Addiction Blog

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.

The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, Inc. (AATOD) has generated a five-year plan to treat those addicted to opioids. The major components to the five-year plan include supporting the treatment system, improving financial support, supporting patient advocacy, working with the criminal justice system, workforce development and organizing opioid treatment programs (OTPs) within the U. S. and internationally.

AATOD regularly works with Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and SAMHSA to develop ongoing Treatment Improvement Protocols. To read the full information, see AATOD five-year plan.

A recent UK study has concluded that addictions to alcohol or tobacco are just as dangerous to a person’s health as addictions to illegal substances including heroine, cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy. The study does not advocate for any kinds of legal or illegal drugs, but rather puts alcohol and tobacco on par with other drugs in regards to adverse health effects.

The study has caused some controversy in the United Kingdom by placing ecstasy at the bottom of the list for adverse health effects. The reason for this placement, however, is that only 10 people in the UK die each year from using ecstasy, whereas over 300 people die each year from alcohol abuse.

Illegal drug use in both Germany and Russia have hit new heights according to different reporting agencies. In Germany, according to the National Treatment Agency, people receiving treatment for cannabis abuse has risen to 22,500 in the current year. In the prior year, 13,400 sought treatment, indicating an increase of 60-percent from last year to this year.

In Russia, according to Viktor Khvorostian, the head of the federal drug control service, 100,000 people died last year due to illegal drugs. Itar-Tass Reports that in Moscow alone, there are currently 30,000 drug addicts mostly from the younger generation including students.

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D – Rhode Island) has admitted to an Oxycontin addiction, which he sought treatment for after an auto accident outside the U. S. Capitol building last year that made national headlines. Kennedy checked himself into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in May 2006 after the crash for “addiction to painkillers”. At that time Oxycontin was not named specifically.

Kennedy joins Rush Limbaugh as another notable with a highly publicized case of Oxycontin addiction. In October 2003, Rush Limbaugh admitted to an addiction to this prescription pain medication as the result of recovering from spinal surgery. After much talk of charging Limbaugh with “doctor shopping” in Florida, prosecutors decided to drop this charge.

HBO producer Susan Froemke of the TV show “Addiction” interviewed Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s policy adviser Mike Zamore recently about a bill before Congress to provide parity in benefits for addiction treatment. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act amends and updates the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 and hopes to end discriminatory practices in health plans for those with mental illnesses or addiction issues.

If health plan providers do offer mental health benefits, the bill will require the providers to maintain equity in financial requirements, treatment limits and out-of-network coverage plus cover all diseases that members of Congress are provided for under their federal employee health plan.

The bill is being called an “addiction equity” act on the part of substance abuse advocates. HMO’s and other managed healthcare entities have been fighting against legislation like this for years for financial reasons.

According to a study just released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), 3.8 million full-time college students (49-percent) binge drink or abuse drugs, both prescription and illicit. Of this number 22.9-percent meet the criteria for addiction.

According to CASA chairman Joseph A. Califano, Jr. “It’s time to get the ‘high’ out of higher education.” According to the report, binge drinking is up 16-percent, injuries from drinking are up 38-percent and alcohol-related arrests are up 21-percent.

One of the biggest barriers to change is the perception that drinking and drugging by college students is a rite of passage into adulthood. Who can forget the famous movie “Animal House” starring John Belushi where the theme of the film was the partying of the students. Drinking and drugging by college students has been glamorized in the media for years.

If the substance abuse problems on college campuses is to get under control anytime soon, then the public perception of colleges and universities as a place for partying will have to change. Grooming young adults to be addicts instead of community leaders for the next generation is not only a moral issue, but a practical social issue of how we intend to care for one another in our society. Hopefully, publicizing awareness of this issue as an epidemic is a good place to start.

As the war rages on in Iraq, the one in Afghanistan is often forgotten about. And, when the war in Afghanistan is remembered and talked about, the focus is on fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban and not about fighting the outflow of the world’s largest supply of heroin and opium.

To make matters worse, Afghanistan’s newly appointed anti-corruption chief, Izzatullah Wasifi, has a criminal record for drug possession, spending nearly 4 years in jail in Nevada after he sold $65,000 worth of heroin to an undercover detective. Despite Wasifi’s rhetoric about his commitment to curbing drug trafficking in Afghanistan, experts are expecting a record crop of poppies this year and an increase of trafficking in heroin and opium. This “fox guarding the henhouse” scenario is not sitting well with those who wish to take meaningful steps to stop the outflow of heroin from Afghanistan to Chicago (and other large cities).