Sunday, August 12, 2012
6 Hid Drugs in Diplomas and Candy, Officials Say
By ERIC P. NEWCOMER and VIVIAN YEE
Published: August 7, 2012
Drug traffickers have been widely known to employ extreme and inventive measures to smuggle narcotics into the United States, but six people arrested on Tuesday may have won a prize for creativity.
Prosecutors accused the six of smuggling narcotics from Ecuador by stuffing cocaine inside empanadas and heroin inside sesame candy. But the real find, the authorities said, was a stack of what looked like diplomas from a scuba-diving school that had been soaked in more than three pounds of liquid cocaine.
“The techniques employed were extremely sophisticated,” New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor, Bridget G. Brennan, said.
During the investigation into the reputed drug operation, the authorities said they discovered that the man they called the ringleader, Jorge Guerrero, was also stealing valuables from lost luggage that he was supposed to deliver to airline passengers after it was found.
“He was just such an opportunist,” Ms. Brennan said. “His day job was stealing from lost luggage.”
Mr. Guerrero, 39, was indicted on charges of conspiracy and attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance. The penalty for the possession charge is up to 20 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
Law enforcement officers said Mr. Guerrero’s operation could buy 2.2 pounds of cocaine in Ecuador for about $2,000 and sell it for $25,000 to $30,000 in the United States. William Novak, an assistant district attorney, described Mr. Guerrero as the “main receiver” of the drug shipments sent as freight and the mastermind of the smuggling ring. Mr. Novak argued for holding him without bail, claiming that Mr. Guerrero was a flight risk because he had many relatives in Ecuador.
“If he flees, he’s never coming back,” Mr. Novak said.
Mr. Guerrero’s lawyer, Frank Rothman, portrayed him as a married man with three children who was unlikely to flee. He said the police had not found drugs in Mr. Guerrero’s home.
Judge Bonnie G. Wittner ordered him held without bail.
Mr. Guerrero’s wife, Cecilia Guerrero; Riqui Perez; Noe Fernandez; Luis Amable Caisa Altamirano; and Judy Campos were also arrested. The authorities charged that Ms. Guerrero often helped her husband with the smuggling operation and the luggage thefts. She was charged with conspiracy and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
During a search of the Guerreros’ home in Jamaica, Queens, officers said they found 13 suitcases, over 50 designer handbags, 20 cameras and 50 watches.
The authorities said a six-month investigation had tied the defendants to drug trafficking.
Over three months, agents confiscated more than 11 pounds of narcotics in New York and New Jersey that they said was linked to the defendants.
On May 3, agents discovered more than a pound of cocaine hidden inside chocolate bars and more than half a pound of cocaine concealed in chocolate candies. On May 28, over three pounds of cocaine was found stuffed inside empanadas. On June 8, they said, they seized the sesame candy, with more than a pound of heroin in it. On June 25, a pound of cocaine was discovered at the bottom of a container of homemade sugar and cookies. On July 12, the diplomas were found.
Law enforcement officials estimate the cocaine and heroin were worth about $150,000 on the wholesale market in the United States.
Michael Levine, who worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency for 25 years, said liquid cocaine could be converted back into a solid form. But a significant portion of the cocaine is typically lost in the process. He added that small- to midlevel traffickers have soaked liquid cocaine in clothes. But he said he never heard of it being soaked in paper.
A GOOD CAUSE
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
Take-Home Naloxone Has Vital Role in Addiction Treatment
By Dr. Sharon Stancliff | August 10, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Addiction,Prescription Drugs & Treatment
Opioid-related overdose deaths are a leading cause of mortality across the United States. Naloxone, the drug carried by ambulances to reverse overdoses, is also available in some states to be administered by trained members of the general public who might be present when an overdose occurs. Many lives have been saved by bystanders, and increasingly, notice is being taken of community-based naloxone distribution. The Food and Drug Administration held a public workshop in April, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration will soon be distributing an “Overdose Prevention Tool Kit” featuring it and in June, the American Medical Association passed a resolution supporting it.
Naloxone is a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdose, restoring respiration and reversing sedation, though it also precipitates withdrawal in dependent people. It may legally be prescribed to anyone at risk of overdose, and many jurisdictions allow for it to be administered to persons other than the prescription holder. A brief training in naloxone use includes hands-on practice with the naloxone device (either an intramuscular injection or an intranasal spray) and a kit contains two doses. A recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reported that, as of June 2010, more than 50,000 individuals had received naloxone kits and that more than 10,000 overdoses had been reversed.
Take-home naloxone has a vital role to play in addiction treatment because relapses after treatment are so common, and in the setting of loss of tolerance frequently, it can lead to overdose. The New York State Offices of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (NYS OASAS) were early adopters of take-home naloxone and have urged all the programs they license to do the same. Samaritan Village, the first therapeutic community to offer take-home naloxone, provides overdose prevention training during orientation. Patients are assured there will be a place for them if they return after relapse, and naloxone increases the likelihood that they will be able to.
Some say that the introduction of naloxone into treatment sends the wrong message to the patients: “You will fail”. But in fact, it tells them that the program cares about their lives even if they relapse, a very positive message for someone at a low point in life. It also implies that they are important members of the community with the power to save a life. An OASAS patient relapsed following a 28-day rehab and during the relapse reversed his friend’s overdose; this was a profound experience for him, and renewed his commitment to sobriety.
Naloxone programs have been very effective in targeted populations, as has been shown by the 47 percent reduction in heroin overdose death rates in New York City in the first five years of that program, where distribution was mostly through syringe exchange programs. Opioid analgesic users have been much harder to reach, but regularly turn up for treatment. Provision of naloxone should become a standard of care in drug treatment programs. Treatment providers can become powerful advocates for legislation and funding facilitating community-based distribution programs.
Dr. Sharon Stancliff, MD
Medical Director
Harm Reduction Coalition
Friday, August 10, 2012
Prescription Narcotic Addiction Awareness.The Hugely Unnoticed Epidemic.
I want to do everything I can to wake up the general public!!!
My mission is to make something good come out of tragedy. I want doctors to pay attention and think twice before they write a prescription for a narcotic.I want people to see addiction as a disease that has no predjudice. I want this subject of prescription medication to be headline news. It should be!! If there were this many people dying from a flu or virus it would be covered by every news channel in the country. My goal is to make this happen!!
Description
My brother Aaron "Ace" Cassidy passed away March 20, 2009. He was the last person in the world anyone would ever suspect of having a problem with addiction. Aaron was handsome, athletic, talented, funny, successful, responsible and very loved by his family and friends. His death has left a huge hole in my heart that I feel can only be filled by making something good come out what happened to him.
I want people to start talking about this epidemic, because that is exactly what it is. Addictin is an illness that has nothing to do with willpower or moral character. My brother was strong and he was a good man. He went for help and the treatment (methadone) is what contributed to his death. So many families are losing loved ones unnecessarily. The next time you hear someone talking casually about taking pills for recreational purpose, I beg you to emphasize to that person that these drugs are deadly and no better than heroine or crack. If you are struggling with addiction please know that you are not alone and someone cares.
Mommy Drunkest
No matter how much I loved my newborn son, it was never enough to get me to stop drinking. Not even when, at rock bottom, I feared my drinking might kill him.
The author with her son Courtesy of the author
By Jowita Bydlowska
07/24/12
I often imagined I would fall down the stairs with my son in my arms when I was in a blackout. There were many ways to cause him injury but it was the stairs my brain kept going back to. And yet picturing that didn’t halt my drinking.
This is what I say to my friend, Gina, when she asks me about my rock bottom. I search her face for traces of shock—a twitch, a shutter-speed blink of an eye—but her face is still.
“It’s not that I made peace with it,” I say, suddenly self-conscious. Gina nods. “But I couldn’t stop. And nobody or nothing could stop me.” Gina nods. She nods and she nods because she’s an alcoholic just like me and she knows about not being able to stop.
I recalled this conversation recently, when I heard about Toni Medranoaccidentally killing her three-week old baby when she crushed him after drunkenly rolling over him. Eight months later, she set herself on fire and died. Medrano’s family suggested she killed herself after watching Nancy Grace’s histrionic blame-game on CNN, where Grace called for murder charges, acted out Medrano’s drinking and coined the term “Vodka mom” to possibly further dehumanize Medrano.
Upstairs, I was a good mom but downstairs I was a drunk.
I saw Medrano’s suicide as a non-surprising ending to a tragic event that began with the first sip of vodka on that November 21st, 2011. I imagined myself in her place and thought that the suicide wasn’t just because of Grace’s predictable idiocy, although it may have helped push her over the edge. I think that Medrano was standing at that edge, looking down for a long time—perhaps even before her son died. When I drank, I thought about suicide too. I thought it would be a way to prevent the tragedy I was sure I was courting. I was lucky nothing happened when I drank after my son was born. I was lucky I got sober, not dead. Lucky. Not better, smarter than Medrano or even more responsible. Just lucky.
I first got sober at 27 and relapsed when I was 31, after my son was born.
When I drank, I had a routine worked out. I would put the baby to sleep in his crib and wait until my husband would go to bed. Then I would go downstairs to the living room and watch movies on my laptop and drink in secret. My husband never caught me with a drink. He knew that I was at it again but he had no idea about the extent of it. I hid bottles in the closet, in the inside lining of my purse. I hid them behind the potted plants on the deck and behind the baby’s diaper drawer and in the stroller. I hid them in my shoes. I lied. I made sure I looked well put-together. I never asked for help. It’s true that sometimes, I thought I should probably kill myself to prevent something bad from happening but, again, planning a suicide would mean admitting that something was going to happen.
I knew, too, that my drinking would catch up with me. It would be only a matter of time before I got sloppy, before my brain got too fogged up by too much booze, before I threw routines out the window. As I drank, I kept looking at the stairs. They felt symbolic. Upstairs, I was a good mom but downstairs I was a drunk. I imagined myself in a blackout, climbing up, taking my son out of the crib. And carrying my son as I walked down those tall, polished-white, slippery oak stairs.
There is the famous story that New York Times writer David Carr tells in his memoir The Night of the Gun about driving to his dealer’s house (Kenny’s) with his baby daughters and leaving them in a car for hours as he did drugs. He wrote, “God had looked after the twins, and by proxy me, but I realized at that moment that I was in the midst of a transgression He could not easily forgive. I made a decision never to be that man again.” This is the famous story but the part that I can relate to best is this short passage: “Sometime soon after that night at Kenny’s…I became convinced that something brutal and unspeakable was about to land on all of us, including the kids.” Carr entered treatment shortly afterwards.
Like Carr, I, too, was in the midst of a transgression watching those stairs. I could picture what could happen but I still couldn’t admit it. And the truth is, if anyone asked me if I needed help, I’d say, “I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong.” Yes, I realized I was in the midst of a transgression but no epiphany followed. There was no God to intervene; no clear-cut insight that would make me stop. I was unstoppable. The only hope I had left was that I might also be wrong about that.
See, foresight doesn’t always work. And even people trying to stop you are weaker than the addiction. Toni Medrano’s husband found her passed out on the couch on that fateful night and warned her about falling asleep with the baby next to her. Who knows what she said but she probably told him things were fine—that’s what I often said to my husband too. Everything is fine. (Help.) Everything is fine. Or maybe she even told him she wasn’t going to do it and she did it anyway. In the morning, her husband woke up to her yelling, "The baby is dead!"
I wrote a book about my experience as a drunk mom, which will be published in the spring. I wrote it for all kinds of reasons, the main one being so that I could try to understand how my love for my son was no match for addiction. My husband, who read the manuscript recently, said he would have had my son removed from my care right in the beginning of my relapse, had he known. Had he looked inside of the lining of my purse, the potted plants on the deck? Behind the baby’s diaper drawer? The lining of the stroller canopy? The point is, he wouldn’t have known, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against my hiding. As for me, there was no way I would’ve confessed out loud to the screaming in my head.
I eventually got sober under rather mundane circumstances: I broke a toe, my husband asked me to move out, it was summer. There was no voice from the sky, no decisions. The hope came over me simply and suddenly, completely unprovoked as I limped toward the park with my son in the stroller one sunny morning. My husband will tell you I got sober because he threatened to kick me out. But really? It could’ve been the nice weather, it could’ve been the little toe. It was not my son in my stroller. He was just lucky. I was just lucky. We lived. The epiphanies came only after I got sober.
Jowita Bydlowska is a Toronto-based writer who has previously published articles about such topics as addiction, motherhood, sex, mental illness and healthy eating in various publications such as Salon, The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, Oxygen and more. She has a book coming out in 2013 about being a drunk mom. She also wrote about her agnostic version of AA for The Fix.
Alcohol Ads Violating Industry Rules More Likely in Magazines Popular With Teens
By Join Together Staff | August 9, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol,Marketing And Media & Youth
Alcohol ads that violate industry guidelines are more likely to appear in magazines popular with teen readers, a new study finds. Ads violate industry guidelines if they appear to target a primarily underage audience, highlight the high alcohol content of a product, or portray drinking in conjunction with activities that require a high degree of alertness or coordination, such as swimming.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studied 1,261 ads for alcopops, beer, spirits or wine that appeared more than 2,500 times in 11 magazines that are popular among teens. The ads were rated according to a number of factors, such as whether they portrayed over-consumption of alcohol, addiction content, sex-related content, or injury content.
“The finding that violations of the alcohol industry’s advertising standards were most common in magazines with the most youthful audiences tells us self-regulated voluntary codes are failing,” said study co-author David Jernigan, PhD. “It’s time to seriously consider stronger limits on youth exposure to alcohol advertising.”
Some of the ads in the study showed drinking near or on bodies of water, encouraging over-consumption of alcohol, and providing messages that supported alcohol addiction, Newswise reports. Almost one-fifth of the ads contained sexual connotations or sexual objectification, the researchers reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
“The bottom line here is that youth are getting hit repeatedly by ads for spirits and beer in magazines geared towards their age demographic,” Jernigan said in a news release. “As at least 14 studies have found that the more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, or if already drinking, to drink more, this report should serve as a wake-up call to parents and everyone else concerned about the health of young people.”
Thursday, August 9, 2012
DON'T GET ME STARTED
About
Painkiller abuse is destroying the lives of young people and adults across Ohio. Visit http://www.DontGetMeStartedOhio.org/ to see their harrowing stories, learn about the dangers of prescription drug addiction and find out where to go for help.
General Information
Painkiller Abuse: Starting is easy. Stopping isn’t.
Prescription painkiller abuse in Ohio isn’t just a problem, it’s an epidemic. And the number of deaths is staggering. More overdoses are now associated with prescription medications than any other drug, including cocaine or heroin. Nearly 15 percent of young adults in Ohio, ages 18 to 25, admitted to the non-medical use of prescription or ille
gal drugs in 2009, according to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Together, we can fight addiction.
Our partners across the state of Ohio are working to educate adults and young people about the dangers of prescription drug addiction and where they can go for help. A wide variety of resources are available to help fight this epidemic including statistics, educational toolkits, resources for community outreach and more.
Basic Info
Founded 2012
Contact Info
Phone Call the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) treatment and referral hotline at
1-800-788-7254 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Website http://www.DontGetMeStartedOhio.org
WOODLAND HILLS CA.
About
If you or a woman you love needs help, please call our Admissions Department now at
1-888-866-9778. Kind and immediate assistance is available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.MissionRecognized by “Forbes.com” as one of the top treatment centers in the world, Harmony Place, Exclusively for Women, provides disciplined treatment for the woman who is accustomed to a well-appointed life. We offer a comfortable place to do uncomfortable work. We remove concerns for personal comfort so the individual can focus on the primary goals of treatment for addiction and dual disorders. We pride ourselves on furnishing the highest quality treatment, blending traditional and holistic approaches to successful recovery from addiction and dual disorders.
Company OverviewOur primary focus is to provide superior care and assistance to the female client and their loved ones, in the most thoughtful, respectful, confidential and compassionate manner. We hold respect and dignity of the client with the highest regard.
Description
Harmony Place supports women in recognizing and appreciating their addiction and any co-occurring dual diagnoses. Our program participants are taught to identify how addiction and other diagnoses manifest and which personal interventions are available to them to support lasting recovery. The women are guided through examination and developmental processes, fostering their ability to create their...See More
General InformationHarmony Place is helping women recover from drug and alcohol addiction.
Call now and talk to us on
1-888-866-97781 (888) 866-9778Emailadmissions@harmonyplace.netWebsitehttp://www.harmonyplace.nethttp://harmonyplace.posterous.com/
http://twitter.com/womeninrecovery
Rapid Rise Seen in Antipsychotic Prescriptions for Children and Teens with ADHD
By Join Together Staff | August 8, 2012 | 4 Comments | Filed in Mental Health,Prescription Drugs & Youth
Antipsychotic treatment has increased rapidly among young people in the United States, with much of the increase coming from prescriptions for disruptive behavior disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Reuters reports.
In the Archives of General Psychiatry, the researchers report that antipsychotic drugs are prescribed during almost one in three visits children and teenagers make to psychiatrists in the United States, an increase from one in 11 in the 1990s.
Most of the antipsychotics are not prescribed for conditions approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In children and teenagers, antipsychotics are indicated for irritability associated with autistic disorder, tics and vocal utterances of Tourette syndrome and bipolar mania, and schizophrenia.
Researcher Dr. Mark Olfson, of Columbia University in New York, found that about 90 percent of antipsychotic prescriptions written during office visits between 2005 and 2009 were “off label,” or prescribed for a condition that has not been approved by the FDA. The article notes the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs for ADHD is uncertain. The drugs are associated with weight gain and diabetes.
“There is very little question as to whether these drugs are being prescribed in kids much more than they used to,” Olfson told Reuters. He added he hopes parents will ask doctors more questions about antipsychotics, and whether there are othertreatment options, such as parent management training, to reduce aggressive and disruptive behavior in children.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Letting the Cat Guy Out of the Bag
Jackson Galaxy, the host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, may have a way with animals but it took sobriety to help him deal with people.
By Anna David
See Jackson Galaxy once and you’re not likely to forget him: he’s bald, has a creatively styled goatee, wears glasses and is never far from his guitar case. He’s perhaps best known as the Cat Guy who doesn’t look anything like what a Cat Guy should look like: the host of the Animal Planet hitMy Cat From Hell, the guy who turns feral beasts into purring furballs. What you may not have known about him—at least until the recent release of his memoir, Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love and Coming Clean—is that even more than a Cat Guy, Jackson Galaxy is an addict. While the book examines his relationship with Benny, Galaxy’s “original cat from hell,” it is also his own addiction-leading-to-sobriety memoir (it’s got to be the only tale of redemption that also includes information on how to get a kitty to go in her litter box).
Now over nine years clean, Galaxy, 46, can be seen in the currently airing third season of My Cat From Hell. Here, he talks exclusively toThe Fix about getting sober, going through gastric bypass surgery and how he wasn’t drawn so much toward pets as he was drawn away frompeople.
When did you first realize you were an addict?
I say this in my book but I was always the kid who just wanted more. My primal addiction was definitely food. I grew up in a fat household. And I had addictive behavior around food: I remember sneaking food and getting reprimanded for eating too much. Eventually you graduate to other things and soon I was spending my allowance money on baseball games. Then, when I was 13, my grandmother caught me smoking cigarettes. I just liked whatever tasted good.
But it was at my first meeting, when I heard the speaker, that I really realized it. I could hear my life in his and I just thought, “God damn it.” I’d honestly never considered myself an addict until then. But then I got the [20 Questions] pamphlet and started checking off yes’s. I was cornered.
It was interesting because I’d always considered myself to be somewhat brave—someone willing to plumbing the depths of my soul for my songs. I didn’t think of myself as someone who turned a blind eye toward the truth.
I have a very skewed sense of what satisfaction feels like.
What surprised you the most about sobriety?
The quickness of the changes in my life. When I went in to read the audio book, I realized I didn’t spend enough time on that in the book. The first couple of months sucked but at the same time, by the first month, I had enough money to move to another apartment. Small things were immediately working out.
But at the same time, I don’t know that I ever embraced the sober community as much as other people do. I’ve never been good at being social without the lubricant. I’m still not the most social guy now, at just over nine years, and that’s okay. The truth is that I got high and drunk in the first place to avoid all that [social] stuff. I think too many people think that when they get sober, there will be a pot of perfection waiting around the corner for them. But you still are who you are; you’re just more conscious. And I think people think that because they make this big sacrifice—because they turn in their self-destructive ways—they’re going to get some big cash reward.
But you’re someone who has gotten a big cash reward.
Funny that. But still, the cash reward was greatly delayed. I think people expect it’s going to be like a gun reward program, where you turn in your gun and get the reward right then. But now, nine years after the last time I picked up, I am finally figuring out how to deal with the complexities of human relationships. I can now, finally, experience joy and sorrow. Honestly, the writing of that book was the cash reward. Writing about Benny’s death and writing the epilogue, I just put on music and wrote about how my journey with animals got me to this point of being an emotionally available person—someone who’s capable of loving more than just animals. People make fun of me because on the show, I cry all the time. But I hadn’t cried in 20 years [before I got sober], seriously. It’s still coming out. The first month I may have been able to pay my rent but nine years later, I’m actually learning to love people and to be of service to the world.
Do you think addicts are more drawn to pets than non-addicts?
Yeah, but whether or not that relationship is going to be permanent depends on how bad their addiction is. Because, of course, a level of selfishness is part of the addict’s package. But to feel love unconditionally—to come home and know there’s something there—is important when you hate yourself. The thing with me is that I wasn’t drawn to animals because I had a strong drive toward the animal experience; it was that I had a strong drive away from the human experience. I was done with people, I was done with being judged.
You had gastric bypass surgery. Did you get into recovery for food as well as for drugs and alcohol?
Yeah and food’s a tough one: you can’t put the plug in the jug and be done. And after the surgery, you have to be careful: you can kill yourself if you stretch the stomach out. So I did have to do work around it. The first week or so after my surgery, I detoxed as hard as I ever had. I had been living on fast food, which is physically addictive. But you know how it goes: if you’re an addict, you don’t give a shit about being buzzed, you give a shit about being loaded. It’s not about being satisfied; it’s about being full. And I have a very skewed sense of what satisfaction feels like.
Do you spend a lot of time working on your sobriety?
Well, I hadn’t been to a meeting in three months when I went to one a few weeks ago in Colorado and was finally able to pick up my nine-year chip. When I was sharing there, I was able to admit that sometimes I work a great program and sometimes I work a shitty program but as long as I do my gratitude list and a quick [Steps] 1-2-3—as long as I turn my life the fuck over—I know I’ll survive it.
Did you have any hesitations about putting the fact that you’re an addict out there?
I had no intention of putting it out there. I had the intention of writing about Benny, but very early on it became clear that I couldn’t tell his story without telling mine. It wouldn’t have been fair to him.
What would you say is your greatest challenge?
I need people to remind me sometimes to be grateful. Normal people look at me and say, “Are you that unappreciative of the life you have?” But if you’re one of us and your life doesn’t feel like one prolonged orgasm, it feels disappointing. [Laughs] Just to have a normal life doesn’t feel like enough. A couple of months ago, someone asked me how it felt to be achieving what I’ve achieved lately and I said, “I wish I could disappear into the pleasure again.” And that was my signal that I needed to go to a meeting. Because the desire to disappear into pleasure signifies a desire to disappear yourself. Still, I couldn’t be happier that this thing that’s happening for me is happening now—at 46 instead of at 26. That’s the grace of the universe. Because the cash reward back then could have killed me.
Anna David is the Executive Editor of The Fix and the author of the books Party Girl, Bought, Reality Matters, Falling For Me and Animal Attraction. She's written about sex addiction, gambling addiction, Thomas Jane and Tom Sizemore, among many other topics, for The Fix.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Prescription drug overdose deaths kill 100 Americans a day in ‘man-made epidemic’
On August 5, 2012, in Prescription Drug Abuse, by Jerry Mitchell
Heath Ledger. Brittany Murphy. Anna Nicole Smith. Michael Jackson.
Garrett Reid, left, next to his father, Andy Reid.
All were celebrities, and all died ofprescription drug overdoses.
And now Garrett Reid, the son of Philadelphia Eagles football coach Andy Reid, who had been addicted to prescription drugs and was found dead Sunday, could be added to their list.
According to his probation report, he used prescription opioid painkillers, Percocet and OxyContin, before graduating to cocaine and heroin. By age 20, he was in rehab.
“For every Heath Ledger that dies, there are many more that never make the headlines,” said Marshall Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. “Almost everybody knows somebody who has been touched by this.”
Each day a 100 Americans die of a drug overdose — most of them from prescription painkillers. In Florida alone, six people die a day from these overdoses.
“If six dolphins washed up in a single day on the Florida coast, it would make national headlines,” Fisher said. “What about for people?”
Read The Clarion-Ledger‘s stories on the problems of prescription drug abuse in both Mississippi and the U.S.
Andy Reid statement implies son's death linked to drugs
Andy Reid statement implies son's death linked to drugs
By Les Bowen
Daily News Staff Writer
BETHLEHEM – Andy Reid and his family tacitly confirmed the worst in a statement released Monday evening: Garrett Reid "lost the battle that has been ongoing for the last eight years" – his battle with drugs, which led to Garrett's incarceration several times from 2007 to 2009.
An Eagles spokesman said the family was aware of the inference that would be made from its characterization of the death of the eldest son, who passed away in a Lehigh dorm room Sunday morning
Monday morning, Eagles tackle Todd Herremans said he would be surprised if it turned out Garrett Reid's previous problems factored into his death. Herremans said there was no sign of that sort of situation, as Garrett Reid, 29, worked with the Eagles' strength and conditioning staff.
"It just seemed like everything was going the right way. That would be surprising," Herremans said.
Lehigh police chief Edward Shoop released a statement Monday saying there would be no statements until an investigation is complete. No official determination has been made.
But the Reid family statement thanked the Eagles family for its support, then continued into this: "We loved Garrett so much. He was a wonderful son and brother. He made us laugh, he was a pleasure to be around, he always had a smile on his face, and we will miss him dearly. We will never forget him, and we will remember him with love.
“Garrett's road through life was not always an easy one. He faced tremendous personal challenges with bravery and spirit. As a family, we stood by him and were inspired as he worked to overcome those challenges. Even though he lost the battle that has been ongoing for the last eight years, we will always remember him as a fighter who had a huge, loving heart."
Tuesday morning, the Eagles were to bus down from Lehigh to the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints in Broomall for Garrett Reid's funeral.
"I don't want to get into his past," center Jason Kelce said, when asked about people assuming drugs played a role in Garrett's death. Kelce and other players all spoke before the family statement was released. Later, Kelce declined further comment. "I think that's been gone into enough. All I can speak on is Garrett as an individual and a person I knew. There wasn't a single guy who was a better person, day in and day out toward everybody on the team, wanted to see everybody succeed, genuinely wanted to see the team win. He was awesome, every single day for us."
Second-year linebacker Casey Matthews said he didn't even know Garrett was Andy's son when they first met, in the weight room.
"It wasn't ‘til later you realized who he was and that he had a past," Matthews said. "The way I knew him, it was hard to see that he'd had a past."
Matthews said Garrett Reid would sometimes refer to having been imprisoned. "We would never bring it up. He would," Matthews said. "It definitely seemed like he was past all that. The way he carried himself, it seemed like he was."
Kelce talked about how hard this must be for the Reid family. He said Tammy Reid, Garrett's mother and Andy's wife, was on the West Coast – the Reids have a home in Dana Point, Calif. – and had to fly across the country after hearing the news.
Kelce told of a brief interaction with Andy Reid on Sunday: "He just told me to keep this thing rolling, keep everybody on track. We can't use this as a setback right now."
Reid addressed the team as a whole around noon Sunday, players said.
"He was just saying you don't know what God's plan is, and this is a time when we have to lean on each other," Herremans said. "We let him know he can lean on us and we'll be here for him, to do whatever he needs us to."
Players said they knew something was wrong early Sunday, when emergency vehicles huddled around the C Building at the Sayre Park dorm complex, where the team stays at Lehigh. Kelce said that since the coaches stay in that building, he thought perhaps something had happened to one of them. Word soon filtered out that the situation had to do with Garrett Reid, though many players didn't know Reid was dead until they gathered on the field Sunday, about an hour after the 7:20 a.m. 911 call to Lehigh police.
Wideout Jason Avant confirmed what had happened and led an onfield prayer.
Said safety Kurt Coleman: "It was just a prayer to just kind of help us, because everything was new to us, we had just heard about it – for God to watch over [Andy Reid] at this difficult time, and to give us strength to push on."
Avant said reaction to the tragedy taught him something about how his coach is viewed.
"You can tell how great a man is when the cafeteria workers are asking about him, when the security staff up here at Lehigh are going out of their way to sign cards and different things like that," Avant said. "For him not to be out here [Sunday] was definitely hard, but once we got out to do football, it kind of loosened up the whole day a little bit, because we know that's what he wanted."
Avant called Garrett Reid "a very, very good person … [who] helped me as a player."
"He was always in the weight room with us, always on the field with us. He was just a happy-go-lucky guy," left guard Evan Mathis said. "Always a joy to be around. Always telling jokes, having fun. Really just brightened your day when you were around him."
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said one of Garrett Reid's duties was curfew bed checks.
"[Sunday] night, you're like, ‘Wow, he won't be coming through to check us in anymore,' " Jenkins said. "Everything you do, you do it heavy-hearted."
Herremans said he'd known Garrett well since Herremans arrived as a fourth-round draft pick in 2005.
"We talked about [Garrett's drug troubles] on a personal level, just man-to-man about what he'd been through … he'd been through a lot," Herremans said. "Health became a huge part of his life. He had everything going in the right direction. He'd found something he was passionate about, strength training."
Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie said on Sunday that he thought Andy Reid would be back coaching by the end of the week, though nothing has been announced. The Eagles open their preseason Thursday, at home against the Steelers.
Read more:http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20120807_Andy_Reid_statement_implies_son_s_death_linked_to_drugs.html?cmpid=137039688#ixzz22qjkL2lt
Monday, August 6, 2012
Is Scientology's Narconon Killing Patients?
With seven deaths since 2005, Scientology's Narconon flagship may finally face criminal charges. The bigger scandal is that faith-based addiction programs are embraced as primary treatment. Where does that leave AA?
By Maia Szalavitz The fix
Narconon, the Scientology-affiliated rehab is under investigation by the state of Oklahoma, following three patient deaths within the last nine months. Last Wednesday, the inquiry into the July 19 death of 20-year-old Stacy Murphy was expanded to include the April death of 21-year-old Hillary Holten and the October death of 32-year-old Gabriel Graves. The state district attorney has asked the sheriff’s department to deepen its investigation.
The involvement of law-enforcement agencies—not simply regulatory authorities—suggests the possibility of criminal charges against those involved with the deaths. The facility, Narconon Arrowhead, is located near Canadian, Oklahoma. It is not only licensed by the state and listed on the federal addiction program locator, but also accredited by CARF, an organization that claims on its website to “focus on quality, results” in certifying treatment programs.
The 2009 death of 28-year-old Kaysie Dianne Wernick, who was transferred from Narconon Arrowhead to a nearby hospital while suffering a respiratory infection, resulted in an out-of-court settlement of a civil negligence lawsuit, the terms of which have not been disclosed. There have been three other deaths at that Narconon facility alone since 2005. Over the years, as The Fix has reported, numerous deaths and many lawsuits have been linked to the international Narconon program.
There have been seven deaths of patients at Narconon Arrowhead since 2005.
Oklahoma assistant district attorney Richard Hull told the Tulsa Worldthat, “After looking at the [earlier] report and additional witness statements, the District Attorney’s Office has requested the Sheriff’s Office to further investigate,” and that full autopsy and toxicology reports have not yet been received. A spokesperson for Narconon Arrowhead told Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly that program staff found the deaths “deeply saddening” and their loss “has taken an extreme emotional toll on us as well.” Narconon representatives have also told the media that they are cooperating fully with the investigation.
As The Fix reported earlier, the Narconon program is based on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s “Purification Rundown,” which was originally devised as part of the process required for conversion into Scientology. It involves taking high doses of vitamins and spending four to five hours a day in 150-degree saunas. This is believed to “detoxify” the body and remove drug “residue” that Hubbard claimed was responsible for craving.
There is no scientific evidence, however, that drug “residue” causes craving or that mega-doses of vitamins and marathon super-hot saunas are effective elements in addiction treatment. Indeed, for people who are medically fragile or who have recently taken certain classes of drugs including alcohol, amphetamines and cocaine, intense heat without breaks for relief could potentially lead to hyperthermia, which can be deadly. One study found that 25% of deaths in saunas were associated with alcohol or stimulant use.
Narconon also shares Scientology’s fierce opposition to psychiatry and the use of psychiatric medications, meaning that even if the rest of its methods were evidence-based, it would not be able to effectively treat half of all people with addictions who suffer from co-existing conditions like depression, nor would it utilize the state-of-the-art treatments that include medication. The belief that all psychiatric conditions can be treated via Hubbard’s techniques would not seem to support effective screening and referral for care for these disorders.
In fact, when Narconon was originally fishing for official and popular support to build Narconon Arrowhead rehab in the late 1980s, the Oklahoma State Board of Mental Health flatly denied approval, pointing out that there was no credible evidence that the program (which also included indoctrination in the teachings of Hubbard) was effective for chemical dependency and that evidence-based effective addiction treatment suggests that, on the contrary, Narconon is very unlikely to work. Nonetheless, Narconon purchased tribal land, without disclosing its ties to Scientology (its typical MO), and got the rehab up and running. Eventually, despite a flurry of negative publicity, it was able to win state-board approval.
Narconon’s viability as a rehab comes down to the ongoing belief that faith-based addiction treatment is legitimate.
Although each Narconon is, at least on paper, independently owned and operated, the Church of Scientology holds the license. Many, if not most, of the staff at the several dozen Narconon rehabs worldwide are Scientologists, and according to many former patients, the implicit goal of the Narconon treatment program is to turn addicts, who may pay tens of thousands of dollars for their rehab stay, into Scientology converts.
All of which raises the question: how on earth has such a program managed to be licensed in numerous states, listed on federal registries of addiction treatment and even accredited by organizations that are supposed to ensure quality and high standards of care?
Narconon is, to some extent, a special case in the rehab industry. As a de-facto extension of Scientology, it can deploy all of that organization’s infamously sophisticated strategies against opponents, including extreme litigiousness and PR and, reportedly, even threats of violence against whistleblowers.
Yet in a larger sense, Narconon’s decades-long viability as a legitimate rehab comes down to the ongoing belief that faith-based treatments, while not permitted as primary care in the rest of the medical system, are acceptable for addictions. There is no other disease or disorder for which a Scientology-based treatment that has been thoroughly discredited by science could win such acceptance. There is no other medical condition for which faith-based programs from multiple religions that also “pray away the gay” are considered part of mainstream care. There is no other medical condition, in fact, for which prayer and meeting are seen as a main element of recovery.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Alaskan Family Services
About
MissionServices for Families
Company OverviewAlaska Family Services was established in 1979 to respond to the needs of women and children in the Mat-Su Borough. What began as a small core of basic services has grown into a broad network of programs designed to strengthen and support individuals and families.
DescriptionAFS is home to nearly two dozen critical social service programs, including the only nationally certified domestic violence and sexual assault shelter in Alaska.
General InformationAt Alaska Family Services you can access services such as substance abuse counseling, behavioral health treatment, Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP), Child Care Assistance Program, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Programs, Dorothy Saxton Youth Shelter, Family Support and Preservation, Family Violence Intervention, ROSA House, Tobacco Prevention and Control, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Location 1825 S Chugach Street, Palmer, Alaska 99645
Contact Info
Phone
(907)746-4080 or 1-866-746-4080Website http://www.akafs.org
Residential Rehab Only Helpful in the Short Term for Meth Users, Study Finds
By Join Together Staff | August 2, 2012 | 2 Comments | Filed in Drugs,Research & Treatment
Community-based residential rehabilitation programs are only helpful in the short term for methamphetamine users, a new study suggests. Shorter detoxification programs are even less successful, Reutersreports.
While about half of the study participants were able to stop using meth after they joined a residential rehabilitation program, most had gone back to using the drug after three years, the study found.
Few addiction treatment programs are designed specifically for methamphetamine users, according to lead researcher Rebecca McKetin of the Australian National University. Instead, people often go through programs meant for people using heroin or alcohol.
She compared long-term methamphetamine use in 248 people in a rehab program, and 112 in a detox program, with 101 meth users who were not in treatment. People in residential rehab generally live for several months at a treatment center that offers counseling, as well as social and recreational activities. People enrolled in a detox program usually spend a few days at a hospital or other medical facility.
After three months, 48 percent of those who went through rehab remained abstinent, compared with 15 percent of those who went through detox or who did not receive any treatment.
At one year, 20 percent of meth users who went through rehab were still not using the drug, compared with 7 percent of people in the other two groups. By three years, only 12 percent of those who went through rehab still were not using meth, compared with 5 percent of the others.
The study is published in the journal Addiction.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
HEROES IN RECOVERY
About
Challenging the stigma associated with the word addiction - because every person who takes a step towards change is a hero.
Description
Foundations Recovery Network (FRN) has ignited a grassroots movement called “Heroes in Recovery” to celebrate the heroic efforts of individuals, families, healthcare professionals and institutions in fostering a society where people can seek the help they need without feeling ashamed or isolated. It intends to remove the social stigma associated with people who are “in recovery,” to recognize the
heroic effort it takes to overcome the obstacles in seeking help, and to celebrate the act of preventing the past from kidnapping the future. While the movement initially focuses on persons recovering from addictive behavior, it is meant also to recognize heroes recovering from many other types of disorders and trauma that can feed or manifest from an addiction.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 20 million people needed substance abuse treatment last year and did not receive it. 10 million Americans did not receive needed mental health care. The stigma associated with substance abuse and mental health disorders creates a significant barrier to individuals and families seeking help.
It’s important for the public to understand, embrace, and encourage people who are finding a way to thrive within their own circumstances and live the lives that they desire and deserve.
Contact Info
Email heroesinrecovery@gmail.com
Website http://www.heroesinrecovery.com
History by Year
2011
Heroes in Recovery Inaugural 6K Run/Walk
Cumberland Heights TN
About
Cumberland Heights is a nationally recognized alcohol and drug treatment center located west of Nashville on the Cumberland River, offering in-patient and out-patient services for individuals as well as programs for family members.
8283 River Road Pike
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
Always open
Phone
1 (800) 646-9998Website http://www.cumberlandheights.org
Austin Recovery Addiction Rehab
About
Austin Recovery Addiction Rehab provides effective, affordable & compassionate residential treatment. Our programs include Short-term & Extended treatment & Family House in addition to Detox, Outpatient, Aftercare and Alumni.
Description
Since 1967, Austin Recovery has provided effective, compassionate, and affordable drug and alcohol treatment for individuals, families and communities. Our transformational treatment model incorporates a broad range of techniques including individual and small group counseling with licensed clinicians, experiential therapies, 12 step work, and a comprehensive evidence-based curriculum.
Our trea...See More
General Information
Full Medical Detox
Adult Men's and Women's 30- and 90-day Residential Programs
Family House Program (Women with Children)
Intensive and Supportive Outpatient
Aftercare
Alumni
Co-occuring Disorders
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Self-pay, Insurance, and Public-funding Options
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, Texas 78754
Phone
1 (512) 697-8600Website http://www.AustinRecovery.org
Mixing Energy Drinks With Alcohol Can Lead to Risky Sex for College Students
By Join Together Staff | August 3, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Alcohol,Research, Young Adults & Youth
Combining caffeinated energy drinks with alcohol can lead to risky sex for college students, new research suggests.
The study of 648 students, published in the Journal of Caffeine Research, found 29 percent of sexually active participants said they had alcohol mixed with energy drinks in the past month. During their most recent sexual encounter, about 45 percent had a casual partner, 44 percent said they did not use a condom, and 25 said they were drunk, according to HealthDay.
Those who said they drank alcohol mixed with energy drinks were more likely to have casual sex and/or to be intoxicated during their most recent sexual encounter, the study found. Consuming alcohol and energy drinks did not affect the rate at which students used a condom during their most recent sexual encounter.
Lead researcher Kathleen E. Miller of the University of Buffalo said the findings suggest alcohol and energy drink mixes may play a role in the “hook-up culture” on many campuses.
“Mixing energy drinks with alcohol can lead to unintentional overdrinking, because the caffeine makes it harder to assess your own level of intoxication,” Miller said in a university news release. She added that energy drinks mixed with alcohol “have stronger priming effects than alcohol alone. In other words, they increase the craving for another drink, so that you end up drinking more overall.”
Lessons From Maine’s Fight Against Limits on Addiction Treatment
By Celia Vimont | August 3, 2012 | 4 Comments | Filed in Addiction,Government, Insurance, Prescription Drugs & Treatment
Maine’s decision to retroactively limit Medicaid payments for buprenorphine to treat opiate addiction is likely to have disastrous consequences, warns the President of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine.
As state budgets continue to tighten, more states are likely to take Maine’s lead, says Mark Publicker, MD. In some states, buprenorphine (Suboxone) and other opiate agonists may not be covered for addiction treatment, while other states are imposing prescribing and refill limits, says Publicker, who is also Medical Director of Mercy Recovery Center in Portland. He is calling on addiction treatment professionals to lead the battle to maintain the availability of medical treatment for addiction.
At the recent American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) annual meeting, Dr. Publicker spoke about the new Medicaid limits on buprenorphine in Maine. He noted patients face a cutoff in medication after a maximum of two years of treatment. The limitations are retroactive, meaning patients on long-term therapy will be hit first and hardest, he said.
“The intent of the new limitations is to save money, but legislators had no concern about the fiscal consequences of such a move, such as increases in crime rates, illnesses, child neglect and an increased number of premature births, which are all anticipated to be far more costly than medications,” he says.
Targeting addiction treatment for budget cuts is an easy move for legislators, he adds. “Addiction is a highly stigmatized condition, and there is no grassroots organization that will rise up to oppose treatment limitations. There is a fundamental misunderstanding about addiction as a chronic disease, and the role of medication in maintenance management.”
Dr. Publicker and colleagues, with the help of ASAM and a number of other medical groups, lobbied against the limits in Maine, but were only able to get a one-year delay in the implementation of the retroactive limit.
“The impact will be disastrous,” he states. “Many of my patients have been on buprenorphine for more than two years, and are leading successful, healthy lives. Many, if not most, of my patients who have achieved sobriety on buprenorphine will go into withdrawal, and the relapse rate will be extremely high. My patients’ lives are at stake.”
In Maine, which is largely rural and poor, opiate addiction is endemic, according to Dr. Publicker. “In many areas, there are no alternatives to medication-assisted treatment. This is a treatment that primary care providers can offer in their offices.”
ASAM is developing a state-by-state survey about the status of buprenorphine limitations, Dr. Publicker notes. At the annual meeting, he urged his colleagues around the country to take action against legislative attempts to cut funding for medication-assisted treatment for addiction.
“The fight against limitations requires coalitions,” he says. “It requires a comprehensive approach involving organizational support and cooperation, effective lobbying, developing personal relationships with legislators and the executive branch, and public information involving the media. It is important to make the clinical case and the economic case against limitations. It is just as important to take this issue to the public, to enlist patients, patients’ families, and other advocacy organizations to join in the fight.”
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Truth About the Kennedy Curse
With Mary Kennedy's suicide in May followed by Kerry Kennedy's car crash this month, talk turned again to the eerie hex cast on this golden American dynasty. Could the mystery be hiding in plain sight?
By Susan Cheever
08/01/12
When Kerry Kennedy got into a potentially fatal accident with a tractor-trailer after nodding off at the wheel at around eight in the morning on the way to her gym two weeks ago, she became part of a long tradition of accidents has haunted one of America’s political dynasties for three generations: the crashes of four planes and at least six cars, a fatal ski accident and a lethal drug overdose, not to mention the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and of Robert F. during his own presidential campaign in 1968.
Kerry, 52, the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy and the former wife of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, was charged with misdemeanor “driving with ability impaired” by drugs; she pleaded not guilty. Kennedy’s first public response was that she may have nodded off because she took an Ambien sleeping pill instead of her thyroid medication that morning. Then she released a statement saying that the accident may have been caused by a partial seizure or some related neurological event.
Final toxicology reports released July 25 showed that she was apparently right the first time—she had a generic version of the top-selling prescription sleep agent in her system when police found her dazed and disoriented behind the wheel of her damaged 2008 Lexus after she drove away from the scene. In fact, Ambien, a quick-acting, supposedly non-addictive anti-insomnia agent, has long been suspected of causing a wide range of unwanted “sleep” behaviors, from walking to eating to driving. The drug is on the top-10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers in many states. These so-called Ambien driverstend to display a type of road recklessness more bizarre than most DUIs, such as driving in the wrong direction or slamming into stationary objects like parked cars and light poles. Kennedy was reportedly driving erratically before colliding with the tractor-trailer and then continued driving up the road until pulling off at the first exit.
Being accident-prone is a well-documented symptom of addiction, even if the accident is as small as reaching for the wrong pill.
Yet toxicology reports aside, this latest scandal inevitably reinforces the suspicion that the Kennedy clan is, at the very least, conspicuously accident-prone. Kennedy watchers refer to this seeming propensity for accidents as the “Kennedy Curse”—a frequent trope in media coverage. But given that Kerry Kennedy’s close friend Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Kerry’s brother Robert, committed suicide in May, this most recent trouble seems like something more than generic bad luck. Still, like the husband of Diane Schuler who went the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway in Westchester causing multiple deaths, many people would rather believe that an enraged cosmic deity like H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulu has cursed this family than admit a much simpler diagnosis. Perhaps the Kennedy Curse is nothing more mysterious than garden-variety alcoholism and drug abuse.
Kerry Kennedy appears not to have been drunk that morning—no alcohol was reported to have been found in her blood—and the causes of the Kennedy accidents may ultimately be impossible to know. Still, having accidents is a well-documented symptom of alcoholism and drug abuse, even if the accident is as small as reaching for the wrong pill. The way the disease of addiction has emerged in the Kennedy family, skipping some generations and shapeshifting others, is an almost textbook profile of how the disease works.
Some members of the family, including Kerry’s brother Robert, have come to terms with their addictions and found help in recovery. Chris Kennedy Lawford, whose mother, Patricia, was one of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose, has written brilliantly about recovery in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous. Lawford’s Aunt Joan took him to his first AA meeting, and when he knew that he had to finally stop using, he called his cousin Bobby. “I called the one guy on the planet I didn’t want to bow to, my cousin Bobby, and asked him to tell me what to do,” he writes in Symptoms of Withdrawal.
Lawford’s memoir is a heart-rending portrait of what it was like to be a golden boy in a beloved and legendary family undermined by addiction. Of his cousin Michael’s death in a 1996 skiing accident on Aspen Mountain—he was playing football—following a scandal over his inappropriate relations with an underage baby-sitter, Lawford writes, “To many it didn’t make sense—he was way too good at both sports to die like this—but to me it made perfect sense. If I hadn’t had drugs to alleviate my internal angst, the emotional pain would have sent me looking for a hot babysitter to fuck or a giant tree I could slam into going 70 miles an hour on skis."
The litany of Kennedy traumas and troubles is painful to contemplate, but to mistake their appalling series of human accidents and errors for Greek tragedy is to avoid the distinctly unromantic reality of addiction. Only the plane crashes are, as reported, free of the suspicion that alcohol or drugs may have played a role. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.’s plane crashed over England during World War II in 1944; four years later, his sister Kathleen died when her plane went down over France. The most heart-breaking plane crash was probably the loss of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s Piper Saratoga off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in 1999, in which he, his wife and her sister were killed.
To mistake their appalling series of human accidents and errors for Greek tragedy is to avoid the distinctly unromantic reality of addiction.
Edward Kennedy, the late Massachusetts "lion of the Senate" and a longtime alcoholic, was severely injured in a crash in 1964; the pilot and one of his aides were killed. Five years later came the most infamous Kennedy automobile accident, in which the senator drove his car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick on Martha’s Vineyard, trapping Mary Jo Kopechne inside where she drowned. Later, Kennedy himself, who had been drinking at a party before the accident, wondered if “some awful curse” hung over the family.
Many third-generation Kennedys came of age in the '70s and early '80s, when recreational drug use among teens was rampant. The Kennedy kids did not come through unscathed. Hardest hit was David Kennedy, a son of Robert and Ethel who died of an overdose of cocaine and the opioid analgesic Demerol at age 28 in 1984. In 1973, David and his then girlfriend had been riding in a Jeep driven by his older brother Joseph when it overturned, paralyzing the girlfriend and seriously injuring David, who reportedly became addicted to painkillers and was in and out of rehabs for IV drug use over the next decade. But reports of hard partying by many of David's brothers, sisters and cousins surfaced over the years.
To be a Kennedy means to live in the glare of the public spotlight. American’s fascination with the family and its dozens of cousins has hardly abated since the legendary days of the Camelot White House. The Kennedys are unusually good-looking, glamorous and wealthy with a deep and noble commitment to public service. The activism that many of them embrace—from progressive politics to environmentalism and AIDS—are worthy causes. America is a country in need, now more than ever, of intelligent, altruistic politicians. Still, to have many members of a family that is so widely revered consistently try to downplay their own struggles with addiction when so many families nationwide are mystified and destroyed by it, seems less like a public service than a damn shame.
Susan Cheever, a regular columnist for The Fix, is the author of many books, including the memoirs Home Before Dark and Note Found in a Bottle, and the biography My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Drug Screening Now Required for People Seeking Welfare Benefits in Utah
By Join Together Staff | August 1, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Drugs, Legislation & Prevention
People seeking welfare benefits in Utah must now take an online drug-screening survey, which is designed to determine if they are likely to have a substance use disorder, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Those who receive a high score will be required to take a drug test. A person with a positive drug test will have to enroll in a drugtreatment program and stay off drugs, or else their benefits will be cut off, the article notes.
The company that makes the drug screening survey, the SASSI Institute, has one version for adults and another for teenagers. It says its surveys are 94 percent accurate.
According to Utah State Representative Brad Wilson, who sponsored the bill, an estimated 5 to 10 percent of welfare recipients are drug-dependent. He said most welfare recipients qualify for Medicaid, which will help cover treatment costs.
The newspaper notes Michigan and Florida faced legal challenges when they mandated drug testing for welfare recipients. In both cases those laws were struck down as unconstitutional, according to the article.
Many states have been considering measures that would require welfare recipients to undergo drug testing.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Party Buses Draw Criticism for Turning Blind Eye to Teen Drinking
By Join Together Staff | July 31, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Alcohol,Community Related, Prevention, Young Adults & Youth
Party buses, promoted as a safe way to transport teens and adults to nightclubs and other hot spots, turn a blind eye to teen drinking, according to critics. The vehicles also dump hard-drinking partygoers in neighborhoods that don’t want them, the San Jose Mercury Newsreports.
In one recent incident near Santa Cruz, California, a fight broke out on a party bus between two young adults, who fell out of the moving bus. One died. Everyone onboard, except the driver, was drunk.
California Assemblyman Jerry Hill is sponsoring a bill that would make party bus companies responsible for their passengers, including minors who drink onboard. According to a news release issued by Hill’s office, party buses have become an increasingly popular place for minors to drink. “Due to the lack of penalties and enforcement, minors often drink onboard resulting in tragedies covered in the news in recent years,” the release states.
California tightened rules on “prom limousines” that became popular in the 1980s, where teens drank in the back seat, behind tinted windows. Party buses are not regulated in the same way. Under Hill’s bill, party bus companies and their drivers would have to ensure that minors do not drink onboard, or board the bus drunk. If minors are onboard, a chaperone 25 or older would have to accompany them, to ensure they don’t drink.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Some Trucking Companies Use Hair Tests to Detect Drugs in Drivers
By Join Together Staff | July 30, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs,Government & Prevention
Some trucking companies are using hair tests to test drivers for drug use, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
At Schneider National Inc., 38,000 applicants have undergone hair drug testing over the past four years, the newspaper notes. Of those, 1,411 failed the test, for drugs including cocaine and marijuana. More than 90 percent of those applicants passed a urine test for the same drugs. Urine testing is the government-mandated industry standard, according to the article.
While molecules of some drugs, such as methamphetamine, remain in the urine for only a few days, they can stay in the hair for months. Because applicants know in advance they will be tested, they can abstain from drug use for a few days to obtain a clean urine sample. A 2007 investigation by the Government Accountability Office found it is easy to cheat on urine tests, either by sending in someone else to take the test, by adding drug-masking agents purchased online, or by diluting the sample with water.
“The urine-based drug test is simply not catching chronic drug users,” Don Osterberg, Senior Vice President of Safety and Security for Schneider, told the newspaper. He says the government allows hair testing, but it is not officially recognized.
Schneider wants the U.S. Department of Transportation to make hair testing official, and allow test results to be shared with other trucking companies.
“It’s a deterrent,” said John Spiros, Vice President of Safety and Claims Management at Roehl Transport, which began testing hair last year. “When people know that you’re doing hair-follicle testing, a lot of them won’t even apply.”
Hair testing has drawbacks. It does not detect recent drug use, and may show positive results for smoked drugs in someone who has been in the same room but did not smoke drugs themselves
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