Bacchus Marsh ice scourge: Police pledge to help, not arrest drug addicts
THE entire Bacchus Marsh community needs to wake up to the scourge of drug abuse, police say. Spearheading a community forum last Thursday night on the growing problem of 'ice' (crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride), Bacchus Marsh youth resource …
Read more on Melton Weekly

Op-ed: Let parents help drug-troubled teens
If she didn't want more, that was that. Why does a teen with drug addiction and mental health issues get to “decide” on her own her health care? Many addicts say they turned around for the better when placed in jail. They are forced to. I wanted to …
Read more on The Bridgeton News – NJ.com

Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

Give your answer to this question below!

A Forever Recovery: Adderall Abuse Should Encourage Prescriber Reform
BATTLE CREEK, MI–(Marketwire – Feb 25, 2013) – According to the staff at A Forever Recovery — a leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Battle Creek, Michigan — prescription drug abuse is a problem that Americans fail to acknowledge …
Read more on Marketwire (press release)

Recovering drug addict shares story of struggle, hope
LOUISA, Ky (WYMT) – Whether it's prescription pills, meth, cocaine, or heroine, drug addiction shows no discrimination. Bekah Deahl has a masters degree in social work, but she hid her addiction from the rest of the world until it spiraled out of control.
Read more on WKYT

Delray Recovery Center Treats Steroid and Performance Enhancing Drug Abuse
Delray Recovery Center is a Florida addiction treatment facility that offers individualized treatment plans for drug addiction, alcohol addiction, eating disorders and co-occurring disorders that include anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. The …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

Duchess Catherine to Meet Recovering Drug Addicts
Britain's Duchess Catherine is to meet women recovering from substance abuse. The 31-year-old royal – who is currently expecting her first child with husband Prince William – will visit the treatment centre at London's Hope House later this month, …
Read more on FemaleFirst.co.uk

Community concerned; Forum on drug abuse shows widespread problem
AMHERST — Bryan Hunkley had run out of options when he finally got help for his drug addiction five years ago. “By the time I realized I needed help, I was already past the point I thought I could get it,” Hunkley said. “I was a step away from …
Read more on The Morning Journal

Author tells Saugus We Care that drug addicts fuel terrorism
Saugus We Care formed last October as Saugus residents upset at seeing their friends die of drug abuse decided to take matters into their own hands. The grassroots organization's goal is to raise awareness about the problem and to find ways to help …
Read more on Saugus Advertiser

Drug Abuse More Likely Among High School Dropouts
High school seniors who dropped out of school before graduating were more likely to drink, smoke cigarettes and use marijuana and other illegal drugs, according to a new report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Read more on WebMD

Afghanistan's growing number of child drug addicts
Except that they are recovering drug addicts aged around three to 12, representing a growing proportion of drug users in war-torn Afghanistan. In response, increasing numbers of rehabilitation centers are weaning such children off their addiction and …
Read more on Al-Arabiya

Enabling the Control Addicts: A Free High for the Greed Fiends
Novelist William S. Burroughs, in his pioneering experimental novel Naked Lunch, correctly identified "control addicts," as opposed to mere drug addicts, as the true enemies of humanity. (1). Burroughs: "You see, control can never be a means to any …
Read more on OpEdNews

Question by Anonymous Anonymous: Why is it illogical to argue that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more harmful, yet legal?
Is it not reasonable to expect the legal substances to be safer than the illegal ones? Preventing potential harm to oneself/others is the basis for outlawing substances in the first place, right?

Please only answer my question, no ramblings on the topic in general.

Best answer:

Answer by tomusiaka
You should not assume that a substance is less harmful just because it’s legal. There are many legal drugs in pharmacy that are much more harmful to you than marijuana and some other drugs that are illegal. Also, glues and other chemicals that can make you high are legal but they are very harmful to your body.

People who want to make marijuana legal have other reasons, too. For example, there are couple countries where legalizing drugs made people use them less and safer, or that if someone wants to hurt himself, he will do it any other way using any other substance that is legal or just will buy an illegal drug from a drug dealer that potentially could be even more harmful because it is not regulated by the law.

People who don’t want to make marijuana legal believe that making it legal would make a lot of people use it and hurt themselves and others. Hurting others would include families (father got addicted and is not supporting his own family), other drivers (driving when “on high” can be life threatening), other poeple (accidental) and government’s budget (more accidents would mean more filled up hospitals and drug addicts usually can’t afford to pay their medical bills because they spend all their money on drugs).

There are other valid arguments on both sides though but the one you gave is actually not a valid one.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!