Category Archives: Drug Dependency

Trading one addiction for another is how some drug addicts and counselors describe a popular treatment for curing addiction to pain pills and heroin. The drug, which comes in the form of a pill and a strip that you place under your tongue, is called Suboxone. It's been praised by addiction experts as an effective way to wean addicts off opiates. But critics have said the drug is over-prescribed and abused, and can lead to dependence and relapse. Addiction to heroin and prescription opiates, like Oxycontin, is soaring in Georgia and across the country. At one time, Methadone was a leading drug replacement therapy, but carried the risk of deadly overdose. Now a synthetic opiate, Buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone, is widely prescribed to wean addicts from opiates. But two recovering drug addicts who didn't want to reveal their names told Channel 2's Tom Regan it did just the opposite. "Did you find you were getting addicted to the Suboxone?" Regan asked one of the women. "I did, and eventually it was just, the Suboxone wasn't enough for me anymore. I still craved the high. So I actually went out and started doing the pain pills I was doing before … Continue reading →

He flipped over our dining room table, he was so upset. Violent rages are not uncommon when a friend or family member is in need of another hit to fuel their addiction. The mother, who said she had been battling cancer and her husband was disabled, were living on a subsistence income and also suffered theft from their debit cards while they slept. They were forced to call on the aid of relatives to keep power on at their home. I tried to get his daddy to call the law, but he never would, she said. I finally did. That night. This mothers horror story has a happy ending so far. Her son spent over four months in jail where he was able to kick his drug habit and has been sober since release. Its just that sort of tough love that is required to help short-circuit a cycle of drug dependency, Sheriff Ramsey Bennett told the group. Dont confuse supporting your loved one for enabling them to just continue their drug habit and not have to face the real consequences of their actions, warned the sheriff. Several in the crowd agreed. They say you cant help a drug addict … Continue reading →

Of all the substances Sam Martinez has abused and there have been many pills were the easiest to score. She just went to her usual dealers: old people. A lot of elderly people that need extra money and that dont use all their meds sell them, said Martinez. Martinez, 26, has abused various substances, starting with marijuana, since her teens. For a while, she smoked weed and used meth and pills daily. She knew the dangers of meth. Not even once, she said, parroting the theme of the Montana Meth Projects in-your-face ads. But when it came to pills, not so much. Prescription drug abuse tiptoes under the radar, cloaked in the white-coated respectability of a doctors office or pharmacy. The biggest problem we have to overcome is (the attitude that), Its just a pill. ... Its safe. Its prescribed by a doctor. Its not being made in a truck in the backwoods, said Missoula Police Detective Dean Chrestenson, the departments first full-time prescription drug diversion detective. The problem cuts across age and class, from honors students chasing better test scores to junkies chasing a high that became more elusive during the meth crackdown. Doctors tend to addicted newborns whose … Continue reading →

Denver D.A Mitch Morrissey (The Denver Post file) The idea behind Sen. Pat Steadman's proposal to overhaul Colorado's drug sentencing laws on its surface is simple: Prioritize treatment over incarceration and, in turn, lower the recidivism rates of habitual drug users. But even as the Denver Democrat's effort has garnered the support of his Republican colleagues, it's caused a rift with Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, who staunchly opposes the legislation and argues it gives high-level drug dealers a break when it comes to prison sentences and offers more incentive to continue breaking the law. Senate Bill 250, which passed out of the Senate by a vote of 34-1 on Wednesday and now heads to the House in these final days of the legislative session, is derived from the work of the state's Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and creates a specialized drug-only sentencing system. In Colorado, drug sentencing is included in the same sentencing system with violent crimes. "Drug addicts a lot of times are getting felonies for repeated arrests," Steadman said. "They have a physical dependency, and it's keeping them in the prison system." The coalition of lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and police at CCJJ established within the … Continue reading →

General News of Wednesday, 1 May 2013 Source: Daily Graphic The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has called for the intensification of intelligence gathering to block the sources of finance that sustain drug trafficking on the African continent. He said traffickers had become sophisticated and sometimes teamed up with some financial institutions to launder the proceeds from their illegal activities, hence the need for the alertness. Mr Amissah-Arthur made the call when a delegation of the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD), led by Commissioner Justice Bankole Thompson, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra Tuesday. The WACD aims to mobilise public awareness and political commitment, develop evidence-based policy recommendations on how to address drug trafficking and dependency and promote local and regional capacities to deal with drug trafficking and dependency issues. The Vice-President expressed grave concerns over the way drug traffickers had infiltrated educational institutions and supported the call for intensive education, particularly among the youth and organised groupings. There is the need for us to identify and confront this problem, particularly among our schoolchildren in whom the drug barons are investing now, he said. A former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who … Continue reading →

Hydrocodone is an effective prescription for people dealing with severe pain - but the powerful drug is also one of the most widely abused drugs in the world. it is highly addictive The Director of Crouse Hospital's chemical dependency unit says they treat 500 people a day and director Otto Feliu says there is waiting list of another 300 people that need help. In addition to treating the chemical addiction, physicians also deal with the emotional addiction. "There's an emotional connection. an emotional one where the individual is going to say, well I feel better," said Feliu. "And now the relationship between the drug, the individual and the reason they were prescribed all gets very confusing." Hydrocone and other pills in medicine cabinets around the country are now causing more deaths than illegal street drugs. "We have double the deaths nationally from prescription drug abuse than we have from heroin and crack cocaine," said New York Senator Charles Schumer. This year New York State elevated Hydrocodone to a Schedule 2 drug classification. Schedule 2 puts a prescription drug under much higher scrutiny and doctors have to write out a specific prescription for every refill. Now Schumer wants Hydrocodone to been … Continue reading →

A Melbourne court is trying to establish how a young drug dealer known as an 'easygoing, happy-go-lucky guy who wouldn't hurt anyone' was killed and incinerated in his car five years ago. James Russouw was 24 when someone slit his throat, doused his body with petrol and set it alight in his four-wheel drive late at night at a sporting reserve in Melbourne's east. The Victorian Coroners Court heard on Monday that James had been a long-time cannabis smoker who sold the drug for several years in Melbourne's eastern suburbs of Burwood and Vermont. Popular, with 'a number of close friends', James was well liked and 'commonly described as an easygoing, happy-go-lucky guy who wouldn't hurt anyone', the court heard. His brother Craig said he had asked James several times to stop dealing drugs because he was concerned about his welfare. 'I thought it was dangerous and unethical and not moral,' Mr Russouw told the court. He said that until the day of his death in March 2008, when James told him he was going to 'score' some marijuana, he believed his brother had stopped drug dealing. Later that night, James left his brother's house about 10.30pm to visit a … Continue reading →

Promoting miracle drug Well, I see the self delusional, drug dependent, no, the addicted, are at it again. Legalize marijuana a proven gateway drug, put it at the top of taxpayers concerns and add it to the top of a voting ballot. Could there be anything worse to prioritize or to debate? So this is how we fight the war on drugs and drug dependency? Promoting a so-called miracle drug and saying that by legalizing it, we would rid the world of heroin and its power of addiction, crack addictions, addictions to prescription pills, so-on and so-forth, that it would miraculously rid the world of drug dealers and their hypocrisy and violent ways. Self-denial and delusion is a wonder to behold; it is almost outweighed by selfishness and ignorance. This is promoting a drug that has addictive qualities and has led more people to experiment with worse and become addicted to worse. It has ruined more than its fair share of lives and ultimately ended some. Constant encouragement of a drug-dependent society is heart warming and yet scary at the same time. Dont we, the taxpayers, have more serious and important issues to worry about? David T. Brown Baileyville There … Continue reading →

A MAN who stole baby milk, chocolate, meat and booze must seek treatment for his drug dependency. Sam Kyle Moseley, 25, of Cavell Crescent, Dartford, was sentenced at Medway Magistrates' Court. He pleaded guilty to five counts of shoplifting. Four other offences were admitted and taken into consideration. On July 30, 2012, Moseley stole baby milk worth 30.98 from a shop in Temple Hill Square, Dartford. On August 6, 2012, he stole baby milk worth 17.18 from the same shop. BrettsLetts Print voucher Manage your own property, but need to find good tenants FAST ? We can market your Proerty on ALL major Property Websites & provide additional services if required. Get it Let Fast with Brettsletts. Contact: 01892 530079 Valid until: Saturday, July 06 2013 On January 25, 2013, Moseley stole alcohol worth 56 from a supermarket in Crossways Boulevard, Greenhithe. More: MikeSims published Baby milk thief needs drug help … Continue reading →

BAY CITY, MI As her drug-addicted son sits in jail on a charge of armed robbery, just months after being paroled, a Bay County mother wonders if state probation officials could have done more to halt his downward spiral. Bay City police allege Victor J. Schalk, 37, on the early morning of Monday, April 8, held up the 7-Eleven at 801 N. Henry St. The stores clerk told police the robber had a hand in his pocket and looked to be pointing a gun at him as he demanded cash. Schalk is being held without bond at the Bay County Jail. He is scheduled for a preliminary examination on Thursday, May 2, in Bay County District Court. Schalks mother, Jaki Herman, said her son is addicted to crack cocaine, and that dependence has led him to commit a series of crimes. She feels the Michigan Department of Corrections system for releasing and monitoring parolees failed to adequately address her sons dependency issues. But a Michigan Department of Corrections official says parole officers took extra steps to help Schalk and his case was properly managed. Schalk himself could not be reached for comment, since Bay County Jail policy does not allow … Continue reading →