Cocaine use on the rise in Australia
September 8, 2010
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
The number of cocaine abuse related arrests has risen in Sydney's CBD and an increasing number of users of the drug are being treated in hospitals. According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures arrests for possession and use of the drug have risen by 76.6 per cent in the past two years. In the first six months of this year 412 people were caught with cocaine in NSW - one more arrest than was made in all of 2008. Almost 100 people were caught with the drug in January alone. Five years ago police made 223 arrests in an entire year. Arrests for narcotics use and possession increased by 11.9 per cent over the same period.
This rise is attributed to increased law enforcement, but the bureau director, Don Weatherburn, said figures from hospital emergency departments also indicated an increase in the number of patients being treated for overdoses. Dr Weatherburn said, "The reason we know that it's not just a case of increased police activity is that overdoses on cocaine and overdoses on narcotics are going up and they have nothing to do with police activity… It's simply disingenuous to say this is nothing more than an increase in police activity." He said while the number of arrests for narcotics remained well down from the peak of 350 in one month in the late 1990s, the figure had been "creeping up" over the past two years.
According to the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione the rise in drug crime means there is increasing interception on venues where drug use was suspected such as concerts, parties and hotels.
NSW Police Minister Michael Daley said the sharp rise in drug use, particularly cocaine, was a reflection of stronger law enforcement. He said, "Whilst we can speculate about the use of cocaine ... what we do know is that increased incidents of police vigilance and police work are having a marked effect on the amounts of cocaine and the incidents of cocaine apprehension." Mr Daley welcomed the positive outcomes in the report, saying some major crime had fallen as a result of a bigger police force and increased productivity.
According to Premier Kristina Keneally, "We have built up in this state with laws, equipment and conditions, the best-equipped the most professional police force in the country and one of the best police forces in the world." However, opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher believes that this report reflects rise in drug abuse and sexual assaults that needed to be addressed.
Overall fall in crime rates
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures there is a significant reduction in incidents of domestic violence related assault, break and enter and retail premises, and malicious damage to property. The instances of domestic violence related assaults fell by 29.7 per cent (from 172 to 121). Break and enter offences on retail premises dropped by 32.4 per cent (from 309 to 171), more than double the state wide reduction of 15.3 per cent. The incidents of people maliciously damaging property in the area fell from 806 to 647 over the 24-month period, a reduction of 19.7 per cent - more than double the NSW average of 9.7 per cent.
Inspector Murray Gillett said Clarence police were working hard to achieve a continual reduction of all crimes across the Valley. He said, "These statistics are a result of a collaborative approach between the community and the police. This is the result of some sustained, prolonged direct targeting of offenders using specific strategies that have been tried and proven successful."
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton finds strength after misstep in recovery from drug, alcohol addiction
10:38 AM CDT on Sunday, October 3, 2010
By S.C. GWYNNE / The Dallas Morning News
sgwynne@dallasnews.com
On the chilly morning of Jan. 22, 2009, when everything else in her life seemed to be working out perfectly, Katie Hamilton received a phone call at her home outside Raleigh, N.C.
Josh Hamilton It was her husband, Josh, calling from Tempe, Ariz., where he had gone to a boot camp for athletes. Hamilton had become famous the year before for leading the American League in runs batted in and making the All-Star team in his first full season as a major leaguer.
Also Online Link: Triple Play Ministries
Cowlishaw: Impact on winning makes Hamilton the clear MVP pick
Full coverage: Josh Hamilton
SportsDayDFW.com: More Rangers
But he was equally famous for beating a harrowing addiction to drugs and liquor, one that had kept a player often compared to Mickey Mantle out of Major League Baseball until he was 26 years old.
And now he was calling his wife to tell her, through choking sobs, that after three years of sobriety, he had relapsed. He had gone out late the previous evening, alone, to a pizza restaurant, which happened to have a bar. He had a vodka and cranberry juice, then another, then went to a bar and had many more. He told her he didn't remember everything that happened, but that there might be "pictures." Katie told him to come home, and then she prayed.
Seven months later, photos appeared on the Internet that revealed a drunken Josh cavorting with three young women in the bar. Whipped cream was involved. The pictures caused a sensation. Hamilton, who had already told the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball what happened, now confessed to the rest of the world.
Though his relapse only lasted one night, it held critical lessons for Hamilton, his family, and his team. The first was, now that he had become a star, any sins he committed would be instant headline news. Second, and far more important, was the notion that Hamilton had not beaten his addiction at all. While he had made enormous strides in his recovery, he was in some ways still the hair-trigger addict he had been since he started using cocaine and whiskey in 2001.
The result was a change in how Hamilton, 29, handles his own life and how he is handled by others, even as he helps lead the Rangers into the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Since he stopped using drugs and liquor in late 2005, he has worked to build a system of checks and balances around him, to fill his idle time and to avoid the "triggers" of his addiction.
Support system
But the relapse caused him to redouble those efforts, and he is now assisted by a complex, multilayered support system of his own design that is probably without precedent at this level of professional sports. It is rooted in his Christian beliefs and his rigorous daily devotions. Its primary components are his wife, his parents, and a host of "accountability partners" that include a Texas Rangers coach, pastors from three churches, his Christian sports agent and his father-in-law. A set of strict rules dictates what he can and can't do.
The system also addresses the way he spends his time away from the game. He increasingly sees virtually everything he does outside of baseball as a ministry, and as such a more permanent way of dealing with his addiction.
He and Katie founded Triple Play Ministries several years ago, and it has become the conduit for the dozens of off-season public appearances they make. He has his own Christian baseball camps, and even a project to build an orphanage in Uganda. It is the success of this intricately balanced life – he has been clean since that night in Tempe – that has allowed him to have an electrifying, MVP-caliber season.
"I don't want to call the relapse in Tempe a blessing in disguise, but you have to look at the positives," says Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. "It was a reminder to Josh that he can't sneak off, that this can't happen privately. It made his system for dealing with it that much stronger."
The foundation of Hamilton's recovery is his religion, which dominates his life and his conversation.
"The biggest thing we want to do is to share Jesus Christ with people," says Hamilton, sitting in the corner of the Rangers dugout, resplendent in yellowish-green mirrored sunglasses, on his second day in the lineup after being out with a rib injury. His trademark blue flame tattoos adorn his massive biceps. "The whole objective of the ministry is to do that, whether by speaking in public or by doing hospital visits to kids during the holidays, or baseball camps."
Josh and Katie are very much a team, and have come a long way since the darkest days of his addiction in 2005, when she went to court to get a restraining order against him. The two of them, with help from their pastor Jimmy Carroll in Raleigh, designed the system that is now in place to keep Josh sober.
The system's core is a network of people – Josh and Katie use the Christian term "accountability partners" when discussing them – with whom Josh keeps in close contact. Carroll is one. Another is Katie's father, Michael "Big Daddy" Chadwick, a former drug user and seller who became a successful homebuilder in Raleigh and who now runs his own Christian youth ministry. There is also James Robison, the televangelist and founder and president of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International. And there is Hamilton's agent, Mike Moye, who runs a Christ-centered sports agency.
"They are all Josh's good friends," says Katie. "He seeks advice from them, and godly counsel. Pastor Jimmy has been in our lives for many years and is extremely influential. James Robison is someone Josh calls, if not daily, then close to daily."
Says Josh: "It is very important to my recovery and my walk with Christ that I have people like that around me. They always call or text at the right time."
By S.C. GWYNNE / The Dallas Morning News
sgwynne@dallasnews.com
On the chilly morning of Jan. 22, 2009, when everything else in her life seemed to be working out perfectly, Katie Hamilton received a phone call at her home outside Raleigh, N.C.
Josh Hamilton It was her husband, Josh, calling from Tempe, Ariz., where he had gone to a boot camp for athletes. Hamilton had become famous the year before for leading the American League in runs batted in and making the All-Star team in his first full season as a major leaguer.
Also Online Link: Triple Play Ministries
Cowlishaw: Impact on winning makes Hamilton the clear MVP pick
Full coverage: Josh Hamilton
SportsDayDFW.com: More Rangers
But he was equally famous for beating a harrowing addiction to drugs and liquor, one that had kept a player often compared to Mickey Mantle out of Major League Baseball until he was 26 years old.
And now he was calling his wife to tell her, through choking sobs, that after three years of sobriety, he had relapsed. He had gone out late the previous evening, alone, to a pizza restaurant, which happened to have a bar. He had a vodka and cranberry juice, then another, then went to a bar and had many more. He told her he didn't remember everything that happened, but that there might be "pictures." Katie told him to come home, and then she prayed.
Seven months later, photos appeared on the Internet that revealed a drunken Josh cavorting with three young women in the bar. Whipped cream was involved. The pictures caused a sensation. Hamilton, who had already told the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball what happened, now confessed to the rest of the world.
Though his relapse only lasted one night, it held critical lessons for Hamilton, his family, and his team. The first was, now that he had become a star, any sins he committed would be instant headline news. Second, and far more important, was the notion that Hamilton had not beaten his addiction at all. While he had made enormous strides in his recovery, he was in some ways still the hair-trigger addict he had been since he started using cocaine and whiskey in 2001.
The result was a change in how Hamilton, 29, handles his own life and how he is handled by others, even as he helps lead the Rangers into the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Since he stopped using drugs and liquor in late 2005, he has worked to build a system of checks and balances around him, to fill his idle time and to avoid the "triggers" of his addiction.
Support system
But the relapse caused him to redouble those efforts, and he is now assisted by a complex, multilayered support system of his own design that is probably without precedent at this level of professional sports. It is rooted in his Christian beliefs and his rigorous daily devotions. Its primary components are his wife, his parents, and a host of "accountability partners" that include a Texas Rangers coach, pastors from three churches, his Christian sports agent and his father-in-law. A set of strict rules dictates what he can and can't do.
The system also addresses the way he spends his time away from the game. He increasingly sees virtually everything he does outside of baseball as a ministry, and as such a more permanent way of dealing with his addiction.
He and Katie founded Triple Play Ministries several years ago, and it has become the conduit for the dozens of off-season public appearances they make. He has his own Christian baseball camps, and even a project to build an orphanage in Uganda. It is the success of this intricately balanced life – he has been clean since that night in Tempe – that has allowed him to have an electrifying, MVP-caliber season.
"I don't want to call the relapse in Tempe a blessing in disguise, but you have to look at the positives," says Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. "It was a reminder to Josh that he can't sneak off, that this can't happen privately. It made his system for dealing with it that much stronger."
The foundation of Hamilton's recovery is his religion, which dominates his life and his conversation.
"The biggest thing we want to do is to share Jesus Christ with people," says Hamilton, sitting in the corner of the Rangers dugout, resplendent in yellowish-green mirrored sunglasses, on his second day in the lineup after being out with a rib injury. His trademark blue flame tattoos adorn his massive biceps. "The whole objective of the ministry is to do that, whether by speaking in public or by doing hospital visits to kids during the holidays, or baseball camps."
Josh and Katie are very much a team, and have come a long way since the darkest days of his addiction in 2005, when she went to court to get a restraining order against him. The two of them, with help from their pastor Jimmy Carroll in Raleigh, designed the system that is now in place to keep Josh sober.
The system's core is a network of people – Josh and Katie use the Christian term "accountability partners" when discussing them – with whom Josh keeps in close contact. Carroll is one. Another is Katie's father, Michael "Big Daddy" Chadwick, a former drug user and seller who became a successful homebuilder in Raleigh and who now runs his own Christian youth ministry. There is also James Robison, the televangelist and founder and president of the Christian relief organization Life Outreach International. And there is Hamilton's agent, Mike Moye, who runs a Christ-centered sports agency.
"They are all Josh's good friends," says Katie. "He seeks advice from them, and godly counsel. Pastor Jimmy has been in our lives for many years and is extremely influential. James Robison is someone Josh calls, if not daily, then close to daily."
Says Josh: "It is very important to my recovery and my walk with Christ that I have people like that around me. They always call or text at the right time."
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staff
Drug addiction treatments include organized inpatient or outpatient treatment programs, counseling and attending self-help groups to help you resist using the addictive drug again. Depending on your level of addiction, you may need steps to help you withdraw from using the drug (detoxification).
Therapies such as counseling, addiction treatment programs and self-help group meetings can help you overcome an addiction and stay sober.
■Treatment programs. Treatment programs generally include educational and therapy sessions focused on getting sober and preventing relapse. This may be accomplished in individual, group or family sessions. These programs are available in various settings from outpatient to residential and inpatient programs.
■Counseling. Individual or family counseling with a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor may help you resist the temptation to resume using addicting drugs. Behavior therapies can help you develop ways to cope with your drug cravings, suggest strategies to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and offer suggestions on how to deal with a relapse if it occurs. Counseling can also involve talking about your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends. Counseling with family members can help them to develop better communication skills and to be more supportive.
■Self-help groups. Many, though not all, of these groups tend to use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, exist for people addicted to drugs, such as cocaine, sedatives and narcotics. The message is that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse and that ongoing maintenance treatment - which may include medications, counseling and attending self-help group meetings - is necessary to prevent a relapse. Your doctor or counselor can help you locate a self-help group. You also can find listings for self-help groups in the phone book, at the library and on the Internet.
Withdrawal therapy
The goal of withdrawal therapy (detoxification) is for you to stop taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible. Detoxification may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, that have less severe side effects. For some people, it may be safe to undergo withdrawal therapy on an outpatient basis; others may require admission to a hospital or a residential treatment center.
Withdrawal from different categories of drugs produces different side effects and requires different approaches.
■Depressants (includes barbiturates, benzodiazepines and others). Minor side effects of withdrawal may include restlessness, anxiety, sleep problems and sweating. More-serious signs and symptoms also could include hallucinations, whole-body tremors, seizures, and increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The most serious stage of withdrawal may include delirium, which is potentially life-threatening. Withdrawal therapy may involve gradually scaling back the amount of the drug, adding another medication to help stabilize the nerve cells during detoxification, or both.
■Stimulants (includes amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, Ritalin and others). Side effects of withdrawal typically include depression, fatigue, anxiety and intense cravings. In some cases, signs and symptoms may include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, paranoia and impaired contact with reality (acute psychosis). Treatment during withdrawal is usually limited to emotional support from your family, friends and doctor. Your doctor may recommend medications to treat paranoid psychosis or depression.
■Opioids (heroin, morphine, codeine, OxyContin and others). Withdrawal side effects of opioids can range from relatively minor to severe. On the minor end, they may include runny nose, sweating, yawning, feeling anxiety and craving the drug. Severe reactions can include sleeplessness, depression, dilated pupils, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, abdominal cramps, tremors, bone and muscle pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors may substitute an artificial opiate, such as methadone, or buprenorphine (Subutex, others) to reduce the craving for heroin during recovery.Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staff
Drug addiction treatments include organized inpatient or outpatient treatment programs, counseling and attending self-help groups to help you resist using the addictive drug again. Depending on your level of addiction, you may need steps to help you withdraw from using the drug (detoxification).
Therapies such as counseling, addiction treatment programs and self-help group meetings can help you overcome an addiction and stay sober.
■Treatment programs. Treatment programs generally include educational and therapy sessions focused on getting sober and preventing relapse. This may be accomplished in individual, group or family sessions. These programs are available in various settings from outpatient to residential and inpatient programs.
■Counseling. Individual or family counseling with a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor may help you resist the temptation to resume using addicting drugs. Behavior therapies can help you develop ways to cope with your drug cravings, suggest strategies to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and offer suggestions on how to deal with a relapse if it occurs. Counseling can also involve talking about your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends. Counseling with family members can help them to develop better communication skills and to be more supportive.
■Self-help groups. Many, though not all, of these groups tend to use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, exist for people addicted to drugs, such as cocaine, sedatives and narcotics. The message is that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse and that ongoing maintenance treatment - which may include medications, counseling and attending self-help group meetings - is necessary to prevent a relapse. Your doctor or counselor can help you locate a self-help group. You also can find listings for self-help groups in the phone book, at the library and on the Internet.
Withdrawal therapy
The goal of withdrawal therapy (detoxification) is for you to stop taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible. Detoxification may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, that have less severe side effects. For some people, it may be safe to undergo withdrawal therapy on an outpatient basis; others may require admission to a hospital or a residential treatment center.
Withdrawal from different categories of drugs produces different side effects and requires different approaches.
■Depressants (includes barbiturates, benzodiazepines and others). Minor side effects of withdrawal may include restlessness, anxiety, sleep problems and sweating. More-serious signs and symptoms also could include hallucinations, whole-body tremors, seizures, and increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The most serious stage of withdrawal may include delirium, which is potentially life-threatening. Withdrawal therapy may involve gradually scaling back the amount of the drug, adding another medication to help stabilize the nerve cells during detoxification, or both.
■Stimulants (includes amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, Ritalin and others). Side effects of withdrawal typically include depression, fatigue, anxiety and intense cravings. In some cases, signs and symptoms may include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, paranoia and impaired contact with reality (acute psychosis). Treatment during withdrawal is usually limited to emotional support from your family, friends and doctor. Your doctor may recommend medications to treat paranoid psychosis or depression.
■Opioids (heroin, morphine, codeine, OxyContin and others). Withdrawal side effects of opioids can range from relatively minor to severe. On the minor end, they may include runny nose, sweating, yawning, feeling anxiety and craving the drug. Severe reactions can include sleeplessness, depression, dilated pupils, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, abdominal cramps, tremors, bone and muscle pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors may substitute an artificial opiate, such as methadone, or buprenorphine (Subutex, others) to reduce the craving for heroin during recovery.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Drug addiction treatments include organized inpatient or outpatient treatment programs, counseling and attending self-help groups to help you resist using the addictive drug again. Depending on your level of addiction, you may need steps to help you withdraw from using the drug (detoxification).
Therapies such as counseling, addiction treatment programs and self-help group meetings can help you overcome an addiction and stay sober.
■Treatment programs. Treatment programs generally include educational and therapy sessions focused on getting sober and preventing relapse. This may be accomplished in individual, group or family sessions. These programs are available in various settings from outpatient to residential and inpatient programs.
■Counseling. Individual or family counseling with a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor may help you resist the temptation to resume using addicting drugs. Behavior therapies can help you develop ways to cope with your drug cravings, suggest strategies to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and offer suggestions on how to deal with a relapse if it occurs. Counseling can also involve talking about your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends. Counseling with family members can help them to develop better communication skills and to be more supportive.
■Self-help groups. Many, though not all, of these groups tend to use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, exist for people addicted to drugs, such as cocaine, sedatives and narcotics. The message is that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse and that ongoing maintenance treatment - which may include medications, counseling and attending self-help group meetings - is necessary to prevent a relapse. Your doctor or counselor can help you locate a self-help group. You also can find listings for self-help groups in the phone book, at the library and on the Internet.
Withdrawal therapy
The goal of withdrawal therapy (detoxification) is for you to stop taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible. Detoxification may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, that have less severe side effects. For some people, it may be safe to undergo withdrawal therapy on an outpatient basis; others may require admission to a hospital or a residential treatment center.
Withdrawal from different categories of drugs produces different side effects and requires different approaches.
■Depressants (includes barbiturates, benzodiazepines and others). Minor side effects of withdrawal may include restlessness, anxiety, sleep problems and sweating. More-serious signs and symptoms also could include hallucinations, whole-body tremors, seizures, and increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The most serious stage of withdrawal may include delirium, which is potentially life-threatening. Withdrawal therapy may involve gradually scaling back the amount of the drug, adding another medication to help stabilize the nerve cells during detoxification, or both.
■Stimulants (includes amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, Ritalin and others). Side effects of withdrawal typically include depression, fatigue, anxiety and intense cravings. In some cases, signs and symptoms may include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, paranoia and impaired contact with reality (acute psychosis). Treatment during withdrawal is usually limited to emotional support from your family, friends and doctor. Your doctor may recommend medications to treat paranoid psychosis or depression.
■Opioids (heroin, morphine, codeine, OxyContin and others). Withdrawal side effects of opioids can range from relatively minor to severe. On the minor end, they may include runny nose, sweating, yawning, feeling anxiety and craving the drug. Severe reactions can include sleeplessness, depression, dilated pupils, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, abdominal cramps, tremors, bone and muscle pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors may substitute an artificial opiate, such as methadone, or buprenorphine (Subutex, others) to reduce the craving for heroin during recovery.Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staff
Drug addiction treatments include organized inpatient or outpatient treatment programs, counseling and attending self-help groups to help you resist using the addictive drug again. Depending on your level of addiction, you may need steps to help you withdraw from using the drug (detoxification).
Therapies such as counseling, addiction treatment programs and self-help group meetings can help you overcome an addiction and stay sober.
■Treatment programs. Treatment programs generally include educational and therapy sessions focused on getting sober and preventing relapse. This may be accomplished in individual, group or family sessions. These programs are available in various settings from outpatient to residential and inpatient programs.
■Counseling. Individual or family counseling with a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor may help you resist the temptation to resume using addicting drugs. Behavior therapies can help you develop ways to cope with your drug cravings, suggest strategies to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and offer suggestions on how to deal with a relapse if it occurs. Counseling can also involve talking about your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends. Counseling with family members can help them to develop better communication skills and to be more supportive.
■Self-help groups. Many, though not all, of these groups tend to use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, exist for people addicted to drugs, such as cocaine, sedatives and narcotics. The message is that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse and that ongoing maintenance treatment - which may include medications, counseling and attending self-help group meetings - is necessary to prevent a relapse. Your doctor or counselor can help you locate a self-help group. You also can find listings for self-help groups in the phone book, at the library and on the Internet.
Withdrawal therapy
The goal of withdrawal therapy (detoxification) is for you to stop taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible. Detoxification may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, that have less severe side effects. For some people, it may be safe to undergo withdrawal therapy on an outpatient basis; others may require admission to a hospital or a residential treatment center.
Withdrawal from different categories of drugs produces different side effects and requires different approaches.
■Depressants (includes barbiturates, benzodiazepines and others). Minor side effects of withdrawal may include restlessness, anxiety, sleep problems and sweating. More-serious signs and symptoms also could include hallucinations, whole-body tremors, seizures, and increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The most serious stage of withdrawal may include delirium, which is potentially life-threatening. Withdrawal therapy may involve gradually scaling back the amount of the drug, adding another medication to help stabilize the nerve cells during detoxification, or both.
■Stimulants (includes amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, Ritalin and others). Side effects of withdrawal typically include depression, fatigue, anxiety and intense cravings. In some cases, signs and symptoms may include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, paranoia and impaired contact with reality (acute psychosis). Treatment during withdrawal is usually limited to emotional support from your family, friends and doctor. Your doctor may recommend medications to treat paranoid psychosis or depression.
■Opioids (heroin, morphine, codeine, OxyContin and others). Withdrawal side effects of opioids can range from relatively minor to severe. On the minor end, they may include runny nose, sweating, yawning, feeling anxiety and craving the drug. Severe reactions can include sleeplessness, depression, dilated pupils, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, abdominal cramps, tremors, bone and muscle pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Doctors may substitute an artificial opiate, such as methadone, or buprenorphine (Subutex, others) to reduce the craving for heroin during recovery.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
12 Year olds using Inhalants
Washington (CNN) -- When their kids turn 12, parents are concerned about peers pressuring them to smoke cigarettes, drink and use drugs, but it turns out 12-year-olds are doing something else: getting high on inhalants.
A new national survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report finds that they're using inhalants more than marijuana, hallucinogens and cocaine combined.
Some young people are sniffing -- inhaling -- a wide variety of products to get high. Inhalants are legal, cheap and everywhere. They can easily be found in most homes: spray paint, shoe polish, glue, air fresheners, hair spray, nail polish, gasoline, aerosols, computer cleaners, even the refrigerant from air conditioners.
"We continue to face the challenge of increasing experimentation and intentional misuse of common household products among the youngest and most vulnerable segments of our population: 12-year-olds," said Harvey Weiss, executive director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition.
"The data are ominous, and their implications are frightening because of the toxic, chemical effects of these legal products on growing minds and bodies."
According to the survey, 6.9 percent of 12-year-olds have "huffed," while 1.4 percent have used pot, 0.7 percent hallucinogens and 0.1 percent cocaine. The report found 5.2 percent smoked cigarettes.
Huffing can be fatal, leading to "sudden sniffing death."
Dr. Jennifer Caudle, director of the family medicine section of the Department of Internal Medicine at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, said it's critical to educate adolescents about the dangers of huffing.
"Young people do not always realize the consequences of their actions. However, it is possible to die from trying inhalants even once. 'Sudden sniffing death' causes the heart to beat rapidly, which can result in cardiac arrest."
Kevin Talley and his wife, Deborah, know that all too well. Their 17-year-old daughter, Amber Ann Suri, died after using inhalants in February 2009.
Talley said the teenager apparently had been inhaling for six months, but by the time they began to suspect something was wrong, it was too late.
"Parents must wake up to the reality that their child might try huffing and the consequences could be devastating," said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "That's why SAMHSA is leading the way to get information out to health care providers, kids, parents and everyone in the community so that our children hear a consistent message about the dangers of huffing."
It's a message 17-year old Ashley Upchurch said she now takes seriously. She said she started huffing when she was 11.
"Inhalants were cheap, legal and an intense high that would also enhance the feeling I would get from other drugs," she said. "These highs nearly destroyed my life." She's been in recovery for two years.
Many experts said 12 is considered a gateway age for inhalant use, but the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would like to slam that gate shut.
It is kicking off National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week, which starts Sunday. The American Osteopathic Association also is joining the national effort.
Published CNN
By Saundra Young, CNN Medical Senior Producer
A new national survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report finds that they're using inhalants more than marijuana, hallucinogens and cocaine combined.
Some young people are sniffing -- inhaling -- a wide variety of products to get high. Inhalants are legal, cheap and everywhere. They can easily be found in most homes: spray paint, shoe polish, glue, air fresheners, hair spray, nail polish, gasoline, aerosols, computer cleaners, even the refrigerant from air conditioners.
"We continue to face the challenge of increasing experimentation and intentional misuse of common household products among the youngest and most vulnerable segments of our population: 12-year-olds," said Harvey Weiss, executive director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition.
"The data are ominous, and their implications are frightening because of the toxic, chemical effects of these legal products on growing minds and bodies."
According to the survey, 6.9 percent of 12-year-olds have "huffed," while 1.4 percent have used pot, 0.7 percent hallucinogens and 0.1 percent cocaine. The report found 5.2 percent smoked cigarettes.
Huffing can be fatal, leading to "sudden sniffing death."
Dr. Jennifer Caudle, director of the family medicine section of the Department of Internal Medicine at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, said it's critical to educate adolescents about the dangers of huffing.
"Young people do not always realize the consequences of their actions. However, it is possible to die from trying inhalants even once. 'Sudden sniffing death' causes the heart to beat rapidly, which can result in cardiac arrest."
Kevin Talley and his wife, Deborah, know that all too well. Their 17-year-old daughter, Amber Ann Suri, died after using inhalants in February 2009.
Talley said the teenager apparently had been inhaling for six months, but by the time they began to suspect something was wrong, it was too late.
"Parents must wake up to the reality that their child might try huffing and the consequences could be devastating," said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "That's why SAMHSA is leading the way to get information out to health care providers, kids, parents and everyone in the community so that our children hear a consistent message about the dangers of huffing."
It's a message 17-year old Ashley Upchurch said she now takes seriously. She said she started huffing when she was 11.
"Inhalants were cheap, legal and an intense high that would also enhance the feeling I would get from other drugs," she said. "These highs nearly destroyed my life." She's been in recovery for two years.
Many experts said 12 is considered a gateway age for inhalant use, but the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would like to slam that gate shut.
It is kicking off National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week, which starts Sunday. The American Osteopathic Association also is joining the national effort.
Published CNN
By Saundra Young, CNN Medical Senior Producer
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