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Is opiate pain medication safe for addicts? Part II
In our previous article on pain medication and addicts we looked at how common opiate prescriptions are among people who are, or ever have been, identified as having substance abuse issues. We saw that although clinicians are often aware of the problem of possible prescription addiction developing, the issue of managing pain often results in…
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Is opiate pain medication safe for addicts? Part I
A recent user question on VYou (see my response here) addressed the issue of prescribing addicts with opioid pain medication. Since prescription medication abuse and addiction is on the rise and getting more and more attention in the media every year, the question of whether addicts in recovery, or people who have dealt with substance…
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WCSAD – Addiction and treatment education conference is back
Our readers may remember us highlighting the West Cost Symposium on Addictive Disorders conference, which took place at the La Quinta Resort and Club in La Quinta, California, last year. Well, the conference was so amazing and well planned that we wanted to make sure you heard about it again this year. The West Coast Symposium…
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Brain and relaxation drinks – the new fad
You’ve seen them advertised an on store shelves – drinks with names like Neuro, IDrink, and Dreamwater promise that their combinations of hormones, neurotransmitters, and related amino-acids will keep you relaxed, focused, happy, and improve your sex life. We’ve seen these sorts of promises before from unregulated dietary supplements. The problem is that, since these…
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The best addiction treatment option
I get asked which addiction treatment option is the best all the time. The short answer? Whichever one ends up working for the client. I don’t like being stuck in the corner, having to pick a “best of” option just because I’m asked. For some clients Moderation Management will work, others need intense day-treatment or…
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Keep your head up – no shame in addiction
A client come in today for an addiction treatment evaluation. She had so much shame about her drug use that even the relative who brought her in didn’t know what drug she’d been using every day for the last year or so. I told her the same thing I tell all those who ask me…
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Criminal drug possession – Felony versus misdemeanor
In all but 13 States in the U.S., drug possession for personal use is still considered a felony punishable by years in prison and hefty fines. This despite the fact that a significant portion of those arrested meet criteria for dependence (addiction) on the drugs they are caught with, and the fact that our own…
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Prescription addiction – still growing
A recent story in the Associated Press discusses the association between the great increase in prescription painkiller sales in the United States and the increasing rates of prescription addiction and opiate addiction in particular. Increased overdose deaths (more than 15,000 a year by now and the leading cause of accidental deaths in many states) and…
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Forgetting astrocytes – marijuana, memory, and the brain
My favorite thing about science are those discoveries that remind us we simply don’t know everything. A recent article by a group of researchers from Canada, China, and France (see original research article in the journal Cell here and a nice summary here) summarizes findings that reveal some surprises about the ways marijuana use affects…