Malibu Beach Recovery Center

When I first saw the headline, “Overdose Rescue Kits”, I thought it was a joke, a takeoff on articles about hangover remedies. But it wasn’t a joke. (FYI, since that day, the “New York Times” has changed the headline to “Kits Using Naloxone Revive Addicts After Opiate Overdose”. They make those changes occasionally.) I knew about oral activated charcoal used for drug overdoses, but this was different.

Last October I posted about states passing legislation to help those who overdose by removing the fear of being arrested if someone calls 911 to get the person help. This article is about helping people in other countries who overdose on drugs like heroin and Oxycontin.

In Europe, someone dies from a drug overdose every hour, the article says. (I wonder what the figure is in this country.) With naloxone (or Narcan, the brand name), which blocks opiate receptors, the person may be revived. I don’t know if it’s possible in every case, but it’s been “shown to work” and “has been used for decades by surgeons and paramedics.” Naloxone is “a secondary chemical in the drug Suboxone”, according to Wikipedia.

The article mentioned there’s a question about how legal it is to distribute these kits the way other countries do it, but there are groups in Central Asia and in Europe hard at work. In China, if you call a hotline, someone on a motorcycle will deliver the kit to you. In Afghanistan, however, the person who gave you a heroin injection may also provide the Naloxone shot. L

Now the cost. Roughly between  25 cents and $2.00 in other countries, in contrast to about $6 or $9 in the U.S, depending on what article you read.

Be sure and check out the photo of the kit in the article. It looks very professional, like a first aid kit you might buy for your house. A nasal spray is available as well. I wonder why I never heard of these kits before.

In a 2009 article in Time magazine, addiction writer Maia Szalavitz wrote about programs in Chicago and North Carolina in this country.  I also found mention of the kits by a Canadian blogger. Here’s an article from the Harm Reduction Journal on a government site about a study of a program in New York City. The conclusions seemed pretty positive. Finally, NPR has had a story on the kits, too.

As the New York Times writer mentions, if someone is revived with this kit, it may send him or her back to rehab. On the other hand, Szalavitz notes a problem with these programs: could drug users also think that if this is something that can resuscitate them they can continue using drugs with impunity? Which, as we know, is playing Russian roulette with your life.

About hangover remedies…there’s news on that front as well. Just before New Year’s, several new products hit the news. Enterprising entrepreneurs have been busy.

One product, a patch, goes on an area like a forearm 45 minutes before drinking and should be worn for eight hours after the last drink. It contains B and other vitamins, Acai berry, and folic and pantothenic acid. But even the doctor that helped produce the patch said that nothing will help those who drink a lot, so doesn’t this appear senseless?

Another supposed remedy is a pill that is a blend of aspirin, an antacid, and caffeine, and yet another is a mix of vitamin B and C, magnesium and cysteine. It seems to me there are so many more productive things to be doing with one’s time, and so many better things to invent for mankind.

Update from Joan Borsten:

Fifteen minutes after we published Pat's article, the phone rang.  A woman had already read it and wanted to know where to get a Naloxone kit.  She said she wanted to have one on hand in case her brother, a heroin addict, overdosed.   While researching this article, Pat had looked without luck for a manufacturer of these kits.  She tried again and discovered that kits require a prescription and the local pharmacy may or may not have a kit on hand, but there are apparently 200 naloxone distribution programs around the country.  There is a large program in New York directed by Sharon Stancliff with the Harm Reduction Coalition.  To find one in your area, type http://hopeandrecovery.org/overdose into your search engine and enter a zip code into the program locator.

For many people, finding the right treatment program is not always easy. Not only do program offerings vary, but programs can be costly.  Some centers are strictly private pay and over many people’s budget. Or if programs do take insurance, they don’t take your insurance. Maybe you don’t even have insurance.

If you’re a family member looking for treatment for a loved one, the search can seem overwhelming.  Entering “Addiction treatment” or “Treatment center” and the name of your state into an internet search engine turns up numerous choices. What do you do?

Consider a web-based company that refers you to centers according to your specific needs and ability to pay. Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services (www.drugandalcoholrehab.net) in California is one such site.

Founder Debra Norton calls her nationwide referral service a “1-stop shop” that helps people find treatment programs in line with their budget. She started the website to “offer direction to people so they weren’t having to call 1,000 phone numbers and end up with only high-end services.” Indeed, Norton provided a wealth of information when I interviewed her recently.

For example, there are a number of centers that accept insurance. She explained that some accept Medicare, the federal insurance program for those 65 and older and others who are disabled. Similarly, she said, some accept TRICARE, the insurance program for military personnel and veterans.

Financing is another option if you have decent credit, Norton said. She knows of treatment programs that work with finance companies to help clients, and she has heard of payments as low as $200 per month.  “Maybe you’ve asked for help and your father has said he will help pay,” she said. Financing may be especially helpful in that case.  Norton takes the time to talk to those seeking treatment.

There are also sliding-fee programs. But one of the first questions Norton asks is whether you’re willing and able to travel, because not all programs exist in every state. In addition, you may be placed on a waiting list for some state-funded programs.

Norton suggests going to www.rehabusa.net, which will bring you to SAMHSA, a government site on which you can find various facilities. However, be careful when looking for referral sites, Norton advises. Some sites portray themselves as such (“Find Treatment Now”), but are actually treatment centers and may refer you to their three facilities, for example.

You can contact Norton at 800-515-3277, or by filling out the form on the DARS site. Her other is site is Outreach Services (www.drugandalcoholrehabchoices.com, 866-418-1397), which includes quite a bit of information on addiction.

I’ve been writing about alcohol and prescription pill abuse so often that I haven’t given marijuana its due.

As NIDA reports, it’s “the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.” It’s not that I haven’t been hearing about pot (or weed, skunk, Acapulco gold, tea, reefer, or any of the other terms it’s known by).  This MSN video reported that pot use is up among baby boomers these days.  

I occasionally discuss marijuana use with other parents since I have a 21-year-old. Although statistics say the numbers have been decreasing, pot smoking seems to be popular with the younger crowd in my area. Opinions among parents I’ve polled seem to run the gamut from “Everyone does it at that age. They’ll grow out of it” to true concern.

A counselor recently told me that today's pot is different from what the flower children of the 1960’s smoked. For one thing, it’s stronger today, which led her to believe it really does qualify as a “gateway” drug. She said that who are experimenting often think, “Wow, if I feel so good on this stuff, I wonder what a different drug might get me.” I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s scary.

Then there’s the standard body of thought that daily use can lead to “suboptimal functioning,” to quote NIDA again. The organization also holds that long-term use can lead to addiction, or at least to increased anxiety and depression.

In my local paper today, a 20-year-old  that attended high school with my son was arrested along with his parents for having a large cache of marijuana. The man’s brother, in a nearby town, was also arrested and charged with intent to distribute and other crimes. He had a number of guns in his house and $15,000. The 20-year-old and his parents could get seven years in prison, the article said. The 27-year-old brother, who had already been jailed for distributing pot, was expected to get up to 26 years.

Pot can decimate lives, too.

These questions, and the advice in the paragraph that precedes them, are courtesy of the CSAT site (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment), part of SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) in The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The link on the CSAT site where I found them is no longer active, and I couldn’t find a page they had been moved to, either. It’s unfortunate because the information seems extremely helpful. Sometimes the best questions are the ones you wouldn’t think to ask.

If you or someone you care for is dependent on alcohol or drugs and needs treatment, it is important to know that no single treatment approach is appropriate for all individuals. Finding the right treatment program involves careful consideration of such things as the setting, length of care, philosophical approach and your or your loved one's needs.

Here are 12 questions to consider when selecting a treatment program:

You’ve heard about The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, right? The non-profit program that educates about substance abuse and tries to raise awareness? It’s recently been renamed The Partnership at DrugFree.org and has redone its website. I happen to follow this group because I’ve found it helpful—especially when my son hit the teenage years and I wanted to know more about how to talk to him about drugs.

They’re offering the chance for you writers out there to have your say (albeit a short one), post your photo, and support their efforts.  

A recent email from the organization told of this Facebook Photo Campaign: “Share Why You Believe in Drug and Alcohol Prevention.” They’ve done a really nice job.   

Here’s part of the email:

Help us share reasons why Prevention of Drug & Alcohol Abuse Is Important to You! Take a photo with your answer on this PDF and post it to our Facebook page. Don’t forget to tag yourself and spread the word!

The Personal TWIBBON Campaign:

Help The Partnership at Drugfree.org by wearing your own virtual ribbon. Add our Twibbon sticker to your facebook page or tweet your support.   

In other words, if you click on the link above, or go here: http://ow.ly/d/7h8?tr=y&auid=7204810 there’s a file you can download and use to answer why you think that preventing drug and alcohol abuse is important. (Then you post it to their Faceebook page.)You’ll see that those of you who Tweet can help in that way as well. By the way, here’s their Website:  http://www.facebook.com/partnershipdrugfree