Please watch this video and pass it along. After watching this for the first time, I felt nauseous - so many lives have been destroyed by impaired driving. STAY SAFE.
WARNING: Graphic Images, Drug and Alcohol Use.
Archive for the ‘Drug Testing’ Category
The Consequences of Drinking and Driving
Monday, May 10th, 2010Is Addiction a Recurring Choice?
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Please read the following article in Macleans magazine before reading the content of this blog:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/05/26/addiction-new-research-suggests-its-a-choice/
When I first read the title of the Macleans article, “Addiction: New research suggests it’s a choice”, I had made up my mind that this article would either be biased, or at the very least on the fringe of modern psychology. However, after reading the theory of Gene Heyman my thoughts may have shifted.
The premise of this article is that fully functioning individuals who make the choice to engage in drug use and then continue to use the drug are doing so in a completely voluntary manner. Mr. Heyman suggests that the majority of drug users who exhibit addict like behaviour in their teens and twenties, are clean and sober by the time that they reach 30.
I am leery to completely acknowledge Mr. Heyman’s hypothesis as valid, but as with most theories, there does appear to be a grain of truth. Drug use does have the tendency to have people acting in a “victim like matter”. If society has the perception that those who use drugs cannot control their actions, it makes it easy for someone who is caught in the cycle of drug or alcohol abuse to state that they have a physical disease and therefore need not take personal action or have personal accountability. When you think you’re beyond help, you probably won’t try or if you attempt to receive help with the underlying belief that it will not be effective, it probably won’t be.
I am a firm believer that everyone makes choices in life by free will – at least initially. I am also a believer in the fact that certain people are more susceptible to certain ways of life, whether it be through genetics or the way in which they were raised. There are many people who have used cocaine one time, and only one time without developing an “addiction”. There are also many people who’s addiction began by using cocaine just the one time and it turned into a downhill spiral. A conscious choice to use cocaine was made the first time, but I tend to think that every time thereafter becomes less and less conscious and more of a reflex.
Whether addiction is a choice or not, it is still a real problem. Perhaps understanding how addiction works will provide more effective treatment options for those who struggle with substance abuse. A personal choice to be self-destructive can and should be treated entirely differently than a physical disease. I would like to see independent research done into Mr. Heyman’s theories. If additional doctors find the same conclusion, it is time to re-evaluate current rehabilitation methods. If more specific rehab can be offered, recurring patients may be helped much sooner into the process.
Only time will tell.
Yet Another Celebrity Death Due to Prescription Drug Overdose: Corey Haim Dies at 38.
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Corey Haim
80’s child star Corey Haim was pronounced dead in his mother’s California apartment on March 10th after a long struggle with substance abuse.
Read the full story here:
http://www.popeater.com/2010/03/10/corey-haim-dies-38/
It continues to concern me that celebrity after celebrity (Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Britney Murphy, DJ AM, Michael Jackson, Corey Haim, etc.) have been dying prematurely due to PRESCRIPTION drug abuse.
Just because a doctor prescribes a drug to you, it does not mean that it is 100% safe. Many prescription drugs have adverse side effects, many of them are addictive and when taken more than the prescribed dosage or combining them with other prescriptions, many of them can be fatal. Prescription drugs, while used for medical purposes can be helpful, but prescriptions continue to move out of the realm of medicine and into the realm of addiction and even street drugs. Currently, some prescription medications (oxycontin for example) are being sold for $20.00 per pill on the street.
Prescription drug abuse is big business. Police, during the investigation of the death of Corey Haim discovered that several of Corey’s prescriptions were tied to an illegal prescription drug ring. A quote from People Magazine states that “The ring orders prescription pads from vendors using stolen doctor identities, the AG’s office said in a statement Friday. The pads are then either sold on the street to addicts or to people who are paid to fill the prescription and then sell the drugs on the underground market.” See the
full article below:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20351491,00.html
It appears that the latest celebrity craze of rehab (made even more popular by shows such as Celebrity Rehab and Intervention) is on the rise. My hope is that, like most
celebrity trends, the general public will begin to realize that drugs can destroy lives and that seeking treatment is a positive step. People are quick to point fingers when someone dies from overdose, labelling them a bad or weak person, but the truth is that most of these people have battled for years on end against an addiction that has taken over their entire life. It is not as easy as saying “Just stop taking pills.” Prescription pills are widely available, publicly accepted, affordable and can be highly addictive. The affect that they can have on the lives of those addicted is profound and tragic.
After this recent string of celebrity deaths, I hope that Hollywood makes the first step to acknowledge that prescription drug abuse is a serious problem rather than vilifying those who struggle with addiction. If Hollywood takes the first step, it may trickle down to the general public admitting that there is a serious prescription drug problem in North America.
Qualifier: I will note that toxicology reports have not yet been released in the death of Corey Haim and the rumors of prescription overdose are conjecture at this point.
Random drug testing proposal for health services
Friday, February 19th, 2010
An Ohio politician recently introduced a bill that would require random drug testing of Ohio Medicaid recipients. House Bill 440 proposes that an adult Medicaid recipient would have their Medicaid services terminated for six months each time;
1) The recipient fails to comply with random drug and alcohol testing;
2) The recipient fails to complete a treatment program following a determination of a drug and/or alcohol problem or;
3) The recipient had a second positive drug and or alcohol test.
Medicaid is a state and federally funded health program providing benefits to “low income” and “medically vulnerable” people.
This got me thinking about what would happen if such a bill was proposed in Alberta; every adult Albertan receiving Alberta Health Care would be subject to a random drug and alcohol test.
We could randomly drug test all adult Albertans; “weed out” those people who are taxing the health care system, punish them by taking away their and encourage them to go to rehab. As a tax paying Albertan, why wouldn’t I be in favour of this? Reward those who are drug free, lighten the load on the already burdened health care system and feel good about offering rehab services to addicts.
Given this line of thinking, should we not then consider taking health care away from cigarette smokers, obese adults…heck… even adults who don’t exercise according to the Canadian Physical Activity guidelines?
While I believe it makes sense to provide rehabilitation services to those people who may have a substance abuse problem, it doesn’t make sense to take away basic health care services. In essence, this would probably lead to further health problems for these individuals. Desperate times call for desperate measures; these individuals may resort to stealing in order to have money to care for themselves.
Clearly this bill would not pass in Canada. I’d like to think that Albertans are a little more liberal than that, or at least are educated enough to realize this isn’t the answer to the problem. Then again, I wouldn’t put it past a number of people who would probably support the idea in the ever increasingly “me first” climate we live in today.
Is Britney Murphy Another Celebrity Victim of Prescription Overdose?
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009This past Sunday (December 20,2009), actress Britney Murphy died from what is being called cardiac arrest. However according to multiple sources:
“various prescriptions were found in the home — written for Brittany Murphy, husband Simon Monjack, and Brittany’s mom. One source says, “There were a lot … a lot of prescriptions in the house. . . . . . .A check of the nightstands revealed large amounts of prescription medication in the decedent’s name. Also noted were numerous empty prescription medication bottles in the decedent’s husband’s name, the decedent’s mother’s name and unidentified third party names.
According to the notes, the medications included Topamax (anti-seizure meds also to prevent migraines), Methylprednisolone (anti-inflammatory), Fluoxetine (depression med), Klonopin (anxiety med), Carbamazepine (treats Diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med), Ativan (anxiety med), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), Propranolol (hypertension, used to prevent heart attacks), Biaxin (antibiotic), Hydrocodone (pain med) and miscellaneous vitamins.
The notes say, “No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered.”
Source: TMZ
Although the coroner’s report has not yet been released, the amount of prescription medications found in the residence is alarming.
There is still a perception that prescription drugs help people and do not harm them. However, virtually every illegal “street drug” in existence today started out in the medical realm. Examples of this include Cocaine, “Special K” and Amphetamines. The reason that these drugs moved away from the medical realm is that there were substantial negative side-effects in utilizing them. With that being said, just because something is prescribed by a doctor, it does not mean that it cannot hurt you.
Many prescription drugs are highly addictive and their use needs to be monitored by a qualified medical professional. “Doctor Shopping” (going from doctor to doctor to get your prescriptions filled so that the doctors are not aware of the volume of prescriptions you re taking) and using other people’s medications (even borrowing one Tylenol 3 because you have a headache) are growing in popularity, with detrimental side effects. Britney Murphy may be the newest in the growing list of celebrity deaths, including DJ AM, Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson due to prescription drug use.
Whether celebrities set the trend, or simply reflect the trend, the reality is that people are dying from prescription pain killer addiction every day. Just because a substance is prescribed by a doctor, that does not mean that it is not addictive, or that it cannot be abused. Cocaine used to be widely prescribed for medical reasons and now it is relegated to the street, perhaps Oxycontin is the next medical drug to be deemed too risky for medical benefit and sold only as an illegal substance. Any type of drug use and abuse, whether or prescription or not comes with consequences.