Category Archives: Drug Dependency

UN Agencies Join Forces To Fight Drug Cultivation In Rural Communities New York, Mar 19 2012 2:10PM Two United Nations agencies have joined forces today in an effort to wean poor rural communities off of their dependency on drug crop cultivation through initiatives spurring economic growth and sustainable development. An agreement signed in Vienna between Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), will set up a partnership that promotes industrial development, job creation, drug control and crime prevention as vehicles for rural poverty alleviation and development around the world. I am confident that the first and ultimate beneficiaries of our joint work will be those living at the grass-root level, the poor rural communities that often find themselves dependent on the cultivation of drug crops, stated Mr. Yumkella. We need to ensure that they are provided the tools to support their livelihoods, through capacity building activities and job opportunities, he added, suggesting that Afghanistan, a country afflicted by the widespread cultivation of opium poppy from which the drug heroin is obtained, could host a joint UNODC-UNIDO pilot project. The new agreement builds … Continue reading →

Two new projects aimed at curbing homelessness in Erie County will receive $2.4 million in federal funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced. Hope Gardens Housing First, a new apartment complex for chronically homeless women sponsored by the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center and planned for the East Side, will get $1.7 million, while Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services will get $761,000 for scattered apartments to house 20 homeless young adults with substance-abuse problems. Hope Gardens has yet to be built, and the Matt Urban Center is waiting to hear back from New York State regarding $3 million to $4 million in construction funds for the project, which will serve 20 women at a time. The federal money is for rental subsidies and support services, such as job training and mental health counseling. The HUD awards announced this week were in addition to $6.4 million in continuum of care grants for Erie County homelessness programs made earlier by the federal agency. Hope Gardens is slated to be built on 13 vacant lots between Oberlin and Ruhland avenues, not far from St. Lukes Mission of Mercy, a faith-based agency that provides shelter for homeless people. If the state … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new report issued by the state of California reveals that California health plans are doing an exceedingly poor job of providing quality care to individuals in need of alcohol and drug dependency treatment. The Healthcare Quality Report Card, issued by the California Office of the Patient Advocate, compares the quality scores of Californias eight largest HMOs against national performance and against each other in 38 clinical categories. While the report acknowledges that Getting continuous care for substance abuse is critical to successful treatment, it uncovers the reality that Fewer than one in four people who abuse alcohol or drugs get treatment; and among those who begin treatment, more than half do complete their care. According to the report, only 13 percent of those adolescents or adults who were diagnosed with alcohol or other drug dependencies had the necessary treatment within 30 days of being diagnosed. This is compared to 92 percent who receive adequate care for asthma, 87 percent who receive cervical cancer screenings, and 88 percent of diabetics who get properly tested for cholesterol. This is the equivalent of getting 13 out of 100 on a test, and nobody should find that acceptable, said Phillip … Continue reading →

Watch a video, read more about the series and available treatment groups. Related story: Drug problem meant isolation. Faith communities have known there were plenty of people trapped in addiction sitting in the pews, afraid to suffer the shame that would come from sharing their problems. But some places of worship are now offering or hosting recovery programs, minimizing the stigma. "People in the church are just as broken as people who are not in the church, and a lot of times we are good at masking that and faking it," said Micah Hobbs, who oversees the Celebrate Recovery ministry at Memorial Road Church of Christ. "But the reality is that we are all broken and are in need of healing and hope, encouragement and support." While Celebrate Recovery programs have started in a variety of Christian churches, many houses of faith have long been supporters of 12-step recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Some faith groups have developed programs to teach clergy and laity about addiction and treatment. Annette Harper directs addiction ministries for the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church, which offers an education program and support group. The church started its Summer School on Chemical Dependency … Continue reading →

Primary Care Providers, Health Departments, Behavioral Health Providers and Hospitals Join Forces in Community-based Chronic Pain Initiative Raleigh, North Carolina (PRWEB) March 14, 2012 The sheer volume of the problem is staggering: According to the CDC, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for an entire month. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine suggests that the U.S may be spending as much as $635 billion annually to treat chronic pain and that long-term pain impacts more patients in the U.S. than heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined. In an unfortunate corollary, this flood of narcotics is driving an epidemic of prescription drug overdoses. Nationally, such deaths rose five-fold between 1990 and 2007. This loss of life has had a devastating impact on families all across our state. And even when problems arent fatal, the inappropriate use of pain medications significantly impacts the entire community. To address this public health challenge, a broad coalition of stakeholders has launched the Chronic Pain Initiative. This expansive partnership includes Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC), Project Lazarus, the North Carolina Hospital Association (NCHA), the North Carolina College of Emergency Physicians, local hospitals and emergency departments, local … Continue reading →

By Caitlin Keating, reporter Claudio Gonzalez Laporte FORTUNE -- The United States has always had a complicated relationship with Mexico. We receive about 80% of the country's exports, we debate over how to handle Mexican immigrants who make up an increasingly important part of our workforce, and we travel to our southern neighbor's pristine beaches for winter vacations. It became more complicated last month, when the Department of State issued a travel warning about the security situation in Mexico. For decades, the country has been mired in crime, but the drug war has intensified there in the past year. Millions of U.S citizens safely visit Mexico each year, but the U.S. government is sounding alarms on the number of Americans murdered in Mexico recently: 120 U.S. visitors were killed there in 2011, up from 35 in 2007. So what is it like to do business there today? Claudio X. Gonzalez Laporte is the Chairman of Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, a subsidiary of Kimberly Clark (KMB) that's headquartered in Mexico City. The company sells everything from toiletries to hand towels and infant care. Gonzalez spoke with Fortune about the state of affairs in Mexico, the country's dependency on the United States, and … Continue reading →

By Caitlin Keating, reporter Claudio Gonzalez Laporte FORTUNE -- The United States has always had a complicated relationship with Mexico. We receive about 80% of the country's exports, we debate over how to handle Mexican immigrants who make up an increasingly important part of our workforce, and we travel to our southern neighbor's pristine beaches for winter vacations. It became more complicated last month, when the Department of State issued a travel warning about the security situation in Mexico. For decades, the country has been mired in crime, but the drug war has intensified there in the past year. Millions of U.S citizens safely visit Mexico each year, but the U.S. government is sounding alarms on the number of Americans murdered in Mexico recently: 120 U.S. visitors were killed there in 2011, up from 35 in 2007. So what is it like to do business there today? Claudio X. Gonzalez Laporte is the Chairman of Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, a subsidiary of Kimberly Clark (KMB) that's headquartered in Mexico City. The company sells everything from toiletries to hand towels and infant care. Gonzalez spoke with Fortune about the state of affairs in Mexico, the country's dependency on the United States, and … Continue reading →

Over the past several years, Southern Illinois, as well as other parts of the country, has seen a rapid growth in opioid addiction with devastating results for the individuals and their families who suffer from this type of dependency. Opioids are drugs that are either derived from opiates or chemically related to opiates, such as morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, methadone and heroin. Opioid addiction is often perceived by society as related only to heroin use, but what treatment facilities, hospital emergency rooms and doctors are seeing frequently are individuals who have become addicted to a variety of pain killers and who now suffer the same negative impact as from the illegal street drug heroin: drug-seeking behavior, criminal behavior associated with use or trying to get money to use, overdoses, death, loss of families, jobs, social status and multiple other consequences. Suboxone is the first opioid medication approved for the treatment of opioid dependency in an office-based setting. The primary active ingredient in suboxone is buprenorphine which is a partial opioid agonist and also contains naloxone, an opioid antagonist. In other words, suboxone helps suppress the oftentimes debilitating withdrawal from pain killers and heroin while at the same time decreasing the cravings … Continue reading →

One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the 1960s. A study, presented in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, looked at data from six trials and more than 500 patients. It said there was a significant beneficial effect on alcohol abuse, which lasted several months after the drug was taken. An expert said this was as good as anything weve got. LSD is a class A drug in the UK and is one of the most powerful hallucinogens ever identified. It appears to work by blocking a chemical in the brain, serotonin, which controls functions including perception, behaviour, hunger and mood. Benefit Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analysed earlier studies on the drug between 1966 and 1970. Patients were all taking part in alcohol treatment programmes, but some were given a single dose of LSD of between 210 and 800 micrograms. For the group of patients taking LSD, 59 per cent showed reduced levels of alcohol misuse compared with 38 per cent in the other group. This effect was maintained six months after taking the hallucinogen, but it disappeared after a year. Those taking … Continue reading →

Pathways Team Assists Ongoing Recovery from Hurricane Katrina Thirty-two community members sponsored by Pathways Christian Fellowship recently traveled as a team to Louisiana to assist in the ongoing rebuilding of the Greater New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. The group learned that even though the disaster occurred more than six years ago, the need for disaster relief remains. This is the fifth year disaster relief teams sponsored by Pathways have traveled to southeastern Louisiana, and the group was once again confronted by the reality that many continue to struggle with recovery. Drug Awareness Forum Planned in East Aurora Community leaders and organizations are teaming up to provide East Aurora parents with information on the dangersand the widespread use by teensof drugs. Several speakers will discuss the abuse of prescription drugs and the toll it can take on teens and families. YellowJackets A Cappella Group to Perform at Iroquois The YellowJackets, the University of Rochester's premier a cappella group, will perform at Iroquois Central High School on Thurs., March 15 at 7 p.m. The concert takes place in the auditorium at 2111 Girdle Road in Elma. Survey Says: Preserve Marilla's Rural Character Based on several hundred responses received back from Marill''s … Continue reading →