Teens Use Diverted Medical Marijuana

74 Percent of Teens in CO Substance Abuse Treatment Programs Used Diverted Medical Marijuana

Three-quarters of teenage patients in substance abuse treatment programs in Denver, Colorado said they used someone else’s medical marijuana, according to a new study.

The study revealed that 121 of 164 teenage patients (73.8 percent) have ever used medical marijuana prescribed to someone else.  Patients reported using diverted medical marijuana from one to 1,000 times, with a median of 50 times, suggesting that most adolescent patients have used medical marijuana on multiple occasions, according to Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Division of Substance Dependence. She reported the findings at the recent College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and the study appears online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The study found that after adjusting for gender and race/ethnicity, teenage patients who used medical marijuana had an earlier age of regular marijuana use, more marijuana abuse and dependence symptoms, and more conduct disorder symptoms, compared with those who did not use medical marijuana.

As of the end of April 2012, Colorado has 48 registered medical marijuana users under the age of 18. Four of the 164 teenage patients in the study reported being evaluated for a medical marijuana card; however, only one teenage patient received a medical marijuana card. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 96,709 people in the state were registered as medical marijuana users as of April 30, 2012. This means 2.5 percent of the adults in Colorado are registered medical marijuana users, according to Salomonsen-Sautel.

“We don’t know what proportion of the marijuana they are using is medical marijuana,” Salomonsen-Sautel notes. She said the findings imply that there is substantial diversion from registered medical marijuana users. She and her colleagues say the results support the need for policy changes that protect against diversion of medical marijuana, and reduce teenager access to it.

From; The Partnership at Drugfree.org and Join Together

Top Reasons for Not Getting Alcohol or Drug Treatment

Lack of Motivation to Quit and Health Coverage Are the Top Reasons for Not Receiving Needed Alcohol or Drug Treatment

An estimated 20.5 million people needed but did not receive alcohol or drug treatment in the past year, according to data from the 2010 National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The primary reason for not receiving treatment among those who were classified as needing—and felt they needed—treatment was not being ready to stop using alcohol or illicit drugs (40.2%). The second most commonly cited reason for not receiving treatment was having no health coverage and not being able to afford the cost (32.9%). People in need of alcohol treatment were more likely than those in need of drug treatment to cite not being ready to stop using (45.1% vs. 30.7%; data not shown), while those needing drug treatment were more likely to cite not having health coverage and could not afford the cost (41.8% vs. 30.9%; data not shown). Other reasons given were not knowing where to go for treatment, thinking that going to treatment might have a negative effect on their job or social relationships, or thinking that they could handle the problem without treatment (see figure below).

(N=an estimated 1,341,000 U.S. residents ages 12 and older classified as needing and perceiving a need for—but not receiving—treatment)

• Not Ready to Stop Using 40.2%
• No Health Coverage and Could Not Afford Cost 32.9%
• Might Have Negative Effect on Job 11.5%
• Might Cause Neighbors/Community to Have Negative Opinion 11.3%
• Could Handle the Problem Without Treatment 9.9%
• Did Not Know Where to Go for Treatment 9.3%
• Did Not Feel Need for Treatment at the Time 7.8%
• Did Not Want Others to Find Out 6.8%
• No Transportation/Inconvenient 6.3%

-0-

Drug-addicted anesthesiologists pose danger

Anesthesiologists – the doctors who keep patients alive during surgery, who essentially take over our breathing – make up just three per cent of all doctors, but account for 20 to 30 per cent of drug-addicted MDs. Experts say anesthesiologists are overrepresented in addiction treatment programs by a ratio of three to one, compared with any other physician group, an occupational hazard that could pose catastrophic risks to their patients.

Their drugs of choice are most frequently fentanyl and sufentanil, opioids that are 100 and 1,000 times more potent than morphine. They “divert” a portion of the doses meant for their patients to themselves, slipping syringes into their pockets.

And later, alone in the bathroom or the call room, when the drug hits their own bloodstream, the relief, the sense that all is well in the world, the mild euphoria, is immediate.

See full story via Drug-addicted anesthesiologists pose danger.

Guide on Drug Treatment

Government Publishes Guide on Drug Abuse Treatment

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has published a free guide to choosing a drug abuse treatment program. “Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask” recommends questions that individuals and families who are struggling with addiction should ask to help them make an informed choice.

“Treatment options can vary considerably, and families often don’t know where to begin,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow said in a news release. “This booklet highlights the treatment components that research has shown are critical for success, to help people make an informed choice during a very stressful time.”

Many recent scientific advances have changed addiction treatment, but not all treatment centers have kept up with these changes, according to the Los Angeles Times. The guide recommends asking the following questions:

•    Does the program use treatments backed by scientific evidence?
•    Does the program tailor treatment to the needs of each patient?
•    Does the program adapt treatment as patients’ needs change?
•    Is the duration of treatment sufficient?
•    How do 12-step or similar recovery programs fit into drug addiction treatment?

The guide provides information on medications, evidence-based behavior therapies, the realities of relapse, and the role of community-level support.

By Join Together

Depression, alcoholism take toll on lonely evacuees in Japanese disaster areas

At least once during the daytime, she says she thinks about killing herself.

“Perhaps I had better die,” the woman muttered. “But I want to die in Hirono.”

Cases of depression and alcoholism are rising in number among evacuees of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear accident.

A team of mental care specialists from Kyoto Prefecture treated 262 people at seven evacuation centers, including one in Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture, until July.

The team said 51 evacuees, or 19.5 percent, were suffering from reactive depression.

Toru Ishikawa, president of the Tohokukai Medical Hospital in Sendai, says the survivors of disasters have become more susceptible to depression and alcoholism since moving into temporary housing from evacuation centers. That’s because many of them now live alone.

Full story at; Depression, alcoholism take toll on lonely evacuees in disaster areas – English.

Treating the tiniest addicts

Treating the tiniest addicts – City & Region – The Buffalo News.

An epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse has led to another growing problem — newborns exposed to the addictive drugs their mothers use.

At the Catholic Health System in Buffalo, which operates the state’s largest methadone clinic outside of New York City, physicians used to see one to three babies a month with symptoms of withdrawal from narcotic pain pills. Now, the number approaches 10 a month, said Dr. Paul Updike, director of chemical dependency at Sisters Hospital.

The number of cases has grown enough that the hospital network is reorganizing services to standardize the care of addicted moms-to-be and their newborns.

“We can’t control the influences on a child’s environment, but withdrawal is quite treatable. We can give a child a chance for a reasonable life,” said Updike.

More at;  Treating the tiniest addicts – City & Region – The Buffalo News.

Prescription and illicit drug use | Doctor waiting lists

Prescription and illicit drug use | Doctor waiting lists.

Thousands of West Australians have become addicted to dangerous prescription drugs while waiting to see a doctor, but a lag in illicit drug use statistics has left the escalating problem largely undetected, a scathing parliamentary inquiry has found.

General practitioners are concerned that about 22,000 West Australians are now addicted to opioids such as morphine and oxycodone, prescribed to them to manage chronic pain while they waited up to 12 months to see a specialist, the Education and Health Standing Committee said in an interim report tabled in parliament yesterday.

“The misuse of prescription opioids has become a significant problem within Western Australia and the number of people misusing them is now at a similar level to the number consuming heroin,” the report says.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/prescription-drug-scourge-reporting-flaws-allow-rampant-addiction-to-go-undetected-20110526-1f67s.html#ixzz1NrvhIt9p

Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

Image via Wikipedia

Not In My House: What Parents Can Do About Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Abbott created  www.notinmyhouse.com — a national education initiative that provides parents with useful information and tips to help limit teen access to prescription drugs.

The website offers insight on talking about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and abuse with teens, helps explain how the teen brain may make them more vulnerable to addiction, details the teen drug culture and lingo, and gives three simple steps parents can take to help secure their homes: monitor, secure and dispose.

http://www.NotInMyHouse.com

Related articles

• Are 12-Step Programs for Teens Effective? (twelvestepfacilitation.com)
• When Painkillers Become Dangerous (recoveryissexy.com)
• Seeing God: Twelve Signs of True Spirituality – an Audible MP3 book

Prescription Drug Abuse

Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse

Medications can be effective when they are used properly, but some can be addictive and dangerous when misused. This chart provides a brief look at some prescribed medications that—when used in ways other than they are prescribed—have the potential for abuse and even addiction.

Fortunately, most people take their medications responsibly. Addiction to prescription drugs is rare. However, in 2003, approximately 15 million Americans reported using a prescription drug for nonmedical reasons at least once during the year.

More than 6.3 Million Americans Reported Current Use of Prescription Drugs for Nonmedical Purposes in 2003

Related articles

• When Painkillers Become Dangerous (recoveryissexy.com)
• Abstinence Can Work Wonders (recoveryissexy.com)
• Elderly substance abuse (twelvestepfacilitation.com)
• Download Classical music on iTunes.
• Staying Clean

Servicewomen; Smoking, Drinking, Drugging

Male Veterans More Prone to Substance Abuse

Women serving in the U.S. military smoke, binge drink, and use illicit drugs less frequently than male servicemen, but are equally likely to abuse prescription drugs, HealthDay reported Nov. 11.

Despite exposure to many of the same service-related stressors — plus "the additional stressors attendant to being a female in a male-dominated profession" — 23 percent of servicewomen reported binge drinking in the past 30 days, compared to 43 percent of servicemen, according to the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality report (PDF).

Although earlier studies had shown higher levels of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use among veterans compared with the general population, this analysis of data from the 2002-2009 U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health was one of the first to compare veteran substance use by gender.

From Join Together

Related articles

• Legal, but Lethal (recoveryissexy.com)
• Online Alcohol Screening (recoveryissexy.com)

-