St. Pierre, Executive of NORML (The National Organization For The Reform of Marijuana Laws) feels that the more productive issue here deals with Employees, Insurance agencies, Hospitals, and Employers., let’s cut straight to the dollars and cents of the issue. As a tool for saving money and increasing a patients state of well being, medical marijuana should be part of the array of choices doctors, patients, and employers explore.

Advocates of Marijuana legalization champion it as an effective medicine with far ranging benefits such as treating Weight loss, Nausea, Pain, Spasticity, symptoms associated with cancer, AIDS, Cerebal Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, and Arthritis. In addition it has proven to be a cost effective alternative to other pharmaceuticals.

St. Pierre says it’s the hope of advocates that reimbursing patients who use medical marijuana, could help eliminate their use of more costly and potentially addictive drugs. For employers, as payers of health care., if only considered a money saving tool – medical marijuana could very well be a solution.

Here at the NA Blog we’d like to extend our reviews and recommendations of recovery books to our readers as part of a new segment we’ll be running titled, “Recovery Books.” Check back often for the latest and best reviews of a whole spectrum of recovery books. Also, for future reference, please find all of our future segments in the sidebar, under the category titled, “Recovery Books.”

We start with the book, “A Day Without Pain,” by Dr. Mel Pohl. In A Day Without Pain, Dr. Mel Pohl addresses all the dangers that come with the excessive use and abuse of prescription painkillers that are used to treat chronic pain. Dr. Pohl also goes on to inform readers that are alternatives to prescription painkillers and the (quick addiction that often come with them); namely, holistic approaches that don’t depend on using any kinds of drugs.

Amazon user Gary L Dickinson describes A Day Without Pain by saying, “chemical dependency perspective to chronic pain management (utilizing 12 step approaches and spirituality) make a lot of sense and deepens commitment for patients.”

Just a little about Dr. Mel Pohl; he is a Board Certified Family Practitioner, Vice President of Medical Affairs and the Medical Director of Las Vegas Recovery Center (LVRC), and has many years of addiction and recovery experience. As for the noted contributor, Mike Donahue, he is a journalist who worked close with Dr. Pohl to complete the book.

The Arizona Star recently polled their readers to find out if they supported the initiative of legalizing marijuana in the state.  Shockingly, the majority were in favor of legal marijuana in the state of Arizona.  However, the periodical made sure to note that the study was not scientific and that it only reflected the opinion of those who participated.

Nonetheless, when asked: “Do you believe marijuana should be legal for recreation purposes?” 84% of readers agreed that it should.  When asked: “How would you view the legalization of marijuana? (In terms of the government’s role)” 53% agreed that it was wise and 39% agreed that it would be a satisfactory means of seeking tax revenue.  Finally, when asked: “What effect do you believe legalizing marijuana would have on drug trafficking and its related violence?” 70% thought it would decrease significantly, while only 9% claimed no effect.

For me, the poll reflects the trend of medical and legal marijuana across the US.  It also makes sense, as the “Baby Boomer” generation is now in full control of the reins.  After all, they were also the generation marked by the “hippie” drug culture.  Still, I conclude that these Arizonians, and many others, are oblivious to the realities of legalizing drugs.  I would argue from the slippery slope premise and say that there is a snowball effect.  Basically, you start with allowing medical marijuana, and then it is all together legal, which eventually leads to the legalization of all drugs.

What kills more people per year, illegal drugs or legal drugs and alcohol?  Answer, legal drugs and alcohol.  Of course, common sense would tell us because it is more readily available when legal and less controlled.

A frightening report from the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), known as “The National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment 2009 (NPDTA),” was recently released and reflected an excessive abuse of nonmedical, prescription drug use in the US. The most startling figure, however, was the absorbent amount of youths (12-21) that were included in the results.

The very first sentence of the report reads: “Approximately 6.9 million individuals aged 12 or older were current (past month) nonmedical users of prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs (opioid pain relievers tranquilizers, sedatives, or stimulants) during 2007, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

The report goes on to note: “the number of deaths and treatment admissions involving CPDs, particularly prescription opioids, increased significantly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, unintentional overdose deaths involving prescription opioids increased 114 percent from 2001 (3,994) to 2005 (8,541), the most recent nationwide data available.”

The data is based upon an accumulation of information collected from local law enforcement authorities and public health officials across the US. For the full report of The National Prescription Drug Threat Assessment 2009, please click the following links:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs33/33775/index.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs33/33775/33775p.pdf

A Harvard psychologist named Gene M. Heyman recently released the book, Addiction: A Disorder of Choice, which asserts that addiction isn’t really an illness. However, it really isn’t that surprising as Heyman is just one of the many who have previously posed this opinion.

The facts remain that nearly all health experts agree that addiction is a serious illness, which is not voluntarily chosen. Among such experts that disagree with the logic behind Addiction: A Disorder of Choice, is Norman Miller, professor of medicine at Michigan State University, who says: “These guys – I don’t know, academia, they just kind of take what they want, and they don’t care about the truth, or what the studies show.”

Tony George, the head of addiction psychiatry at the University of Toronto, further expounds upon this point, when he says the following about Gene M. Heyman’s hypothesis in the new book: “Where (Heyman) loses the argument is that there are clearly both biological and environmental or contextual factors involved, but he’s basically saying that the context and the environment are everything and the biology is irrelevant.”

The new “Pokies Cause Pain” campaign is encouraging people that live with a pokie addiction (poker machine) to share their tales online with the hope of preventing others that maybe destined for similar paths.

The campaign was initiated by Australian senator Nick Xenophon and was launched on “Responsible Gambling Awareness Week.” Senator Xenophon told the Australian AP that families had been victimized long enough as a result of pokie addiction and added “It’s an opportunity for people to have that voice. They haven’t had it in the past.”

For anyone interested in making an anonymous contribution to the “Pokies Cause Pain” campaign, the website is up and running and can be found at: www.PokieAct.org.

Still, Australian Senator Nick Xenophon said that the government must find a better way to shift taxes collected from pokies to other areas and ultimately limit the influence of pokies; “There is no doubt that communities would be better off, budget bottom lines would be better off, if state governments didn’t rely so heavily on poker machine taxes,” Xenophon said.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has reported that the number of steroid users that become addicted is undetermined. The criterion to be qualified as a steroids addict includes having built a tolerance, compulsive use of the drug regardless of its negative consequences, and withdrawal symptoms once consumption has stopped. Withdrawal symptoms from cessation of steroids use also includes depression that can last several months.

The addictive quality of steroids may explain why MLB baseball players continue its use, in spite of the fact that their athletic career is being put at risk.

For those seeking treatment, NIDA lists some options, including supportive and behavioral therapy, as well as medications that help restore the natural balance of hormones in the individual.

Although a recent analysis by Quest Diagnostics showed that cocaine and methamphetamine use dropped amongst US workers in 2008, it also confirmed that use of amphetamines rose during that same period. The results came from 5.7 million urine samples Quest Diagnostics tested. The breakdown for drug use amongst US workers in 2008 was as follows: cocaine use fell by 29%; methamphetamine use dropped by 21%; and Amphetamine use rose from 5.3 percent in 2007 to a whopping 12.5 percent last year in 2008.

Quest Diagnostics’ urine tests are designed to check recent drug use, as in a 1-3 day period. The company disclosed that the US government and the medical field concurred that the spike in amphetamine use over the last year coincides with the data collected from hospitals for prescriptions given to treat ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Chemicals prescribed to treat ADHD, such as Ritalin, often contain amphetamines or “Speed” as it’s known on the street. Quest Diagnostics confirmed that according to their information, drug use amongst US workers has shown an overall decline since 1988.

According to a recently published report by John Hopkins University, online drug treatment programs can provide short term counseling that is considered “just as effective” as traditional in-person group counseling. Former U.S. drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, was on hand for the announcement and said: “People need effective, science-based treatment that is appropriate for their community. This Internet delivery behind health care is going to be a big thing for us in the coming years.”

To prove the effectiveness of online recovery programs, researchers put 37 participants that sought a methadone treatment program into two groups, the first being a traditional counseling group and the second an online video-based group. Sic weeks later, researchers found that the online group attended 90 percent of the time, while the traditional group had only attended 76 percent of the time.

The findings are very exciting for individuals of low-income status that cannot afford the often pricey cost of in-patient treatment. However, traditional meetings such as AA and NA charge nothing for attending, while many online sessions, similar to those mentioned in the article “cost $50 each, and participants take part for 24 sessions. That comes to $1,200 for twice-weekly sessions over three months, only slightly less than in-person treatment,” according to Greg Warren, executive director of Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems.

Still, there are now social networking websites, such as IntheRooms.com that are a marriage of the two, by providing free memberships to recovering addicts seeking online recovery interaction with others. In the Rooms is considered a website were recovering addicts can go between their traditional group meetings to connect with others in the community to supplement their recovery efforts.

The University of Washington recently published a study in the mental health journal, Psychiatric Services, to determine the efficiency of Seattle’s mental health services and whether the majority of addicts or people with psychiatric disorders seeking treatment were deterred based on social stigmas.

The study was conducted in conjunction with the Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations, or CHAMMP. CHAMMP and the University of Washington’s psychology Department, the Harborview Medical Center, worked together to interview the staff of fifteen local community health care clinics.  The interviews were 90 minutes long and asked staff members to relate their personal experiences of addicts and mentally ill individuals’ treatment at the clinics.

The results of the study showed that current approaches to psychotherapy and addiction recovery treatments in Seattle needed to embrace more positive practices and had to be more readily available throughout the community, especially when it came to the handling of individuals with disadvantaged status who sought treatment.

Based on the findings, the researches suggested that many Seattle residents living with mental health disorders and chemical dependence issues were reluctant to seek professional help due to the lack of available services, and even more so, in impoverished portions of the city.  As it stands, the problems of low funding for clinics, poor organization and a more beneficial attitude toward the person seeking treatment must be improved to ensure better results.