Football Players Will be Tested for Human Growth Hormone Under New Plan

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

September 18th, 2014/

Football players will be tested for human growth hormone (HGH) under a new drug-testing plan agreed upon by the National Football League (NFL) and the players union. The plan has been in the works for several years, The New York Times reports.

The plan also includes a higher threshold for a positive marijuana test. Under the new plan, a positive marijuana test will require 35 nanograms of THC per milliliter in a player’s urine, compared with the previous limit of 15. Players who test positive for amphetamines for the first time in the off-season will be referred to the league’s substance abuse program, instead of being suspended. No agreement has been reached on new terms for the substance abuse program, the article notes.

Appeals for positive test violations will be heard by an independent arbitrator, not an appeals officer appointed by the league. Up to five arbitrators will be selected, approved and paid for jointly by the NFL and the union.The plan will require a player to be suspended for two games if they are convicted of, or plead guilty to, violating laws involving drinking and driving.

To address privacy concerns, the plan calls for fines of as much as $500,000 for any NFL, union or team employee who is found to have disclosed information about drug violations. Players, agents and drug policy administrators can also be fined.

HGH testing should begin by the end of the month, and will be fully implemented this season, according to the NFL.

September is National Recovery Month.      We need you more than ever.

September 18, 2014

Dear Subscribers, September is National Recovery Month, a time when we celebrate individuals who have bravely navigated the difficult and often devastating path of addiction.   For many of our Join Together subscribers, we know that recovery is something you are focused on not just this month, but every day of the year. We are as well, providing a place for those in recovery – like Ricky, Trena and Joshua – to share their stories and a chance to connect with our community who supports them. Every day, we take calls from people across the country looking for help for a loved one, giving them the tools they need to find and maintain sobriety. We look for your support this month to keep these efforts going. We want to reach even more individuals who are struggling with addiction, giving them a place to come together, get help and share hope.   Let’s celebrate together those overcoming their addiction, and please help us continue our commitment to recovery by making a donation today.

September 18 v 12 v 13 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS

Restore to me the joy of your salvation ,and make me willing to obey you .

Then I will teach your ways to rebels ,and they will return to you .

STEP 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.

Six weeks clean time and I am ready to sponsor . I have seen many fall due to this misguided thinking .Six weeks clean time is a lot but enough too help others . If you have the slightest doubt about reaching out then you need to wait . Believe me and beware they are plenty of people in the rooms who are not there for sobriety .They are very much still in the game and looking for another victim .Give yourself one year with a good sponsor ! Pray everyday for what the Psalm states a willingness to obey God . Work the steps , I cant tell you enough how important the steps are. This is why I write what I write ,I am trying to stress the importance of the steps. I know you feel awesome and I am glad and I know you wanna give back and that's great but you gotta take it slow . Just because you can say the word recovery does not mean you have been recovered .

Galations 6:1 - Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

By Joseph Dickerson

This week on the Addict's Mom Live Video Online Meetings on In the Rooms, W Have Extra Some Extra Special Guests!! Our very own Addict's Mom members reading letters, poems, songs, blog entries they wrote about addiction. Grab a box of tissues and jo...in us!!

All loved ones react to and deal with the addicts in their lives in different ways. Some of us express our thoughts and feelings in creative ways to help ourselves and sometimes to help others who are feeling the same way. During this week's online video meeting (Thursday night7Pm EST) on intherooms.com, some of the members on the Addict's Mom will share their letters, poems, songs, blog entries, with the Addict's Mom audience. 

We hope you will participate in the discussion during the second half of the meeting and share with our group your feelings about these "creations", your reactions, and maybe about something you've created to help you with your situation. 

Remember you can remain anonymous also while you on in the rooms join the Addict's Mom group here is the linkhttp://www.intherooms.com/group/view?gid=1806 See More

Remember when you sign into In the Rooms use Google Chrome of Firefox they are best to access the live online video meetings.

Visit The Addict's Mom at: http://addictsmom.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Deaths Due to Prescription Painkiller Overdoses Slowing Down: Report

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

September 16th, 2014/

Deaths from prescription painkillers are rising at a slower pace than in years past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. Prescription painkiller overdose deaths rose by 3 percent from 2007 to 2011, compared with 18 percent each year from 1999 through 2006, according to USA Today.

The CDC, in a report released this week, said opioids including hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone were involved in 11,693 drug-poisoning deaths in 2011, up from 2,749 deaths in 1999.

The report noted benzodiazepines are involved in a growing number of opioid-related deaths. Benzodiazepines were involved in 31 percent of opioid-related deaths in 2011, up from 13 percent in 1999. The number of drug-poisoning deaths involving methadone, used to treat opioid dependency and pain, increased from 784 deaths in 1999 to 5,518 deaths in 2007 and then declined to 4,418 deaths in 2011.

In 2006,the Food and Drug Administration urged doctors to use caution when prescribing methadone to patients who are not used to the drug, and that patients take the drug exactly as directed. Two years later, methadone manufacturers agreed to limit distribution of large volumes of the drug, the article notes.

In the past decade, adults ages 55 to 64 and non-Hispanic whites experienced the greatest increase in the rates of prescription painkiller poisoning deaths.

In an effort to reduce prescription drug abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration recently announced it will reclassify hydrocodone combination products such as Vicodin. Under the new rules, patients will be able to receive the drugs for only up to 90 days without receiving a new prescription.

Hydrocodone combination products will be classified as Schedule II drugs. Currently these products are Schedule III drugs, meaning they can be refilled up to five times, and prescriptions can cover a 180-day period.

Accidental Ingestion of Buprenorphine a Danger to Young Children: Study

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

September 16th, 2014/

Buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, is the prescription drug most commonly implicated in emergency hospitalizations of young children, according to a new study. The drug poses a danger to children who find and accidentally swallow relatives’ prescriptions, the Associated Press reports.

The study, published in Pediatrics, found for every 100,000 patients prescribed buprenorphine, 200 children ages 6 and younger were hospitalized for ingesting it. That rate is four times higher than the rate for the next most commonly ingested drug, a blood pressure medication. In total, almost 800 young children are hospitalized annually after swallowing buprenorphine.

Lead researcher Dr. Daniel Budnitz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the AP that recent drug-packaging changes may help reduce the risks of accidental buprenorphine ingestion by children.

In 2013, the company that makes Suboxone (a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone), said the drug would no longer be available in tablet form because of the risk of children becoming poisoned after swallowing the drug. The company switched to making a film version of the medication, which is put under the tongue. According to the AP, generic Suboxone tablets are still available.

Buprenorphine can help reduce drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms without producing a narcotic “high,” the AP reports. In children, the drug can cause sedation, dangerously slowed breathing and vomiting.