It has become so common. Legal drug addiction. So many people are getting addicted to their pain killers. People who have never had any drug use have an accident, or put their back out, suffer some kind of pain and get prescribed an opiate pain killer and get addicted.
Worse yet, these drugs are easy for teens to get a hold of. Check out the medicine cabinet and there are all the goodies. Oh guess what you can get them on the internet too. Police reports of Pharma Parties are becoming common within the younger and younger crowds.
We need to wake up here. We are talking about opiate drugs - very addictive and lethal.
The International Narcotic Control Board estimates that 11.5 tons of oxycodone was manufactured world wide in 1998 and this grew to 75.2 tons in 2007. The United States has the highest total consumption world wide and the highest per capita consumption followed by Canada, Denmark, Australia and Norway.
A Canadian study released in November 2009 found painkillers causing twice the number of opiate deaths than two decades ago. It also found a dramatic rise in prescriptions to oxycodone found in Oxy Contin and Percocet.
With limited drug rehabilitation facilities available the brakes need to go on the prescribing of such substances.
Posts Tagged ‘prescription drug’
Prescription Abuse
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009Michael Jackson - Death, the FINAL INTERVENTION - Shocks World
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009The whole world is still reeling from the loss of an amazing performer who was on the verge of a major comeback tour.
Now the information is trickling in concerning the prescription drugs that Michael was addicted to, and which conceivably contributed to his shocking demise.
Here is the list that was reported by a major news agency:
demerol - synthetic morphine
oxycontin - synthetic heroin
zoloft - commonly known as an anti-depressant
xanax AND valium, both benzodiazepines
dilaudid, vicoden - both heavy duty opiates
All of these substances have highly addictive properties. Not just in some cases, in ALL cases. All must be prescribed by a licensed medical or psychiatric doctor. Which begs the question, ”Who was in a position to see the results of his addictions, and why was no effective intervention implemented to stop it?” Surely this must be the same common problem every day families face, where a family member is observably struggling with addiction, and only an intervention, preferably using a professional trained in the field, will stop the downward spiral and avert the inevitable death. The nature of addiction itself precludes that the addicted person no longer has the ability to stop the addiction without help. The humane, caring and courageous thing to do is to intervene, which unquestionably will temporarily disrupt job or income earning, or come-back tours, as it would have, in the case of our now gone favorite pop star. The careless and unkind thing is to let addiction continue it’s destructive pattern.
Sadly, one thing becomes crystal clear: that by default, the final intervention will be death itself. Let us help you with a successful drug rehab referral before it’s too late for your loved one.