Addiction Blog

Home Box Office (HBO) has teamed up with the Open Student Television Network (OSTN) to bring the documentary Addiction to students on their TV’s and computers. The public service initiative will be free to students nationwide on over 4,500 campuses.

HBO’s Addiction features a 90-minute full-length documentary featuring industry experts, case studies and the real human impact of drug and alcohol abuse in the United States. Additionally, there are 13 shorter films, many of which feature interviews with the experts in the field, that delve more deeply into many of the issues of the 90-minute film.

Some of the key messages of the film state that addiction is a brain disease, that many addicts have one or more co-occurring mental disorders that also need to be treated, new medications are available to help with cravings and treatment does not have to be voluntary to be effective.

The 13 supplementary short films for Addiction focuses on such subjects as relapse prevention, the adolescent addict, treating stimulant and opiate addictions and interviews with leading experts.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to cut $25 million from drug rehab programs sponsored by Proposition 36, which was approved by voters in 2000. Supporters of Proposition 36 have filed a lawsuit against Schwarzenegger’s attempt to enact tougher penalties for those who do not complete rehab, including more jail time. Governor Schwarzenegger has threatened to cut funding in response to the lawsuit.

A recent report by UCLA researchers states that one-third of those sentenced by the courts into rehab simply do not show up. Two-thirds of those who do show up for rehab fail to complete it. Only 25-percent of those sentenced to drug rehab in California complete the program.

Supporters of Proposition 36 say what is needed is more money for drug treatment and more intensive treatment programs. Proponents say that cutting funds is sending the wrong signal that drug addiction is a criminal act instead of a health issue, which flies in the face of the voter’s will when Proposition 36 was first enacted.

Utah’s Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. has proposed increased funding for drug courts and rehabilitation services for those addicted to methamphetamines. Acknowledging the state’s growing meth addiction problem the governor has particularly noted women as the key at-risk group.

Because methamphetamines are “uppers” they deliver increased energy and weight loss, which is appealing to some women who become addicted. Women also reported that the rapid weight gain associated with quitting meth was also the major reason for relapse.

Both career men and women alike have reported the allure to meth, which had helped them to work longer hours or more than one job, increasing their net income.

Remember the public service announcement from 1987, where the TV guy would show an egg and say “This is your brain” and then crack the egg into the frying pan and say “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” This is one of many slogans against drugs that have been played before the public over the years.

In a new take on an old slogan, Dr. Daniel G. Amen is using SPECT imagery so that we may see what our brains look like when they are on drugs. SPECT stands for single photon emission computed tomography and is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that provides 3D results.

The SPECT images show areas of decreased activity among those who abuse drugs and / or alcohol. Variations in colors, “holes” and textures show clearly the degradation of the brains of users versus non-users. It is an interesting take on an old subject not just from a diagnostic and treatment point of view, but also from a drug and alcohol prevention point of view as well.