The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) refers to “designer drugs” as drugs created in a laboratory, usually one that is illegal, secret or an “underground” lab. Designer drugs are created by altering the properties of a plant-derived drug, such as marijuana, morphine or cocaine, using chemistry. As a result, “designer drugs” typically cause a new and different effect on the user’s behavior or brain function. Continue reading
Use of New “Designer Drugs” Growing in Popularity
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Pharmaceutical Companies Developing New Formulations to Deter Prescription Drug Abuse
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites 15,000 prescription painkiller overdose- related fatalities annually. According to the CDC, Americans were prescribed enough opioid painkillers in 2010 to medicate every adult in American 24/7 for an entire month. Continue reading
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How Events like the Super Bowl Can Cause Relapse
The concept of relapse embraces more than just going back to using drugs or alcohol after getting sober. Relapse includes the idea of returning to a bad behavior one had ceased doing. It includes the idea of backsliding, or worsening. It includes the idea of a failure to maintain a higher state. For those who have overcome their struggle with addiction and achieved sobriety, relapse is a source of ruin which can throw the person back into the vicious cycle of addiction and the suffering involved in living the addiction lifestyle. Continue reading
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Employers Using Innovative Drug Testing to Maintain Safe Work Environments
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that close to 75 percent of all adults who use illicit drugs are employed, as are most heavy alcohol users and binge drinkers. Studies show substance-abusing employees are more likely to frequently change jobs, more likely to be late to work or absent from work, more likely to be less productive, more likely to be involved in a workplace accident, and more likely to file a worker’s compensation claim when compared with those who do not abuse substances. Continue reading
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Should the U.S. Refocus Drug Addiction as a Public Health Issue for the Department of Education
Drug addiction affects every American to a greater or lesser degree. Its cost in human suffering, broken lives, and destroyed dreams is well-known to the addict, and those who love him or her. Its economic cost to individuals and organizations at all levels of society is well documented. Despite any ongoing efforts to successfully curtail the use of potentially highly addictive illicit and pharmaceutical drugs capable of causing death, drug use is on the rise. Continue reading
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Communities Declaring Health Emergencies After Rise in Heroin Overdoses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that drug overdose-caused deaths over the last two decades have been steadily rising. Deaths from drug overdose in the United States now ranks as the leading cause of injury death. Every day in the U.S, 120 people die due to a drug overdose. Another 6,748 people end-up in emergency departments (ED), needing treatment for the abuse or misuse of drugs. The CDC reports that nearly 9 of every 10 deaths due to poisoning are caused by drugs. (2014) Continue reading
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United States Making Progress in Controlling Opioid Abuse
Opioid painkillers are arguably some of the most dangerous drug substances currently in existence and in use, largely due to the fact that many individuals believe these substances are completely safe to use and even abuse considering that they were FDA approved and doctor recommended. Luckily, new research indicates that the abuse of these narcotic painkillers may now be on the decline, thanks to many local and national intervention programs. Continue reading
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Parents’ Lives Consumed by Children Struggling with Heroin
A parent’s love for a child is a special kind of love. Raising a child is an investment in the future, and a parent harbors hopes and dreams that their children will find health, happiness and success in pursuit of their personal goals and dreams. But drugs and substance abuse are the great destroyers of cherished dreams. Heroin is the thief which steals a child’s future, and all but destroys the parents of that addicted child. Continue reading
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Nasal Spray: The Next Over-The-Counter Addiction
Using over-the-counter nasal sprays to minimize the discomfort and swelling caused by hay fever and allergies is common. Most people find a congested and stuffy nose miserable and problematic. But many people may not realize that by using the nasal decongestant sprays for more than three consecutive days, it may cause greater difficulty breathing as well as damage to the nose. Continue reading
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What is Abstinence-Based Addiction Treatment
Abstinence is an old world which has been part of our language for hundreds of years. Its roots are in the Latin language, where it meant to abstain. Its meaning has changed little down through the centuries. Now, as it did then, it means to refrain from indulging an appetite; or indulging in some action, or some substance. It is often used in reference to alcohol and drugs, and the act or practice of not using them. Continue reading
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