This week, let’s tackle a very controversial subject in the field of addiction treatment – does recovery from addiction or alcoholism involve finding a cure?

Some medical professionals, as well as treatment models, believe a cure lies in the form of a pill.  Antabuse and Methadone are probably the most familiar replacement drugs used to treat alcohol or opiate addiction. The idea of replacement therapy is that by creating a medication that safely fulfill the needs of the addiction, the addicted person will be able to live a productive life.

Looking at this solution from a rational perspective, it would appear that the medication acts as a crutch for the addict to rely on.  In other words, it simply creates a new addiction to the medication meant to cure the ailment.  An example can be seen at local methadone clinics, where hundreds line up to get their daily allotment of the medication.  It is apparent that this is the lesser of two evils, but the reality is that it doesn’t support the theory of the cure to addiction coming in the form of a pill.

The polar opposite school of thought comes from the 12 Step perspective.  The core thought being, “We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.” This idea can be compared to a person suffering from cancer.

Once someone is diagnosed with cancer and receives successful treatment – it is never considered ‘cured.’  It may go into remission, but the chance always remains that it can return without reason or notice.  According to the 12 Steps, addiction works just the same way – the disease is never cured, rather it is arrested for a period of time and can return if the work is not done to keep it at bay.

In the final analysis, it is up to each individual to decide for themselves how they view addiction. What do you think?

Written by Kelly E.

Adventures in Recovery (AIR) has just returned from its 11^th major adventure trip and it’s 1st major adventure from our new location at San Cristobal, NM.

Destination – Chaco Culture National Historical Park located in a vast isolated area in Northwestern NM. Several days of hiking in the back-country through massive Aztec ruins and remnants of an ancient advanced civilization, coupled with intensive recovery work produced an outstanding and undeniable result of spiritual and emotional development and change – precisely the purpose of AIR.

Nights in the bivvys dipped to 20 degrees but spirits remained high as the opportunity for such an adventure outweighed the obvious discomfort.  Work ethic and nightly AA meetings in the group remained constant, demonstrating that consistency with recovery disciplines is not limited to a specific treatment setting, but goes with them in their everyday lives no matter where they are.

The fact that they are not the center of the universe was brought home in a big way as they surveyed the vastness around them and contemplated the generations of people who have walked the same path before them, both in a historical cultural sense as well as in a recovery sense. The sense of humility was evident as several residents verbalized a new understanding of being a small part of a great whole and that sobriety in and of itself without any material gain is the reward of this way of life.

Kelly Egan is the Program Manager at Gatehouse Academy’s outdoor adventure wilderness program.  Residents receive a once in a lifetime experience to work with horses surrounded by the majestic mountains of Taos, NM.  On average, 10 to 12 young men and women get to experience a very different form of Drug Rehab – using Nature as a motivator towards Recovey

According to an article from the Scotsman newspaper in Scotland, figures show that the drug death toll has reached record highs in that country. There was an increase in the deaths of older users.

What health experts there refer to as the “trainspotting generation,” they say is responsible for the increase in deaths. This generation is the one that starting injecting heroin in the late 1980s and 1990s in Scotland.

“A new report shows drug deaths have increased by more than a quarter in the past year, with the number of fatalities rising significantly among older people.”

The deaths related to drug abuse have raised a whopping 131 percent over the past ten years in Scotland, leading the government to start thinking about taking urgent action towards the problem.

“Figures show the 35-44 age bracket made up 30 per cent of drug-related fatalities and 37 per cent were aged between 25 and 34 years old.”

In Scotland the number of deaths rose much faster in the 35-44 age bracket and also in the 45 and older age bracket.

“Experts said Scotland was dealing with a legacy reaching as far back as the late 1970s and 1980s, when many people began experimenting with drugs for the first time. Those injecting drugs such as heroin 20 years ago are now inheriting a range of serious health problems, including heart and respiratory illnesses, which, in some cases, are leading to premature death.”

Heroin and morphine were the cause of most of the deaths reported in the country, especially among men.  Drug users are dying in Scotland because of a lack of care and treatment, according to the article.  The article states that because of a lack of services in the country drug users are waiting upwards of two years to receive treatment and that is why addicts are dying, the lack of drug rehab programs available.

According to an article from The Independent out of the United Kingdom, “Britain faces a rise in domestic violence, alcoholism and drug addiction unless more is done to head off social problems intensified by the recession, the local authority watchdog has warned.”

This is being referred to as the “second wave” of the global recession, and it could have worse side effects than the long term job loss. People who are out of work and unmotivated might be turning to drugs or alcohol as an outlet.  This study has been released this week by the Audit Commission in the United Kingdom.  This commission thinks that the government in the UK is not doing enough to combat the other consequences of a recession.

“The commission also criticised the Government for rushing through the introduction of around 50 different schemes designed to tackle the effects of the recession, creating confusion.”

Because the demand for unemployment benefits is up, the commission sees the social issues that are implications of a recession falling to the wayside because there were inadequate resources to be dealing with it in the first place. And if these programs run out of money, people will get left behind and be forced to deal with their problems on their own.

The longer someone is unable, the more likely it is that they will turn to alcohol or drugs for comfort, which may in turn result in the need for drug rehab to get them back on their feet.  The increase is also seen in crime rates, for things like domestic violence.

According to an article from genomeweb.com, a zebrafish gene expression study has found indications that adult neuron formation may be involved in drug addiction.

The article states the study as this:

“Researchers from Germany and the Netherlands used microarrays to compare gene expression in the brains of normal and mutant zebrafish that had or had not been exposed to amphetamine. Following amphetamine exposure, they found 139 transcripts that were differentially expressed between wild type zebrafish and mutant fish that don’t respond to the drug.”

The study hopes to gain more information on what triggers addictive behavior.

“They assessed zebrafish drug response using an assay called the conditioned place preference, in which the fish change their location in a tank as a result of amphetamine use.”

The study is a step in changing the ideas of drug addiction, that is could be a response that is triggered in the brain. A new link between neurogenesis and addiction.

Here is another quote to further explain the study:

“By screening through zebrafish that had been exposed to a mutagenizing chemical called N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, the researchers found a dominant mutation that renders zebrafish indifferent to amphetamine. They then used Agilent microarrays to compare the gene expression profile in this mutant, dubbed “no addiction”, with wild type zebrafish in the presence or absence of amphetamine.”

This study could be the first step in understanding why the brain becomes addicted to substances and therefore needs drug rehab.

A London Daily Telegraph article raises an interesting question. Should we change our efforts from a war on drugs to a war on addiction?

Drugs have long been seen as a street battle. We have long been trying to stop the influx of drugs from other countries because the thought was, less drugs, less drug use. Yet addiction continues to rise. Since people are figuring out how to get high off just about anything and prescription drug abuse stats are sky rocketing is it time to shift focus?

Here is the premise of the argument, in a quote from the article:

“The UK Drug Policy Commission recommended that the fight against drugs should focus on dealing with the criminal and anti-social elements that surround their sale. In other words, as long as drug dealers don’t start shooting each other, the police should turn a blind eye to their activities.”

Sure the current drug policies are failing the world, this is not just a problem in the United Kingdom, but does that mean police should not enforce the laws that are on the books? Is sending drug criminals to drug rehab the answer?  They do it in Sweden and it seems to work.

The article states:

“In Sweden, they tie successful involvement in such programmes to the expunging of the criminal record. Unlike in Britain, rehabilitation is seen as an integral part of the approach – and, unsurprisingly enough, the number of addicts as a proportion of the population is considerably lower than here.”

So does Sweden have it right? Can a policy like that work in America of the United Kingdom?

Jamie Lee Curtis, best known for her role in the Halloween franchise has always been a celebrity open to talk about her body and image. This week she wrote a piece for the Huffington Post about her addiction to prescription pain killers. Pain killer addiction and prescription drug abuse in general have come to the forefront of the news media due to the death of Michael Jackson.

Her blog entry for the Huffington Post is a direct response to the death of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. It talks about how he sought out prescription pain killers from a number of doctors, whether licensed or not. She also notes in her blog post that Jackson’s pain may have begun after his hair caught on fire after filming a commercial for Pepsi. She however, does not believe that this was the starting point to his problems; she believes it was rooted deep from the time of his childhood.

She cites her own drug addiction in the following quote:

“Listen, I can relate. I too found painkillers after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure and I too became addicted, the morphine becomes the warm bath from which to escape painful reality. I was a lucky one. I was able to see that the pain had started long ago and far away and that the finding the narcotic was merely a matter of time. The pain needed numbing. My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work — but the help is there, in every town and career, drug/drink freed members of society, from every single walk and talk of life to help and guide.”

Curtis was able to find addiction treatment and move on with her life.  What do you think of the blog post by Curtis? Agree or disagree with her opinion?

Check out the press release from PR web titled: GateHouse Academy Trains Next Generation of Dual Diagnosis Clincians and Drug Rehab Specialists

The press release takes a look at how Gatehouse Academy trains graduate level students in community based treatment for addiction in young adults.  Gatehouse Academy is the premier source for young adult drug rehab, and trains the counselors of tomorrow to be effective in dual diagnosis treatment.

With the death of pop star Michael Jackson, pain killer addiction has come into the limelight. It has been reported that Jackson was addiction the pain drug Demerol. According to an article from ABCNews.com, a producer has said that Jackson was battling an addiction to Demerol and other pain medication such as Oxycontin for at least the past 20 years.

The death of Jackson just further brings to light the problem with prescription drug use in the United States. Authorities were told that Jackson had an injection of Demerol before his death, and it may have caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

Prescription drug abuse is one of the most common types of abuse in the United States. Jackson was supposedly using multiple doctors’ prescriptions to maintain his drug addiction.

Becoming addicted to prescription drugs can be relatively easy because they are so accessible. For teenagers, they can use the very drugs in their house to get a high.

It has been reported that about 20 percent of Americans have used prescription drugs for a non medical reason. You can develop an addiction to narcotics painkillers, sedatives, tranquilizers and stimulants.

Prescription drug use can lead to other types of drug use as well. People tend to fall into a cycle with prescription drugs and their body needs it just like with street drugs.

Prescription drug use is just as difficult to get out of as any other type of drug use. Most people who are addicted to pills need help to stop as well.

Jackson’s death, although it is tragic, could help to educate people about the danger of prescription drugs when they are not used properly.

Over 1 out of 10 children under the age of 18 years of age live with at least one parent who was dependent on or abused alcohol or an illicit drug during the past year, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The report is based on national data from 2002 to 2007.

“The research increasingly shows that children growing up in homes with alcohol and drug abusing parents suffer,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H. “The chronic emotional stress in such an environment can damage their social and emotional development and permanently impede healthy brain development, often resulting in mental and physical health problems across the lifespan. This underlines the importance of preventive interventions at the earliest possible age.”

Among the findings:

• Almost 7.3 million children lived with a parent who was dependent on or abused alcohol
• About 2.1 million children lived with a parent who was dependent on or abused illicit drugs
• 5.4 million children lived with a father who met the criteria for past year substance dependence or abuse, and 3.4 million lived with a mother who met this criteria.

Findings for Children Living with Substance-Dependent or Substance-Abusing Parents: 2002 to 2007 are drawn from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health an annual nationwide survey of persons aged 12 and older. This report focused on questions asked of 87,656 parents aged 18 and older about their substance dependence and abuse.

In addition, SAMHSA has a Children’s Program Kit for use by addiction treatment centers to provide educational support programs for the children of their clients in drug treatment programs. It teaches children a variety of skills to fostering a sense of purpose and hope. The toolkit has activities for children from elementary school through high school. It also contains information for therapists to distribute to their clients to help parents understand the needs of their children, as well as training materials (including posters and DVDs) for substance abuse treatment or dual diagnosis treatment, staff who organize support groups for children.

This kit can be obtained for free at:  http://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/productDetails.aspx?ProductID=17245.