Posts Tagged ‘Legalization of Drugs’

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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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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Legalization?

Friday, September 18th, 2009

As we’ve talked about before on the blog, some of the most dangerous substances of abuse are already legal- pain medication, alcohol and cigarettes are in the mainstream and on the rise. As a matter of fact, a recent study in the British medical journal Lancet stated that one in 25 deaths around the world is now alcohol-related- making alcohol just as dangerous as tobacco was ten years ago. These numbers are dangerous, and that’s talking about LEGAL substances!

Now what about marijuana? There has been a lot of controversy lately about drug policy, and it’s been all over the news. Colorado has decriminalized marijuana possessionof under an ounce to now a petty crime, or a ticketable offense. In California and other states, marijuana has been deemed a valuable medical resource, and now with Mexico decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of even harder drugs (such as cocaine and heroin), it seems as though it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a huge issue in the US. As we know, there has already been talk about California legalizing marijuana and taxing it to try and rescue themselves from a crippling budget deficit (although that idea has been shot down as of now).

We at AiR are from the stance that keeping drugs illegal prevents widespread abuse- easier access will create more problems, not less. However, as it’s obvious to us, the current U.S. structure of the “War on Drugs” isn’t working either. Our CEO, Andrew Wainwright, talked about this on CNN a few months ago. We need complete policy reform on this subject- basically, without an overhaul, we’ll be seeing an unnecessary amount of drug addicts go to prison and not get the help that they need, creating a cycle of addiction and imprisonment- none of which is good for our society as a whole. With reforms, we can create a route that pushes drug addicts into treatment and drug pushers into jail- the way the war should be fought. The addicts on the street, currently penned up in prisons and NOT getting help, aren’t the real problem here. By providing a viable solution for those addicts, we can help the drug market get smaller.

For more information about this topic, or for help for you or a loved one, please contact us at 877-320-0247.

Tags: addiction, andrew wainwright, assistance in recovery, california drug policy, chemical dependency, intervention, Legalization of Drugs, marijuana, marijuana legalization, pain addiction, pain killers, substance abuse
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The Problem with Pills

Friday, September 11th, 2009

After reading a couple of articles, one from the New York Daily News focusing on prescription sleep medication and another from Salon Magazine talking about the new book “This is Your Country on Drugs,” it was obvious that we needed to address the growing pill problem in America. We’ve talked before about pain killer addiction on the blog, especially addressing Michael Jackson and DJ AM’s recent passings. What we haven’t addressed is the problem in households across the country- that some of the most dangerous drugs in our world are kept in our medicine cabinets, accessible by even the most innocent children. This is a particularly hard problem to combat, as most of the drugs are prescribed legally.

Recently, a survey of 1,300 school nurses participated in a survey conducted by the National Association of School Nurses showed that an amazing 78 percent cited prescription drug abuse as a growing problem. According to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, more than 2.1 MILLION teens abused prescription drugs in the past year- a startling figure. When we look at access to these drugs, it seems that it’s becoming easier for our kids to get their hands on these pills. We need to do something about it- be sure to talk to kids about the dangers of these pills- they can be deadly on even their first use. And just because they’ve been legally prescribed, it doesn’t make them any less dangerous OR addictive. As we just saw with DJ AM, even being prescribed pain medication for a reason can lead to addiction, and even death.

If you or your family member is struggling with a pill addiction, be sure to contact us today at 877-320-0247. We will be there to walk you through the process of getting help. For more information on prescription drug addiction, be sure to click on our main site and call us for additional information. We’re here to help.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, assistance in recovery, hazelden, intervention, Legalization of Drugs, michael jackson drug abuse, prescription pill addiction, 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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