In recent years, the national spotlight has been focused on opioid and prescription drug abuse in the United States. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, 1.9 million Americans were suffering from addiction to prescription medication in 2014. As these numbers continue to rise, an aspect of this epidemic that may be overlooked is…
Adding Up the Damage
The cumulative effect of alcohol. People like to divide things into simple problems. A caused B. Unintended consequences of B caused C. But collecting them all creates the big picture and it is much more frightening than any one piece, especially when it comes to alcohol. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control…
Take Binge Drinking off the Memorial Day Calendar
Take Binge Drinking off the Memorial Day Calendar Memorial Day barbecues are coming up, a time for people who don’t usually drink that much to binge drink to welcome summer. But two new studies about binge drinking should give you pause about tossing back that fourth or fifth beer at a party. A quick refresher:…
Who Taught You to Drink?
Who Taught You to Drink? A new study by researchers at Sam Houston State University shows that children pick up the alcohol and drug use habits they see at home. The old ad was right: I learned it from watching you! The study compared parents who did not use substances like alcohol, marijuana or other…
Trying to Stop Zohydro
A new opioid painkiller is set to hit the market, despite objections from doctors, addiction treatment centers and even the advisory panel that tried to stop it. The drug, Zohydro ER, is a pure form of hydrocodone, an opioid that had previously only been available in combination with other drugs like acetaminophen, as it is…
From Chronic Pain to Heroin to Mindfulness
Heroin has been in the news a lot lately—bad heroin, heroin overdoses, heroin epidemic. But how did it go from being the ‘I’d never go there’ drug to the drug du jour? For people working in addiction treatment, there’s a pretty straight line. The road starts with prescription painkillers. Prescribing opiates like oxycodone for pain…
Vermont, We’ve Got a Problem
Just how bad are prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction? How about a governor devoting his entire state of the state speech to the subject? Last week, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin devoted his entire state of the state address to discussing heroin, opiates, overdoses and what it means for people in his state. Granted, Vermont…
Drawing the Line on Stimulants
The rise in Adderall and Ritalin stimulant prescriptions among teenagers has a mirror and maybe even a magnifying glass in Major League Baseball. The league reports on drug use among players as part of its efforts to reduce the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). For the most part, these prescription stimulants are forbidden, unless players…
AMA Still Opposed to the Legalization of Marijuana
Marijuana seems to be on an express train to acceptability. Opinion polls show more people are in favor of legalization. Two states are getting set for recreational use, and medicinal marijuana is legal in many states. But not everyone has jumped on board. A few prominent voices remain opposed to legalization, including the American Medical…
Solve the Mystery of What Happens in Rehab
Every process is a mystery before you start. Knowing the process makes a difference in almost all parts of life. Most of us can think of some friend going through some experience where we have no idea how we would handle it. It might be moving across the country and getting kids into new schools….
