Increase in ER Visits Due to Drug Use

Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) -- is often used at all-night parties called raves. Its reputation as a "club" or party drug belies the medical and mental dangers of even casual use. Addiction, blurred vision, high blood pressure, heat stroke, muscle cramping and kidney failure are all issues that can occur in Ecstasy users, particularly those who use this drug over extended periods of time.

The United States government reports found an increase in Ecstasy-related medical emergencies between the years of 2004 and 2008. According to the report, 17, 865 patients were treated for medical emergencies related to Ecstasy in 2008 which include agitation, heart stroke and heart failure. The study which was released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also stated that the number of reported medical emergencies was 10,220 in 2004. According to SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, the amount of Ecstasy that is currently being used is alarming and immediate attention must be directed towards this issue. 

According to Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, chairman of emergency medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, the use of amphetamines is a significant problem for young adults with a high mortality rate associated with it, mostly due to multiple drug use. A wide percentage of users in 2008 had reportedly mixed the Ecstasy drug with other drugs or alcohol, increasing the harmful effects to a great degree. Researchers found that Cocaine use with Ecstasy is more likely among people twenty one and older. The use of Ecstasy also causes problems in the emergency room where drugs are often used in combination with other drugs. 

SAMHSA is putting aggressive prevention efforts into place in hopes to reduce the use of Ecstasy throughout the nation. This should result in fewer visits to the emergency room for drug related medical issues. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, get help. Cove Center for Recovery is a nationally recognized drug treatment center providing addiction treatment programs, addiction treatment prevention as well as aftercare services. The "Real Life Program" is a combination of our clinical, residential and activities program. Daily life challenges encountered during activities and residential life are processed in our therapeutic setting, allowing each individual the opportunity to apply skills and experience growth in the journey of recovery. Read more on Residential Addiction Treatment Programs.

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The New Highs - Purple Drank, Kill, BZP and Opium Tea

In 2009, colored ecstasy pills started popping up around the country in the shape of President Barack Obama’s head. Those came on the heels of yellow smiley-faced marijuana gum balls appearing at a Howard County school, THC candy bars called “Stoners” marketed underground in California, and turtle-shaped chocolate psychedelic mushrooms in Oregon. Every year, it seems, people think up new ways to get high. According to the feds, below are some unusual drugs the DEA says saw spikes in usage in the past year and others that are making a resurgence.

PURPLE DRANK
What is Purple Drank?: Prescription-strength cough syrup combined with lemon-lime soda and pieces of hard candy. Variations include using juice or sports drinks.

Effects of Purple Drank: It’s a sedative and gives users a “woozy” feeling of “swooning euphoria.” The feds say Purple Drank is “highly addictive” and has contributed to overdose deaths, including that of the Texas man widely credited with popularizing the mixture.

Street names: Lean, syrup, Texas tea, purple jelly, purple tonic, sip-sip, player potion, purp and sizzurp.

Rise in Popularity: Used since the 1960s, the mixture has enjoyed a revival as Lil Wayne, Eminem, Kanye West, Fast East Movement and other acts have included references in their music.

Legal Status: With a cough syrup prescription from a doctor, this drink is a combination of legal substances.

KILL
What is Kill?: A narcotic, such as heroin, laced with another substance, such as fentanyl, a synthetic opiate, approximately 50 times more potent than heroin.

Effects of Kill: Results in irrational behavior and is extremely dangerous to the user’s health.

Street names: Kill or keel.

Rise in popularity: Used among hard-core junkies drawn in because of its reputation for being more powerful than heroin.

Legal status: Illegal.

BZP
What is BSP?: Originally a parasite treatment for cattle, tablets containing the synthetic stimulant drug BZP (N-benzylpiperazine) are often combined with caffeine. BZP is typically pressed onto logo-embossed tablets or shaped into cartoon-character tablets.

Effects of BZP: BZP produces euphoria and cardiovascular effects similar to those of amphetamine, but much less severe. Effects generally last six to eight hours.
Street names: A2, Benny Bear, Benny, Frenzy, Legal E, Legal X, Molly and Nemesis.

Rise in popularity: Law enforcement agencies have reported a spike in usage as the drug is sold as ecstasy to unsuspecting buyers.

Legal status: Illegal in the United States but legal in some parts of Europe.

OPIUM TEAWhat is Opium Tea?: A tea brewed with various parts of opium poppy plants.

Effects of Opium Tea: Users initially experience a warm feeling and a state of euphoria and sleepiness. At high doses, death can occur through respiratory depression. Effects of the tea begin within 30 minutes and may last up to eight hours. According to medical examiners in several states, five men ingested poppy tea shortly before their deaths.

Street names: Opium tea or poppy tea.

Rise in popularity: Users can find legal ingredients to make the tea at farmer’s markets or on the Internet.

Legal status: Poppy seeds are legal in the United States, but other parts of the plant are illegal.

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, get help. Cove Center for Recovery is a nationally recognized drug treatment center providing addiction treatment programs, addiction treatment prevention as well as aftercare services. Cove Addiction Treatment Center encourages people to leave their everyday lifestyle by immersing themselves in a new and different environment during the addiction treatment process. The Cove is known for a unique approach to "Real Life" Treatment and Recovery."Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes."
The "Real Life Program" is a combination of our clinical, residential and activities program. Daily life challenges encountered during activities and residential life are processed in our therapeutic setting, allowing each individual the opportunity to apply skills and experience growth in the journey of recovery. Read more on Residential Addiction Treatment Programs.

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away.

Addiction Treatment for adults and young adults: 1-888-387-6237 http://www.covecenterforrecovery.com

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Is The Use Of Medications Like Methadone Simply Replacing One Drug Addiction With Another?

No. As used in maintenance treatment, methadone and LAAM are not heroin substitutes. They are safe and effective medications for opiate addiction that are administered by mouth in regular, fixed doses. Their pharmacological effects are markedly different from those of heroin.

As used in maintenance treatment, methadone and LAAM are not heroin substitutes.

Injected, snorted, or smoked heroin causes an almost immediate "rush" or brief period of euphoria that wears off very quickly, terminating in a "crash." The individual then experiences an intense craving to use more heroin to stop the crash and reinstate the euphoria. The cycle of euphoria, crash, and craving repeated several times a day leads to a cycle of addiction and behavioral disruption. These characteristics of heroin use result from the drug's rapid onset of action and its short duration of action in the brain. An individual who uses heroin multiple times per day subjects his or her brain and body to marked, rapid fluctuations as the opiate effects come and go. These fluctuations can disrupt a number of important bodily functions. Because heroin is illegal, addicted persons often become part of a volatile drug-using street culture characterized by hustling and crimes for profit.

Methadone and LAAM have far more gradual onsets of action than heroin, and as a result, patients stabilized on these medications do not experience any rush. In addition, both medications wear off much more slowly than heroin, so there is no sudden crash, and the brain and body are not exposed to the marked fluctuations seen with heroin use. Maintenance treatment with methadone or LAAM markedly reduces the desire for heroin. If an individual maintained on adequate, regular doses of methadone (once a day) or LAAM (several times per week) tries to take heroin, the euphoric effects of heroin will be significantly blocked. According to research, patients undergoing maintenance treatment do not suffer the medical abnormalities and behavioral destabilization that rapid fluctuations in drug levels cause in heroin addicts.

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away.
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What Helps People Stay In Treatment?

Since successful outcomes often depend upon retaining the person long enough to gain the full benefits of addiction treatment, strategies for keeping an individual in the program are critical. Whether a patient stays in treatment depends on factors associated with both the individual and the program. Individual factors related to engagement and retention include motivation to change drug-using behavior, degree of support from family and friends, and whether there is pressure to stay in treatment from the criminal justice system, child protection services, employers, or the family. Within the program, successful counselors are able to establish a positive, therapeutic relationship with the patient. The counselor should ensure that a treatment plan is established and followed so that the individual knows what to expect during treatment. Medical, psychiatric, and social services should be available.

Whether a patient stays in treatment depends on factors associated with both the individual and the program.Since some individual problems (such as serious mental illness, severe cocaine or crack use, and criminal involvement) increase the likelihood of a patient dropping out, intensive treatment with a range of components may be required to retain patients who have these problems. Cove Addiction Treatment Centers adopts a mind, body and spirit approach to addiction treatment, so our clients are more likely to leave with a sense of purpose and positive outlook on their future after addiction. It is important for both the individual and their family to realize that it takes more than just strong will power to conquer drug addiction. It takes professional help from a drug rehab program or alcohol rehab program to give the individual the right tools for a complete recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away. If the information you are looking for is not found here and you need immediate attention you may contact us:

Addiction Treatment for young adults and adults: 1-888-387-6237 http://www.covecenterforrecovery.com

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Why Can't Drug Addicts Quit On Their Own?

Nearly all addicted individuals believe in the beginning that they can stop using drugs on their own, and most try to stop without treatment. However, most of these attempts result in failure to achieve long-term abstinence. Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use drugs despite adverse consequences. This is the defining characteristic of addiction.

Long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. Understanding that addiction has such an important biological component may help explain an individual's difficulty in achieving and maintaining abstinence without treatment. Psychological stress from work or family problems, social cues (such as meeting individuals from one's drug-using past), or the environment (such as encountering streets, objects, or even smells associated with drug use) can interact with biological factors to hinder attainment of sustained abstinence and make relapse more likely. Research studies indicate that even the most severely addicted individuals can participate actively in treatment and that active participation is essential to good outcomes.

If you are looking for a comprehensive addiction treatment program, Cove Center for Recovery premier Drug Rehab Centers is the solution for you. From Intervention to  Recovery After Care, Cove Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers provides unique programs helping patients  to recognize the origin of the problem that caused the need to self-medicate. Learning how to deal with these problems results in facing situations instead of avoiding them and reduces the chance of relapse. 

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away.

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Breakthroughs offer hope to millions of people struggling with the disease of drug and alcohol addictions

NEW ORLEANS –  There could be good news on the horizon in  US, as far as drug use is concerned. Louisiana, specially after hurricane Katrina, as well as other cities in US have seen their share of rise in drug use. Now there is hope that new drugs are coming to the market which can prevent and treat addiction. The way these drugs interact with alcohol and drug addiction is that they prevent a drug user from getting any pleasure from using the drugs.


Knowing that the only reason that an alcohol or drug abuser gets involved with drugs is the pleasure he or she receives from those drugs, this could be the breakthrough that can turn the tide in the battle against drug addiction.
The significance of this victory on drug addiction is put in perspective when you realize that the root causes of many crimes from petty theft to gang murders are drug related. One can only imagine the ripple effect of making drug use unappealing to millions of drug addicts, when the real effect of it will be felt by every single one of us.

As important as the consequential effect of reducing drug use is for the society as a whole, the immediate effect of it will be  seen and felt in the lives of many individuals struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Once and for all, the drug and alcohol abusers locked in the vicious circle of addiction, sober life, relapse and back to addiction can get their lives back.
 
Hope can be offered to drug and alcohol addicts, and families can be put back together again.
Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, recently at a conference in New Orleans confirmed that there are vaccines in the works against the powerful addictions of nicotine and cocaine.

These vaccines keep the drugs from getting to the brain thus avoiding the drug user the pleasure offered by those drugs to the users. The good news that she delivered was that the nicotine vaccine is going through the final stage of testing in the next year.  She added that doctors are hard at work developing medications to help those addicted to cocaine and marijuana as well.

According to Dr. Volkow, another breakthrough discovery is the understanding that 50 to 70 percent of one’s vulnerability to become addicted to drugs is determined by the genes one inherits.  This explains why some of us need to self mediate to deal with the daily stresses of life and others can deal with stress without any need for drugs.

Without any doubt, these breakthroughs offer hope to addicts and non-addicts who are affected by the disease of addiction and alcoholism. However, we should be equally aware of the fact that we are not going to solve the drug addiction problem any time soon.  The best we can expect is to reduce the number of addiction cases and prevent new cases of drug addiction by any means possible, including education and medication.

If you or someone you know is struggling with drug abuse or addiction and is in need of help, Cove Center for Recovery - Addiction Treatment Center offers a flexible and affordable addiction treatment program. Our aim is to treat the whole person, and not just an isolated symptom. During the addiction treatment process we will work with the client to identify the factors that may have contributed to you drug abuse – home, work, relationships and medical history. We also believe that families have a vital role to play in the recovery process, and each addiction treatment program has a place for family participation, to educate them in the treatment process and to equip them for their role as supporters.

Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away. If the information information you are looking for is not found here you may contact us:

Addiction Treatment for adults and young adults: 1-888-387-6237
http://www.covecenterforrecovery.com/
Addiction Treatment for Teens: 1-888-757-6237
http://www.inspirationsyouth.com/
http://www.inspirationsteenrehab.com/

Predicting Factors of Addiction

Drugs were originally made to benefit the public by improving human health; introducing the notion of modern medicine. However, there is a side effect of having this new form of modernism that was not foreseen: abuse of prescription drugs. When these prescription medicines are used improperly they cause problems for the drug user and society.

So what causes someone to become addicted?

The answer is complex just like the causes that contribute to drug addiction. Some causes are still unknown and unclear. Some factors of drug addiction are known, such as your environment, heredity, and biochemical reactions inside your brain. Repeated drug use, usually for drugs that are easy to get a hold of like prescription drugs, causes the user to become dependent, addicted. Tolerance to these drugs plays a large role and constitutes physical dependency. To feel the same effect of the drug, the drug user has to take larger amounts each time. When an addiction cannot be controlled and the drug abuser cannot get a hold of the drug, they will experience what is known as withdrawal symptoms. When there is no physical dependency, there can a psychological dependency on the drugs, especially with drugs such as marijuana. The drug user will develop an emotional compulsive need to get a hold of the drug. Addiction is usually defined by a combination of compulsion to use the drugs and being preoccupied to get the substances.

All of this talk of physical and psychological dependency leads to try to uncover the truth of the rumor of an addictive personality. The truth is that drug addiction can be genetically inherited. The theory is that a person most likely inherited several factors that increase their risk for drug addiction to occur. Psychological and environmental aspects also play a part in the addiction. Some of these factors that can cause someone to use drugs are stress, anxiety, family disorders, lack of self-esteem, peer and social pressures, and bad living conditions.
 
 If you have come across our article, is because you or someone you love is in need of help for drug addiction. Cove Center for Recovery is an Addiction Treatment Facility offering a premier drug addiction treatment program featuring both residential addiction treatment and non residential addiction treatment. Our aim is to treat the whole person, and not just an isolated symptom. During the addiction treatment process we will work with the client to identify the factors that may have contributed to their addiction– home, work, relationships and medical history. We also believe that families have a vital role to play in the recovery process, and each program has a place for family participation, to educate them in the addiction treatment process and to equip them for their role as supporters.

Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a phone call away. If the information you are looking for is not found here and you need immediate attention you may contact us:

Addiction Treatment for adults and young adults: 1-888-387-6237 http://www.covecenterforrecovery.com

Addiction Treatment for Teens: 1-888-757-6237
http://www.inspirationsyouth.com