Category: Prescription Drug & Drug Addiction

A recent study, Abnormal Brain Structure Implicated in Stimulant Drug Addiction, documented that the presence of abnormalities in the brain related to cocaine addiction is found in the brain during childhood. Brain scan images of siblings were captured where one developed addiction and another did not. It is 8 times more likely for those children…

ABC News published a report about an elderly woman who was arrested for being the operator of a mass drug ring. She was selling marijuana and was busted with $276,000 in cash and 4 pounds of marijuana in her home. CBS reports another elderly woman who was arrested for drug selling her pain pills. The officer…

Elvis Presley died in August of 1977 leaving behind his 8-year-old daughter, Lisa Marie. Presley is most widely recognized for his music, charisma and selfless acts; unfortunately, he also had a publicized drug related problem. His drug addiction complicated his medical issues which ended his life prematurely. This had a negative impact on his fans,…

Prescription Drug Addiction and the elderly seem to be overlooked in our society. My grandmother died of pulmonary fibrosis, however, before this diagnosis, the doctor kept giving her codeine cough syrup and Xanax for her chronic cough. She went misdiagnosed until 8 months before her death. Once her disease had progressed, she was in and…

Methamphetamine continues to surface in the news around the world. Many different countries are struggling at attempting to control the manufacturing and selling of meth. Recently in Mexico City, soldiers found 15 tons of methamphetamine, which in America would retail for $100 per gram. Meth production crackdowns in America and China may have contributed to…

Addicts in Russia have become desperate to achieve heroin high in the midst of the rise in the price of heroin. Heroin addicts have found that the simple mixing of codeine with some household items such as iodine and industrial cleaning oil combined create a poor substitute for the heroin rush. This synthetic heroin is…

Prescriptions, Overdoses and Deaths Thomas Frieden, director of the Center for Disease Control, issued a statement in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He stated, “Overdoses involving prescription painkillers are at epidemic levels and now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined.” The JAMA article further describes that drug prescriptions in 2010…

In Canada, there was a conference where Dr. Garbor Mate investigated the medical literature around brain injury and addiction. He was hoping to find information about brain injury leading to addiction; however, he found that addiction was present before a brain injury. Mate reports, “Brain injuries happen mostly to young men and they tend to…

Stubborn Addiction Third Rock from the Sun actress Kristen Johnston is sharing her long term battle with alcohol and Vicodin. She reports in her book that her excessive use of drugs and alcohol led to stomach ulcers. She describes wanting to revive her acting career, but learned that a stomach ulcer exploded causing great physical…

Drug rehab admits are often young adults and teens that have had negative consequences of ecstasy use. Ultra Festival/Winter Music Conference in Miami, a well known electronic music festival, is heavily correlated with substance abuse, particularly MDMA (-ecstasy). Easily influenced youth listened intently as Madonna surprised the crowd at the music festival announcing, “Has anyone…