PokieAct.org Encourages Poker Addicts to Support One Another Online

Posted on May 14, 2009 by admin

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.

New Comer to NA: 1st Meeting Experience

Posted on May 13, 2009 by admin

A “New Comer” recently sent me this essay because he wanted to share his experience. I promised I would publish it but also told him that I would comment on the essay as well. Anyway, below are “His” (anonymous) thoughts and below that are my own. I hope this helps any New Comer to NA Meetings.

New Comer to NA: 1st Meeting Experience

Hey Editor of the NA Blog. I wanted to share this story with you and hopefully get some feed back. I attended my first NA meeting the other day and had mixed emotions about my experience. I went because I really want to quit using. This time it’s really for me. Not like all the other times. Anyway, all these guys were old schoolers with like 10 or 20 years clean, and they mostly just talked about there wives and family and money and stuff, and not there recovery or addiction. Also, the meeting was totally disorganized. There were people joking and laughing while the speaker was talking, etc. You know there were some incredible moments, but mostly what seemed like boring conversations between old buddies. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if I want to go back. Let me know if there is anything you can suggest.

- Anonymous

Well, first off, thanks for sharing. A New Comer’s first experience can be very rough. It seems like that is your case. However, I would not suggest that you throw in the towel just yet. Please remember, there are usually dozens of NA groups within close proximity to each other, all with different agendas, that anyone seeking the NA fellowship can attend. For example, just in my area, there are all of the following groups, each with a different focus: “Step 1-2-3 Ongoing; Beginners; Meditation; Youth Oriented; Women Preferred; Basic Text Study;” so forth and so on. I encourage you to seek out the full schedule of NA meetings and maybe try attending some other groups. Every recovery experience is different and it is very important that you feel comfortable in your home NA group. I know sometimes the “old schoolers” can be like that, but like you said, “there were some incredible moments.” Try and look for those if someone is boring you. I can tell you that recovery is not all fun and easy, but keep going back to the meeting and you’ll see that the 12 steps and the NA fellowship works.

- NA Blog (Editor)

Despite Public Unawareness, Steroids Are Also Addictive Drugs

Posted on May 12, 2009 by admin

With all the recent reports in the news of steroids use in Major League Baseball and other professional sports, The NA Blog felt it important to remind the public of the addictive qualities of Steroids.

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.

Birdman Chris Andersen Rises from the Ashes of Addiction

Posted on May 11, 2009 by admin

As many people may have noticed by now, there is a guy on the Denver Nuggets that looks like a white version of Dennis Rodman that is kicking butt. Well, that guy is Chris Andersen, who has averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks against the Mavericks in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals.

However, Chris Andersen (aka the Birdman) hasn’t always had such a successful life and career as he has recently. His story is an inspiration to anyone in recovery. See, the Birdman grew up in Texas, where by 11 years-old, his father had placed him and his sister in a children’s home. They spent almost 3 ½ years there before there mom was able to regain custody. Nonetheless, when looking back on it, Chris Andersen has always said he made the best of that time.

Later, the Birdman would have to overcome adversity again as he faced a two year suspension after violating the NBA’s “Drug Abuse” policy by testing positive for an illegal substance. As a result, he lost his 13 Million Dollar contract. However, Chris Andersen rose once again from the ashes like a Phoenix, after he spent time in an addiction treatment center and made a successful recovery. Andersen was reinstated in 2008 and immediately made an impact on the Denver Nuggets.

In the Rooms (intherooms.com) to have Charity Walk for National Recovery Month

Posted on May 4, 2009 by admin

News is starting to slowly crawl through the internet, right now as only little bits that have been confirmed, of a charity walk that is to take place in Miami’s Bicentennial Park in September as part of National Recovery Month. Not yet “officially” released to the press, the charity walk is to be sponsored by the social networking site, In the Rooms (intherooms.com). As of the latest update, a committee is being formed by In the Rooms to head up the project event.

So far, what we know is that the walk will begin in Miami’s Bicentennial Park and take course over the MacArthur Causeway, which is the bridge that leads to Miami Beach. Then, the walk is to go back over the the MacArthur Causeway bridge to Bicentennial Park, where In the Rooms plans a day full of scheduled events that will include: food, music concerts and scheduled speakers. For more information, check back often to the NA Blog (thenablog.com) for more information.

Obama Administration Aims to Equalize Crack and Cocaine Sentences

Posted on May 1, 2009 by admin

On his 100th day in office, President Obama and his administration teamed with federal judges to call upon congress for fairer sentencing laws in the disparity that exist between cocaine powder and crack cocaine dealing penalties. Currently, someone must be convicted of dealing 100 times more cocaine powder, by weight, to receive the same mandatory minimum sentence, if they had been dealing crack. The example given at the meeting was that fifty grams of crack would trigger the cureent10 year mandatory minimum sentence, while it would take 5000 grams (five kilos) of powered cocaine to warrant the same penalty.

The original strict sentencing laws for crack as part of the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts were created in 1986 and 1988, at the peak of the crack epidemic that was sweeping the US. For years, people have argued that the discrepancy in sentencing was a racial issue as far more African-Americans are arrested for crack than cocaine powder, while the majority of people arrested for the powder form are Anglo. According to the Huffington Post, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that “While two-thirds of crack cocaine users are white or Latino, more than 80 percent of those convicted in federal court for crack cocaine offenses in 2006 were African American.”

According to AP reports, one the federal judges officials on hand, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, urged the US Congress to overhaul the current law, by testifying that they should “completely eliminate the disparity,” and added, “A growing number of citizens view it as fundamentally unfair.” As it stands, the Justice Department is currently working on new sentencing laws, based on recommendations, which would be more equal in the punishments dealt.

Florida Legislature Approves Prescription Drug Abuse Tracking System

Posted on April 29, 2009 by admin

Last week the Florida State Senate passed legislation that would crack down on the long-standing problem the state has had with pain clinics and the growing number of people “doctor shopping” for addictive medications, by implementing a statewide database that would monitor prescriptions. The initiative was proposed by Sen. Mike Fasano and passed unanimously in the state senate.

Although 38 other states, nationwide, had previously established such monitoring systems, Florida meandered in its decision due to the implicated, privacy issues associated with monitoring personal prescriptions. Still, many Floridians are more than happy to compromise the possibility of minor unwanted inquiries to their prescriptions, in return for a system especially designed to target the more potent opiate painkillers like oxycodone that are responsible for prescription drug overdoses across the state.

Prescription-drug overdoses have seemed to reach epidemic proportions in recent years; for example, the Tampa Bay area has had an average of about 500 fatalities annually, due to prescription-drug overdose, which are almost as many fatalities as those of car crashes in the area. Statewide the annual fatality rate, attributed to prescription-drug overdose, averages at about 2,000 a year, which is currently more than 3 times that of either cocaine or heroin.

Currently, the bill awaits approval from the House, before it can pass on to Governor Charlie Crist for a final signature. Nonetheless, the controversial stigma of privacy issues the policy carries with it has addiction experts, like Joel Kaufman of Broward County’s Commission on Substance Abuse, skeptical about the bill’s final authorization and official implementation. “It feels great that it’s gotten this far,” Kaufman said in a recent interview, “but until it gets to the governor’s desk, I’m cautiously optimistic.”

Report Shows Online Recovery Programs Are Effective

Posted on April 29, 2009 by admin

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.