Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Use of Heroin and Prescription Painkillers Have Become Integrated, Experts Say
A growing number of people switch back and forth between prescription painkillers and heroin, experts tell The New York Times. They call prescription opiates “heroin lite.”
“The old-school user, pre-1990s, mostly used just heroin, and if there was none around, went through withdrawal,” said Stephen E. Lankenau, a sociologist at Drexel University. Today, he said, “users switch back and forth, to pills then back to heroin when it’s available, and back again. The two have become integrated.”
Some young people are introduced to opiates through prescription painkillers. For people in recovery, painkillers can set off heroin craving. “You can get the pills from so many sources,” said Traci Rieckmann, an addiction researcher at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). “There’s no paraphernalia, no smell. It’s the perfect drug, for many people.”
About half of the 200 people being treated for heroin addiction at the Cleveland Clinic’s Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center every month started on prescription opiates, according to addiction specialist Dr. Jason Jerry. “Often it’s a legitimate prescription, but next thing they know, they’re obtaining the pills illicitly,” he said. They realize heroin is much less expensive than pills, so they switch.
People who have gone through rehab may be vulnerable to an overdose because they don’t realize their tolerance level has dropped, according to Dr. Nicholas L. Gideonse, the medical director of OHSU Richmond Community Health Center in Portland.
Merger of Hazelden and Betty Ford Center Approved
California has approved the merger of the Hazelden Foundation and the Betty Ford Center, the Star Tribune reports. The new organization will be called the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. It will be the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment organization.
In a statement, Mark Mishek, President and CEO of the merged organization, said, “We are now well-positioned to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by health care reform and the rapidly changing marketplace. Together, we will be able to better utilize the addiction treatment field’s most extensive expertise, knowledge and data to accelerate innovation in treating the chronic disease of addiction and expand our already robust national system of care. Together, we will be better able to help all those who seek recovery find it.”
Analysts said the merger will allow the organizations to reduce administrative costs, and to bring treatment into more outpatient settings. Each organization has its own specialties, such as Betty Ford’s programs for treating chronic pain and addiction, and Hazelden’s programs for treating health care professionals and young people, the article notes.
The combined organization operates 15 sites in nine states. It will be headquartered in Center City, Minnesota, where Hazelden is based. It offers residential and outpatient services, a publishing house, an addiction research center and an accredited graduate school of addiction studies. The Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California will keep its name. It will add the tagline: “a part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.”
The boards of both organizations announced last June that they were considering a formal alliance. At the time, officials at both organizations said one incentive for a possible alliance was the Affordable Care Act, which is expected to greatly increase the number of Americans who will receive health care coverage.
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You're invited to the
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"Love of Recovery" Free Concert and Dance
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The Addiction Professionals Meet and Greet Will Be Held In The VIP Section This is a Rockers In Recovery Concert and Network Event:
We do this through
Rockers In Recovery Radio and Productions Inc. RIR has once every
quarter a concert and network meet and greet. This is a great way to
get to know other addiction professionals with main stream traffic of
the general public. This combined together brings professionals and
community together.
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When
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Saturday
Feb. 15, 2014 From 7pm to 10pm |
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Where
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The Venue of Fort Lauderdale, 2345 Wilton Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305.
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Wednesday, February 5, 2014
February 5 v 21 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,
examining every path he takes.
STEP 5- Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Honesty is key in everything you do ,especially for those of us in recovery. After all the time I wasted in my addiction I realize the person I lied to most was myself . GOD can see all things so why try to hide or deny what you have done. Honesty with self GOD and others will bring change in your life .
Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me!
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