Painkiller Overdose Deaths Have Tripled: Government Report
By Join Together Staff | May 15, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs


Overdose deaths from prescription narcotics tripled from 2009-2010, compared with a decade earlier, according to a new government report. Almost half of Americans are taking one or more prescription medications, the report found. An estimated 10.5 percent are prescribed painkillers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report found among people ages 15 and older, painkiller use led to 6.6 deaths for every 100,000 people in 2009-2010, compared with 1.9 deaths per 100,000 in 1999-2000.

According to the CDC, 17.7 percent of Americans take prescription medication for cardiovascular disease; 10.7 percent take cholesterol-lowering medication; 10.6 percent take antidepressants; and 9 percent take anti-acid reflux drugs, Time reports.

The report found a large jump in the percentage of Americans taking prescription medication, according to HealthDay. From 2007 to 2010, about 48 percent of people said they were taking a prescription drug, up from 39 percent from 1988 to 1994.

About 90 percent of adults ages 64 and older took prescription medication in the past month, while 25 percent of children did so. About 10 percent of Americans said they had taken five or more prescription drugs in the previous month.

The rising use of medications has unintended consequences, including prescription drug abuse and antibiotic resistance. “Isn’t that the case with all forms of medical technology?” said Julia Holmes, Chief of the Analytic Studies Branch at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. “It results in great benefit to people who are ill and disabled, but there’s always the potential for inappropriate use.”

Ohio Prisons Filled with People Addicted to Heroin and Painkillers: Official
By Join Together Staff | May 15, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs & Prescription Drugs

Prisons in Ohio have a large population of people addicted to heroin and painkillers, an official told the state Senate Finance Committee this week.

State Prisons Director Gary Mohr said judges send offenders to prison after they relapse several times, the Associated Press reports.

“They kept coming back, and at some point in time, judges said, ‘I have to vacate this probation and send you to prison,’” Mohr said.
Mark Schweikert, Director of the Ohio Judicial Conference, agreed judges are sending some drug-addicted people to prison in an effort to save them. “They continue to use and the only way they can keep the person drug-free for a considerable period of time is send them to prison.”

Addiction to painkillers and heroin has led to an increase in thefts, burglaries and other crimes, according to law enforcement officials. The state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction asked legislators to take a number of steps to address an increase in prisoners, many of whom are addicted to drugs. These include funding an additional $14 million this year and $40 million next year to reopen closed units at two prisons, adding parole officers to deal with the growing population, and increasing medical and mental health staffing.

The funding would include $4.2 million this year and $8.5 million next year for an additional 400 beds statewide in halfway houses and local corrections facilities, to keep people out of prison.

Study Finds Extended-Release Naltrexone Can Save Overall Healthcare Costs
By Join Together Staff | May 15, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Alcohol, Drugs, Research & Treatment

An extended-release drug to treat alcohol and opioid dependence can lead to savings in healthcare costs, even though the drug itself is expensive, a new study concludes.

The drug, extended-release Naltrexone, is injected once a month, and costs about $1,100 per injection. The researchers said the drug appears to be significantly more effective than some other medications, because more patients continue using it, compared with cheaper medications that must be taken daily.

The study evaluated five previous trials of the drug, which included 1,565 patients who received extended-release Naltrexone compared to other therapies for six months.

The researchers found patients who used extended-release Naltrexone had generally lower overall costs, compared with patients using other alcohol-dependence treatments. Patients using extended-release Naltrexone were in detoxification and inpatient treatment facilities for fewer days than those who received other treatments, MedicalXpress reports.

Patients using extended-release Naltrexone stuck with their treatment longer than those using the medications acamprosate or oral naltrexone. The study, published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, was funded by Alkermes, the company that makes Naltrexone.

“Historically, oral medications for substance abuse have not often been prescribed or found to have a high degree of success, mostly because patients stopped taking them,” lead author Dan Hartung of Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy, said in a news release. “But there are patients who are committed to treating their problems and data showed that they clearly appear to have success with extended-release Naltrexone, which is administered just once a month.”

The Affordable Care Act may allow more patients to have access to medications that treat opioid and alcohol dependence, the article notes.

“There has always been some reluctance on the part of health care practitioners, as well as the patients they are treating, to use prescription medication to treat a substance abuse problem,” Hartung said. “Medication-assisted therapy is underutilized.”

MAY 15 v 9 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but he loves those who pursue Godliness

STEP 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

We need to turn this world around and it starts with you , The mess of your life is no one else s fault or responsibility . Life did not give you a bad hand and God is not punishing you at least not yet . God can not be a part of your life or hear your prayers if you are still living like the devil himself . I am not saying you have to live like a priest or nun overnight . What I am saying is change one small wicked thing in your life , show God your willing to change. None of us can wake up one day and do a one hundred percent turn around and all the troubles of life will be gone , what can we learn from that .Let your trouble and pain be used too shape you and develop your character. The Proverb is the promise and the step is the key . God your Daddy is waiting earnestly for you too return too Him ,His heart aches for you and wants your life here too be a good one ,but you have decided too fulfill all your evil sinful desires .

Romans 12 -2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

By Joseph Dickerson 

At Least 28 People in Philadelphia Die From Fentanyl-Laced Heroin
By Join Together Staff | May 13, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related & Drugs

At least 28 people in Philadelphia died after using heroin laced with the painkiller fentanyl between March 3 and April 20, the city announced Monday. Officials are awaiting test results on seven more people.

Last year, the city had 24 deaths due to illicit fentanyl use, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The drug was implicated in 269 deaths in 2006 in the city.

Earlier this year, law enforcement officials said heroin laced with fentanyl was suspected in at least 50 fatal overdoses in three states. In Pennsylvania, the drug combination was suspected in at least 17 deaths. Officials in Maryland and Michigan were also investigating deaths linked to the drug mix. In Flint, Michigan, fentanyl-laced heroin was suspected in four overdoses.

Fentanyl is often used during surgery, and is delivered primarily through a patch worn on the skin. Illicit fentanyl is added to heroin to create a stronger high. The article notes it can be a white powder like heroin but is 50 times stronger. The drug can interfere with breathing.

Officials don’t know whether people who purchased the fentanyl-laced heroin knew what they were getting. They also don’t know who is making or selling the product, or what it is being called.

April Drug Take-Back Day Sets Record for Prescription Drug Collection
By Join Together Staff | May 13, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Government, Prescription Drugs & Prevention

The latest National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day was the most successful yet, resulting in 780,158 pounds of prescription pills collected across the country on April 26.

The event included 6,072 collection sites. It was sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 4,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. In total, the eight Take-Back Days held since 2010 have collected 4.1 million pounds of prescription drugs.

“DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back events provide an obviously needed and valued service to the public, while also reducing prescription drug abuse and trafficking,” DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart said in a news release. “By taking these medications off their hands, our citizens know they have made their own families and communities safer. We continue to work toward making the process for disposing of controlled substance medications by users and their caregivers even easier by creating regulations that will enable the public to regularly, safely, and conveniently dispose of such medicines when they are no longer needed or wanted.”

Approximately 6.8 million Americans reported having abused prescription medications in 2012, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. More than half of people who abuse prescription pain relievers say they obtained them through relatives or friends, including raiding the family medicine cabinet.

The DEA hopes people will drop off prescription medicines during Take-Back Days instead of flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.