Posts Tagged ‘cnn american morning’

Watch AiR's Andrew Wainwright's interview on CNN

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

16 states across the nation, more people die from drug-related incidents than die in traffic accidents. AiR’s founder and CEO, Andrew Wainwright discussing why drug deaths might be on the rise ““ the CDC points to the increase in abuse of prescription medication.

Aired October 1, 2009 – 07:00 ET

CNN AMERICAN MORNING HOST JOHN ROBERTS: Some shocking new statistics coming your way from the Centers for Disease Control. In 16 states across the nation, more people die from drug-related incidents than die in traffic accidents. So what could be done about it? We’ll find out. 38 and a half minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Startling new statistics as we said from the Centers for Disease Control. In 16 states and counting, drugs now kill more people than car accidents. While traffic accidents remain the biggest injury- related cause of death across the country, drug overdoses are on the rise. Why is this happening?

Andrew Wainwright is the president and CEO of Assistance in Recovery Incorporated and kicked his own addiction a decade ago. He joins us from Minneapolis this morning.

So Andrew, according to the Centers for Disease Control, drug- related deaths in the United States have doubled from the late 1990s to 2006. Why the rise?

ANDREW WAINWRIGHT, PRESIDENT & CEO, ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERY, INC.: Well, I think two important factors, John. One, in the mid 1990s, a mandate came down from Jaco and others saying we were under prescribing for pain medically, across the board. And we needed to write more prescriptions for pain. So that began and docs began to do that. We saw a rise in the writing of prescriptions.

At the same time, we saw the big pharmaceutical companies begin the kickoff primarily in January of 1996. (INAUDIBLE) Pharma kicked off OxyContin. So we saw the rise of the selling of pharmaceutical drugs, heavy narcotics both to the consumers and to the docs. So I think the combination of those two factors – in the mid ’90s, exactly where we are, the swing of the pendulum where we have unintended overdoses. And this is interesting, in hospital and on the street today.

ROBERTS: Is it just because of the availability of drugs? Or is it also a public perception issue? I ask you that because Margaret Warner, an epidemiologist for the Centers of Disease Control talked about this yesterday. And here’s what she said. She said, “People see a car accident as something that might happen to them. But as far as drug overdoses go,” she says, “maybe they see it as something that’s not going to happen to them.”

You know, you get in a car. You know you’re going out there in the flow of traffic. You have a license, you have insurance. You know that it’s possible that you could get into a car accident. When taking drugs, do people say, I might overdose? I better be careful here or better still, I’m not going to do it at all?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, I think we also have, let’s say 40 good years of education without car accidents. If you remember back there was a time when nobody wore seat belts. And then we saw the rise of air bags and all kinds of other safety insurance to make sure that we got safer. We’re raised with years of commercials and high school showings of drunk driving and all those things what happens to people.

I don’t know if we’ve seen that piece of education for the general public around drug addiction from prescription drugs. We certainly see it in the DARE program and others for narcotics that you find in the street but prescription drugs, they sort of see it safe. They come from your doctor. They’re prescribed. They come in a clean bottle. They’re sold to you from a clean environment. You take them home to your house where you take them. And it doesn’t seem there’s a lot of danger there.

It’s very far removed from what you see in the evening news, the drug wars in Mexico. It doesn’t seem that it’s the same thing as the narcotics that I’m taking at my house. So it shouldn’t have the same result. And so the study comes out like the ones that we’re seeing from the CDC and we’re really surprised that people, us, our kids, our friends and neighbors are overdosing. We can’t really put the two together.

So I think we’re talking about a missing educational component that this is serious narcotics that’s being probably today, over prescribed or made overly readily available or the ones that we have in our homes aren’t being destroyed quickly enough as they are being diverted to the street. All of the things I think we’re beginning to get educated about.

So I think we should be happy on some level that A, the CDC did the study; B, CNN wants to talk about it; and C, it’s going out to America saying this is a real problem and we need to get more education and understand what’s going on so that we can stop it.

ROBERTS: Well, we here at CNN always want to talk about the important topics. You know, Centers for Disease Control in terms of this idea for prescribing, its report said that one in five adults now is prescribed an opiate every year. And you talk about education, there is one new area where we seem to be getting it as a nation, and that is the danger of our children getting a hold of prescription drugs that were prescribed for adults. Let’s take a look at this PSA, I think, that many are familiar with now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yellow one – this is for my postpartum depression. This one, sciatica – whatever that is. I got these after my hysterectomy – or my prostatectomy – some “ectomy.”

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And are PSAs like that helping to illuminate the problem, at least, of young people getting drugs out of their parents’ medicine cabinet?

WAINWRIGHT: I can only say I hope so. But I think that education is key at all areas of – of going to war against, you know, what’s becoming an epidemic for us culturally. I think it’s going to be a lot of education, needs to be a lot of time, because this has become, really, a cultural issue. I think it’s -

Well, you can look at pharm parties for high school kids. I think it’s culturally part of what we do is we have heavy narcotics in our home. We’re not loathe to share them with our friends and family if they are in pain. It’s sort of, you know, we carry these in our purse, we carry them on the plane, it’s part of who we are culturally. I think a big piece of that needs to change, and so I think, yes, the PSA is going to help. It’s going to take a lot of them, and I think it’s going to take a lot more of you and I and folks like us talking about this, making it important for everybody.

ROBERTS: All right. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that the (ph) decline of road fatalities, which is one reason why drug deaths in some states have surpassed traffic fatalities is because of advances that were made in reducing traffic fatalities, but the safety administration says that it’s – it’s one of the great public health triumphs over the last few decades, to lower the number of deaths on the roadways. What can be done to make similar strides in drug abuse?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, you’re talking – you know, I’m a “change the world” guy, so I would – you know, I think it’s great that we lowered it 1 percent or 2 percent or whatever it was for traffic fatalities. You know, I’m all for making big changes. So I think that the pendulum began to swing in one direction in 1995 when we had these two major incidents happen around overprescribing of heavy narcotics. I think what – the CD (ph) study is great because it gets us talking about it, so we’re hoping that the pendulum is going to swing as far as this can go in this direction and we’re going to push it back the other way.

So let’s pick a mean, let’s say 1996, 1997, 1998 – that somewhere in there we’re going to say that’s the gold mean where we’re prescribing enough to manage and treat the pain that America is presenting with but we’re not overprescribing and allowing drugs to be (INAUDIBLE) in the street. And then we’re going to culturally change how we understand and think about the use of these kinds of prescribed drugs.

ROBERTS: Andrew Wainwright – a “change the world” kind of guy. You managed to change your world. You changed many other people’s. See if we can keep going from here. Thanks for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.

WAINWRIGHT: Thanks, John.

ROBERTS: Forty-seven and a half minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Learn more about:

Drug Addiction
Alcoholism
Eating Disorders
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Tags: alcoholism, andrew wainwr, cnn american morning, drinking and driving, drug addiction, drug deaths
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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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AiR on CNN: Debates Over Legalization of All Drugs

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

AiR’s Andrew Wainwright on CNN’s American Morning

Aired May 15, 2009 – 06:00 ET

ROBERTS: The nation’s new drug czar is raising eyebrows for promising to stop using the phrase “war on drugs” because it could be misleading. He says he favors treatment and prevention over locking up drug users.

Joining me now to talk about this and the debate over legalizing drugs is Jeff Miron. He’s an economist at Harvard University who supports legalization. And Andrew Wainwright who works to help addicts through his company, Assistance in Recovery. He’s a former addict, and he is against legalization.

So, the new drug czar, in an interview with “The Wall Street Journal” said the following, gentleman: “Regardless of how you try to explain to people that it’s a war on drugs or a war on a product, people see a war as a war on them, a war on individuals. And we’re not at war with people in this country.”

Jeff Miron, he’s not advocating legalization. In fact, he opposes it. But he wants a greater focus on treatment and prevention rather than incarceration. His own stepson suffered from addiction.

Are his ideas the right ones or the wrong ones?

JEFF MIRON, DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, HARVARD: Well, I think they’re a huge step in the right direction. I completely agree with him that the metaphor “war on drugs” is incredibly counterproductive and sends exactly the wrong signal. We shouldn’t have a policy which targets people within our own society and punishes them for something that they’re doing which may not be harming others.

I wish it would go farther and support legalization. And I think there’s another option which is both legalize and not spend money on treatments but I still think that the stance he’s taking will at least open debate and give us a better tone to the overall policy.

ROBERTS: Andrew Wainwright as we mentioned you had problems with drugs. You were in treatment. In fact, you were pushed into treatment after an intervention. If drugs were legal as Jeff Miron has advocated, would you have ever sought that treatment?

ANDREW WAINWRIGHT, PRESIDENT & CEO, ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERY, INC.: I think it’s a — I think legalization is a tough road, a tough pitch. I think when folks are that unstable and making that difficult decision, it’s hard for them to ask to advocate on their behalf.

So, I’m not a proponent of legalization. I’m a proponent of treatment. And I’m excited with the new drug czar and the road we’re taking here. I think the opportunity for more treatment and a new understanding about addiction is, I think, our best bet moving forward.

ROBERTS: Back in the 1990s, Barry McCaffrey who was the drug czar, talked, you know, very much the same sort of talk that Kerlikowske is talking about, ending the war on drugs. He said that addiction had to be treated more like a disease like cancer. He increased funding for treatment and education.

In fact, take a look at the figures here. Funding for treatment went up 35 percent. Education and prevention went up 52 percent. Yet at the same time, two million more people became drug users during that time.

Andrew, it doesn’t sound like it worked very well.

WAINWRIGHT: Well, I think we’re looking at a shorter period of time to judge long-term effects. And we have been battling, you know, what we call the “war on drugs” for 40 years. We had surge in drug use in the late ’80s and the early ’90s. And some of the studies are coming out just, you know, only five years later.

I’ve seen a real big rise in treatment availability, and the cost of treatment to make it available to larger numbers of people in the late ’90s and the beginning of this century. So, I think that the numbers in recovery are going up. I think the advocacy and the understanding of recovery is going up. I think the gamut and the opportunities we have to treat this disease, that’s our leading proponent.

ROBERTS: Jeff, Kerlikowske wants to take a look at programs, the one called High Point North California. It’s one of the — they take the most violent offenders who are dealing drugs and they put them in jail. But the other ones, they bring them together in a community meeting setting with family and friends, and they say, look, we’ve got all this evidence on you. We could put you in jail, but we won’t put you in jail if you promise to reform your ways. Apparently, in High Point it’s been very successful.

Is that something you think that could translate across the country?

MIRON: I think that there are some merits in those sorts of program. Partially, they’re not a strict criminal justice approach. Therefore, they don’t generate the sort of violence that a strict incarceration or arrest approach does.

At the same time, I think those are little bit of false hope, because part of what happens in those situations is they push the drug activity to some other part of the city or some other part of the area. More generally on treatment, I think we have to avoid assuming that that’s a cure. It’s absolutely right the treatment is very effective for lots of people.

But thinking that we can avoid having to deal with the negatives of drugs by providing treatment is a false hope. We have to accept that there will be a whole range of use patterns whether it’s legal or illegal. For example, as we’ve seen with alcohol.

ROBERTS: Why don’t you talk to us about that, Andrew? What did treatment do for you?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, I think today — I think that Jeff is right. We need a multi-tier approach. You know, societally — you know, some of that is criminal justice, some of that is prevention and some of that is treatment.

Today, treatment is the only real route. When folks are already addicted, which a generous part or portion of this population 22 million Americans are, it’s the only real answer. We’ve proven that putting them in jail and filling up for a (INAUDIBLE) folks isn’t the answer. So in lieu of another great solution, which we’re hoping are coming –

ROBERTS: Well, I mean — well, talk from personal experience. Did treatment save you?

WAINWRIGHT: It did. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Went to treatment from there to Minnesota in 1995, and so for 12 years as a singular product of the treatment system. Without that, I don’t know what could have happened.

ROBERTS: All right. Andrew Wainwright, Jeff Miron, it’s good to check in with you this morning. Obviously, we’ll be talking a lot more about this in the coming weeks and months.

Thanks very much.

Tags: air, andrew wainwright, assistance in recovery, cnn american morning, Legalization of Drugs
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