FACT - Drug Abuse in America is at an all time high. More Americans are ending up sick, in the hospitals, and in emergency rooms from drugs then ever before.
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Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Information About Prescription Drug Abuse - Pain relievers
Granted, society is 5-8 years late recognizing this serious problem, but at least it is now out in full view.
Prescribed problem Illegal use of medications a growing concern
OHIO - 2009 - The Daily Record - The stereotypical view of drug addicts buying their daily fix in small bags in back alleys is giving way to a new reality of prescription drug abuse where pharmaceuticals come in plastic bottles with a prescription pasted on the side.
Police and drug enforcement are dealing with a growing threat in the form of abuse of pharmaceutical opiates such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and Percocet. Typically prescribed for pain through legitimate prescriptions, obtained by deceptive means, or raiding medicine cabinets, the drugs are creating a new culture of addicts and dealers.
Only the OraPoint on-site drug screen effectively screens for these prescription pain relievers.
The problem with pharmaceutical opiates, according to Medway Drug Enforcement Agency Director David Smith, has grown in recent years so much it had to double its pharmaceutical diversion unit.
"If they learn there's an easy mark out there, they'll travel. Within that type of community, that word travels real fast. I'm sure they go to rural areas because they assume no one's watching, (rather) than to go to a bigger city," Smith said. "We have seen people from all over, not just adjacent counties, (but) two, three counties away."
The pharmaceutical diversion unit began May 2008, with aid of grant funding, consisting of former Wayne County Sheriff's deputy Jim Garrett. Bill Hofer, a former Wooster Police officer, came on in May to help with the caseload.
Cases investigated come from complaints filed, whether it's a doctor's office, a pharmacy, law enforcement or anonymous tips.
Medway made seven buys of Xanax in 2008, compared to two buys in 2007, and six buys of Oxycontin in 2008, compared to one buy in 2007. Other opiates purchased in 2008, not seen in 2007, include morphine, Darvocet, Lorazepam, Percocet, Klonopin and Hydrocodone.
Garrett said he has done a lot of outreach to local pharmacies, hospitals and they have been receptive and cooperative.
"They're on the front lines, they have a keen sense of observation," he said of local doctors. "Red flags will go up. They'll either question it or call us."
In 2008, Wooster Police reported 29 thefts of medication. So far this year, 11 thefts of medication were reported, Chief Steve Glick said.
"It's a tough one for us to do anything in a preventative measure because it's going to be happening inside people's homes," Glick said. "... It's kind of a wide ranging problem. Drugs like cocaine have to be imported and have to get here. Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet, those drugs are readily available, and it's not the health profession's fault necessarily, it's just the fact that the drugs are available because they are prescribed."
Millersburg Police detective Sgt. Roger Estill said investigations have turned up instances of trafficking as well as addiction involving opiate-based prescription drugs. The drugs are often obtained through fraudulent means from pharmacies and emergency rooms, prompting physicians and pharmacists to watch for signs that illegal activity is occurring.
"I don't think there is an increase in activity. What's happening is an increase in reporting," Estill said. "The medical community is looking for it more, were getting a lot of cooperation from pharmacies."
Two individuals facing felony charges in Holmes County Common Pleas Court are charged with using deceptive means to obtain the drugs. The cases involve a 48-year-old Millersburg man who tried to get a prescription filled twice after claiming to have lost the first prescription, and a 28-year-old Warsaw woman charged with changing the number of pills on a prescription form.
In both cases, the drugs were legally prescribed by a physician, only not in the amounts requested.
"I find that when you go talk to them, they acknowledge it's a problem, but they don't know how to address the problem," Garrett said of people addicted to opiates. "They're just embarrassed to come to their family and say 'I have a problem.' Unfortunately, it takes us to contact them to admit it."
Friday, May 22, 2009
Oregon Discovers Prescription Drug Abuse Problem
May 21, 2009 Source-ABC News
MEDFORD, Ore. - The number of people abusing prescription pain medication is on the rise across the country.
Non-medical prescription drug-related deaths has risen by nearly 115-percent nationwide in the last few years.
"It's a little bit more difficult to catch people, because people will have a prescription for it, or maybe they obtained it fraudulently," says Sergeant Phil Eastman with the Medford Police Department.
Eastman supervises the Street Drug Unit with the Medford Police Department. He says the department sees at least one person a week trying to fill a fraudulent prescription, and the department is trying to crack down on prescription drug dealers.
"Those dealers are no different than meth dealers or heroine dealers," says Eastman.
Police admit it's hard to catch the dealers because many have a prescription themselves.
"Part of the attraction is the availability, the ease at which they can obtain the drugs," says Eastman.
Males ages 18-to-25 are the most common abusers of prescription drugs.
The MPD says it is even seeing school age kids abusing.
"I think it's no different that a kid finding dad's Jack Daniel's in the liquor cabinet, and he just takes a drink of it," says Eastman.
Medford's Addiction Recovery Center says prescription drug abuse is it's largest area of growth in the last year.
"It starts becoming an issue of taking medication just to relieve symptoms that are created by taking the medication. so it becomes a spiral," says ARC Operations Director Ed Burns.
ARC says it used to see an average of three to four people in its programs on a typical day. Now, it's anywhere from 12 to 15.
The MPD says the top two prescription drugs abused in the area are OxyContin and Methadone.
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Effective Oral Fluid Drug Tests
MEDFORD, Ore. - The number of people abusing prescription pain medication is on the rise across the country.
Non-medical prescription drug-related deaths has risen by nearly 115-percent nationwide in the last few years.
"It's a little bit more difficult to catch people, because people will have a prescription for it, or maybe they obtained it fraudulently," says Sergeant Phil Eastman with the Medford Police Department.
Eastman supervises the Street Drug Unit with the Medford Police Department. He says the department sees at least one person a week trying to fill a fraudulent prescription, and the department is trying to crack down on prescription drug dealers.
"Those dealers are no different than meth dealers or heroine dealers," says Eastman.
Police admit it's hard to catch the dealers because many have a prescription themselves.
"Part of the attraction is the availability, the ease at which they can obtain the drugs," says Eastman.
Males ages 18-to-25 are the most common abusers of prescription drugs.
The MPD says it is even seeing school age kids abusing.
"I think it's no different that a kid finding dad's Jack Daniel's in the liquor cabinet, and he just takes a drink of it," says Eastman.
Medford's Addiction Recovery Center says prescription drug abuse is it's largest area of growth in the last year.
"It starts becoming an issue of taking medication just to relieve symptoms that are created by taking the medication. so it becomes a spiral," says ARC Operations Director Ed Burns.
ARC says it used to see an average of three to four people in its programs on a typical day. Now, it's anywhere from 12 to 15.
The MPD says the top two prescription drugs abused in the area are OxyContin and Methadone.
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Effective Oral Fluid Drug Tests
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Mexican Drug Cartels are the "New Mafia"
As Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee this month, Mexican cartels have infiltrated as many as 230 U.S. cities and now represent the most serious organized crime threat to the United States. In other words, the horse is already out of the barn.
According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6 million people 12 and older used cocaine in the previous year, and 2.4 million were current users.
So the question is not so much how to stop the drugs from getting into the country as how to stop the drugs from getting inside of us. Reduce the demand and the supply takes care of itself.
Kerlikowske, the drug czar, said he wants to see more emphasis put on drug treatment and less on incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses. "We are not at war with people in this country," he told the Journal.
But a battle rages nonetheless. And he'll need to rally the troops. For the foe is cunning, capturing the brain. In a war, that would be the strategic high ground, and it must be retaken if we are to win.
via Courtland Miloy - Courtland Milloy: Drug Treatment - washingtonpost.com.
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Oral Fluid Drug Screens - Orapoint Technology
According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6 million people 12 and older used cocaine in the previous year, and 2.4 million were current users.
So the question is not so much how to stop the drugs from getting into the country as how to stop the drugs from getting inside of us. Reduce the demand and the supply takes care of itself.
Kerlikowske, the drug czar, said he wants to see more emphasis put on drug treatment and less on incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses. "We are not at war with people in this country," he told the Journal.
But a battle rages nonetheless. And he'll need to rally the troops. For the foe is cunning, capturing the brain. In a war, that would be the strategic high ground, and it must be retaken if we are to win.
via Courtland Miloy - Courtland Milloy: Drug Treatment - washingtonpost.com.
www.navigent3.com
Oral Fluid Drug Screens - Orapoint Technology
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Teen Drug Abuse on Rise
Police say teen drug abuse is on the rise in the Desert Southwest, as the number of hospital visits for drug abuse is increasing nationwide. Police say kids are having "pharming" parties; they show up with their pharmaceutical drugs, dump them in a bowl, and have at it. Yuma Police Department School Resource Officer Erick Resendiz held a presentation Wednesday night at City Hall as part of the Yuma Education Series. His message is if you abuse drugs, you're taking your life in your hands.
"We don't want to be responding to your house for an overdose when we can be responding to your house for advice on how to stop it," says Resendiz. Drugs can take a perfectly normal person, and turn them into a zombie. Resendiz says more kids in town are potentially throwing their future down the drain. He says police are seeing "over the counter and prescription drug abuse. Kids are trying any drug, if they have a drug that affects them somehow they think well if I take it more, can it help, will it help me." Resendiz also says more kids are inhaling toxins. Why are they doing drugs? To get high, deal with problems, change their body, help with school work, and a slew of other reasons. Resendiz says kids can find information on how to abuse drugs with the click of a mouse. "There's also experiment websites; sites they (kids) can go on-line that tell them how to abuse these drugs to get better highs safer. They even have rules like they're supposed to have a watcher; someone who can standby them when they're getting high in case something goes wrong." Resendiz says once a kid starts abusing drugs, they'll become a completely different person. Signs and symptoms of look out for: "Changes in behavior, changes in appearance, drastic things that don't normally happen in juveniles. Kids are giving away their belongings, they're losing an inappropriate amount of weight."
Resendiz says you can potentially save a loved ones life by getting them help before it's too late, and also studies show that if you talk to your child about not doing drugs, they'll be more likely to stay away from them. His advice for anyone is "don't even try them, don't even abuse them, don't take them any way, you shouldn't take them unless prescribed by a doctor. If you're already taking them get help, before you get past that addiction point where you can't get help anymore." For more information on Wednesday night's presentation, or for ideas on future presentation topics for the Yuma Educational Series, contact Officer Resendiz at the Yuma Police Department.
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Oral Fluid Drug Tests
"We don't want to be responding to your house for an overdose when we can be responding to your house for advice on how to stop it," says Resendiz. Drugs can take a perfectly normal person, and turn them into a zombie. Resendiz says more kids in town are potentially throwing their future down the drain. He says police are seeing "over the counter and prescription drug abuse. Kids are trying any drug, if they have a drug that affects them somehow they think well if I take it more, can it help, will it help me." Resendiz also says more kids are inhaling toxins. Why are they doing drugs? To get high, deal with problems, change their body, help with school work, and a slew of other reasons. Resendiz says kids can find information on how to abuse drugs with the click of a mouse. "There's also experiment websites; sites they (kids) can go on-line that tell them how to abuse these drugs to get better highs safer. They even have rules like they're supposed to have a watcher; someone who can standby them when they're getting high in case something goes wrong." Resendiz says once a kid starts abusing drugs, they'll become a completely different person. Signs and symptoms of look out for: "Changes in behavior, changes in appearance, drastic things that don't normally happen in juveniles. Kids are giving away their belongings, they're losing an inappropriate amount of weight."
Resendiz says you can potentially save a loved ones life by getting them help before it's too late, and also studies show that if you talk to your child about not doing drugs, they'll be more likely to stay away from them. His advice for anyone is "don't even try them, don't even abuse them, don't take them any way, you shouldn't take them unless prescribed by a doctor. If you're already taking them get help, before you get past that addiction point where you can't get help anymore." For more information on Wednesday night's presentation, or for ideas on future presentation topics for the Yuma Educational Series, contact Officer Resendiz at the Yuma Police Department.
www.navigent3.com
Oral Fluid Drug Tests
Federal Government Survey - Prescription Drug Abuse is the Real Problem
Prescription Drug Abuse
Despite the prevalence of prescription drug abuse, especially pain releivers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, most organizations.. including federal mandated DOT drug testing do not monitor their use.
A recent Federal Survey* says prescription drug abuse by teens and young adults continues to be a serious problem in the United States.
Today, teenagers are not using as much marijuana, cocaine, crack, LSD, and ecstasy as the adolescents of the 1960’s. American kids have a new favorite way to get high; painkillers and other prescription drugs are being abused at record levels.
This group of young adults has been given the name “Generation Rx.”
For the first time, national studies show that today’s teens are more likely to have abused a prescription painkiller than any street drug.
Surveys shows, that kids as young as 12 years old are trying or using prescription drugs -- to get high or for "self-medicating." The pharmaceuticals are often more available to kids than street drugs because they are often found in their very own homes. Also, pills may regarded as safer because they are professionally manufactured in a lab.
The survey also shows that painkillers are the most common pharmaceutical abused by teens with stimulant abuse more common among older teens and college students than younger teens.
Many young adults think these drugs are safe because they have legitimate uses, but taking them without a prescription to get high or to “self-medicate” can be as dangerous – and as addictive – as using street any drug they find on the streets.
*The Monitoring the Future survey – now in it’s 33rd year – is a series of classroom surveys of eight, tenth and twelfth graders. It is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the national Institutes of Health (NIH), and US Dept. of Health of Human Services (HHS).
The survey indicates a continuing high rate of prescription drug abuse among teens, with little change seen in the past six years. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs abused were prescribed or purchased over the counter. The most common drugs used were Vicodin and Oxycontin.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Study: Delinquency and Drug Abuse
Adolescent Risk-Taking Has Major Consequences When It Comes To Marriage
Delinquency linked to early marriage for both sexes, substance-abuse to later marriage for girls
April 21, 2009
BUFFALO, N. Y. -- A national study of data collected over 12 years finds that delinquent teens marry earlier than their peers, while substance-abusing teens -- especially girls who abuse marijuana -- marry later than peers, if at all.
"The Influence of Risk-Taking Behaviors on the Transition into Marriage: An Examination of the Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Behavior" by University at Buffalo sociologist Sampson Lee Blair, Ph.D., is a rare look at the long-term effects of teen delinquency and drug abuse on adult role attainment.
Delinquency was defined as anti-social behavior, including frequency of running away, arrests, physical fights and behavioral problems in school.
The study analyzed data from a U.S. Department of Education survey collected from a nationally representative sample of 9,813 young adults from 1988 to 2000. The results were presented at the March conference of the Eastern Sociological Society in Baltimore, Md.
The results are significant, says Blair, associate professor of sociology at UB, because in the U.S. marriage is commonly regarded as offering substantial economic, social and health advantages for individuals. The vast majority of high school girls -- much more so than boys -- tend to view marriage as "extremely important" to them.
But adolescent substance abuse and delinquent behaviors, he says, clearly have far-reaching consequences for the marital status of young adults, particularly girls.
"Most previous studies have focused on the relatively short-term effects of adolescent substance use and delinquency," he says, "but here we find good evidence that, for both sexes, delinquent behavior is linked to an increase in the likelihood of marriage and a lower age at first marriage. On the other hand, adolescents with relatively high levels of abuse of alcohol and marijuana have a lower likelihood of marriage even by their late 20s.
"The likelihood of marriage by that age is substantially lower among female adolescent substance abusers, particularly if the substance abused is marijuana."
He says the results suggest that delinquency and substance abuse may influence adolescents' orientation toward other adult roles as well.
The analyses employed data from 5,331 females and 4,482 males participants in the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), a nationally representative sample of high school students that collected information from respondents over a 12-year period.
NELS, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, collected data from surveys of students, parents, teachers and school administrators in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2000, at which time most of the students in the sample were in their mid- to late-20s, had completed their educational goals and had already entered into marriage.
Adolescent respondents were asked about the frequency of their alcohol use and marijuana use; delinquent and anti-social behavior, including frequency of running away, arrests, physical fights and school problems (cutting classes, skipping school, getting into trouble for violating rules, suspension or probation, transfer for disciplinary reasons).
The study also assessed data relative to family income, parental expectations about college attendance and the importance peers placed on various activities like going to parties, drinking alcohol, having sex and using drugs. Control measures for the race/ethnicity of respondents were used as well.
"It is certainly the case that many of these variables had an effect on the timing of the participants' marital experience," Blair says.
"Nevertheless, this analysis clearly suggests that even when all of them are considered, adolescent substance abuse and delinquent behaviors have far-reaching consequences for the marital status of young adults," he says.
"Additional research is needed to learn how developmental processes of adolescence are affected by delinquent behavior and substance abuse and the relative influences of these sex-based differences on other forms of adult status attainment."
Blair is a widely published expert in the sociology of the family, child and adolescent development, gender and ethnicity. He is the former editor of the journal Sociological Inquiry and former associate editor of Social Justice Research Journal of Family Issues and Marriage and Family Review.
The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities
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Delinquency linked to early marriage for both sexes, substance-abuse to later marriage for girls
UB sociologist Sampson Blair studies marriage and family. His latest research shows that deliquent teens marry earlier in life, while teenage girls who smoke marijuana marry later than peers.
April 21, 2009
BUFFALO, N. Y. -- A national study of data collected over 12 years finds that delinquent teens marry earlier than their peers, while substance-abusing teens -- especially girls who abuse marijuana -- marry later than peers, if at all.
"The Influence of Risk-Taking Behaviors on the Transition into Marriage: An Examination of the Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Behavior" by University at Buffalo sociologist Sampson Lee Blair, Ph.D., is a rare look at the long-term effects of teen delinquency and drug abuse on adult role attainment.
Delinquency was defined as anti-social behavior, including frequency of running away, arrests, physical fights and behavioral problems in school.
The study analyzed data from a U.S. Department of Education survey collected from a nationally representative sample of 9,813 young adults from 1988 to 2000. The results were presented at the March conference of the Eastern Sociological Society in Baltimore, Md.
The results are significant, says Blair, associate professor of sociology at UB, because in the U.S. marriage is commonly regarded as offering substantial economic, social and health advantages for individuals. The vast majority of high school girls -- much more so than boys -- tend to view marriage as "extremely important" to them.
But adolescent substance abuse and delinquent behaviors, he says, clearly have far-reaching consequences for the marital status of young adults, particularly girls.
"Most previous studies have focused on the relatively short-term effects of adolescent substance use and delinquency," he says, "but here we find good evidence that, for both sexes, delinquent behavior is linked to an increase in the likelihood of marriage and a lower age at first marriage. On the other hand, adolescents with relatively high levels of abuse of alcohol and marijuana have a lower likelihood of marriage even by their late 20s.
"The likelihood of marriage by that age is substantially lower among female adolescent substance abusers, particularly if the substance abused is marijuana."
He says the results suggest that delinquency and substance abuse may influence adolescents' orientation toward other adult roles as well.
The analyses employed data from 5,331 females and 4,482 males participants in the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), a nationally representative sample of high school students that collected information from respondents over a 12-year period.
NELS, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, collected data from surveys of students, parents, teachers and school administrators in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2000, at which time most of the students in the sample were in their mid- to late-20s, had completed their educational goals and had already entered into marriage.
Adolescent respondents were asked about the frequency of their alcohol use and marijuana use; delinquent and anti-social behavior, including frequency of running away, arrests, physical fights and school problems (cutting classes, skipping school, getting into trouble for violating rules, suspension or probation, transfer for disciplinary reasons).
The study also assessed data relative to family income, parental expectations about college attendance and the importance peers placed on various activities like going to parties, drinking alcohol, having sex and using drugs. Control measures for the race/ethnicity of respondents were used as well.
"It is certainly the case that many of these variables had an effect on the timing of the participants' marital experience," Blair says.
"Nevertheless, this analysis clearly suggests that even when all of them are considered, adolescent substance abuse and delinquent behaviors have far-reaching consequences for the marital status of young adults," he says.
"Additional research is needed to learn how developmental processes of adolescence are affected by delinquent behavior and substance abuse and the relative influences of these sex-based differences on other forms of adult status attainment."
Blair is a widely published expert in the sociology of the family, child and adolescent development, gender and ethnicity. He is the former editor of the journal Sociological Inquiry and former associate editor of Social Justice Research Journal of Family Issues and Marriage and Family Review.
The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities
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