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It is well known that the United States puts more people in prison every year than any other country. Sadly, the majority of those locked up have been deemed drug offenders; drugs are illegal, having them is against the law, so then it stands to reason that those caught with drugs would go to jail. The problem with putting millions of people in jail for drug offenses has to do with the fact that drug offenders are generally sick. They suffer from a disease that transcends the boundaries of right and wrong, in many cases free will has been thrown out the window. Drug addicts who are sent to prison time and time again are not criminals and addicts do not deserve to be treated like criminals. Science has taught us a lot about the disease of addiction, giving us a better understanding of what is operating inside the addict's mind. Addicts are not morally corrupt and certainly are not short on willpower.
Lawmakers in Colorado are working hard to pass a bill that was presented at the Capitol Tuesday, in an attempt to keep drug offenders out of jail and into treatment. Both Republicans and Democrats are supporting the bill, even the district attorneys are on board. This bill is a wonderful prospect for the citizens of Colorado who are afflicted with addiction, nearly a quarter of 22,600 people in prison in Colorado are doing time for drug offenses. Those inmates who were charged with possession should be released to the custody of certified drug treatment facilities; prisoners sentenced for drug distribution would not be allowed to escape their sentence by going to rehab. Drug addicts and drug dealers need to be separated inside the minds of society, they are a completely different and do not deserve the same punishment.
When addicts are imprisoned it hardens the common misconception that an addict is a criminal, adding to the long lists of stigmas that already accompany an addict. States drain their coffers every year keeping addicts imprisoned; every inmate costs the tax payers $30,000 a year. That money could be channeled to education programs to help people better understand the disease of addiction, especially teenagers and young adults. Pete Hautzinger, the Mesa County District Attorney said, "Treatment can work and it's a far more just and effective use of resources. I have no interest in locking up someone who is an addict. I would much rather get them un-addicted and make them a productive member of society again".
The more states that realize prison is not effective rehabilitation, the better...
Significant progress has been made in the battle against diseases spread intravenously. It has been an ongoing struggle to provide I.V. drug users the ability to acquire clean needles. In many cases people in metropolitan areas are typically hit hard by A.I.D.S and Hepatitis C because of the lack of needle exchanges and the need of a prescription to get needles from a pharmacy; despite the fact that there are detailed studies proving that cities that implement needle exchange programs have less people contracting diseases. In a 2007 report conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, about 424,000 Americans a year over age 12 inject illegal drugs. "The omnibus appropriations bill that President Obama signed last week drops a long-standing ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs. And the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy three months ago lifted the requirement for a prescription to buy syringes at a pharmacy, leaving New Jersey and Delaware as the only states still requiring a script", according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Now, needle exchange programs can apply for funding from AIDS prevention programs which will certainly increase the amount of exchanges available.
This is a great step and it shows that people are beginning to understand the complex nature of addiction and how is affects all aspects of society. A person in the grips of their addiction will find a way to use no matter what; a dirty needle will do the same job as a clean needle. Providing addicts the ability to use without the risk of disease is a big step, it reflects the idea that the addict is not by default a criminal, but rather, a sick individual. Between 2002 and 2004 when comparing Newark NJ where exchanges were not present and you needed a prescription to acquire syringes, with New York City where both were present, "Rates of HIV were 26 percent in Newark vs. 5 percent in New York; hepatitis B, 70 percent vs. 27 percent; and hepatitis C, 82 percent vs. 53 percent", the Journal of Urban Health reported.
Changes like this one are a huge leap forward for those who have been trying to provide a safe way for those who will get high no matter what. It will also afford counselors the opportunity to help steer people going to the exchanges towards treatment; addicts who normally would be impossible to contact will now be close enough to potentially reach and get them the help that they desperately need.
About 37 percent of people who need and seek out drug and alcohol treatment do not get it because they cannot afford it. Sadly, many people end up in jail or prison before they ever go to treatment. In a lot of cases getting caught up in the legal system is a direct result of states not providing adequate drug treatment availability. In the last year a number of states have even cut spending on drug treatment. What is interesting about cutting spending on drug treatment is that sending someone to treatment is significantly less expensive than prison. New York has become a testing ground for the potential to expand treatment programs.
The Rockefeller drug laws enacted in the 70's were reformed this year, this is a huge step in the right direction and will save more lives. Now, nonviolent offenders who would have faced long, mandatory prison terms will be provided treatment and New York will be injecting $50 million in the treatment programs state wide. "An estimated 80 percent of the 60,000 offenders in New York's prisons have substance abuse problems", according to the Associated Press. Expanding drug treatment is the most logical decision and makes clear that the disease concept of addiction is starting to make sense to politicians.
Unfortunately, California recently cut $250 million designated for rehabilitation services throughout the prisons and jails. This has done nothing but cost California more money in the long run by contributing to recidivism, in a prison full of addicts there is only one solution that has proven to work - treatment. Congress recently passed a bill that will in the near future prohibit insurance companies from denying insurance based on pre-existing health conditions. This will allow more people to get health insurance thus giving more addicts the option of life saving drug treatment - hopefully. Sadly, many insurance companies do not cover the cost of detox or treatment despite it being classified and accepted as a disease; perhaps, when this bill in Washington is completely worked out, that will no longer be the case. It is time to give people the care they deserve, treatment is always a better choice than prison.
What if your secrets had the power to take the lives of innocent people? Every day millions of people struggle with the disease of addiction under the radar of their friends and family. The stigmas that accompany alcoholism drive many high functioning alcoholics into the closet. The thought of being branded an alcoholic by one's peers is too much for a mother or father that suffers from the disease to handle. High functioning addicts work overtime to cover up their problem, with the hope that they can go just one more day undetected.
Unfortunately, those same high functioning alcoholics are the people, the Diane Schuler's, we have seen in the news lately. Addiction can be invisible and go unchecked by friends and family for many years, then, tragically one day an accident takes place that strips innocent people of their lives. Oprah recently did a special covering the topic of mothers who have managed to hide their addiction from everyone and then were in horrific accidents. She talked with the family members of the people who died in the Schuler accident, as well toxicology experts who were involved with case. What is clearly evident is that many people, even after the accident, are in denial about the severity of Diane Schuler's problem; Schuler's husband even hired a private investigator to prove that the toxicology reports were false and that there is no way she was an alcoholic or was even drinking that day - let alone high on marijuana. Only three months after the accident, Oprah's special on Diane Schuler's accident points out and makes even more clear that it is very difficult to argue with science; there is no sense trying to prove that Schuler was not an alcoholic, what matters is spreading the message that we need to confront our loved ones if we suspect there is a problem.
Denial is a major component to addiction thriving inside people unchecked. Diane Schuler's family's protestations that there was no problem is very hard to believe given the evidence. Even after the tragedy, a tragedy that took seven innocent people's lives, Schuler's husband will not face the facts. This story has brought a surge of women who are stepping up and declaring that they have a problem which they have managed to hide; before anything tragic happens in their lives it is time to start speaking out to raise awareness. There is no reason children's lives should be placed in jeopardy, if you recognize that there is a problem with a friend or family member the responsible thing to do is speak out about it. You never know how many lives could be saved by a single act of concern; there are many support networks that can be tapped in order to save someone from the disease of addiction.
How much is your life worth or the life of someone dear to you? The United States spends nearly $500 billion annually to help in the fight against addiction and sadly the money is poorly managed which leaves very little room for success. Alcohol and drug addiction is perhaps the hardest disease to treat and is certainly the disease that is the least understood. 105,000 Americans each year die as a result of complications directly related to drugs and alcohol, that number is higher than traffic accident related deaths in over 15 states. The cost of even attempting to start a new life, one free of addiction, is staggering; because of that it is very difficult for most addicts to get the treatment that they need. Sadly, treatments controlled by the state are not managed properly and their success rate is minimal; for those who can afford to go to private pay drug treatment facilities success rates are much higher. Substance Abuse Emergency Detox Cost over $1,300, and clearly most bottom of the barrel drunks do not have that kind of money lying around. With an annual bill of 500 billion dollars, one would think that the state organized treatment options would have better numbers - where is the money going?
The Times Union of Albany New York reported that, "of each dollar spent, 96 cents goes to the criminal justice system and health care costs, 'shoveling up the wreckage' in the phrase of a recent study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Less than 4 cents of every dollar goes to prevention, treatment and research, 'a reckless misapplication of public funds,' the study concluded". Unfortunately, the majority of state funds go towards a group of repeat offenders who have been to: detox, treatment, jail, and hospitals several times over. "In Albany County, about $12 million, mostly state funds, is spent each year where about 100 individuals chronically addicted to alcohol and drugs consume the bulk of services and funding. They typically also are homeless, mentally ill and suffer from a myriad of physical ailments", according to the Times Union. About have of that number, 43, people can be seen in emergency room detox units with blood alcohol content levels around .30% as much as two dozen times a month. If you do the math, at $1,300 a day per person, the bill could reach $26,000 a month.
I cannot help but think that 4 cents on the dollar is not enough funding to make any head way in the prevention, treatment, and research of addiction. Perhaps if the state funding was allocating properly, the chances for individual success and less repeat offenders could be possible. The disease of addiction has been around since the dawn of civilization and is not going anywhere; if we use more money for research and less for imprisonment perhaps more lives could be saved every year from this terrible affliction. The tools are available for people to make a successful recovery, but, unfortunately people are not using those tools to their fullest potential or are not being properly taught how to harness the power of them. Until the United States figures out how to allocate spending appropriately, the longer unnecessary deaths will continue.
New studies into treating heroin have been taking place in Europe, especially in England where addiction specialists are realizing that it may be more beneficial for hard-to-treat addicts to be treated with the drug they are addicted to. Controversial to say the least, the study's findings have been quite shocking; it is a real possibility that heroin clinics will be set up throughout England to manage heroin addicts? Treating drug addicts with heroin, the addict's drug of choice, without a doubt should be a last resort choice. It seems relevant to point out that the study being performed in England benefits society much more than it benefits the addicts. The addicts who are being injected by government clinicians are still caught in the grips of addiction and it seems unlikely that they will become contributing members of society.
The study found that the use of street heroin was cut by three quarters and the crimes committed to get drugs were slashed by two-thirds. Great Britain decided that the cost of $22,000 per patient per year to provide, addicts who had failed at other forms of treatment, heroin was a wiser alternative to having addicts running the streets committing crimes to get their fix. The cost to imprison heroin addicts is almost 3 times more a year than supplying heroin in government run clinics. The streets are safer and the drug is administered in a more sanitary environment which cuts down on disease. John Strang, led the research team involved in this study at Britain's National Addiction Centre, associated with King's College in London. "Strang said the stubborn nature of heroin addiction is proof that getting addicts into treatment is really a shallow achievement, because many will eventually turn to drugs again. He believes this promising approach could change the way hard-to-treat addicts are treated and convince the government that the initial high cost offers good value", reported CNN.
This experiment is by no means the best way to help addicts become productive members of society. Providing heroin to addicts may cut down on crime and the amount spent annually to imprison such addicts; however, the likelihood that addicts high on heroin will be able to manage their lives while high is very small. Sure, the streets are safer but people are still shackled by their addiction and will never be relieved of the bondage if the government agrees to get people high year-round for free. Many of the most hardened drug addicts have managed to find sobriety and continue to maintain it without drug maintenance programs like methadone or Suboxone. Those individuals that are unwilling to surrender and ask for guidance will never find freedom form the disease of addiction.
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.
The younger you start drinking the more problems you will have! Studies have now shown that if you start drinking below the age of 15, when your brain is not fully developed, it could inadvertently start a snowball effect by bringing to light one's predisposition towards alcoholism. Taking that first drink at a young age, "may induce changes in the highly sensitive adolescent brain, which may also modify an individual's subsequent genetic vulnerability to [alcohol dependence]", states Arpana Agrawal, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and an author of the study, said in a university news release". Alcohol has the ability to change the biology of one's brain by altering particular cells. This study of 6,257 adult twins was published on September 18 and will be in print in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
"Those who had their first drink later in life showed far fewer signs of alcohol dependency, despite the genetic predisposition", Agrawal noted according to the Health Daily News. This idea makes sense, considering all the new understandings we have of the brain and its development; the more time the brain is given to develop, the less chance of dependency developing. The brain is a fragile organ that is "impressionable"; protecting the brain at the adolescent age is of the utmost importance. It is so crucial that we educate the youth to the dangers of alcohol, if kids think that the effects of alcohol are minor, then they will be more inclined to drink. The average kid may not have anything to worry about; however, there are a percentage of people who carry the gene of alcoholism which can be brought to life at a time when the brain is immature; inevitably, the disease will be brought into action and quitting will be impossible without help.
Carol A. Prescott, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, said the findings had two possible conclusions. "Early drinking changes the course an individual is on, and is thus a direct cause of increased [alcohol dependency] risk, and early drinking is correlated with [alcohol dependency] risk and is thus an indirect indicator of ... risk," she said in the news release. Agrawal believes that we can use the findings of the study to help educate parents so that they can educate their children. "The researchers plan to do a similar study that looks at older and younger groups in Australia and the United States to try to duplicate their findings", reports the Health Daily News. Education is one of the only defenses against the disease of addiction, a preemptive strike is necessary in this battle to protect our youth.
10,000 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to raise awareness about drug and alcohol recovery on Saturday. The idea was to send the message that that there is help if you want it and that the disease of addiction is treatable. Only ten percent of the 22 million people suffering from the disease ever get the treatment they need despite there being several options available. New York State has repealed the harsh Rockefeller drug laws and is trying to replace incarceration with treatment; Governor Paterson was at 'The A & E Recovery Project ' to show his support for such a wonderful cause. "We are giving individual judges the opportunity to choose what will be a treatment protocol for defendants when they are sentenced," said Paterson. "We are giving people a second chance."
Smokey Robinson performed at the free concert for all the recovering addicts because he himself is one. According to WPIX TV, "My message to them is to get help immediately," said Robinson. "I don't care what source you use or where you go. Get help immediately."
Remember, September is National Recovery Month. And this September is the 20th Anniversary of the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Recovery events like this are happening across the United States. We invite you to watch this video from WPIX and celebrate your or your loved one's recovery.
So sad, the news that came my way this morning, a 22 year-old's plea for a transplant was refused. Alcoholic Gary Reinbach dead at 22 after transplant refused while at University College Hospital in London. This is a troubling story, which I read on Times Online, of the ethics in the health care system on a global level; unfortunately, this is not a new story, nor one that we will not hear again. How a 22 year kid could be refused a liver transplant, despite his alcoholism, has to make you wonder: Is the donor organ system flawed?
Gary Reinbach started drinking at a very young age, a product of a broken home in Essex, England. Nine years later he would be diagnosed and admitted to the hospital for an alcohol related illness for the first time. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver which is a fatal disorder that requires a liver transplant. The catch 22 is that in order for an alcoholic to receive a transplant they must demonstrate that the have been sober for 6 months; an impossible feat for a patient that does not have 6 months to live. Gary's doctors and his family went public making an appeal for the rules to be waived. But, despite their appeal Reinbach died less than 48 hours after it was issued; he died only 10 weeks after being admitted. This is unacceptable on multiple fronts for the fact is that people who suffer from the disease of alcoholism get less of an opportunity to receive proper health care than other diseases; do they make obese people swear they will stop overeating before they are given an insulin pump? Alcoholism is a disease that is far from understood by the masses of people who believe that alcoholics simply lack will power and that is why they continue to drink.
It is fair to say that if Gary were granted the transplant he would have had the opportunity to re-evaluate things and at least had one second chance to better his life. Sadly, this is not the case and the rules for donor organs do not leave room for exceptions; cutting people's lives short because people do not understand the disease concept of addiction. It is understandable that a repeat offender, someone in and out of hospitals for multiple years, does not receive a transplant; but, Gary was not one of those people, nor was he given the chance to prove that to be true.
My deepest sympathy and compassion goes out to Gary Reinbach's family. My greatest hope is that he did not die in vain and that his story will convince policy makers that a change needs to be made. Please share your thoughts with me on this subject as I will be glad to hear other's opinions. This story deeply pains my heart!
