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The colder parts of the country have always been plagued by alcoholism and addiction. Long winters and very little work is the perfect recipe for heavy drinking. In many parts of America there is no authority present to control drunk driving, which means that in a place like Alaska a person can drink for many years without seeing many consequences, if any, from the law. More deaths are caused by addiction in Alaska than any other one thing. In fact, "nine of the 10 leading causes of death in Alaska - all but Alzheimer's disease - include alcohol, tobacco or other drug addiction as an underlying cause", the Juneau Empire reported March 15.
David Driscoll of the University of Alaska Anchorage and colleagues examined seven underlying causes of death in communities in the north polar region of the globe. They determined that many deaths in Alaska are preventable with the aid of community programs and education about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Smoking is a leading cause of many health problems including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Alcohol use, aside from being highly addictive, can contribute to serious liver and pancreas problems, as well as, influence the onset of diabetes. There are many cases of people committing suicide while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Cold, dark and depressing climates in conjunction with drugs and alcohol can be a recipe for disaster - many people simply lose the will to continue living.
Unfortunately, places like Alaska, Montana, and northern Maine have very limited education due to the lack of funding. It is very difficult getting teachers out to the middle of nowhere to teach a few kids. Many kids are home schooled and are influenced heavily by the actions of their parents. If a child is around a parent all the time who happens to have a drinking problem, the child will without a doubt adopt some of that parent's behavior. Without community outreach programs and better schools in rural areas it is unlikely this pattern of addiction related death will change.
The Michael Jackson story moves forward as Dr. Conrad Murray prepares to surrender himself to authorities. Murray flew to Los Angeles from Houston, Texas last weekend, preparing to be charged with the death of the pop icon because of an anesthetic he administered to Jackson last June. Michael Jackson's death caused by an overdose of propofol, a strong pain medication generally only used in a hospital environment; the drug is a white liquid and has amnesic effects, it has been dubbed by medical professionals "milk of amnesia". Propofol was mixed with two benzodiazepines (sedatives) on the night that Jackson died; the combination was nothing new for Jackson who had been abusing medications for years. The death was ruled a homicide by the coroner's office, Dr. Murray is likely to be charged with involuntary manslaughter which can carry a sentence of four years maximum.
Dr Murray, a cardiologist, has always insisted that he gave the singer nothing that should have killed him. However, Propofol is a drug given before surgery, only to be administered in hospital settings by a professional anesthetist. There is no question whether or not Murray is culpable, rather, to what degree. Michael had been battling his addictions for years as well as severe anorexia, refusing treatment time and time again. Murray is just one doctor in a long list who have prescribed and administered unnecessary drugs to Jackson; the history here is extensive and it seems that more than just Murray are culpable. Addiction is ultimately what caused Jackson's death; he hired the physicians that provided his fix. Hopefully, if Murray is charged with manslaughter it will have an effect on other doctors and curb needless prescriptions merely to make a dollar. Thousands of people overdose from prescription medications, medicines that were not warranted by the patient.
"Prosecutors will have to show the doctor deviated from accepted medical norms when he administered propofol in a non-medical setting while Jackson already had other sedatives in his system. Ed Chernoff, Murray's lead lawyer, said: "I haven't received any phone call from anybody asking for the doctor to surrender. If we get the call, we'll be happy to"," reports the Telegraph.
2009 was a tragic year for many celebrities suffering from prescription drug addiction, echoing a much larger problem that exists in the world today. More people are addicted to prescription drugs than anything else and more people will certainly lose their lives as a result of these drugs. In the last two years prescription drugs have taken the lives of Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, and just last week we learned prescription drugs may have played a role in the death of Brittany Murphy. The cocktails of legal prescribed medications found near each late star at the time of their death was unbelievable; at what point are the prescribing doctors going to realize that sooner or later an overdose or drug related death will take place. In the last 45 years there have been a number of celebrity prescription drug related deaths:
Marilyn Monroe
Date: August 5, 1962
Drugs: Pentobarbital (AKA Nembutal) and chloral hydrate (sleeping pills)
Elvis Presley
Date: August 16, 1977
Drugs: As many as 14 different drugs, including codeine (painkiller) and methaqualone, AKA Quaaludes (sedative)
Keith Moon
Date: September 7, 1978
Drug: Clomethiazole, AKA Heminevrin (sedative)
Margaux Hemingway
Date: July 1, 1996
Drug: Phenobarbital (anti-seizure sedative)
Dana Plato
Date: May 8, 1999
Drugs: Carisoprodol, AKA Soma (muscle relaxant), and Vicodin (painkiller)
Chris Penn
Date: January 24, 2006
Drugs: Promethazine (antihistamine) and codeine (painkiller)
Gerald Levert
Date: November 10, 2006
Drugs: Six drugs: painkillers Vicodin, Percocet and Dextropropoxyphene (AKA Darvocet), sedative/anxiety medication alprazolam (AKA Xanax) and two non-prescription antihistamines
Anna Nicole Smith
Date: February 8, 2007
Drugs: Eleven drugs, including chloral hydrate (sleep aid) and several sedatives/muscle relaxants: clonazepam (AKA Klonopin), lorazepam (AKA Ativan), oxazepam (AKA Serax) and diazepam (AKA Valium)
Pimp C
Date: December 4, 2007
Drugs: Promethazine (antihistamine) and codeine (painkiller)
Fortunately, there are many stars that do seek help and go into treatment with the hope of freeing themselves from their addiction. Just last week Aerosmith's Steven Tyler checked into drug treatment for his prescription drug problem. With many musicians, like Steven Tyler and Michael Jackson, repeated injuries over the years have contributed to dependence on pain medication. Treatment is always available for those who find themselves dependent and there are many alternative pain management programs.
New drugs that are harmful to your health are being created everyday. Drugs that are new and have not yet been tested by the government are falling into the hands of people who abuse them; this has caused many people a lot of concern, just because they are legal doesn't make them safe. The ease in which these drugs can be acquired is nothing short than alarming - just a few mouse clicks away. Gamma Butyrolactone or GBL , 'coma in a bottle', is one of the drugs in question that has authorities concerned. GBL is a paint stripper and rust remover and is harmless if used for those tasks, GBL is odorless and has no taste when it is diluted; people who have used the drug have reported that the effects are similar to ecstasy. Drugs like GBL leave very little room for error, if the dosage is not accurately measured then an overdose causing a comma or death will ensue. "'It's as if every muscle in the body is trying to work against each other,' said a young woman who has experienced and witnessed the side-effects of GBL", the Daily Mail reports.
Mephedrone is another drug that can be easily acquired that produces similar effects to methamphetamines and ecstasy. 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), according to Darlington Drug and Alcohol Action Team it can cause: nose bleeds, nose burns, hallucinations, blood circulation problems, rashes, anxiety, paranoia fits, and delusions. BBC News reported that "one person who used the drug regularly for 18 months had to be admitted to a psychiatric unit after he started experiencing hallucinations, agitation, excitability and mania. Due to the short history of the use of Mephedrone nothing is known about long‐term effects".
New designer drugs like these are especially dangerous and already have caused numerous deaths. We can only assume that the longer drugs like these can be sold legally and attained easily more deaths will occur. Steps are being taken in several countries to make drugs like these illegal. We can only hope that this happens with haste in our country. Legal does not mean safe!
The medical examiner came back with the report on Adam Goldstein's, DJ AM, death yesterday. The findings were in a way hard to believe, the lethal cocktail of drugs that were found in Goldstein's system were staggering. Despite initially appearing to be a suicide, DJ AM's death was ruled an accidental drug overdose. According to the Associated Press, "the toxicology report showed the 36-year-old had in his system cocaine, OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Vicodin, anti-anxiety drugs Xanax and Ativan, Klonopin which also controls anger, Benadryl, and Levamisole, a drug apparently used to cut cocaine". The actual dosage of each drug was not released, we can assume it was a lot of everything; his death was caused by what the medical examiner called, acute intoxication, due to the combined effects of the drugs. DJ AM had been struggling with his addiction for quite some time; he had, for a time, managed to stay sober until he recently relapsed just before his death. He had made the commitment to his recovery sponsor and his manager to go back into treatment when his life was cut short.
On Aug. 28 he was found in his apartment in New York City after a friend called 911. "Paramedics had to break down the door before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweat pants, in his bed around 5:20 p.m. Six pills were found in his stomach and a pill in his throat when he was found dead in his apartment. The pill in his throat appeared to be OxyContin. A crack pipe and prescription pill bottles were discovered there", stated the AP. DJ Am had been burned severely in an airplane crash last September in South Carolina that killed four people. Goldstein had to get skin graft surgery, which is very painful, but, he went back to performing about a month later. Perhaps, DJ AM suffered from chronic pain and that is why he had so many prescriptions for narcotics? It has been clear for a very long time that benzodiazepines and opiates can be a very lethal combination. On top of that, mixing those drugs can put someone in a dream like state where your memory is not accurate; in turn, one can take more pills without even knowing and that is when an overdose ensues.
I find myself saddened by the fact that Goldstein had made the choice to seek help, but, unfortunately it was not soon enough. He was very talented individual with a lot of promise in life. Who knows the things he could have accomplished? DJ AM is just one case of thousands of people whose lives are cut short every year by the disease of addiction. Drug abuse is not a joke and it will strip you of your life if you do not seek help.
Last Friday the disease of addiction took another influential life from us. The renowned DJ AM's life was cut short as a result of a presumed drug overdose when he was found dead in his New York apartment. It has been reported that AM recently told his Sponsor that he had in fact relapsed and that was why he had been acting so erratically as of late, he agreed that he would go into treatment after he took care of a few things, including an event that was to take place in Las Vegas last Friday. Sadly, only a day after Adam Goldstein (his real name) promised his manager and sponsor that after his gig in Las Vegas last Friday, he would check himself into a rehab in California, Goldstein would never make it to that show and he was found with prescription pills and drug paraphernalia around his body in New York.
AM was taking strong painkillers after surviving a plane crash with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker in 2008. However, it is reported that he had struggled with addiction since his early twenties, but was sober for at least 10 years before the plane crash. It seems that the plane crash may have sped up the progression towards the 36 year old's untimely death. Goldstein had just finished filming the MTV show Gone Too Far last Tuesday, where he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers. According to Wikipedia,"Radio personality and addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, who was a friend of Goldstein, said on his August 30, 2009 Loveline show that he was extremely shocked and saddened to learn of his relapse and death. Dr. Drew described Goldstein's sobriety as "solid", and was a "great inspiration" for those seeking addiction treatment. He then went on to endorse the argument that Goldstein did not receive proper treatment for his recent PTSD diagnosis".
Sadly, this is the disease of addiction and relapse is always terrible for the fact that when one starts actively abusing substances again it generally is much heavier than when they put them down. There is no way of knowing whether your next drink or drug is going to be your last. There are usually only three options for an addict: jails, institutions, and death; friends and families can only hope and pray that their loved one finds the two former and that it does not have to come to the point of no return.
Our heart goes out to Adam's friends and families and we can only hope that they can find strength in a time of such sadness and loss.
We encourage you all to watch this short video and please feel free to send us your thoughts...
Alcohol is the most widely used depressant in the world, and has been for thousands of years. More alcohol is consumed than any other drug on the planet, which accounts for so many fatalities every year. Alcohol's side-effects are extremely dangerous and excessive drinking will speed up the process. We saw what happened to Bret with his esophageal cancer and we witnessed alcohol strip young Gary of life with cirrhosis. I believe that alcohol consumption has become so commonplace throughout society that people either ignore or fail to take the time to understand the devastating consequences that comes along with excessive drinking.
Direct and indirect causes of death include: drunken driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke. Millions of Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders and alcohol is one of the only substances that can cause death if one stops without medical supervision. Delirium tremens or the "DTs", is caused after a long period of drinking, stopping abruptly and experiencing withdrawal. According to Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia: Delirium Tremens "It is most common in people who have a history of alcohol withdrawal, especially in those who drink the equivalent of 7 - 8 pints of beer (or 1 pint of "hard" alcohol) every day for several months. Delirium tremens also commonly affects those with a history of habitual alcohol use or alcoholism that has existed for more than 10 years."
Withdrawal from other drugs such as: opiates, marijuana, cocaine, etc. do not have major medical complications and withdrawal is therefore not life threatening. It seems strange that alcohol, a legal drug, does more damage to one's heath than illicit drugs. Many people who start drinking at a young age, like Gary, rarely have a clue as to how bad alcohol is for them; ultimately, this leads to severe medical problems which there may not be any help for. Sadly, by the time the problem is discovered it can be too late to receive help or one may be denied help based on a history of alcoholism. Every year billions of dollars are made from a substance that causes so much injury and it appears that little, if any, change ever comes of it. Bret and Gary are perfect examples of why more needs to be done, Bret and Gary exemplify both sides of the spectrum; alcohol related deaths affect all age groups.
I encourage you to watch this short video of the cause of cirrhosis. Please send me your thoughts about this subject and what we might be able to do differently to avoid premature death.
