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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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U.S. Drug overdose deaths are increasing
The second leading cause of accidental death in the US is drug overdose (JAMA 2007). Prescription painkiller overdose deaths (opioid analgesics like OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone) account for nearly half of the 36,450 total fatal overdoses with 15,000 deaths that have claimed a number of celebrity lives including famous actor Heath Ledger (CDC 2011). With…
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Saving lives made easy – Treating opiate overdose with intranasal naloxone
Contributing co-author: Andrew Chen Imagine that you and your friend have been using heroin (or another opiate). A few hours go by and you notice your friend is progressively becoming more and more unresponsive. You check on him and find that his breathing is shallow, his skin is cold, and his pupils are constricted. You…
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Conversation with an addiction expert – Chris Evans, opiate master
Here at A3 we have already armed you with over 400 articles’ worth of knowledge on a wide variety of topics such as sex, gambling, and alcohol addictions. Our articles have in the past been written mostly by the team members at A3 (with a few notable guest pieces) based upon research findings and personal…
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Is marijuana addictive? You can bet your heroin on that!
“Is marijuana addictive?” seems to be the ultimate question for many people. In fact, when discussing addiction, it is rare that the addiction potential for marijuana doesn’t come up. Some basic points about marijuana: The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain (CB1 and CB2). Since it is a partial…
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Addiction-brain effects – Tolerance, sensitization, and withdrawal
If you’ve been with us for any length of time, you’ve already read about the addiction-brain effects for specific drugs. I think it’s important to understand some of the more general changes that occur in the addicted brain regardless of the specific drugs used. One of the most common effects of long term drug use…
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Salvia, a popular hallucinogen that is much shorter-acting than LSD
Co-authored by Jamie Felzer If I were a betting person (I’m not really), I’d bet that most of you have been to YouTube before. For some of us the video site provides good information and for others it’s an endless source of comedy. Either way, YouTube has also become a hallmark of the youngest generation of computer…
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The Prescription drug use problem: Unethical marketing strategies for Oxycontin
In 1996, Purdue Pharma L.C. introduced Oxycontin to the drug market. Oxycontin is a sustained-release oxycodone preparation used in treating chronic pain. Purdue put together an aggressive marketing plan to promote the sale of the drug. In it’s first year, Purdue sold $48 million dollars of Oxycontin. By 2000, Purdue was making a staggering 1.1…