Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 31, 2014 under Addiction Trends | Comments are off for this article
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded more than $11 million over the next three years to support research of the use of social media to gain more knowledge, prevent and treat substance use and addiction.
The awards are funded through the Collaborative Research on Addiction at NIH (CRAN), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), all components of the NIH.
“We hope to learn more about how changing technologies affect interpersonal communications and factual knowledge about tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow.
Researchers will analyze social media interactions on platforms like Facebook and Twitter to gain insights on patterns of use, risk factors, and behaviors associated with substance use. CRAN issued awards that will support leveraging social media platforms to help fill the gaps in science-based knowledge of substance use as well as the treatment of substance abuse.
Some awards will be used to study how social media can enhance screening, prevention and treatment of substance abuse and addictions by providing a platform to communicate science-based, health-related messages. Social media platforms also have potential to increase how effective prevention and treatments are by providing technologically mediated solutions.
NIAAA Director Dr. George Koob stated that the widespread use of social media puts emphasis on questions regarding the connections between interactive media platforms with substance use and abuse. Dr. Koob also pointed out that social media’s potential as a tool to prevent and treat substance abuse problems.
The subjects to be studied are as follows:
– Social Networks of Recovery: Social Media as therapy development
– Implications of social media content and engagement for alcohol and marijuana use
– Predicting relapse and treatment completion from social media use
– Social media analysis to monitor cannabis and synthetic cannabinoid use
– Mining patterns of substance use by young adults with social media data
– Using Facebook to recruit parents to a parenting program to prevent teen drug use
– A social media intervention for parent support
– Social media, online measure and substance use development in adolescent twins
– Adapting the HOPE social media intervention to reduce prescription drug use.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 28, 2014 under Addiction Trends | Comments are off for this article
Despite the belief of some people that marijuana is harmless and that more states should legalize the drug, studies are showing that marijuana really does have many negative effects. One major discovery of marijuana abuse among teenagers is the large number of teens who drop out of high school.
A recent study shows that teenagers who smoke marijuana on regular basis are 60% less likely to finish high school. Additionally, young people who abuse marijuana regularly are 60% less likely to finish college. The suicide rate for youths who abuse marijuana is higher as well, as teens who smoke weed are reportedly seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those who do not abuse marijuana. Also, despite some assertion that marijuana is not a gateway drug, this study shows that regular users of marijuana are eight times more likely to use other, harder drugs.
The research looks into three multi-year studies that were conducted on teenagers in New Zealand and Australia. Researchers used the data because it provided them a large pool of people and therefore made the results more accurate. They were confident with stating the negative correlation between marijuana use and all negative outcomes of a teenager’s life because of the overwhelming information gathered from the studies.
These studies, among others that have been conducted, are proving to many people in government that protecting children from marijuana is vital, especially now that many states are entertaining the legalization of the drug. Studies like this show that although some people may think that marijuana is safe, no one really knows how it affects growing, developing brains and the decisions that children make. Currently there are several studies in the works to investigate teen marijuana abuse, addiction and the effects of marijuana on teen’s bodies and lives.
A closer look at the statistics surrounding drug addiction and drug use show that the drug problem is continuing to get worse in our country. While the President explained that the war on drugs needed to change tactics, some people are still fighting against drugs using the old playbook. Instead of focusing on prevention, education and treatment, some people are still blindly incarcerating addicts and punishing them instead of trying to solve the core issues.
Drug use continues to be a problem throughout towns, cities, states and the entire country. The number of people who have died from heroin overdoses has doubled since 2012. The United States reports more deaths from drug and alcohol overdoses than car accidents. Older adults are contributing to the increase in addicts in our country as well, not just teenagers or young adults. Many addicts obtain their drugs from their doctors, as the biggest increase in drug problems throughout the country involve prescription medications.
It is clear that as a nation, we are facing a problem regarding the way we deal with pain. Since millions of people are abusing painkillers, and then often resorting to heroin abuse because it is cheaper than purchasing pills, we need to address our policies on prescription painkillers. While most states have implemented some type of prescription monitoring tool to help doctors and pharmacists keep track of who is getting what and ensuring that less people are going from doctor to doctor in search of painkillers, this is not the ultimate solution. Not everyone uses the system and if you look at the prescription painkiller problem closer you will see that what needs to be addressed is our lack of willingness to feel pain, says Allen Frances, Professor Emeritus from Duke University.
As the leader of the task force for the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual (DSM-IV), Frances is basing his opinions on a large body of data. He says that in an attempt to avoid pain, doctors are willing to put their patient at risk of developing a severe addiction to prescription painkillers. There was once a time when prior to such a severe course of action doctors would prescribe an exercise regimen, new diet or physical therapy. These are the alternatives that can prevent an addiction before it ever even starts.
While not everyone can be pleased with the drug policy of our country, it does seem to be continuing to shift more in favor of treatment over incarceration This should help to have a positive impact that should be noticed in the near future as well as man years down the road.
Reports released throughout the country have some people in shock. Turns out that the demographic that is at most risk for overdosing on drugs or alcohol are men ages 45-64. While it is true that children and teenagers are at risk for drug addiction and overdoses, and women are abusing drugs at a rapid rate, middle-aged men are succumbing to overdoses more than any other group.
A closer look at Orange County, CA coroner records showed that between 2011 and 2012 there were 1,156 overdose deaths. When researchers examined those deaths they found some alarming information. The amount of men dying from overdoses was double that of women. White men, ages 45-64 were the group that passed away the most from drug or alcohol overdoses.
Interestingly, researchers also found that most of the overdose deaths they looked into were accidental. This would indicate that at least some of the deaths could have been avoided had the person been given the proper education regarding dose, what not to mix the drug with and the potency of the drug. After age 44 prescription drug overdoses were the overwhelming majority in overdose deaths.
Not everyone dies when they overdose from drugs or alcohol. The researchers also looked into how many people checked into the hospital for overdoses within Orange County. They found that 10,782 people checked into hospitals in the area, with an average stay of four days, costing around $25,000.00. It is clear from this information that drug abuse and misuse is a growing problem in California and the rest of the country.
While these results are just from one county, it does shed some light on a group of people that may be forgotten about when it comes to anti-drug and anti-alcohol advertising. Most government agencies focus on the prevention of drug abuse among children, pair that with the joint efforts of schools and families and youths have a pretty steady stream of anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-abuse attention. Older men however, do not have that steady stream. In fact, adults are pretty much left to fend for themselves.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 8, 2014 under AZ Drug Rehab News | Comments are off for this article
Two and a half hours after being born, a newborn baby boy passed away in Tucson, AZ. When doctors looked into the reason behind the death they found that the baby had methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in its system. As the hospital staff looked into the devastating turn of events they found that the baby’s mother had been abusing drugs while she was pregnant.
The medical examiner’s office released a report, stating that the cause of death was, “prematurity with substance abuse by his mother as a contributing factor to his prematurity and subsequent death.” Perhaps even more shocking than the mother’s alleged extreme negligence and reckless endangerment is that seven months later she has still not been charged with any crime.
The Tucson Police Department reported that they are still investigating the case; however some people are skeptical that anything is going to be done to avenge the baby’s death. The police department cites complicated loopholes regarding infant death so soon after birth as the main reason why no charges have been filed yet, they are still investigating to ensure that they have a solid case before committing to charges. It should also be noted that the baby’s mother was arrested on drug charges only one month prior to the child being born.
Drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy is one of the most dangerous things a mother can do to her child. The baby becomes addicted to the drugs while still in the womb and can develop serious and life-threatening complications. Once born, if the baby survives, the child has to go through painful withdrawal in order to get off the drugs. Withdrawal symptoms are typically something that an adult cannot handle, let alone an infant. The types of withdrawal symptoms a baby may experience depend on what drugs the mother was abusing during the pregnancy.
If a mother was abusing heroin or any kind of opiate the child may experience painful flu-like symptoms, inability to sleep, severe aches and pains, cravings for the drug and vomiting. What is even scarier is that when a baby is going through withdrawals their heart rate increases and they become dehydrated.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 5, 2014 under Addiction Trends | Comments are off for this article
In the past, Fed Ex and Amazon have been called out for allowing vendors to utilize corporate services to sell illegal drugs to addicts. Ebay is the newest online business that is being connected to the sale of illegal drugs, likely from overseas.
Since companies like Amazon and Ebay do not have a physical store, they contract with vendors to provide a platform for the sale of the items, and those vendors are generally responsible for shipping out the items themselves. Due to this arrangement, the contracts that the vendors sign protect Ebay from getting in trouble if the items are illegal or if they don’t match the description. Due to this protection, businesses like Ebay are less concerned about checking the legitimacy of the vendors or their goods.
Buying drugs online is not a new thing. Addicts simply go to websites like these and others to locate drugs for sale. Purchasing the drugs can unfortunately be relatively easy, and the addicts receive the drugs in the mail. This process may become more difficult as FedEx, one of the biggest delivery companies in the United States, is now under federal indictment due to the fact that they continue to deliver packages that are suspected to contain drugs. The government had warned FedEx over and over again that they were likely transporting drugs, but they refused to change their practices. Now it looks like they will finally make an attempt to stop these shipments.
As the public becomes more aware of the practices of companies like Amazon and Ebay, many wonder what can be done to stop the online sale of illegal drugs. In order to effectively stop the sale of drugs on the internet through major corporations a few policy changes need to occur. These companies need to establish policies that require them to know who is selling what on their sites and put the safety of the general public ahead of their profit margins. If they find that someone is attempting to sell illegal drugs they need to eliminate that item from the site and immediately report it to the authorities.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on October 1, 2014 under Prescription Drugs | Comments are off for this article
One of the scariest things about the prescription drug abuse problem in our country is the number of children who have access to the deadly drugs. More and more teens are reporting illicit use of painkillers and other prescription drugs and some wonder how they are obtaining the pills. Many teens do not have to look far in order to get their hands on prescription painkillers, as they are most often found in medicine cabinets of family members or friends. One teen decided to investigate how common prescription drug use is among his peers.
Stowe’s film “Out of Reach” takes a look at classmates and how many of them are taking prescription drugs, as well as how easy it is for them to obtain the pills. “What we found out was, we’d go into the restroom and students right before a test would go into a stall, pop an Adderall, sometimes snort it, and trade more hard drugs like Oxycontin, hydrocodone, and just take them as if it was vitamin C,” he said.
While abusing prescription drugs may be openly done amongst their peers, many teens can hide the fact that they are taking the drugs from their parents and teachers. This may be because most parents are not sure what they are supposed to be watching out for when it comes to prescription drug abuse. Educating parents on what signs to look for is important when dealing with teen drug abuse. When a person is taking prescription painkillers they are oftentimes sleepy, their pupils are dilated, and they tend not to have an appetite and may exhibit weight loss.
Cyrus Stowe hopes that his documentary will not only educate parents on the reality of prescription drug abuse, but also shed some light on the secret behavior of many of his peers. While many families are dealing with the tragedy of losing a child to a prescription drug abuse problem, many more families are still willing to look the other way when it comes to talking to their children about the deadly addiction.
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