and move up the State of California with events in key cities, and building to a rally in Sacramento in October 2010. To join the campaign, contact us at: anewpath@cox.net mailto:anewpath@cox.net or 619-670-1184 – Thanks! Gretchen
April 2010 marks the anniversary of 11 years of A New PATH’s advocacy work for therapeutic drug policies. This event will launch a campaign to stop the violence, mass incarceration and overdose deaths resulting from our current punitive and discriminatory drug policies. A New PATH! is partnering with other organizations such as Families ACT! and Broken No More!, as well as individuals from various areas of California in a massive collaborative effort to change our current policies of arrest and imprisonment to therapeutic strategies and regulation. Mothers are leading the charge to stop the pointless and punitive incarceration of drug users, and end the needless deaths created by the illegal drug trade. Bring signs and pictures of your loved ones whose lives have been damaged by the War on Drugs. Join us in demonstrating for change. For more information, please contact us at: anewpath@cox.net or 619-670-1184.
The “Monty Man” of Take12Radio.com talks at length with the author of http://www.dadonfire.net about his connection to recovery, this website and what he expects he can do with it. Check it out. (takes a minute or two to download) 1 HOUR INTERVIEW
A 100 billion dollar drug business and popular narco cinema. Mexican’s and North Americans love films about drugs….and sex, music, pick-up trucks, violence….Well, that’s part of the problem. DEMAND! Mexico has long been the superhighway of drugs into North America. It supplies most of the meth, marijuana, cocaine and poppy. Film tells the story. Check out VBS.TV/Narco Cinema.
Richie Farrell on Prescription Addiction Radio This Sunday 9PM EST. You can also just go online o 860WGUL.com and listen. Also check out Richie’s recent book; What’s Left of Us by Richard Farrell. He is a recovery advocate from Lowell, Mass; original source city for heroin. His book; a portal into an addict’s life…emerging to take his life back… What’s left of “me”
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