Addiction: Misunderstood, Greatly Undertreated, Report Finds

By Join Together Staff | June 26, 2012 | 8 Comments | Filed in Addiction,Alcohol, Drugs, Healthcare & Treatment


Only about one in 10 people who need treatment for addiction to drugs or alcohol receive it, according to a new report. Many who do receive treatment do not receive evidence-based care, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA Columbia).

Many people misunderstand addiction, and think of it as a moral failure or a lack of willpower, instead of a complex brain disease, according to the report, Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice. The report finds that doctors are not prepared to intervene or treat addiction, according to The Oklahoman.

“Right now there are no accepted national standards for providers ofaddiction treatment,” lead investigator Susan Foster, CASA Columbia’s Vice President and Director of Policy Research and Analysis, said in a news release. “There simply is no other disease where appropriate medical treatment is not provided by the health care system and where patients instead must turn to a broad range of practitioners largely exempt from medical standards. Neglect by the medical profession has resulted in a separate and unrelated system of care that struggles to treat the disease without the resources or knowledge base to keep pace with science and medicine.”

According to the report, addiction affects 16 percent of Americans ages 12 and older—about 40 million people. That number is greater than those affected by heart disease (27 million), diabetes (26 million) or cancer (19 million). In addition, 80 million people are considered “risky users,” who use tobacco, alcohol and other drugs in ways that threaten health and safety.

Foster noted that many doctors are not prepared to treat addiction for several reasons. Medical schools’ curriculum generally does not cover addiction, and there is no nationally accepted set of standards for how physicians should treat addiction, she said.

Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center Massachusetts

About
Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center provides a safe environment where shared experience leads to empowerment, respect and a sense of wellness
MissionEveryday Miracles is a place where peers support one another with encouragement while promoting positive values of recovery. Our goal is to inspire and motivate each other to embrace a new way of life.
Company Overview
Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center is a recovery oriented sanctuary anchored in the heart of downtown Worcester. The center opened in October 2008 and welcomed its relocation to a store front at 25 Pleasant Street, Worcester in November 2009. The Recovery Center provides peer-to-peer recovery support using its volunteer/member force to deliver services. Everyday Miracles maintains a...See More
DescriptionGet involved.....Community Meeting every Tuesday @ 1:30 pm. All are welcome!





Opened October 2008
Location 25 Pleasant Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609
Hours

Mon: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
Tue: 8:30 am - 7:30 pm
Wed: 8:30 am - 7:00 pm
Thu - Fri: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Parking Street
Public Transit WRTA (Worcester Reginal Transit Authority) at City Hall


Contact Info
Phone 1 (508) 799-6221
Email everydaymiracles@spectrumsys.org
Website http://www.everydaymiraclesprsc.org

Sober Bikers United, Inc.

Sober Bikers United, Inc.

Welcome to Sober Bikers United, Inc. (SBU)


Sober Bikers United, Inc. is a family oriented group of clean and sober bikers whose primary goal is to have fun and share the clean and sober biker lifestyle. You don't have to be a biker to be a member. You don't have to own a bike. You don't have to be in recovery. The only requirement for membership is that you live and/or support a clean and sober biker lifestyle and like motorcycles. There are no gender, race, or recovery program requirements for membership.

Purpose : Sober Bikers United Inc. is a social association. The membership body offersfellowship to motorcyclists in recovery from drug and or alcohol abuse. Sober Bikers United Inc. is not a recovery program or a religion in itself. Sober Bikers United Inc. does not endorse one recovery program, religion or religious denomination as superior to another. However, the influence of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and a Higher Power is strong within Sober Bikers United Inc. Members are encouraged to take whatever steps necessary for them to live a clean, sober and legal lifestyle. Sober Bikers United Inc. is to be self supporting via events hosted, dues paid and sales of Sober Bikers United Inc. merchandise to its membership. We may accept unsolicited contributions as long as there are no requirements or conditions imposed upon Sober Bikers United Inc.

IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE WELL BEING OF SOBER BIKERS UNITED THAT WE ARE NEUTRAL TOWARD ALL MOTORCYCLE CLUBS.








Membership :Sober Bikers United, Inc. is open to anyone, both those in recovery and those who support those in recovery regardless of race or gender. The only true requirement is a desire to live and/or support a clean and sober lifestyle. If a Supporter, this includes not drinking or using in the presence of the general membership or while wearing the SBU patch. "Members" are people in recovery or those who chose to practice total abstinence, "Supporters" are all others. The Representative for your State will be notified about you. If members/supporters are near by, you are encouraged to go meet them. It is the hope of Sober Bikers United, Inc. that friendships will form and support will begin. That is what our chapters are built on. You are free to join a chapter or remain independent. No particular brand of motorcycle is required. Paid members/supporters will have access to the web sites members/supporters area. Children under the age of 18 are considered part of their parent's membership. SBU reserves the right to refuse membership to anyone for any reason other than age, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.







Download Membership Forms

Dues : Annual dues of $30 are paid to the International office. Your dues will maintain your place on the International roster and help to defray operating costs of SBU. Paid members/supporters will have access to the web site's members/supporters area. There are no dues on the chapter level. Dues are non-refundable.

Affiliations, Coalitions, Federations etc : Sober Bikers United, Inc. is an association, not a motorcycle club. Therefore, as an association Sober Bikers United, Inc. cannot enter into affiliations, coalitions, federations etc, as a motorcycle club would. However, Sober Bikers United, Inc. accepts its responsibility to help support bikers rights organizations as best it can on the National level. State level SBU chapters have no authority to use the Sober Bikers United, Inc. name to join any groups of any kind without permission from the National office. Sober Bikers United, Inc. respects all traditional motorcycle clubs and in no way means any disrespect to any of them. The Sober Bikers United, Inc. membership is urged to use judgment with regard to wearing any support items. Misunderstanding can easily happen as we travel across the country and from event to event.

SOBER BIKERS RESPECTS ALL MOTORCYCLE CLUBS AND IS NEUTRAL WITH NO DESIRE TO CLAIM TERRITORY.

Territories and Boundaries : Sober Bikers United, Inc. has no boundaries and claims no territories. SBU uses established geographical boundaries and State lines purely as an organizational tool to help us better keep track of SBU members/supporters. SBU chapters have names that tend to reflect recovery or inspire, they are also numbered to help keep track of them. They have no meaning in regards to claiming any territories or establishing boundaries.

Runs, Events & Meetings :There are no mandatory runs, events or chapter meetings in Sober Bikers United, Inc.. We are indeed a social association and highly encourage our members to get together for such events. Directors try to coordinate one or more events per year; however, no event or run will be mandatory. Chapters are encouraged to plan fun get togethers and rides to various events as often as they want but should never pressure members/supporters to attend. We are about social fun not mandatory attendance.

- Click Here for :SBU Leadership Structure

Inside Scientology's Rehab Racket

By Mark Ebner andWalter Armstrong  THE FIX


Narconon promises desperate addicts that they can sweat out their demons (and gobs of green ooze) by spending hours in sweltering saunas. But is it a real rehab? Or a front trying to lure vulnerable converts to a declining cult?



Yet according to the organization's many critics, including friends and family of dead, damaged, or disappeared Narconon clients, the chain of rehabs is little more than a front group for the Church of Scientology. They allege that unsuspecting clients pay as much as $30,000 for “treatment” consisting of a bizarre detox process that poses serious health hazards, followed by indoctrination in Scientology masked as drug rehabilitation. By preying on people who are desperate and vulnerable—and prime candidates for conversion—Narconon serves as one of the church’s main sources of revenue and recruitment. As the Scientology brand turns increasingly toxic—in a recent New Yorker, Lawrence Wright reported that the F.B.I. is investigating its leadership for allegedly violating human trafficking laws—the church’s survival depends more than ever on Narconon’s hold on the addiction and recovery market. (Efforts by The Fix to contact a Narconon spokesperson for comment by phone and email were not successful.)By Mark Ebner andWalter Armstrong

L. Ron Hubbard, the prolific science fiction author and founder of the Church of Scientology, may have been judged “a mental case” (according to the F.B.I.) and “a pathological liar” (according to a Los Angeles Supreme Court judge), but to tens of thousands of his eager followers worldwide, the man discovered an approach to recovery that outclasses everything on offer from mainstream addiction science. Narconon is the spawn of Hubbard’s pseudos-cientific notions, a detox-and-rehab enterprise that has, over more than four decades, grown into a multimillion-dollar empire that currently comprises an estimated several dozen clinics encircling the globe. Its claims of unrivaled success rates with its “100 percent natural,” “drug free” approach have kept it profitable and respectable, even as the church’s reputation has tanked. Celebrity endorsements—from the likes of "former graduate" Kirstie Alley—and a savvyinternet marketing campaign haven't hurt.


L. Ron Hubbard was a strange candidate to emerge as the self-proclaimed scientific leader of one of the world’s largest anti-addiction enterprises. His fondness for illicit substances was well known. Yet aside from his own ingestion of a wide variety of illegal drugs including mescaline, barbiturates, and coke—described in letters written by Hubbard and his son—the exact nature of Hubbard’s “research” into addiction remains obscure. Hubbard claimed to have discovered in 1977 that the residue of L.S.D. and other “toxic” substances lingers in the body’s tissues for months and even years after use; like tiny ticking time bombs, these remnants can explode at any moment, triggering a dangerous craving or disorienting flashback that, in turn, can lead to more drug use.

The Narconon (not to be confused with Narcotics Anonymous, or N.A.) pamphlet “Ten Things Your Friends May Not Know About Drugs” offers a basic account of the science fiction master’s theories of drug addiction. “Most drugs or their by-products get stored in fat within the body and can stay there for years,” it reads. “Even occasional use has long-term effects. This is a problem because later, when the person is working or exercising or has stress, the fat burns up and a tiny amount of the drug seeps back into the blood. This triggers cravings so the person may still want drugs even years after he stopped taking them.”

To detoxify from alcohol and drugs, Hubbard recommended in his “Purification Rundown” that ailing addicts spend four or five hours a day in 150-degree saunas, while ingesting megadoses of vitamins. This sweat-out-the-bad, drink-in-the-good regimen had originally been invented by Hubbard as the first stage in the process of conversion to Scientology and becoming “clear”—free of the negativity of “engrams,” or previous incarnations. The ensuing rehabilitation course consists mainly of “training routines,” or “T.R.s"—a deep dive into Old Father Hubbard’s theory and practice of “communication,” which is a disguised version of Scientology 101.

“By the end of the sauna, you feel like a fresh, newborn baby,” testifies Marc Murphy, the brooding young British singer-songwriter who delivers a testimonial in a promotional video on the official Narconon website, narconon.org. Murphy insists that Narconon’s drug-free approach enabled him to kick a 12-year heroin addiction, compounded by a methadone and Valium habit that he acquired during dozens of previous detox attempts. “It was the easiest withdrawal that I’ve ever done,” the “student” says about his stint at a Narconon rehab outside London. “It saved my life.”

But lives have also been lost. Since Narconon's inception some 40 years ago, dozens of criminal and civil cases have been filed against its rehabs by former patients who claim to have been injured or abused, and by the relatives of people who have allegedly died as a result of bizarre and dangerous practices. “When I was at Narconon, people were taken away in ambulances and had to spend days in the hospital,” said David Love, a client at Narconon Trois-Rivieres—near Montreal—from December 2008 to May 2009, who was interviewed exclusively by The Fix. “People have died in the Quebec facility. The vitamin and sauna treatments are horrible. Patients regularly vomited and had diarrhea. Addicts with substance abuse problems have liver problems and high enzyme counts—they should in no way be taking massive amounts of vitamins like Niacin.”

Like many Narconon graduates, Love, 57, made an effortless transition from client to employee under the influence of his rehab's Scientology-based teachings. During the six months he worked at the clinic, he witnessed at least two hospitalizations: “One client had severe stomach pains and they sent him to his room to spend the whole day moaning and in pain, until he was finally taken to the hospital.” The other patient was a diabetic whose insulin was taken away when he entered the clinic, in keeping with its “drug free” philosophy. “The guy [went into insulin shock] and had to be rushed to the hospital. He was in a coma. They basically had to save his life,” said Love.

WESTERN PA. HELP FOR PREGNANT WOMEN!

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Inc.

Welcome to the the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Inc. (ADAS) website. Our goal is to provide informative articles, links, and other resources relevant to substance abuse. Suggestions are welcome and may be submitted to:director@adasonline.org

ADAS is the Single County Authority (SCA) for Cameron, Elk and McKean counties. Pregnant women receive preferential services and are a priority population for treatment. There are no treatment service limitations for pregnant women.

ADAS welcomes new Prevention Supervisor

Jennifer Young

Jennifer Young of Saint Marys  joined the agency June 25th as the Prevention Supervisor for ADAS, Inc. Jennifer is a 2010 graduate of Clarion University of PA, where she earned a B.S. in Rehabilitative Sciences. Prior to coming to ADAS, Jenn had worked as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor for Abraxas I in Marienville.

As Prevention Supervisor, Jennifer will  oversee the provision of Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Intervention services  in Cameron, Elk, McKean and (contracted) Potter counties.   ADAS maintains Prevention staff in the Port Allegany, St. Marys, Bradford and Coudersport office locations and provides a wide variety of prevention and intervention programming, including:

• Student Assistance Program consultation
• Evidence/Research Based Alcohol, Tobacco  and Other Drug prevention programs in local schools
• Preparing for Drug Free Years (PDFY)
• Prevention/Education group facilitators at the elementary and secondary levels
• The Incredible Years Program
• Community based programs for youth, women, and businesses.
• First time offenders programs
• Red Ribbon and holiday drunk and drugged driving prevention campaigns
• Healthy Kids Program
• Youthful Offenders Program

Jennifer will be working out of the St. Marys office and can be reached at  814-781-1700 or youngj@adasonline.org

PAINKILLERS FOR KIDS

OxyContin maker wants FDA backing to label addictive drug for 6-year-olds
By Karen Keller Monday, July 2, 2012


OxyContin is not currently labeled for use for children, but some doctors prescribe it to them anyway.


The maker of OxyContin is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to label the controversial painkiller for use by children as young as 6 in a move that could serve to extend the company’s expiring patent on the lucrative drug, The Daily has learned.

Purdue Pharma has paid dozens of clinical sites around the country to document what happens when OxyContin, an addictive pharmaceutical widely abused by recreational users, is given to children.

The company says that its motivation is to help doctors who currently prescribe the drug off-label to children, a common practice in the treatment of pediatric conditions that involve moderate or severe pain.

But three physicians working with Purdue on the trials said the Stamford, Conn.-based company appears to be doing the research to get a six-month extension on their patent for the original formulation of OxyContin, which expires next year.

“They are doing (the pediatric trial) for patent exclusivity, there’s no doubt about it in my mind — not out of largesse,” said Dr. Elliot Krane, director of pain management at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. “That’s important for their bottom line.”

The family-owned pharmaceutical company earned an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue last year from sales of the powerful opioid, part of the same drug family as morphine and heroin. Purdue is fiercely guarding its exclusivity in the market through ongoing legal battles, and now, it appears, through a pediatric trial that could stave off competitors for another six months.

The Purdue trial involves 154 children ages 6 to 16 and is slated for completion in August of next year, according to a filing submitted to the FDA. The document says that the study is currently recruiting participants.

Many of the nation’s top pediatric pain experts say Purdue’s children’s trial is, all in all, a good thing. But critics, citing Purdue’s history of criminal marketing practices, worry that use of the drug by children could expand and lead to greater addiction and abuse woes.

“There’s good medical evidence that suggests a brain that’s not fully mature is at greater risk at developing the disease of addiction,” said Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and the head of psychiatry at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. The pediatric community underestimates those risks, he said, because they have given too much credence to drugmakers, who have systematically downplayed the dangers.

“Much of that misinformation (came from a) campaign funded by Purdue.”

In a landmark case for the pharmaceutical industry, Purdue in 2007 admitted in court that it misled doctors and the public about OxyContin’s risk of addiction. The company and three top company executives, each charged with a felony, paid $635 million in fines.

Purdue confirmed it is seeking permission to label the drug for pediatric use and pointed to a need to better understand how opioids affect children.

“We feel it is beneficial for clinicians who are treating pediatric patients with chronic, moderate-to-severe pain to have access to this information in scientific publications and in the product’s label, whether the results are positive or negative, so they can make better decisions about the care of their patients,” company spokesman James Heins wrote in an e-mail to The Daily.

Last year, 0.3 percent of OxyContin prescriptions were written for patients 19 and under, according to Purdue.

Numerous pediatric pain experts consulted by The Daily supported the company’s rationale, saying the trial will yield valuable data about a drug that children are already being prescribed.

“It’s clear in children certain drugs are definitely metabolized differently,” said Dr. Jeffrey Galinkin, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on drugs and research director of anesthesiology at Children’s Hospital of Colorado.

Purdue’s pediatric trial will help clarify how best to use the drug, he said. “It’s information we really do need to have.”

Purdue spokesman Heins told The Daily that the company does not plan to seek the right to market OxyContin to pediatricians — a separate category of FDA approval above and beyond labeling permission that would likely bring additional scrutiny of the company’s motives. A federal green light to market OxyContin for use in children, some worry, could lead to a higher rate of prescribing the drugs for kids and an army of Purdue sales representatives pressuring doctors to prescribe the drug more.

Krane, the physician involved with the study, doubted the company’s disavowal of any desire to market the drug to pediatricians.

“That’s probably disingenuous,” he said. “I believe (an FDA approval for marketing to pediatricians) is where they’re going.”

The question of patent rights looms equally large over the pediatric drug trial.

Purdue has been aggressively seeking to protect its original patent for OxyContin, which is scheduled to expire next year. The company has filed a raft of lawsuits against generic drug makers and is trying to get the FDA to ban generics of the original, easy-to-abuse formulation outright. Purdue released a new tamper-proof version of the drug in 2010 and that patent expires in 2025.

But the clinical trial for children offers another way to extend the life of the original patent.

In recent years the FDA has been encouraging pharmaceutical makers to test drugs for pediatric use and offering six-month patent extensions as a reward. Historically testing drugs for use in children is not something the pharmaceutical industry does, because the pediatric market is much smaller than the adult market.

As a consequence, pediatricians and family doctors simply use adult drugs on kids, making educated guesses about dosage amounts and side effects, several pediatricians said. Today more than 60 percent of drugs prescribed for children are not FDA-approved for pediatric use.

But in the case of Oxycontin, Kolodny and others worry that children are especially vulnerable to addiction. He also points to a 2005 study from the University of Michigan finding that children who are prescribed opioids are more likely to abuse painkillers in later life.
Teen abuse of OxyContin has already taken an epic toll on communities across the country.

“We’ve had 10 people die since May. Constant funerals lately,” said Joanne Peterson, founder of Learn to Cope, a Massachusetts-based group that helps parents of pill-addicted youth. All of the young people died from heroin overdoses, but their addiction started with OxyContin, she said. They moved to heroin because it provides a similar high but is cheaper. “I’m not going to ever trust anybody who mismarketed that drug on purpose.”

OxyContin's track record for abuse so far is stark. Last year painkillers - mainly oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone - caused more deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. The opioid epidemic has killed more than 100,000 people since 1999, more than U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam war.

Yet a broader view among pediatricians is that addiction risks for children properly prescribed the drug are manageable.

“We’ve been using (OxyContin) for over 10 years,” said Dr. Steven Weisman, pain management director of the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “And we haven’t had any problems with addiction or diversion” of the prescriptions to addicted family members or to the street for resale, he said.

Weisman, along with Krane and Galinkin, received consulting fees from Purdue in recent years. Their hospitals get paid by Purdue to do the trial but there is no direct personal financial benefit to doctors, they said. Purdue is working with many of the nation’s top pediatric pain experts for the trial.

Krane said he’s not worried that Purdue will aggressively push OxyContin on pediatricians. The bad press, fines and criminal convictions in 2007 have changed the game for Purdue, he said.

“From top to bottom, I think they’ve learned from that experience and … they can’t get away with that again,” he said.

He told The Daily he would be “astounded” if OxyContin prescriptions for children rose by more than “1 or 2 percent” if the drug were to get FDA approval.

However, he conceded, it’s possible that even a tiny increase in the rate of prescriptions could do harm.

“We are possibly opening the door to (OxyContin) being abused by a younger, more vulnerable population,” Krane said.

Karen.Keller@thedaily.com@karenakeller