Start your Father's Day on the right foot. Spend your morning with us! Great Prizes  -  Refreshments  -  Live music All for an awesome cause. SIGN UP HERE!

Copyright © 2015 The Hansen Foundation, Inc., All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Letting More EMS Staff Use Naloxone Could Reduce Drug Overdose Deaths: Study

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

April 28th, 2015/

Overdoses due to opioid drug use could be reduced if more emergency medical service (EMS) workers were allowed to administer the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, a new government study concludes.

Prescription opioids, including Vicodin, OxyContin and Percocet, caused more than 16,000 deaths in the United States in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Heroin, also an opioid, caused more than 8,000 deaths that year.

Naloxone is a prescription drug that has long been used by emergency rooms and paramedics. Recently, the World Health Organization said increasing the availability of naloxone could prevent more than 20,000 deaths in the United States annually. Naloxone works quickly, without side effects.

In the new study, CDC researchers reviewed nationwide data and found advanced EMS workers were more likely than basic EMS workers to administer naloxone, HealthDayreports. As of last year, only 12 states allowed basic EMS workers to administer naloxone for a suspected opioid overdose. All 50 states allowed advanced EMS workers to administer the antidote. The researchers recommended all EMS workers be trained to use naloxone, and that basic EMS personnel be given assistance to meet advanced certification requirements.

“Naloxone can be given nasally to a person suspected of overdose, allowing basic EMS staff to administer the drug without injection,” CDC senior health scientist Mark Faul said in anews release. “Naloxone is nonaddictive, and expanding training on how to administer the drug can help basic emergency medical service staff reverse an opioid overdose and save more lives.”

The opioid overdose death rate was 45 percent higher in rural areas than in urban areas, but the use of naloxone by rural EMS workers was only 22.5 percent higher than among their urban counterparts, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Hospitals Report Hundreds of Cases of Illness Caused by Synthetic Marijuana

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

April 28th, 2015/

Hospitals across the country have been reporting hundreds of cases of seriously ill people coming to the emergency room after using synthetic marijuana. In New York City, more than 120 cases were reported in a single week, according to NPR.

Many cases have also been seen in Alabama and Mississippi. Several people have died, the article notes.

Synthetic marijuana is often sold under the name “K2” or “Spice.” According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, these drugs can be extremely dangerous. Health effects can include severe agitation and anxiety; fast, racing heartbeat and high blood pressure; nausea and vomiting; muscle spasms, seizures, and tremors; intense hallucinations and psychotic episodes; and suicidal and other harmful thoughts and/or actions.

“We have to chemically restrain and physically restrain them because they become violent and very strong. It takes four to five personnel to restrain them on a gurney,” Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told NPR. One patient last week ended up in the ICU. “He was combative and required sedation in the ER,” Dr. Glatter said.

There is likely something unusual about the K2 that is causing the recent rash of ER visits, Dr. Glatter notes. Makers of synthetic drugs frequently change their molecular structure, to evade laws that outlaw the drugs. The changing structure also makes the drugs more difficult to detect on drug tests. These changes make the effects of the drugs more unpredictable.

“Chemists are getting more and more creative in designing these structures,” said Marilyn Huestis of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She added, “What’s in it today isn’t going to be what’s in it tomorrow.”

	April E-News from the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids   Launch of the Marijuana Talk Kit Between marijuana legalization, the normalization in pop culture and new ways of using, it’s becoming more complicated for parents to talk with their teens. This month marked the launch of our brand-newMarijuana Talk Kit: How to Talk With Your Teen About Marijuana. The comprehensive guide equips parents with the facts about marijuana as well as real skills and examples that they can use to have meaningful, productive conversations with their kids. Download your FREE Marijuana Talk Kit now >   TAKE ACTION tomorrow, 4/29: Help Get the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act Passed Designed to respond both to today’s heroin and opiate epidemic and tomorrow’s threats, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) is an all-inclusive response to opiate and heroin addiction that includes prevention, law enforcement strategies, overdose prevention, expansion of evidence-based treatment and support for those in, or seeking, recovery. You can help ensure that this important legislation receives the attention and support it deserves by participating in a special National Call-In Daytomorrow (Wednesday, 4/29). Learn more about CARA and take action now >   Free App Helps Parents Learn About the Most Commonly Abused Drugs by Teens Our complete Drug Guide for Parents is now available for quick and easy reference as a mobile app for Android phones and iPhones. Parents can now access vital information on drugs most commonly abused by teens right from their smartphones, including photos, slang terms and short- and long-term effects. Learn more and download the free app now >   Get the Latest Substance Abuse/Addiction News Right in Your Inbox For four years and counting, the Partnership’s Join Together News Service continues to keep readers informed about the top substance abuse and addiction news that impacts their work, life and community. Find in-depth explorations and expert commentary related to research, breakthroughs, emerging drug threats, policies affecting the substance abuse field and more, sent straight to your inbox each week. Subscribe today >    All of our programs and resources developed to help families are available thanks to generous donors. Please support our work by making a contribution today. Donate now >
We're here to help. Call our Parents Toll-Free Helpline 1-855-DRUGFREE (1-855-378-4373)            DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. Messages sent to this email address are not read. If you have a question or comment, please use our interactive online help system. Subscribe to our RSS feeds. To prevent mailbox filters from deleting mailings from Drugfree.org, add thepartnership@drugfree.org to your address book. Partnership for Drug-Free Kids | 352 Park Avenue South | Ninth Floor | New York, NY 10010 unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences | view email in browser

Maine Program Distributes Drug Arrest Records to Doctors and Pharmacists

/BY CELIA VIMONT

April 22nd, 2015/

A program in Maine is helping to combat prescription drug abuse by providing a monthly list of people arrested or summoned for prescription or illegal drug-related crimes to doctors and pharmacists.

The program, Diversion Alert, is helping doctors and pharmacists identify patients at risk of overdosing, in need of addiction treatment or engaged in illegal prescription drug distribution, says Executive Director Clare Desrosiers.

She discussed the program at the recent Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta.

In addition to alerting doctors and pharmacists about patients with possible abuse and addiction problems, Diversion Alert also provides tip sheets to help them respond to these patients.

The program was established in Aroostook County, Maine in 2009, and was expanded statewide in 2013, with a two-year grant from the state’s Attorney General’s office.

The grant funding will soon run out, Desrosiers said. A bill to fund the program with state money will be considered this session by the state legislature. Desrosiers has applied for several grants, and has also started raising money through a crowdfunding site,diversionalert.causevox.com/.

In addition to receiving monthly reports, subscribers to Diversion Alert also gain access to an online, searchable, password-protected drug charge database, which contains an 11-month record of substance abuse-related arrests in Maine. Booking photos are provided when available.

A pre/post study with comparison groups conducted in 2013-2014 found that prescribers who participated in Diversion Alert became more aware of the prescription drug abuse and diversion problem in their area, communicated more with health care providers about shared patients, stopped prescribing controlled substances to patients selling their prescription, and reported improved attentiveness to prescribing for all patients. Fifty-two percent of Maine health care providers participating in the post-survey evaluation reported that they found at least one patient listed on a Diversion Alert report in the past 12 months.

Diversion Alert is different from Maine’s Prescription Monitoring Program, which is administered by Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services. That program provides doctors and pharmacists with information about all controlled substance prescriptions dispensed to patients in Maine. It uses a separate online, password-protected database. The prescription monitoring program automatically notifies prescribers when a patient engages in behaviors that could indicate misuse, such as visiting a large number of doctors and pharmacists in a short period. It does not alert prescribers when a patient has been charged with trying to buy or sell prescription drugs.

“Ideally, doctors should be looking at both databases,” Desrosiers said. “The data in the prescription monitoring database in many cases doesn’t overlap with Diversion Alert data.”

One 2014 study of Diversion Alert found that the majority of people arrested for trafficking prescription drugs are not “doctor shopping” or “pharmacy hopping.” The study found that of 295 people listed in Diversion Alert for drug trafficking charges, 76 percent were not listed in the state’s prescription drug monitoring database. “It’s complementary, not duplicative,” Desrosiers notes.

Currently about 24 percent of the state’s actively licensed prescribers and pharmacists are registered with Diversion Alert, according to Desrosiers. “It doesn’t cost much and it has very good outcomes,” she said. “We found 59 percent of doctors said they used Diversion Alert to intervene with patients they find listed in Diversion Alert reports. That’s what we want to happen.”

Doctors who find a patient has been charged with prescription or illegal drug-related crimes are advised to stop prescribing controlled substances to that patient, and to consider referral to a detox center or medication-assisted treatment for patients coming off a high dose of opiates. Doctors are also advised to offer alternatives for pain, anxiety or ADHD treatment, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other non-opioid medications; physical therapy, chiropractic, massage and other alternative therapies; and behavioral treatment, such as medical yoga, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Best of the Week: April 18–24 COMING UP IN THE FIX// Native American Sobriety Circles * Ask an Expert: When and How Can I Get Off Suboxone? Our Panel of Experts Weighs In * Not Mary Poppins: The Addict as Parent * Interview with Hazelden's Marvin Seppala * Rich Roll: From Overweight Alcoholic to UltraMan * 10 Failures in State Drug Testing *Cancer Is a Gift * David Crosby * Recovery Profile: Brian Cuban * PLUS: Other incisive articles GOOD GUYS?// The Forgotten Victory in the War on Drugs How the DEA got one thing right. By Neville Elder PRO VOICES// Bill W. and the Boomerang: An Imagined Psychotherapy with the co-Founder of AA Could a powerful psychotherapeutic encounter have changed history? By Scott Kellogg HUSH!// Don't Tell Me When the Next AA Meeting Is Don't assume that, without the 12 steps, my sobriety must be on its last legs. It's just plain rude. By Keri Blakinger LETTING GO// Vince Cullen and Vomiting Your Way to Sobriety in Thailand Vince Cullen specializes in a unique and successful mode of recovery at Wat Thamkrabok in Thailand, using a tonic that induces bouts of savage vomiting. By Nathan A. Thompson SLIDESHOW// The 15 Strangest Border Busts Drug smugglers are finding some innovative ways to get their shipments across the border. From frozen fish to breast implants, check out some of the craziest methods thwarted by border officials. By McCarton Ackerman   BEST OF THE QUICK FIX Hillary Clinton Promises to Tackle 'Quiet Epidemic' of Substance Abuse Supreme Court Rules Making Suspects Wait For Drug-Sniffing Dog Is Unconstitutional Google Exec Takes 100 Pills a Day to Live Forever Louisiana Employers Could Soon Drug Test Hair From Applicants At Long Last, Florida Gov. Rick Scott Drops Lawsuit Over State Worker Drug Tests Less Gambling and More Clubbing Is the Newest Las Vegas Trend COMMENT OF THE WEEK Help Unwanted This week, Keri Blakinger wrote on how telling a recovering alcoholic that they need the 12 steps is just plain rude.Readers shared their experiences of being judged for not seeking sobriety in AA: Great article. My mother has been sober for 23 years with the help of AA. My father has been sober for 26 year without AA. See – it works if you work it, your way. I work the rooms, my husband does not. My point is - we all toast the holidays together with sparkling cider. And that’s really all that matters. It kills me when I hear my fellow AA members refer to my husband and father as “dry drunks” – I think the program could do without the name calling. I never miss an opportunity to make my feelings know about the “dry drunk” slur when I hear it in a meeting. Like it or not, it’s my meeting too. -shadylady MORE »

Rockers In Recovery Inc (501(c)3) Non Profit CONCERTS and FESTIVALS Please Support Rockers In Recovery Concerts & Festivals Ph#- 954-826-5968  ALL Concerts/Festivals - 100% Tax Deductible Main Sponsor -  $5000.00 Band Sponsor - $2500.00 RIR Magazine Ad Only   NOTE * Rockers In Recovery Unplugged Addiction Network Members Main Sponsor & Band Sponsor  Are 1/2 Price and 100% Tax Deductible. All Network Members get 1st Right of Refusal For All Upcoming  RIR - Concerts/Festivals Thank You For Your Support, CLICK HERE THIS IS WHO YOU'RE WORKING WITH !!! Lou Esposito(The Capris) & 20 Year Rock -N- Roll Hall of Fame Member   RIR Musical Director and Rock Hall Member Lou Esposito, will be heading out in May with the RIR All-Stars for a couple of months of hard hittin' rock and roll. Lou and the rockers will be bringing Addiction Awareness & Prevention Through Rock -N- Roll to several cities across the United States. Lou will be announcing some very special guests that will be joining up with the band on the road to do a few songs and help promote awareness that there is help for addiction issues.     Learn More  Andy Burton, Keyboard Player of Robert Plant's Band and John Mayer's Band Keyboard Player Andy Burton from John Mayer's Band and Robert Plants Band will be doing the upcoming gigs through September with the RIR All-Stars . Andy Burton has toured with artists like Rufus Wainwright, Curtis Stigers, and Ian Hunter. He is currently performing with singer/songwriter John Mayer around the globe. See More on Andy Click Here  May 24th,  Drummer Liberty Devitto (The Slim Kings, and Billy Joel) Jamming with the RIR All-Stars.    Drummer Liberty Devitto from the The Slim Kings, and longtime Drummer for Billy Joel will be doing the upcoming gig in NJ with the RIR All-Stars.  Lib has toured with the RIR All-Stars in the past and we look forward to having him with us May 24th in NJ.  See up-coming concerts/festivals. Read more about Liberty Devitto's 40 year history in Rock-N-Roll. Click Here ToRead More Mark Stein Vocalist, Keyboardist, Composer, and Arranger of Vanilla Fudge..  Mark Stein is the lead vocalist, keyboardist, composer, and arranger of Vanilla Fudge.  Mark first founded Vanilla Fudge in 1966 at the age of 18 with members Tim Bogert, Vinny Martell, and Carmine Appice. In the short time they were together the band enjoyed their first giant success with their first Atco album release self-entitled Vanilla Fudge. The first album was a ground-breaking work since it was the first album to reach the top ten on Billboard's charts without a hit single. The legendary rock arrangement of You Keep Me Hangin' On became the band's first hit single nearly two years after the release of the first album. During the 1960's the Fudge were one of rock's most exciting, high-energy touring bands, setting the stage for the likes of Jimmy Hendrix, Deep Purple, and even Led Zeppelin. Through a total of five albums and the tireless touring, the legendary Vanilla Fudge influenced artists around the world with their inspired performances and unique musical interpretations. Bands like Yes, The Who, Deep Purple, and many others have credited Vanilla Fudge with having a profound effect on their Learn More Drew Preston Project      Originally a classic rock guitarist and composer from the Frampton/Santana/Hendrix schools. Drew ventured into rock/jazz fusion in the 80s to become a sought after NYC session player who routinely jammed with fusion greats including the late Hiram Bullock, Delmar Brown, and Darryl Dobson among others.  Preston's unique style was frequently compared to guitar icons such as Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton and Neal Schon. Read More   . Bassist Muddy Shews(Southside Johnny) Returns To The RIR All-Stars.  Bassist Muddy Shews (Southside Johnny) whom has toured with the RIR All-Stars in the past will be joining RIR as the bands bass player for the up-coming shows over the next couple of months. See up-coming concerts/festivals  Learn More Casey Montana Rogers, RIR Unplugged Musical Director     Meet our RIR Unplugged Musical Director Casey Montana Rogers a nineteen-year-old singer-songwriter from North Georgia, currently attending college to major in Music Business. Casey did her 1st RIR Unplugged in Maryland April of 2014, she went on to tour as the opening act for the RIR All-Stars through 2014 and will be doing the same through 2015 as Musical Director of RIR Unplugged. Meet RIR Unplugged(Established 2012) Musical Contributors- Lou Esposito    Marion Weston Michael Mostel Paul Wilson & Friends   Vic Monte Ed Walsh Bruce Duncan Ceefor Ebrahimi Johnathan Fiene Casey has and still is recording in Nashville, her songs like "Battle Scars" are played on the radio, and at many local RIR Addiction Awareness Meet & Greet events, which is all exciting. However, for Casey the most rewarding part of being a musician is having people hear her songs and relate them to their own stories in life.  Read More Rapper In Recovery Tony Ray    Tony Ray Music Motivation Recovery Ministry... In a world of chaotic world influence he has come to use his gifts for a calling to serve those in recovery... Read More UPCOMING ROCKERS IN RECOVERY EVENTS Feel Free To Print or Share The Flyers Below  RIR All-Star Band Established In 2011 By RIR Founder Lori Sullivan.  Meet Our Current RIR Band Musical Contributors - M.D., Rock Hall Member, Lou Esposito Casey Montana Rogers- (RIR Band)  Liberty Divitto - (Billy Joel) Muddy Shews-(Southside Johnny) Andy Burton-( John Mayer) Mark Stein -(The Vanilla Fudge) Eliot Jacobs- (The Capris) Greg Deppe- (Bruce Springsteen) John Gianoulis- (Earl Slick Band) Jeff Ganz- (Johnny Winter) Ben Smith - (Heart)Jeff Ousley - (Heart) David Shelley- (Government Mule) David Uosikkinen -(The Hooters) Colin McGuinness -( Axl Rose) Tommy Conwell - (Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers) Share Ross-(VIXEN) Bam Tastic - (The Dogs D'Amour) Drew Preston - (Johnny B. & The Road Dogs) Anyone At Anytime May Just Show Up and Play - The  Musicians who just showed up and played have been musical contributors to RIR's mission through our unplugged sets, concerts, and festivals and have  supported  the recovery lifestyle are Simon Kirke(Bad Co.),Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople), Michael Des Barres, Billy J. Kramer, LaLa Brooks (The Crystals), Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators, Little Steven's Underground Garage), Gene Cornish (The Rascals), Peppy Castro (Blue Magoo's), Mark Bosch (Ian Hunter Rant Band, Garland Jeffries), Ross the Boss (The Dictators), Joe Hurley (Joe Hurley and The Gents, Keith Richards' LIFE), Arno Hecht and Larry Etkin (Uptown Horns), Adam Roth (Billy J. Kramer), Marge Raymond (singer/songwriter/actress), and Dave Uosikkinen(The Hooters),Jeff Kazee (Southside Johnny, Bon Jovi), along with his band mates Chris Anderson, Neal Pawley from Southside Johnny.Learn More  Lori Sullivan  954-826-5968 "Addiction Awareness & Prevention Through Rock -N- Roll" Give us a call today!