Posts Tagged ‘AiR Assistance in recovery’
Methadone Deaths on Wyoming Reservations
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
On the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, families are mourning the deaths of three girls from methadone overdoses. CNN posted this interesting and terrible article this morning, talking about the tragic deaths of girls ages 13, 14 and 15. The three girls were sleeping over on a night just before starting a new semester of high school- and never made it home. On a reservation that has seen its share of drug and alcohol-related deaths, the loss of three young teenagers really struck home.
The coroner ruled the deaths homicides- but it was not readily apparent where the drugs came from.The FBI got involved almost immediately following the deaths, as they do when felonies occur on reservations. As a result, not much is known about the case itself. Two teenage boys have been arrested in conjunction with the deaths, but no other details are really known at this time. In a culture that acknowledges a distrust of law enforcement, nearly 24 hours passed before authorities were contacted about the deaths.
A difficult situation for the families on this reservation; one can only hope that, through this tragic loss, the people on the reservation can be more aware of the dangers of drug use and abuse. Through this, more help may be available- at least we can hope so. A difficult and tragic situation like this, along with it being brought into the public eye, may actually result in some change.
If you or a loved one are struggling with addiction, please contact us directly at 877-320-0247 or visit us on the web at www.a-i-r.com.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, adolescent addiction, AiR Assistance in recovery, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, drug addiction, drug deaths, mental illness, methadone, methadone overdose, overdose, pain addiction, pain killers, prescription drug abuse, substance abuse, Treatment
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New York State adds stronger drunk driving laws
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
As reported by the Associated Press yesterday (via the New York Times), New York State legislators agreed on tougher drunk driving laws.Basically, the law has created a stiffer penalty for those who drive under the influence with a child in the car, turning the DUI from a misdemeanor to a felony. The agreement will also cause offenders to have a breathalyzer installed in their car to stop offenders from starting a car while under the influence. Although some additional details have to be worked out, officials from both sides said that the any differences would be settled quickly. The law will be named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed when a station wagon full of children driven by a mother accused of drunken driving crashed in Manhattan on Oct. 11.
Her father, Lenny Rosado, had this to say: “Today I consider this a very glorious day and very victorious day for me. For my family, and for my daughter … this is what is going to save lives in her honor.Everyone who takes a drink and gets behind the wheel, is going to think twice about driving whether there are children in the car or outside of the car and taking a life, that my daughter’s name and her death will make a difference.”
On the heels of Diane Schuler, the mother who drove the wrong way down the Taconic State Thruway in New York earlier this year and killed multiple children, this law is a long time coming. We can only hope that those who choose to drink and drive are apprehended and given the help that they need. What we have found interesting in the past is that car insurance companies tend to give more “points,” or items that raise individuals’ insurance rates, to speeding tickets over DUIs. This needs to change. Driving under the influence is one of the most dangerous activities out there- one can only hope people learn to simply call a cab when necessary. Should drinking and driving be something a family member engages in, it’s the family’s responsibility to hold him or her accountable.
For help for yourself or a loved one, please call us at 877-320-0247 or visit us on the web at www.a-i-r.com.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, assistance in recovery, drug addiction, DUI, hazelden, intervention, recovery, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse
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Heroin in the suburbs
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
A great article in the Washington Post was published yesterday talking about heroin hitting home in Centreville, Virginia. The death of a 19-year-old girl, Alicia Lannes, from a heroin overdose, shone a light on a heroin ring centering around teens and young adults, and many were current or former students of the local high school. Many of the students were high performing- athletes, cheerleaders, and AP students were all a part of the ring. 16 of those young people were convicted on drug charges, from 30 days to 26 years in prison.
This article showed a good perspective from the parents’ point of view, of someone who had lost a loved one to the disease of addiciton. Alicia, the girl whose death is the center of the article, had previous problems with drinking and drugs prior to the overdose. And why did this happen in such a seemingly “ideal” community? Edythe London, a neuroscientist and pharmacologist at UCLA who is at the forefront of addiction study: “Heroin is an equal-opportunity substance.” Patrick McConnell, director of Alcohol and Drug Services in Fairfax County, says many families are reluctant to believe their children have a problem. “These parents, a lot of times, will believe their kid before they believe us,” he says. “We can say whatever we want to say, but if no one’s going to listen, there are some fairly severe consequences that can result from that.”
Our CEO, Andrew Wainwright (who grew up in Washington DC) had this to say: “Sadly, this is the America I know and am all too familiar with. This is the America of the families that call us every day. This is the America of my own drug use. This is also the America of my recovery. I was the kids in that story as an active heroin addict on the streets of Washington DC and Baltimore. Now I am the 13 years sober and the CEO of the nation’s leading crisis addiction company. My only job today at AiR is to make sure that someone is there to answer the phone when the next mother calls ““ just like someone was there to answer it when my mother did.”
This morning, a blog posting in the New York Times touched on the response from a parent. Here’s a quote from Lisa Belkin, the article’s author: “As a parent of two teen sons, I am haunted by tales like these; I look at the photos of grieving parents and wonder what flimsy lines separate me from them. When I first had children I was sometimes overwhelmed by everything there was to do. As they get older I am ever more aware of what I can’t do “” the stark fact that, however much we love, and teach and stay vigilant, it might not be enough.”
For help for yourself or your loved one, please visit www.a-i-r.com or call us directly at 877-320-0247;
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, andrew wainwright, heroin, heroin addiction, intervention, Legalization of Drugs, prescription drug abuse, substance abuse, Treatment, virginia drug abuse
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Binge eating encourages behavior
Friday, October 30th, 2009
An article in the New York Daily News today talked about a recent study showing that binge eating on junk food created a need for additional junk food. The study, conducted by Dr. Paul Kenny, a neuroscientist, showed that a diet of fast food (i.e. burgers, fries, and other high-salt, high-sugar foods) can create the phenomenon of craving for additional unhealthy food. This study seems to show, as the article states, the first link that junk food and drugs create similar reactions in brain chemistry. “This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neuro-biological foundations,” Paul Johnson, Kenny’s colleague, told the Daily Telegraph. An interesting study, and one we can hope will work towards improving brain work around addiction and overeating collectively.
Another interesting piece out of New York today; a Long Island town is requiring parents of high-school seniors to attend an educational seminar around the dangers and warning signs of heroin abuse. The 90 minute meeting in Smithtown provides a number of different ideas around how to prevent and recognize heroin use and abuse. As a mandatory meeting for parents of seniors, one can only hope the school district will replicate the program for younger students as well. We can only hope other communities will learn from this- education around addiction and abuse is one of the few was towards getting people the help that they need. After all, in the words of Robert Rossi, president of the Smithtown school board: “The job of a school district is not just to educate kids, it’s to educate parents.”
For help for yourself or someone you love, contact us directly at 877-320-0247 or visit www.a-i-r.com.
Tags: addiction intervention, addictive eating, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, binge eating, DUI, eating disorder, eating disorders, overeating
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Addiction in the news
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
A few of newsworthy items came across our desks over the last couple of weeks. First and foremost, Andre Agassi, a former professional tennis player ranked number one in the world for a few years, admitted in his new autobiography “Open” that during 1997, one of his worst professional seasons, he was using crystal meth. A shocking revelation, as Agassi did test positive for drugs during that season, but was cleared based on his denial and “accidental dosage.” Rick Reilly of ESPN wrote an interesting piece about this revelation, talking specifically about how unhappy Agassi had been until that point, eventually leading him into drugs. He did pull himself out of the addiction- and more about that will be revealed- in 1998, and continued to have one of the most successful careers in professional tennis. As Reilly puts it, “They call Agassi the greatest returner in history. They aren’t kidding.”
In other news, Sioux Falls, SD recently put together a program with local businesses to bring recovery and education around addiction into the workplace. The group behind the initiative, Face It! Sioux Falls, is an advocacy group hoping to remove barriers to recovery. A group of 13 local businesses have agreed to do work with Face It. “We commend these employers for showing remarkable leadership in their commitment to actively encourage and support the journey of recovery for their employees and their families,” said Matt Walz, CEO of Face It! Sioux Falls. This is a huge step in the right direction from a community organization standpoint, putting recovery resources directly in the hands of people who need it.
In some local news, a man in Proctor, MN, was recently arrested for a DWI- at the helm of a motorized La-Z-Boy. The man arrested blew a 0.29, nearly FOUR TIMES the legal limit in Minnesota. The man proceeded to crash his La-Z-Boy into a Dodge Intrepid parked outside. The officers on the scene reported that the man’s driver’s license had been revoked because of a previous drunken-driving conviction. We can only hope he is getting the help that he needs.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call us 24/7 at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction genes, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcoholism, andre agassi, Face It! Sioux Falls, lawnchair DUI, methamphetam, methamphetamine, pain addiction, recovery assistance, substance abuse
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Worldwide Heroin Problems Growing
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Looks like CNN has been reading our blog! A post of theirs last night talked about treating heroin addicts with heroin, something we wrote about almost a month ago. Glad to see a large media source picking up on the news, and making it a topic of discussion.
A headlining article on the CNN website today spoke about the United Nations’ concerns with the ever-growing Afghan heroin trade. According to the article, Afghan opium is responsible for over 100,000 deaths across the globe per year, which is easily more than any other drug. The heroin trade also kills, as stated by UN figures, nearly five times as many people in NATO countries than total casualties of war in the eight-year Afghan conflict. The Taliban forces have been using a local “heroin tax” to raise money for their endeavors, and 15 million or so heroin addicts around the world are a sad part of this $65 billion trade.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, has said the solution to this problem is very clear. “We need a much greater effort and commitment by governments to prevent drug addiction, to take care of drug addicts … to reduce demand.” Basically, when we provide treatment to heroin addicts, and the treatment is successful, we’re going to be able to decrease demand. However, Ethan Nadelmann, founding executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, had this to say about the UN study: “It’s very good at describing a problem. But it truly is devoid of any kind of pragmatic solution, and it essentially suggests that the answer is to keep doing more of what’s failed us in the past.”
Both are valid points- we need an overhaul of drug policy both in our country and abroad. The best way to do this is innovative treatment options and improving the quality of care that we, in the treatment field, provide. With better rates of success, and better treatment available, we’ll be able to gradually decrease demand- and if not decrease demand, at least provide better solutions to the people who are still struggling. Our Recovery Assistance Program is exactly that. Designed to help families and addicts better manage their early recovery, we’ve provided a step in the right direction to help improve treatment outcomes. We will continue to move forward in providing more comprehensive solutions for families and addicts; our best hope is providing the best help.
In other news, please be sure to check out our addiction education series, put on in conjunction with Hazelden. Find out more details here or call us directly at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, heroin, heroin addiction, mental health, mental illness, recovery assistance, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse, Treatment
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The Genetic Link to Addiction
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
An article on CNNMoney.com today spoke about the genetic link to addiction. Although widely acknowledged throughout the addiction treatment community, it’s nice to see additional research showing the link between addiction and genetics. According to Dr. David Goldman, the director of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said that according to the massive study they completed of addiction in twins, addiction ranks “among the most heritable of mental illnesses.”
Dr. Goldman also said that social cues and environment obviously contribute to addiction, a valid point. Someone with the “alcoholic gene” who is never exposed to alcohol may never lead themselves down a destructive path. After all, genetics load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.
“What’s interesting,” Goldman says, “is that the more addictive the substance, the stronger the role of heredity in causing an addiction to it.” Therefore, if someone is using crack cocaine or opiates and has the genetic predisposition towards addiction, the greater the chance of getting hooked. Other environmental things, such as abuse or other instances of trauma, can severely influence the nature of addiction.
Dr. David Oslin, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania, had this to say about the study, “It reinforces for the patients that they are not just a bad person or lack will power. It resonates with the notion that their brain may work a little differently than other people’s and that this really is an illness they can treat like any other.”
As a family member or a loved one, be sure to be aware of the genetic triggers in your family- if a parent struggles with alcoholism, be sure to be aware of your genetic history and approach your drinking carefully. After all, there’s only so much one can do after addiction has taken hold.
Be sure to check out our new Wikipedia page, located here.
For any questions or help with yourself or a loved one, call us directly at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction genes, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, cnn, genetics, gentetics of addiction, intervention, recovery, recovery assistance, substance abuse
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Recovery Assistance, and why it works
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
As was just announced yesterday, we at Assistance in Recovery recently celebrated our 500th Recovery Assistance Program (or RAP) participant. This is a huge step forward in the recovery world; after 60-plus years of people seeking treatment for alcohol and drug addiction, we’ve finally seen a change in how addiction in the long term is being managed. When people first started attending residential treatment centers, they generally would enter a 28 or 30 day program, followed by either outpatient or simply 12-step groups. Nowadays, with the expanding of extended care and sober living homes, we’ve been able to drastically improve the levels of care for clients in need of long term treatment.
But what happens when a client gets out of the safe haven of a treatment center? Besides themselves, and potentially their 12-step groups, there has been very little accountability. We at AiR have developed an amazing solution to this through our Recovery Assistance Program. With clients and families getting an individual case manager who can help the recovering person stay on track, it takes away the need for a family to be the “sober police.” A client can communicate directly with their case manager, ideally providing a safe person for both the family and the recovering individual to speak with when troubles arise. With an intensive collateral contact, featuring connections and support with therapists, psychiatrists, outpatient services, sober living homes and 12 step sponsors, as well as toxicology screenings, we are able to provide a recovering person with that level of accountability, and success, that they wouldn’t get just returning home.
Our goal is to improve treatment outcomes; with the introduction of Recovery Assistance, we’ve been able to see rates of recovery around 84%…a truly amazing figure. We can help guide families through that treacherous time of trying to find resources for their loved one, and help the recovering individual get through the minefield that is early recovery. 500 people have come through our doors so far; with millions of other addicts out there, we can only hope for the number to increase, and seeing more and more people achieve long-term recovery.
For questions about our Recovery Assistance Program, or any of our additional services (including intervention), please call us directly at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, assistance in recovery, intervention, pain addiction, prescription drug abuse, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse, Treatment
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Overdose News
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
According to an article posted yesterday night on USA Today, prescription drugs and other pills are now the leading cause of overdosing, ahead of things like heroin and cocaine. According to the Center For Disease Control, prescription pills now account for the majority of the over 26,000 fatal overdoses each year. In previous years, up through the 1990s, the majority of overdoses were brought on by illicit substances like heroin. However, with the upswing in prescriptions and the lack of knowledge surrounding the abuse of these pills, the dangers have continued to increase and, as a result, created a dangerous epidemic of abuse and addiction.
Leonard Paulozzi, a researcher at the Center for Disease Control, said that the numbers show that overdoses in rural areas have now come to equal those in cities, which is lead, according to Paulozzi, by the availability of prescription pain killers and opioids. With chronic pain become a new term, the prescriptions of opioid pain killers have started to increase, and therefore leading to additional overdose danger. And with a rise in stress and depression, the dangers of addictive behaviors are brought to the forefront.
“At the high doses used by drug abusers, the margin of safety is small,” Paulozzi said. “Combining such drugs on your own or using them with alcohol increase the risk.” The number of overdose deaths due to prescription drugs, like morphine or codeine, has more than tripled since 1999, according the new CDC figures. “The biggest and fastest-growing part of America’s drug problem is prescription drug abuse,” says Robert DuPont, former White House drug czar and former director of NIDA.
We’ve been speaking out on the dangers of prescription drugs for years, and will continue to do so until the appropriate levels of education and awareness of the dangers are reached. Here’s a clip of our CEO, Andrew Wainwright, on CNN’s American Morning talking about the dangers of prescription drugs.
For assistance with prescription drug problems, or if a loved one is struggling with addiction, please visit our main site or call us directly at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, andrew wainwright, chemical dependency, cnn, cnn american morning, intervention, overdose, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug overdose, recovery assistance, substance abuse, Treatment, vicodin addiction
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Heroin for Heroin Addicts?
Monday, September 28th, 2009
An interesting post in Time Magazine today touched on a new British trial, over the last four years, of providing free daily heroin injections as a method to wean them off the drugs. Since the results of the trial were positive (i.e. lower street drug use, lower crime rate among participates, etc.), officials are talking about making this a permanent addition of state-funded heroin clinics for the drug addicts in the U.K.
A quote from John Strang, one of the researchers with the National Addiction Centre (who helped lead the project): “It’s a less than perfect treatment, but for entrenched addicts, it gives them the first steps toward getting their life together. Some make a virtually complete recovery, but others, we get them from a bad place to a less bad place.” According to the research, those treated with heroin had better results than those treated with methadone. However, Paul Hayes, head of the National Treatment Agency, stressed in the Guardian this month that the services would be available to only a “very small proportion” of the nearly 200,000 heroin addicts in treatment.
So, government, if this works so well, why is it only available to a very small population? Shouldn’t this be the course of treatment for everyone? Obviously not. By giving drug addicts more drugs, aren’t we simply condoning and encouraging their habit? Why not fund a comprehensive, state-funded detoxification program followed by residential treatment? And harm reduction, in the long run is, in the words of our CEO Andrew Wainwright, simply a “band-aid on a bullet wound.” With addiction being a disease, and a malady of the physical, social and spiritual, simply medicating the addict’s “need” for the drug will not create a long term solution. We need to be moving people into comprehensive treatment, not helping them sustain their addiction.
For more information on heroin addiction and getting your loved one help, please call us at 877-320-0247.
Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, air, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcoholism, andrew wainwright, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, drugs, heroin, heroin addiction, intervention, legal heroin, Legalization of Drugs, mental health, substance abuse, Treatment
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