What Are Prescription Drugs?

Prescription Drugs – who would have known that the random pills and potions in your medicine cabinet would end up competing with marijuana for your kid’s attention and their addiction? Well it just so happens that those unassuming pills and potions once thought harmless are much more deadly than they look and they are fast becoming America’s new favorite drug of choice. It’s unfortunately true.

It’s all over the news. It’s in the papers, it’s the topic of the discussion on prime time specials and it’s all over the internet on blogs and websites. The President is talking about it. Prescription Drug abuse is the enemy.

What Are Prescription Drugs?

Prescription Drug Addiction

We all have some common knowledge of prescription medication; most of us has some old bottle of pills we never finished from a pain, ache or mental illness we may have suffered from at one time just sitting harmlessly on the shelf of our bathroom medicine cabinet. Well unfortunately these are the enemy, especially if you have teens. Although marijuana remains the all-time the number one drug of choice among teens, prescription drugs are running a very close second and if taken for granted any longer I predict it a very short time prescription drugs will surpass marijuana and become the most abused drugs in the country.

Basically prescription drugs are any “licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained.” Not to be confused with over-the-counter drugs or OTC’s which can be obtained without a prescription (and are just as dangerous), prescription drugs are those prescribed by a doctor but can also be obtained illegally. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug. The proper dispensation of prescription drugs should include a monograph (in Europe, a Patient Information Leaflet or PIL) that gives detailed information about the drug.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Prescription Drugs are described as “a category of psychotherapeutics that comprises prescription-type pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives.” They are says the NDIC, “among the substances most commonly abused by young people in the United States. Prescription drugs are readily available and can be obtained quite easily by teenagers. They (Teens) just want to get high and have a good time. But little do they know these drugs used improperly are a very serious health risks.  Increasingly younger adolescents obtain prescription drugs from classmates, friends, and family members, or they steal the drugs from school medicine dispensaries and from people for whom the drug had been legitimately prescribed.

Who Can Prescribe Prescription Drugs?

Prescribing Prescription Drug

In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act define a Prescription drug as those drugs authorized by veterinarians, dentists, optometrists, medical practitioners, and advanced practice nurses. It is generally required that Doctor (MD, DO, PA, OD, DPM, NMD, ND, DVM, DDS, or DMD), or Psychologists, a Nurse Practitioners and other APRNs write the prescription.

A basic-level registered nurse, a medical assistant, EMT, psychologists or your social workers, are not authorized to write a drug prescription ever.

Over-the-counter drugs (OTC) are drugs used to treat conditions not necessarily requiring care from a health care professional. They have been proven to meet higher safety standards for self-medication by patients. Lower strength drugs are often approved for OTC use. Higher strengths require a prescription.

Physicians can also legally prescribe drugs for uses other than those specified in the FDA approval; this is known as off-label use. Drug companies don’t often market drugs for off-label uses.

Prescription drug abusers may feel pleasure, euphoria, drowsiness, more energy, and other effects depending upon the drug. Teens can experience dangerous side effects. Prescription drugs taken as prescribed by a physician can and will successfully treat a variety of mental or physical conditions. But when abused, these prescription drugs can alter the brain’s activity and be mentally and physically addictive. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, NHSDA.)

“Most people understand that there are times when the proper medication is life saving and necessary. Some ailments such as diabetes require long-term maintenance, but not everything can be treated with pill. Let’s get wise. There is no pill to bring the dead back to life or to cure young people who have become addicted.” Mary Rieser, Narconon of Georgia.

Fighting The Fight Against Prescription Drugs

Narconon Of Georgia

Narconon of Georgia has been fighting drug addiction in Georgia for 11 years. But then the drugs were the illicit street drugs of the monsters and boogiemen. Heroin and Cocaine were the main drugs abuse by many with a few prescription pills and potion. But today these drugs have taken a back seat to what’s in the medicine cabinet says Rieser.

Talk to your kids and not at them. Don’t be to adult that you can’t get down on their level if only for a moment to get a better understanding of what the trends are. Teens today can be illusive and let’s just say sneaky, but a noisy parent is better than a parent who just does not know.

Educate yourself about the dangers of prescription and OTC drug abuse. Discuss these risks with your kids. Kids need to hear you say that getting high on legal prescription and OTC drugs is just as dangerous as getting high on street drugs.

Kids who learn about drug risks from their parents are half as likely to use drugs as kids who haven’t had that conversation with their parents.

Make sure you use drugs as the doctor intended. Stay involved with your kids. Don’t let them go through middle school and into high school without your guidance. Talk with them daily. Be honest in your conversation with them about prescription and OTC drug abuse. Know what you are talking about. Know the facts so you can clear up wrong or bad information. Peer pressure is just as deadly as the drugs when it is abused. Don’t make it all a lecture. Listen to your children. If they have questions and comments answer them truthfully. Let them know that getting high with prescription and OTC medication is not safer than getting high with illicit street drugs. In most cases it can be more dangerous.

Did you know that your child is more likely to be offered drugs by a friend than a stranger? It’s true. They can be exposed to drugs as early as age 12. Real friends don’t influence bad decisions.

There is much ado about prescription drugs. Get the facts.

Michael Bonds, Bauder College About The Author Michael Bonds is a Criminal Justice Senior at Bauder College in Atlanta Georgia. He is currently doing his externship at Narconon of Georgia He is an Activist and former Youth Counselor from Boston Massachusetts. He is the author of “Gunz, Poems & Rosez, the Experience Strength and Hope of Michael Warrior Bonds

Stop Addiction

Many years ago there was a game show called TO TELL THE TRUTH.  There were three people but only one of them was the real person as  described by the game host.

There is a similar real life game being played now.  Prisons, drug dealers and addicts are playing along with pharmaceutical companies. 

The question is, WHO IS THE REAL CRIMINAL HERE?

This article points out some goofy points about the injustices often dealt to drug addicts.  One methamphetamine addict turns in another one.  The first addict goes free and the other goes to prison. Unless effective addiction treatment is part of the picture, the goofiness will continue and the real criminals will go unnamed and undetected and society will never win at this version of TO TELL THE TRUTH.

“Who benefits from Cameron Douglas getting at least 10 years in prison? No one does. But the government is hell bent on punishing him for the crime of being an addict.

Cameron – the son of Academy Award winner Michael Douglas – took a guilty plea this week for dealing drugs that will land him in prison for at least 10 years to a maximum of life. This stems from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation based on information from unidentified informants who were methamphetamine users and drug dealers. In other words, these rats gave Cameron up to save their own hides. In exchange for agreeing to be cooperating witnesses against Cameron, they were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges.”

One of the most successful drug rehab centers with a 76% success rate for those completing the required courses is Narconon of Georgia.  Narconon provides for their clients effective drug education and rehabilitative services in a non-traditional, non twelve step environment.  The recovery process starts with the first call.  Intake counselors are available 24 hours a day to help field the calls for you or your loved one.  Stop the destructive cycle of addiction and call today.  Help is available.

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Cocaine Addiction

This study basically points out the common sense obvious – children who are exposed in-utero to cocaine don’t do well.

Whatever the underlying reason, be it environment or the cocaine, treating pregnant women with addiction problems should be the number one priority in any addiction treatment program.

Children are our future. The future already looks pretty grim with the escalating prescription drug abuse trend with our youth.  In-utero drug exposure needs to be severely addressed, even if it has to be legal restraint. 

“Children exposed in-utero to cocaine often have lower IQs and do poorly in school and with language, but a new research review concludes that these impairments can usually be traced to the troubled environment the children of cocaine users live in and not directly to the effects of the drug itself.

Researcher Maureen M. Black, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of Maryland School of Medicine reviewed 32 previous studies on school-aged children who had been exposed to cocaine during pregnancy. They found that these children often had problems with sustaining attention and self-regulating their behavior. Some studies also showed that the exposed children exhibited differences in the white and gray matter in their brains.”

Narconon of Georgia offers drug education and rehabilitative services for those who are suffering from cocaine addiction.  Intake counselors are available to make the transition into drug rehab comfortable and efficient. 

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Drug paraphernalia

 This law maker in Miami is right.  Getting drug paraphernalia out of the convenience stores is a good place to start in dealing with the addiction problem.  Along with paraphernalia there are the crack, marijuana and methamphetamine dealers lurking around the store.  The next stop for many of these customers is jail or addiction treatment.  Cleaning these places up will make neighborhoods safer too.

“TALLAHASSEE — A reformed crack addict-turned-lawmaker is targeting the instrument of his affliction: the glass pipe.

This session, Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, has been rallying support to pass a bill that could take bongs, water pipes and maybe hookahs off tobacco store shelves. It cleared its last Senate committee this week.

“You know how people say there’s nothing like a reformed smoker or reformed addict?” Rouson said. “I’m dedicated to freeing communities of substance abuse, and these shops seemed like a good place to start.”

Narconon of Georgia offers drug education and rehabilitative services for anyone who is suffering from addiction.  To break the cycle of addiction in your life or the life of a loved one, our intake counselors will help make the transition into drug rehab comfortable and efficient. 

Join the 76% who are now living life drug free because of Narconon of Georgia.

Source

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/10/1572623/lawmaker-pushes-ban-on-drug-paraphernalia.html#ixzz0koXNC5RL

Addiction and Kids

Kids being raised with the darkness of addiction around them points out the fact that unless something is done to quickly halt the trend of drug abuse, we are walking into a new dark ages.  And at current rates of escalating addiction, not many people will be aware enough to turn the situation around.  The population will be too doped up to pull itself out.

Whether it is alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, prescription drugs or heroin – these drugs don’t mix with raising children.  In order to bring a screeching halt to the situation (and it needs to be screeching) any kind of health care plan must include drug prevention and effective addiction treatment.  Hopefully it is not too late.

“MEDFORD (AP) — Adrianna Poot didn’t want to pass on her parents’ painful legacy of drug use, child abuse and neglect. But she did.

‘A child’s ability to explore his world in a positive manner stems from feeling safe and secure,” Gramley said. ‘When children haven’t been able to develop that trust, they don’t explore. And there’s no reason to trust if your diaper is never changed or you are not fed adequately or you cried yourself to sleep because you were hungry.”

The cycle of addiction is difficult to overcome simply by will power alone.  Addiction treatment provides services to help the one addicted find ways to break the cycle of addiction and supply practical tools for becoming a productive member of society.  If you or your loved one needs the services of a drug rehab, our referral specialists will help guide you to the treatment center that will help you become free from the chains of addiction. 

Narconon of Georgia has a 76% success rate for those who successfully complete the program.  Our trained staff and volunteers will help the transition into drug rehab be as easy and painless as possible.  Intake counselors are available to help you begin your path to a drug free life. 

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Alcohol Awareness

Alcohol Awareness month is a good time to take a look at our associates and the friends of our kids.  Do they drink heavily?   If they do, chances are there is trouble around them.  Alcohol abusers like to hang around alcohol abusers and only by pulling someone out of their circle and getting them into effective addiction treatment will the spell be broken.

Kids will drink if their friends drink.

During Alcohol Awareness month it is good to remember that we are known by the company that we keep. 

“The amount of alcohol you consume seems to be directly related to the drinking habits of your social group, according to a new study.

HealthDay News reported April 5 that researchers focused on data from 12,000 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, who were asked about their drinking and social networks over the 30-year span of the study. They found that those who had friends or relatives who drank heavily were 50 percent more likely to drink heavily themselves.

Moreover, even three degrees of separation — having friends of friends who drank heavily — appeared to influence individual alcohol consumption.

Narconon of Georgia offers drug education and rehabilitative services for those who are struggling with alcohol addiction.  Our 76 % success rate shows that the addiction cycle can be broken and you or your loved one will live a healthy alcohol free life. 

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Prison

By requesting a nine month jail sentence so he can get clean, Christopher Ginn is demonstrating what is true about most people suffering from addiction – they want to get clean but they don’t know how to with the plethora of drugs in their environment.

Prescription drugs especially present a problem in addiction.  They are easy to get from the local drug dealer, the doctor or the next door neighbor.

The first step in getting clean is finding a drug free corner of the world.  Unfortunately for Christopher the only corner he could find was in jail.

Until we lock up the people who are creating this pharmaceutical jungle, individuals like Chris will continue to be fodder for a system that is so broken it will never be repaired.  Only accountability for the responsible individuals will.

“Christopher Ginn told a Sudbury judge Thursday he wanted a nine-month jail sentence for a number of drug-related crimes because it would allow him to get into a special drug treatment program.

When the judge complied, giving a 12-month term, Ginn, 20, thanked him, saying “maybe this long sentence will help me curb my addiction.”

While the charges laid in December and January brought Ginn to court Thursday, his legal troubles began last August, said assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg.

It was then that Ginn pleaded guilty to attempting to rob the Clinicare Pharmacy on Lasalle Boulevard. Ginn walked in with a note, but walked out empty handed and was arrested a short time later. He was given 90 days in jail and placed on probation for that crime.”

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adolescent drinking

Many alcoholic clients who arrive to rehab to address an alcohol problem have been drinking from a very early age.  Apparently, the taste for alcohol is developed at an early age for those who are developing alcoholics, but will go unchecked unless detected and treated.

According to the study below, college aged binge drinkers are in the minority, but drink the majority of alcohol consumed by college students.  This is a good time to intervene as these are the individuals who are most likely the future alcoholics.  Many of these youth are already in need of alcohol treatment and getting effective addiction treatment now will save them a life of misery.

“This study finds that binge drinkers, who constitute less than half (43%) of college students nationally, drank 91% of all the alcohol consumed by college students. About half of the binge drinkers (one-fifth of all students) drank two-thirds (68%) of all the alcohol and accounted for half of all the alcohol-related problems of college students.”

Source

Here is what I found:

Club Drugs

There are several different types of club drugs including Ketamine (Special K), methamphetamine (meth, ice, crank), Rohopyl (Roffies), LSD (acid) and ectasy (MDMA). These drugs often kill teenagers who are not aware of the dangers of these drugs. They are offered to the teen with the pretence it is what you do at clubs to have more fun.  Make sure you sit down with your teenager and discuss these dangers of drug addiction. If you need to get them into Drug Rehab you have choices.

Dangers lurk everywhere make sure you know what your teenager is doing at all times. Question them, talking to children is proven to help, although they look like they are not listening they usually are.

Prescription Drug Abuse Claims Brittany Murphy?

While Brittany Murphy’s death has been ruled from “natural causes”, the fact remains that ten prescription bottles with highly addictive drugs have been found on her nightstand.

Many celebrities have succumbed to prescription drug abuse, whether they died of an accidental overdose or used prescription drugs combined with alcohol, or street drugs such as cocaine and heroin, the fact remains that prescription drug abuse is rampant. According to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in 2008, 15.2 million Americans age 12 and older had taken a prescription medicine for non-medical purposes at least once in the year prior to being surveyed.

Is it little wonder that Michael Jackson, Dana Plato, Keith Moon, Anna Nicole Smith, Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, DJ AM, Margaux Hemingway, Howard Hughes, and Marilyn Monroe, to name a few, have died because of prescription drug abuse?

If Brittany Murphy’s toxicology results are positive for drug abuse, she will be the latest in a long line of celebrities that could not break the habit of abusing pills. Several, including Burt Reynolds and Robbie Williams, have admitted to beating prescription drug abuse, but how many more are still battling this addiction in secret, often going from doctor to doctor to get their “fix”?

While many celebrities battle with stress and popularity, turning to street drugs as well as prescription drugs, millions of less famous are also battling their own problem with prescription drug abuse. In fact, prescription drugs are more commonly abused than cocaine, methamphetamine, or heroin. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana is the only other drug that is more widely abused.

Prescription Drug Abuse

What can we do about this?

“Be aware that prescription drugs, while helpful when used correctly, can also be quite addictive,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director of The Atlanta Recovery Center. “Teach children that prescription drugs are dangerous and not to take them unless prescribed by a doctor. Be aware of the signs of drug abuse and get help if someone you know is addicted.

“Be safe in the New Year and get help if needed. No one needs to die from prescription drug overdoses if we look out for one another.”