While setting up my presentation for the substance abuse outreach program I kept running across a statistic on prescription drug abuse that really bothered me.
Seventy percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives.
Click "Read more" to see why this particular stat bothers me...
I just wanted to share the flyer that is going out to publicize the task force's presentation/panel on prescription drug abuse and addiction. The panel fleshed out rather nicely with a great mix of treatment providers, law enforcement, medical professionals and one semi-deranged blogger/recovering alcoholic.
We had to move the date up a bit to take advantage of a larger venue, but it is my extreme pleasure to announce that on Dec 2nd I will host a substance abuse workshop at the Calera High School auditorium. Prescription drug abuse will be the primary theme for the program, but resources and experts on all substance abuse and addiction will be available.
The presentation will include participation from the Substance Abuse Task Force, Alabama Department of Mental Health, Faces and Voices of Recovery. Community representation will also include those from law enforcement, EMS services, and health and medical officials.
I would like to offer a special TDA salute to Principal Bishop who did not hesitate to offer the school’s new 600 seat auditorium for the event; it is representative of his obvious concern and care about our kids and community. If you are local to the TDA area, check out this link for details on where (map included) and when to attend.
"I've lamented his death every second since he died and will live with it the rest of my life." So says Gary Neal referring to Harrison, his seventeen year-old son, who died of an overdose while abusing prescription painkillers.
With the second anniversary of Harrison Neal's death approaching, his father still has a lot of questions and doubts. "Could I have done it better? Could I have done it different? Would the results have been different? You never know the answers to those questions because you never get a second chance. ~ CNN
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It comes as no surprise to me that Dr. Nora Volkow, director of National Institute on Drug Abuse and one of my personal idols, stated there has been a “paradigm shift” in substance abuse commenting on a study this month that shows prescription drugs have passed marijuana as the gateway drug choice of our youth.
I have seen the writing on the wall for many years now and nowhere is it more apparent than the ever increasing stream of patients into the local methadone clinic where I volunteer. Over ninety percent of those I see come are not heroin addicts, but instead they are addicted to opioid prescription pain killers Loritab, Vicoden, Oxycontin, and Dilaudid. Go ahead and throw in the benzo's like Xanax and Valium into the mix of problems because that is what most addicts (and alcoholics) con their doctors out of by describing their depression while leaving out the fact they have a raging addiction.
Dr. Volkow mentioned this paradigm shift in abuse and treatment, but I feel there is one more important aspect of this situation she left out.
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Prescription drug abuse is rampant with pain killing medications like Oxycontin and Vicodin (opioids) primarily being responsible for a surge in addictions. Most states have realized the problem with these medications and have implemented opioid regulations and increased scrutiny of pain management prescriptions. These actions have made a definite impact on the supply of diverted medicine on the market yet the number of addicts continues to grow. So what is an addict supposed to do?
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CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Deaths from medication mistakes at home, such as actor Heath Ledger's accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds ~ CNN
Medication mistakes, drug errors, and even accidental overdose certainly sound less frightening than drug abuse, but as the reference to Heath Ledger suggests, they are no less deadly. Furthermore, much of the time these sanitized terms are outright misrepresentations; Heath Ledger didn’t die from an accidental overdose, he died because he was abusing prescription pain killers, psychiatric medications, and sleeping pills.
Accidently taking Oxycontin instead of aspirin could cause an accidental overdose, misreading a prescription would be a mistake, but self medicating with a hodgepodge of drugs is a premeditated willful act. While some may say it’s arguing semantics, I can’t help but wonder why there is no accountability when it comes to prescription drug abuse? Unlike the “blameless” act of “accidently” downing a methadone wafer with a tallboy, you don’t often hear of the cocaine error or heroin mistake.
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Hat Tip and thanks to TDA reader AnnaZ for the heads up on this one!
Cocaine has the reputation, meth gets all the scary press, and heroin has always been the quite killer, but all of them pale in consideration to the lethality of prescription drug abuse.
A recent analysis of 2007 autopsies by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission states that deaths caused by prescription medication are triple of that caused by illicit drugs… all of them combined.
Three reasons almost ensure that this tripled death rate will continue to grow exponentially is the availability, acceptance and addictive nature of prescription drugs. Availability. I probably know better than most that illicit drug sources are always closer than you think, but you will not find black tar heroin in almost every medicine cabinet in the US. Acceptance. Like a powered-up PacMan gobbling up ghosts, we are becoming a society that will take a pill for any ill no matter how minor or even imaginary. Addictive. Almost any drug can be physically addictive, but the mental aspect of the disease is reinforced greatly by once again its availability and acceptance.
Florida examines drug related deaths more closely than other states, but similar studies by the feds back up these findings and suggest they are occurring nationwide.
The report’s findings track with similar studies by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which has found that roughly seven million Americans are abusing prescription drugs. If accurate, that would be an increase of 80 percent in six years and more than the total abusing cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, Ecstasy and inhalants. ~ NY Times
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The lawyer for Captain John Cota who rammed his ship into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge last November said in a recent interview, “There’s absolutely no link between any of the medically prescribed medications that Captain Cota used on the morning of Nov. 7 and this incident.”
But I wonder if he was able to say it with a straight face?
Cota is facing federal civil charges and declined to testify at the hearing. He was taking anti-anxiety pills, Wellbutrin for depression and medications for pain, migraines, glaucoma and to combat his sleep apnea, among other prescriptions. ~ MSNBC
Speaking of links, see if you can identify the link between Captain Cota and another infamous captain recently in the news?
That’s right, both alcoholics.
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Capsaicin is the active component in chili peppers that acts as a deterrent to herbivores. In mammals, especially humans, contact with capsaicin will result in an extreme burning sensation. This is the very reason it is the primary ingredient in most self defense pepper sprays. Clifford Woolf, the Richard J. Kitz Professor of Anesthesia Research at Harvard Medical School, has been working on the novel idea of using capsaicin to prevent the abuse of prescription medication.
Opioid pain medications like Oxycontin or stimulant Adderall are often crushed and snorted by those who wish to “fast forward” the designed time release action of the drug. A capsaicin coating could be developed that permitted safe swallowing and digestion, but if brought in contact with the nasal passages or ingested as a powder would cause extreme discomfort.
"Imagine snorting an extract of 50 jalapeno peppers and you get the idea," Woolf says. "On a one to 10 scale, the pain is about a thousand. It feels like a mininuclear explosion in your mouth. It does not harm you, but you never want to experience that feeling again."~ Harvard Gazette
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