Solutions Recovery

Substance Abuse and PTSD: Let’s Talk About It

DMarlon — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:23:59 +0000

Substance Abuse | PTSD

For veterans struggling with substance abuse, getting help can seem all but impossible.

The stigma attached to addiction and trauma keeps too many veterans out of treatment, whether it’s the warrior ethos that’s been instilled throughout their service or the fear of consequences for admitting they need help.

Veterans Healing Initiative is fighting that taboo. They are talking about substance abuse and trauma, challenging the stigma, and helping veterans get the treatment they deserve.

VHI is dedicated to helping veterans access treatment for addiction and the trauma and the chronic pain issues that often accompany this disease. As a nonprofit, VHI raises funds so those veterans who would otherwise go without care can receive treatment.

But they are doing more than just paying for treatment. They advocating for comprehensive, integrated care for all veterans, and creating capacity by funding expansion of veteran-focused addiction and trauma treatment programs.

Addiction and trauma among veterans spans across all conflicts of all ages.

It doesn’t discriminate based on military status, service record or age. And yet we don’t talk about it, and rarely acknowledge its existence.

The reality is this: Substance abuse is a disease, and the trauma that accompanies the addiction is a serious medical condition. If they’re not treated concurrently, you’ll never win the battle.

For the men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, some for as many as four or five deployments, and for all those who served previously, we owe it to them to do whatever necessary to help them reclaim their lives.

read the full Huffington Post story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

Thomas Kinkade’s Death Shows that Alcohol Addiction Can be Deadly

DMarlon — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:50:37 +0000

The death of famous painter Thomas Kinkade provides a new reminder of just how easy it is to lose everything to substance abuse.

For many years, Thomas Kinkade has been creating peaceful landscapes and religious-themed paintings that were marketed through a network of Thomas Kinkade stores across the country.

Mr. Kinkade had struggled for some years with alcoholism.

After his death, his brother stated that he had recently relapsed, suggesting that Mr. Kinkade had overcome his drinking problem for a period before he started drinking again. Mr. Kinkade was charged with Driving Under the Influence in 2010, though the charge was never settled.

But mixing alcohol with benzodiazepines can be deadly, as this example shows.

Mr. Kinkade’s death on April 6th was found to have been caused by an acute intoxication from alcohol and Valium according to the Santa Clara County, California, medical examiner. Alcohol and a benzodiazepine-class drug used together can shut down a person’s respiratory functions to the point of death.

According a report from the Associated Press, Mr. Kinkade also had traces of other tranquilizers in his body, as well as the drug GHB, which is a party drug often used in date rapes as it causes amnesia. Mr. Kinkade’s body showed signs of injuries that would be consistent with a recent fall, such as bruising and broken ribs that had healed.

Addicts Are at Risk of Death Every Day They Continue to Abuse Substances

Family members know about this risk, because they live with the fear that their loved one could overdose and be rushed to the hospital, or simply be found dead. That fear is never very far away for the mother or father, sister or other loved one of an addict who live in dread of the phone call bringing them such terrible news.

“We tell family members who call to find out about our drug rehabilitation services that there is not a minute to waste,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead, a long-term residential drug rehabilitation program. “But some people want to give their loved one another chance at getting sober on their own before they choose a rehab service. Unfortunately, this gives the addicted person additional opportunities to overdose and die.”

see the full PRWeb story here

Knockout Addiction with Andreas Spang

DMarlon — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:19:18 +0000

Friend of Solutions Recovery and rising MMA star Andreas Spang is helping Knockout Addiction.

Andreas “Sweet Swede” Spang is one Las Vegan who believes in leading a strong and healthy life with a fit and healthy body.

This Friday, May 18th, Andreas will be going toe-to-toe with Maiquel Falcao in the Bellator Fighting Championship for the middleweight title. Fridays fight can be seen on MTV2, Spike and EPIX2.

Tune-in to support Solutions Recovery and Andreas Spangs ongoing effort to knockout Addiction.

Click here for more information on Andreas Spang and his upcoming match.

Lady Gaga Recalls her Drug Addiction

DMarlon — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:08:25 +0000

Lady Gaga - Drug Addiction

Lady Gaga, a fitness fanatic who works out daily and follows a strict diet, says loneliness fueled her drug addiction during her post-high school years.

“I started doing cocaine because it was like the drug was my friend,” Gaga, 26, said on the Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet talk show May 3, 2012.

“I never did it with other people. It’s such a terrible way to fill that void, because it just adds to that void, because it’s not real.”

She continued: “I began to cherish my loneliness. I have, sort of, since I was around 20 years old. I was very depressed when I was 19. I decided to pursue music, so I dropped out of school and I told my parents I didn’t want any money from them. I got three jobs and I just hit the ground running.

“I would go back to my apartment every day and I would just sit there. It was quiet and it was lonely. It was still. It was just my piano and myself. I had at television and I would leave it on all the time just to feel like somebody was hanging out with me.”

Gaga, who also abused alcohol and suffered from bulimia, stopped doing drugs once she realized it only masked her unhappiness and ultimately hindered her singing career.

“I woke up one day and was like, ‘You’re an a**hole; you’re not an artist,” says Gaga. “If you were a real f***ing artist, you’d be focused on your music. You wouldn’t be spending your money on the white devil.’ ”

Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, eventually kicked the cocaine habit and started studying yoga, which she continues to do today to keep herself healthy—physically and emotionally.

see the full Examiner story here

Las Vegas Doctor Sentenced for Illegal Painkiller Distribution

DMarlon — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:21:17 +0000

Painkiller Addiction

A Las Vegas doctor who advocates medical marijuana therapy was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for unlawfully distributing addictive painkillers.

James Tinnell, 74, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to one count of distributing the drugs.

Eleven other drug distribution charges against Tinnell, who has given up his longtime medical practice, were dismissed.

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt on Monday also ordered that Tinnell be placed on two years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

Hunt ordered Tinnell not to prescribe prescription drugs to anyone while he is on supervised release.

In arguing for the two-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Crane Pomerantz said Tinnell contributed to the “epidemic” of prescription drug abuse in Nevada.

But Tinnell told Hunt he was aware of his professional responsibility when prescribing drugs and always handed out smaller doses than many of his professional colleagues.

“If I did anything to my patients that was harmful to them, I am sorry,” he said. “It was like a war every day to keep them from getting more and more.”

Hunt said he shared Pomerantz’s opinion and told Tinnell he was concerned that the physician had “dispensed these very powerful drugs” to patients with little or no physical exam.

Hunt gave Tinnell, who is free on his own recognizance, until Aug. 10 to surrender to prison authorities.

read the full Las Vegas Review Journal story here

5 Signs You’re Getting Addicted to Your Pain Pills

DMarlon — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:41:01 +0000

Pain Pill Addiction

We often read about how to tell if we’re addicted to prescription pain pills and what to do if we are addicted.

But what about the early signs, signs that could indicate the need to take action before we become dependent?

Few people wake up one morning suddenly addicted to prescription opiates.

The process is typically more gradual, which means there are numerous opportunities for early intervention.

Here are the earliest signs that your use of pain medication is beginning to cross the line into addiction:

#1 You’re starting to use your pain medication to feel better, not just to ease pain

#2 You’re thinking about increasing your dose even though your doctor has not recommended it

#3 You’re starting to take the medication automatically, even though your pain has subsided

#4 You’re spending more and more time thinking about and getting medication

#5 You’ve lost interest in non-drug pain management options

Click here to see the full Psych Central story and more details on each addiction sign

Florida “Pill Mill’ Fueled Painkiller Abuse Epidemic

DMarlon — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:16:57 +0000

Pill Mill Brothers - Chris and Jeff George

The prescription painkiller business was booming in 2009, making millionaires of Chris and Jeff George, twin brothers who operated several pain clinics in South Florida.

Unfortunately for them, their customers had a tendency to die, and not always in a subtle fashion.

In November of that year, three customers were on their way to a George brothers’ clinic when the driver tried to weave her Toyota Camry through the lowered arms of a train crossing.

The car was struck by commuter train going 79 mph. The driver and a passenger were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. The third occupant died six months later.

An associate of the Georges who read about the accident in the paper called Chris George to break the news. “Did it say they were pain clinic people?” George asked.

It didn’t, but the Roxicodone scattered through the backseat of the crumpled car, and on both sides of the train tracks, made it obvious to investigators that this threesome from Tennessee didn’t come to Fort Lauderdale to get tans.

Chris George worried that the accident would bring police scrutiny to the family’s pain clinics. To avoid situations like this, he and his workers coached their customers in keeping a low profile. “You’ve got to be an idiot to get hit by a train,” he complained.

What George didn’t know is that federal and local investigators had already targeted him and his brother – after oxycodone distributed at George clinics was found near the dead bodies of dozens who overdosed — and were listening to that very phone call.

Two years later the conversation would appear in a federal indictment charging the Georges with racketeering and drug trafficking for operating what federal officials say was the largest, most sophisticated painkiller trafficking organization in the country.

Chris and Jeff George, both of whom have pleaded guilty to some of the charges against them and reported to prison last month to begin serving long sentences, declined to comment for this series, citing concerns that their remarks would add to their legal difficulties. Federal agents and prosecutors also refused interview requests, due to related cases that remain open. The information in these articles was gleaned from court records, interviews with associates of the Georges and informants, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fueling an Oxy epidemic
South Florida — and the Georges, in particular — were the vanguard of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls an “epidemic” of Oxycodone addiction and death — one that had attacked America more suddenly than any drug has before.

In 2008, prescription painkiller overdoses killed 14,800 Americans. In 2009, when the George clinics were at their peak, opioid abuse propelled a ghastly rise in the number of drug-related deaths nationwide. That year, 37,485 Americans died from narcotics overdoses — a figure that for the first time surpassed the number of deaths from car accidents.

“The toll our nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic has taken in communities nationwide is devastating, and Florida is ground zero,” said Obama drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, speaking at a press conference last year.

read the full MSNBC story here

Substance Abuse Rising Among Baby Boomers

ISmith — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:24:24 +0000

Think of a stereotypical drug addict and a vision of a young, tattooed high school dropout might come to mind. Drug addiction is typically associated with young adults, not with retirees.

But as the baby-boom generation, now ages 48 to 66, expands the ranks of an already sizeable older population, substance abuse is on the rise among elders.

Tobacco addiction continues to be the leading addiction among older adults, according to Dr. Douglas M. Ziedonis, professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at University of Massachusetts Medical School, but abuse of prescription drugs, alcohol and even marijuana and other illegal drugs is an often hidden, but serious, issue.

“We think the numbers we have (on substance abuse) just reflect the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Gary S. Moak, clinical associate professor at the medical school and a geriatric psychiatrist who practices in Westboro.

“We are seeing the leading edge of what will be a tsunami.”

A report released by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration projected that the need for substance abuse treatment among Americans over age 50 would double by 2020.

The report found that based on a survey done between 2006 and 2008, an estimated 4.3 million adults, or 4.7 percent of adults age 50 or older had used an illicit drug in the past year. Marijuana use was more common than non-medical use of prescription drugs for adults age 50 to 59, while non-medical use of prescription drugs was more common among those 65 and older.

see the full Telegram story here

Teen Drug Abuse Linked to ‘Impulsive’ Brain Activity

DMarlon — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:09:49 +0000

Teen Brain Scan

A brain network associated with impulsivity is linked to teen drug abuse, new research finds.

Teens with diminished activity in a neural network in the front part of the brain are more likely to experiment with drugs, cigarettes and alcohol in early adolescence, the researchers found.

Interestingly, this network is not the same one that is linked to the impulsivity of teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

That could mean that ADHD is not as much of a risk factor for drug abuse as researchers have worried.

“The take-home message is that impulsivity can be decomposed, broken down into different brain regions,” study researcher Hugh Garavan of the University of Vermont said in a statement, “and the functioning of one region is related to ADHD symptoms, while the functioning of other regions is related to drug use.”

Garavan and his colleagues scanned the brains of 1,896 14-year-olds as part of a large international project called IMAGEN. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they identified parts of the brain that were linked into networks by determining which areas became more active at the same time as one another. During the scans, the teens did a task that involved pressing a button and then having to keep themselves from pressing that button at a certain cue. This task requires the brain to inhibit behavior. [Inside the Brain: A Journey Through Time]

The researchers found that a quiet orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain tucked behind the eyes, was linked to more experimentation with substances, and that the diminished activity likely contributed to this experimentation rather than being a cause of it.

read the full Live Science story here

Drug Decriminalization, the Taboo Topic

AHigdon — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:57:46 +0000

In recent years the topic of decriminalizing certain drugs, predominantly marijuana, has become a staple of many liberal campaigns. In Anjeanette Damon’s recent article, she reveals several ranking Republicans are now beginning to explore whether these drugs should become legal. In her fascinating article Anjeanette discusses public opinion on the matter, and why Republican views are beginning to change. The question of what this means for local rehab centers and their substance abuse programs still looms.

From her article in The Las Vegas Sun,

Voters might be wondering if Republicans are smoking something these days after two ranking Republicans recently supported exploring whether marijuana and other drugs should be decriminalized, if not legalized.

For years, supporters of legalizing pot have viewed Nevada as a potential stomping ground, hoping the libertarian streak that runs through Democrats and Republicans in this state would be kind to their efforts.

So far, however, they’ve failed at the ballot box.

And it’s never been a mantle that politicians have been fond of taking up. An effort, for example, to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada failed in the Legislature last year.

In the past, the issue has been marginalized as one only hippies, teenagers and rap stars cared about. Now, however, it appears to be taking root in what many might have considered a hostile environment — the Republican Party.

To wit: Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, floated the idea this month of decriminalizing some drug offenses to save money on incarceration.

Then, the Nevada Republican Party’s new chairman, Michael McDonald, told a GOP podcast host recently “there’s a good argument” for legalizing pot.

And last month, a contingent of Republican delegates at the Washoe County convention tried — and failed because time ran out to debate it — to insert a plank supportive of legalizing marijuana in the party’s platform.

The effort at the party level is a reflection of the in-roads GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul’s supporters have made in the party structure over the past four years. Beyond seeing their candidate elected, many Paul supporters are probably most passionate about seeing their beloved herb legalized.

Paul believes states, not the federal government, should regulate drug laws, and has spoken plainly on the fact he believes alcohol to be more destructive than pot. His position has earned him a legion of young followers.

Four years ago, after a contentious showdown with party leaders at the state convention, Paul supporters made the concerted decision to begin working within the party machine rather than trying to fight it from the outside. Since then, they’ve won seats on party central committees and influenced everything from rules governing the caucuses to the election of party chairmen.

Now it appears they’ve begun to influence policy positions, although their outcome on the legalizing marijuana platform will likely be as successful as their ability to throw the Republican nomination to Paul.

Although both Hickey and McDonald have spoken in favor of decriminalizing some drug offenses, they have individual reasons for doing so, unrelated to the impassioned pleas of the new rank and file marching on various Republican central committees.

In a brief interview last week, McDonald said he thinks medical marijuana should be legal and more accessible after experiencing his mother’s difficult death from cancer.

“When you see someone you love suffer like that, I think there’s an argument to be made,” he said. “I’m a police officer. I am as anti-drug as you can imagine. But marijuana medically can help someone in so much pain.”

Hickey said he’s not an advocate of making any drug more easily or widely available. Rather, he wants to know if Nevada can attack the drug problem in a more cost-efficient manner through treatment rather than incarceration.

“Certainly, some of the positions of Ron Paul and libertarian-leaning Republicans resonate with a fair number of Nevadans,” Hickey said. “But this is unrelated. I am not an advocate necessarily, and I’m certainly not for condoning the use or the abuse of drugs, which I find to be rather personally self-destructive.”

Indeed, the recent focus on legalizing marijuana has made some Republicans uncomfortable.

“I was surprised to hear the assemblyman mention it and McDonald mention it,” Washoe County GOP Chairman Dave Buell said. “Let’s face it, those aren’t huge issues this election cycle. Too many people are unemployed and have homes on the brink to care about marijuana.

“And I certainly don’t think the mainstream Republican Party is ready to go push that.”

Once a taboo topic in state GOP, drug decriminalization has some talking - Anjeanette Damon