The state of Indiana is being plagued by an increase in drug abuse, specifically heroin. While this kind of addiction may have been more common in big cities on the coasts of our country in the past, young Hoosiers are now trying their hand at the drug, and it is having a fatal effect.

More Fatal Heroin Overdoses

Heroin is an extremely addicting substance. In Indiana, the purity of heroin has been on the rise, up to 80% in some cases. This fact alone can account for more people becoming addicted to the substance and more people fatally overdosing on it. Counties that in the past have not seen any heroin overdoses are now seeing a number of the fatalities. For every fatality, there are even more people that are using and addicted that haven’t been found out yet.

Easily Accessible

Franklin and Ripley counties are two of those that have had a number of fatal heroin overdoses this year. Reports show that young people in Indiana are getting their heroin from big cities like Cincinnati or Indianapolis, and that the drug is easily accessible. Sheriff Ken Murphy noted, “Nowadays if they’ve got it in Cincinnati or Indianapolis, anybody in Batesville can have anything they want in an hour. We have kids who are regularly driving to Cincinnati buying heroin …. These kids are chipping in money and sending one guy to buy their heroin for them. I know sooner or later one of them is going to end up shot to death. There are so many things that can go wrong with this.” (1)

Supporting a Drug Habit

Because many parents, teachers, and authorities in Indiana aren’t aware of the growing heroin problem in their state, they are not prepared to handle it when it happens to a child they know. Parents have reported valuables being stolen from their home and didn’t realize until later that it was their own child who robbed them to pay for drugs. Vehicle batteries are often stolen in northern counties because they can bring in $8 each to use for drug money.

Heroin addicts and other addicts are willing to commit crimes to sustain their habit, and it is no different in Indiana, authorities have found. Sheriff Murphy maintained, “We’ve got … a monumental drug problem that is driving the criminal market … we call them hunters and gatherers. These guys have to go out every morning to steal something to sell to buy more drugs. Probably a good 75- 80 percent of burglaries and thefts are being driven by drug problems.” (1)

The effects of heroin addiction are devastating in any area. For Indiana, which has not typically been a hot spot for drug activity, residents are now feeling the pain. Young people are throwing their futures away because of their drug use, businesses are being burglarized, and people are dying of overdose because of this addicting drug.

Authorities have been working to inform people of the growing problem. Parents in the state need to especially be aware that this is happening and get help for their child as soon as they suspect a problem. Heroin addiction can be treated. This addiction does not have to be fatal; with the right kind of help, people do recover.

Sources

(1) Heroin: Drug contributes to deaths and crimes in the area

U.S. Drug Trends

Deadly, ultra-pure heroin arrives in United States

Sometimes, even in the midst of the drama of our lives, we need to be thankful for what we’ve got. Even someone in this country who is going through recovery from drug or alcohol addiction should take the time to count their blessings.

Improving Treatment in the United States

Addiction treatment in the United States is constantly changing and hopefully always improving. There may be things that we as a country could be doing better to help those in recovery, but we continue to learn and grow through experience.

There is also the challenge before us to educate and create awareness for the hope and purpose of recovery, but we have certainly come a long way. We now have a wide variety of treatment programs, tailored to meet the needs of different patients. We have groups that are helping preserve someone’s job while they get treatment. We have generated a greater tolerance and understanding toward those with an addiction. We can be thankful that our treatment is nothing like that in some other areas of the world.

Russian Recovery

A recent article in the New York Times describes in detail what treatment is like in Russia. More like jails than treatment facilities, patients are kept chained or in cages surrounding their beds while they complete their withdrawal. There are no medications to ease the pain, or rehabilitation, or therapy; patients are simply forced to quit their substance cold turkey, and stay until they are deemed ready to go home, which can take up to a year in some cases. Patients are fed bread and water, and after the worst of their detox is over, they can perform designated jobs while remaining isolated from the rest of the world. Those who have witnessed the system of recovery call it primitive, brutal, and ineffective.

Ineffective Treatment

 “What they present as drug treatment has absolutely no basis in evidence,” said Diederik Lohman, a senior researcher at the monitoring group Human Rights Watch. “What [they do] has little in common with international best practice standards based on research and is unlikely to have any beneficial effect on patients.”

Sergei Polyatykin, head of the medical department at an advocacy group called the Say No to Alcohol and Drugs, said of this approach: “It’s not treatment, it’s jail. Imprisonment and torture can’t help drug addicts to kick the habit. Only a small percentage stay off drugs.” (1)

Russian officials feel they have little choice. Russia is suffering with a heroin epidemic that they cannot contain. But it is also clear that this treatment does not work. No one is teaching these patients how to live back in society without their drugs. There is no rehabilitation, and 90% of addicts in the country relapse.

Positive Recovery

Bringing the focus back to our country, we can be happy at the treatment options we have. We can be proud that so many people have recovered from their addiction, and can be hopeful that we can keep finding ways to help more people. As we remember the struggles that many have gone through during their recovery in this country, let’s also be thankful that their recovery was made possible by caring staff, loving family, and hard work and commitment.

Sources

(1) In Russia, Harsh Remedy for Addiction Gains Favor

Russia Drug Abuse Information

Drug Treatment, Russian-Style

There are so many new designer drugs that have come about in recent years that we may not feel the need to worry about things like heroin anymore. Drugs like heroin, cocaine, and meth do still pose a risk for abuse by young people though, something for which parents and teachers must still be watchful.

New Drugs

We know young people are still abusing alcohol and marijuana, substances that by some are viewed as less serious as hard drugs, but that can still be destructive. There has also been the increase of prescription drug abuse, and even teens have found ways to obtain prescription painkillers easily. There are also new drugs emerging, and more that have yet to come to our country. These include k2 and bath salts, substances that up until recently were still legal across the country due to a lack of knowledge about them by authorities. While we are busy warning our teens about these well-known substances and emerging drugs, some young people are going back to the basics, and are getting hooked on drugs like heroin.
Sometimes we fail to stress the danger of drugs like heroin because we assume our kids won’t try it or that they already know the dangers. Other times we are too busy researching new drugs that we forget the dangers that have always been there.

Dangers of Heroin Use

Heroin is still being cultivated and prepared throughout the world. It is a Schedule I depressant that is derived from the poppy plant, and it blocks the brain’s ability to feel pain. Heroin provides the user with a rush of euphoria that causes a heavy feeling and clouds the mind. Slowed speech, impaired gait, and droopy eyelids are all short term effects of heroin use.
Heroin is a very addicting substance, as the body can quickly become dependent on it. Over time, someone who has a heroin addiction will be at risk for heart problems, liver disease, and respiratory problems. Users may experience collapsed veins, infection at the injection site, cellulites, and chronic breathing problems because of heroin use.

Heroin Addiction

Teens who become addicted to heroin can face a lifetime of drug abuse, because recovery is not easy. Heroin can become physically addicting, and a teen who tries to stop taking the substance can experience serious withdrawal symptoms. Cravings, restlessness, pain, insomnia, cold flashes, and diarrhea and vomiting can all occur after a few hours without the substance. Withdrawal can be fatal if done suddenly and not monitored closely, so professional help is often recommended.

New Ways to Use Heroin

Teens today are moving away from injecting heroin, because the heroin of today has a higher level of purity (50-60%) compared to the heroin of years ago (10%). This means that users can get the same or increased euphoria from snorting or smoking the heroin. Some teens today are using heroin in these ways because they believe it is not as harmful if it is not injected, or that these other forms of administration will not lead to addiction. Parents should make it a point to talk to their teen about the dangers of heroin, because this substance can cause problems and addiction in any form it is taken.  

Sources

Heroin

Transforming Opium Poppies into Heroin

REGION: Heroin, meth deaths on rise, officials say

An opioid addiction is one of the more difficult addictions to overcome. The cravings that individuals feel can be impossible to ignore, and withdrawal symptoms are unpleasant. Detoxing from opiates is not life-threatening, but because it is difficult it takes someone committed to recovering to undergo it. There are ways to recover from opioid addiction, and the most effective way involves treatment with pharmaceuticals and therapy.

We are always looking for ways to make the recovery process easier. The development of new medications, such as methadone, to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms, have made recovery easier. Buprenorphine, first used in 2002, has been one of the most common drugs to treat opioid addiction, because it is tolerated by most patients and is available in a pill form for patients to take at home.

Implant Study

Now a new form of buprenorphine has been developed, and its makers released the results of a study today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Titan Pharmaceuticals, led by Dr. Walter Ling, came up with a buprenorphine implant. The implant is placed just beneath the skin on the patient’s arm, and it slowly releases the medication over the span of 6 months. The study showed the implants were successful; they helped patients make it through the full 6 months of treatment in 37% of cases, compared to only 22% making it through with placebo implants. The makers are excited about the buprenorphine implants because they keep patients in treatment. Instead of opioid addicts losing interest and stopping taking the oral pills, the implants ensure that the patient gets his or her correct dosage. Implants can’t be sold for drug money either, as sometimes happens to buprenorphine pills.

Concerns about Implants

But there are some problems with the implant. Some patients had irritation or other complications with the implant site. With a larger group of people being studied, we could probably expect even more complications, as is common with surgical implants like this. One of the biggest concerns about the implants is the lack of effectiveness that occurred in some of the patients. Many were given supplemental sublingual buprenorphine when their cravings or withdrawal symptoms got bad. Iif we are going to go through the trouble of using implants, they need to work effectively.

In this study, patients also received drug counseling throughout the 6 month period. If these implants are ever used with the public, just as with any addiction treatment, counseling needs to be a big part of it. Patients wishing to be clean need to be committed to a sober lifestyle, which can be developed through hard work and therapy. There is no magic pill or implant that can just take addiction away; sobriety has to be worked for.

Sources

NIDA

Drug Implant for Opioid Addiction Looks Effective

Buprenorphine Implants Curb Opioid Dependence

We all know heroin is a tough habit to break. The drug is physically addicting, so much so that those trying to quit suffer severe withdrawal symptoms. It is also psychologically addicting, and the cravings for it are like none other. But people are able to get clean even from this most addicting of drugs. It’s not easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight, but it can be done.

But some people are suggesting that we can treat heroin addicts in ways other than helping them gain sobriety. These people are pushing to help heroin addicts become active members of society again, to work at a job, to see their family again, to live in a real home; all while still being a drug addict.

Methadone Treatment

A new study looks at treating addicts with the mainstream drug, methadone, vs. treating them with prescription heroin. The study took place in England, and has been such a new concept that it has not been allowed in the Unites States, even as a study yet. Methadone itself is controversial, because it in essence replaces heroin with another drug. Patients that receive methadone treatment do so because it blocks the effects of heroin, so that no high is experienced. Methadone also works to regulate dopamine receptors in the brain that are negatively affected by heroin. The idea is that if patients are on methadone, they can learn through therapy how to overcome the habit of doing heroin. Then, they can gradually be weaned off of methadone. But for many patients, the methadone becomes their crutch, and they stay on that drug for life. Without the severe ups and downs and side effects of heroin, these methadone patients are sometimes able to lead normal lives again.

Prescription Heroin

But for about 10% of these patients, methadone treatment doesn’t even work. These addicts go back to doing street heroin and drop out of treatment. So doctors and researchers in this study started giving a pure form of heroin, a “prescription heroin”, to patients that would otherwise fail treatment and go back to the streets. The argument is that at least they are getting a safe form of heroin in a controlled facility, free from disease or impurities.

It has to be said, however, that this is not a cure. You can’t give someone the drug they are addicted to, even if it comes from a doctor, and expect their lives to be better because of if it. Yes, these people may stop using illegal street heroin, but they are still living each day under the influence of the drug, and that doesn’t make them any more ready to enter society than if they were shooting up in an ally. The only thing it does is it hopefully keeps them from being so desperate for the drug and reduces the violence they otherwise might commit. But we can do better than this. We can find better ways to get these people off the drugs and living a stable life. 

Sources

Treating Long-Term Addicts With Medical Grade Heroin More Effective Than Methadone

Study: heroin better than methadone to kick habit

Prescription heroin helps addicts off street drugs

Methadone

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 13, 1947, Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever, analgesic used to treat moderate to severe pain with people who have not responded to pain relievers. Its main uses also include being given to patients who are battling narcotic addiction or in the maintenance treatment of narcotic drug addiction.

The drug targets the central nervous system and opioid-receptors in the brain to provide analgesic relief from pain. Methadone is a Schedule II narcotic under the United States Controlled Substances Act and has been a vehicle for potential drug abuse, addiction and misuse. There is a definite possibility several patients who take Methadone for withdrawal circumstances may develop a dependence which can lead to further abuse.

A Black Box warning was issued in 2006 for methadone, meant to alert healthcare professionals, patients and consumers about the chance of cardiac toxicities that may be associated with the drug.

Side Effects and Information

There can be a chance for developing a physical addiction or abuse when taking methadone. Patients who have a history of addiction or abusing other medications, alcohol, emotional problems may be at a higher risk for this. Different cases may apply to certain individuals, so speak with your personal doctor before stopping the drug.

Several serious side effects may occur when taking the medication. If any of these are experienced, please see a physician as soon as possible:

• Breathing that slows down
• Change in heart beat or chest pain
• Dizziness and confusion
• Drowsiness and faintness
• Hallucinations
• Shallow breathing

Do not combine methadone with any of the following medications, unless you have consulted with a medical doctor: anti-depressants, anxiety medications, muscle relaxers, narcotic pain medications, sedatives and sleeping pills.

By providing FDA alerts, drug information, interactions and drug side effects about prescription and over the counter medications, we can ensure an environment where patients have the best knowledge on their medical treatment and health.

Disclaimer:
This article is for purely informational purposes and does not intend to prevent, treat, or cure any disease. It was not written by a medical professional. If you have any questions about your own methadone use, or are considering using methadone contact your physician.

Vancouver, Canada, has a drug problem. The city is known for its heroin addicts, marijuana users, and methamphetamine addicts. Maybe more importantly, it is known for its ways of dealing with these drugs and their users. It has taken controversial steps that few other countries in the Western World have taken in an attempt to make a difference for its drug users.

Some people would call their approach a social experiment, or that the government is looking the other way or even encouraging drugs use. But for many, Vancouver’s handling of illegal drugs has been a life saver.

InSite

The city of Vancouver gives money every year to a community organization to operate a facility called InSite. This facility takes a very controversial approach to dealing with drug addicts. In fact, it is the only facility of its kind in North America. InSite is a building where drug addicts can go to shoot up “in safety”. Users must supply their own drugs, but are provided with clean needles and syringes, and are supervised by medical staff in case they overdose. InSite oversees an average of 491 injections per day, and many of its addicts come back repeatedly throughout the day to get their fix.

Supporters

The history of InSite has been plagued with conflict. Several legal challenges have threatened to close its doors, and parts of the Conservative federal government have worked to close InSite. But so far, the courts have ruled in favor of this facility. Supporters say that their primary goal is to reduce harm to addicts, by preventing the spread of disease and the risk of overdose. The British Columbia Ministry of Health Services provides money for InSite, and the police force in Vancouver says it helps them promote harm reduction. Supporters say because of InSite there are fewer crimes, fewer homicides, and fewer drug overdoses in Vancouver. InSite also offers counseling and treatment services to help the addicts that want to get clean.

Opponents

But the problem that most other people have with InSite is that it allows addicts to stay in their addiction. InSite helps addicts maintain a “functioning junkie” status. By taking away some of the dangers of substance abuse, InSite allows these people to continue using their drugs with few consequences. It encourages drug addicts to use drugs, and doesn’t seem to encourage often enough the benefits of detox and treatment. The benefit of facilities like InSite is that they prevent a number of overdoses. InSite staff intervened on 484 overdoses, lives that would have been lost had they not been at InSite. But these drug addicts, no matter how hard they try, cannot really function in society, and giving them the means to continue in their drug usage is not benefitting them in the long run. Last year, 411 people were admitted to detox at InSite. Maybe with more patients in a successful detox program, they would have fewer patients in their injection booths, and they would really save lives.

Sources

InSite

Vancouver’s ‘safe house’ for drug addicts draws controversy

Near Olympics, Vancouver’s (mostly) legal drug zone

Linda Robertson: Vancouver’s ‘real world,’ outside Olympic bubble

When it comes to illicit drugs, heroin is about as bad as it gets. It is highly addictive, widespread, and ruins or even ends many lives every year. Heroin often is used by the hardest and most experienced of drug users, and many people’s mental picture of a heroin addict involves a homeless person, begging for money or stealing to support their habit, and so trashed that they can’t even talk.

But heroin addiction often happens to other, seemingly unlikely people as well, and it grips them just as hard as anyone. A new trend in high school students from the suburbs is to do heroin. Even with all the education and literature warning people about the risks of heroin use, an estimated 150,000 people began using heroin from the first time from 1995–2002. People start using heroin for a variety of reasons. Some people are looking for a stronger drug with more of an effect after using more moderate drugs for some time. Other people are pressured into trying heroin by friends or co-workers, and get hooked right away. Still other people are trying to escape from something difficult in their life, such as a bad relationship, loss of job, or money problems. Whatever the reason, individuals that experiment with heroin with the intent of stopping after a short time often find themselves months down the line, completely addicted.

Heroin, a derivative of morphine that comes from the poppy plant, is one of the most addicting illicit drugs. It is also one of the most contaminated drugs, with the dirtiest addiction practices. Users crave it so much that they will buy drugs off the street that are cut with all kinds of substances, even with strychnine or other poisons. The strength of heroin is rarely communicated to the user on the street, which puts heroin users at risk for overdose. Heroin addicts lose all concern for their body and physical health. The feeling of euphoria from doing their drug becomes the most important thing. Heroin addicts will use dirty needles to shoot up, or contaminated supplies to smoke or inject it. AIDS and hepatitis B and C are a result of unclean heroin practices.

Effects of Heroin

Chronic heroin users can rarely hide their addiction. While under the influence, heroin users will show slurred speech, droopy eyelids, and an overall slowness to their movements. Chronic users that shoot up will develop collapsed veins, clogged blood vessels, cellulites, and those that smoke or inhale it develop infections of the heart or lungs.

Treatment

There is treatment for heroin. The first step to recovery is detox, which can cause withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, body aches, insomnia, restlessness, and cold flashes. Detox medications can ease the symptoms and the cravings. A good treatment facility will have a long-term plan in place or heroin addicts trying to get clean. Counseling by trained professionals and support groups with others that are recovering will help an addict work toward staying sober.

Sources

http://www.treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com/heroin-rehab.html

http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/heroin/heroin2.html#what

http://www.drugfree.org/portal/drug_guide/heroin

New York City’s health department is under serious criticism this week because of a brochure that has been dubbed “Heroin for Dummies”. The 16 page brochure, which has been in circulation since June of 2007, was recently brought to the public’s attention because of its alleged encouragement to try illegal drugs.

How to Do Drugs Safely

The brochure was most likely created with a lot of good intentions, but probably not with as much thought. It gives almost friendly advice on how to stay safe when doing illegal drugs. Tips like “jump up and down before injecting in order to find your vein more easily” and “only shoot up with a friend in case something goes wrong” are among the ones that have people outraged. The pamphlet cost the city $32,000 to create and distribute, money that many taxpayers are furious to hear about. The main argument about the pamphlet is that is seems to be encouraging people to do drugs, as long as they can do it in a safe way.

The city’s health department does not agree. They state that the brochure was made for drug addicts, in order to prevent overdose and things like HIV and AIDS. It has been distributed at homeless shelters, jails, and syringe exchange programs, and the city says it has saved lives. But critics argue that those that are addicted to heroin know most of these things already, and you can’t really make injecting a poison into your body safe. It is dangerous and risky, and a brochure isn’t going to make the addiction any safer.

Preventing Drug Use

City officials also say that they have recognized that it is impossible to stop every drug user, and this is designed to at least prevent overdose and death. But this kind of sounds like they’ve given up. Sure, we need to admit that there is a big drug problem out there and that we can’t reach everyone, but that doesn’t mean we should blow $32,000 on a pointless campaign. Instead, maybe they should have spent that money on getting some of those people into treatment. It would be interesting to know how many drug addicts actually read the pamphlet and stayed “safe” because of it.

The brochure does have a help number on it and encourages the addict to get treatment. But “Take charge. Take care” seems to otherwise be handling the drug problem all wrong. There is a big problem with drugs in New York City and drug overdoses kill over 600 people a year. However, there are other programs, other literature, and other ways of informing the public of certain dangers that are more effective. These drug addicts, and everyone, need to be taught about the dangers of drugs, as well as tools to avoid using them in the first place.

Sources

NY health department takes flak for heroin manual

City Pamphlet on Heroin Use Criticized as a How-To Guide

NYC’s top drug prosecutor blasts ‘how-to’ pamphlet for IV drug users

There has been much talk in the past about the best way to help addicts come clean from heroin, with some people arguing for the use of drugs like methadone to treat patients, and other people holding firm to the idea that you can’t successfully treat a drug addiction with a drug.

Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to conclude that either way is better.  Numbers do show that the use of methadone is successful in getting patients to give up heroin, but then the patient does not really end up being drug-free because they are addicted to the methadone.

History of Heroin
Heroin has been around for a long time, and is currently grown around the world, with large supplies in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.  The drug had been a problem in the United States for decades, but the Nixon administration actively tried to diminish supplies of heroin when he declared a war on drugs in the 1970′s.  It was during this time that methadone maintenance treatments came to light, and experiments were done to measure its effectiveness.  However, incomplete data recording, complex situations of treatment, and inconclusive evidence have all aided in the differing of opinions that we have today.

Heroin Withdrawal
What we do know is that heroin is a hard drug to beat.  The addict’s body quickly becomes so dependent on the substance that to go without it would mean a severe withdrawal.  Nausea, vomiting, pain, sweating, fatigue, depression and insomnia are what an addict goes through when trying to quit.  But, if a patient is put on methadone when stopping the heroin, the symptoms are not nearly as bad.  The patient will need to work to withdraw from the methadone, but that can often happen over weeks or months.

Another thing we know is that addicts that are required to quit heroin without the use of medication are less likely to stay in treatment than those that are assisted by drugs such as methadone.  Perhaps it gets to be too big of a task before them to be rid of drugs completely, but whatever the reason, more heroin users will stay in treatment if it involves using methadone or another medication.

Methadone Treatment Facilities
Many drug treatment facilities have built their programs around these pieces of information.  By using medications such as methadone, physicians are able to ease the withdrawal symptoms and to keep the addict in treatment.  Facilities may not be able to come up with statistics that say their patients have completed their program and are clean and drug-free, but that they are heroin-free.  According to many, this is a better alternative.  Many facilities work to help their patients become responsible members of society, by keeping a job or taking care of their family, something heroin addicts find almost impossible.  For those patients that require the use of methadone to achieve those goals, the benefit of living a normal life is worth it.

Schneider, Eric The War on Drugs Redux 1-12-09

Mooney, Bette From Yale to Jail

Mattick, RP Methadone maintenance therapy versus no opioid replacement therapy for opioid dependence

http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/teds05/TEDSD2k5Hi.htm