Addiction treatment difficult, but possible

Jackson's heroin problem persists, fuelled by prescription drug abuse; addiction treatment difficult, but possible

JACKSON, MI – Almost every person with an addiction to heroin knows someone whose use has killed them. Most have overdosed or been near death, but this often isn’t enough to convince them to stop or seek help, those who work in substance abuse treatment report. “It is amazing. It is incredible, the power of opiates. It controls you. You do not control it,” said Mike Hirst, who lost his son to heroin in 2010 and now does much heroin-related education and community outreach. He and others have gained some ground, but the problem persists in Jackson and elsewhere, affecting people across a broad spectrum of classes and circumstances. “It’s not going away,” Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Dave Cook said of the drug. “It’s cheap, and it’s the best fix out there.” About twice a week, officers or informants working for the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team buy heroin in Jackson County, said Cook, who heads the team. Since 2009, they have seized 3,047 grams of heroin in the county. The number increased every year from 2009 to 2011, when it took a big jump because of a large bust. Last year, the narcotics team removed less heroin from the streets than any of the previous three years, but Cook said this does not mean the drug is no longer an issue. Occasionally, officers arrest a significant trafficker, but the take-down never slows the supply for long, he said. “The sad truth is we are not going to put them out of business. As long as there is a need, these guys are going to be slinging heroin because there is a lot of money to be made in it,” Cook said. He said the drug made a resurgence from 2000 to 2005, and its use and prevalence has not slowed. “I’d say it picked up.” There were about twice the number of people in the United States who depended on or abused heroin in 2012 than there were in 2002, according to the most recent statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the addiction is difficult to treat. Jackson County Recovery Court, which aims to help felony offenders with drug or alcohol dependencies, has the least success with those who are struggling with opiate addictions. They require more intensive treatment the court does not always have the resources to provide. The program has had some success with users who are more mature, who have more to lose, said Newell Turpel, court recovery coach. “Young people are our hardest target population.” Most with addictions to heroin are in their 20s, recovery court officials say, and the court now has some federal grant money designated for a pilot program to increase the help it offers opiate users. Usually, their troubles begin with prescription drugs, such as Vicodin or Oxycontin, a synthetic version of heroin. They had an injury or a dental procedure and a doctor wrote them a prescription, or they started taking pills to get high. People become hooked on the pills and gravitate to heroin, which is less expensive. It cost about $20 for a “bindle,” a tenth of a gram, which amounts to about one usage, Cook said. Until communities have a handle on the prescription drug problem, the heroin problem will persist, said Hirst, who speaks at schools and, with his family, started a nonprofit foundation, Andy’s Angels, in honor of his son. “Everybody has access to prescription drugs anymore.” Deaths result. From 1999 to 2012, the latest included year, there were 2,033 heroin-related deaths in Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. The number from 2010 to 2012 was 728, up from the 271 reported from 1999 to 2002. In Jackson County, there have been five such deaths from 1999 to 2012, the agency reports, but local information suggests there have been far more. Hirst knows of as many as four heroin deaths in the last three months. Jessica Neeley, a 27-year-old recovering from a heroin addiction, went to a memorial just last week. “There are people dying every single day that aren’t famous,” she said during a recent conversation about actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a heroin overdose in February. Neeley would rather people hear the success stories. Some recover from their addiction, but it takes motivation and work. “They have to do it on their own, and they have to really want to do it on their own,” Hirst said. “They have to want to get better Addiction treatment possible

'I'm a drug addict and I enjoy being high'

Drug Rehab News Friday 7th March,

'I'm a drug addict and I enjoy being high': Top baseball prospect, 22, opens up about his battle with addiction and checking himself into rehab

Jon Singleton, 22, from California, is considered the top first base prospect in baseball Currently playing in the big league spring training games for the Houston Astros After failing two drug tests, has opened up about his struggle with marijuana Says that first trying as a teenager drove his addiction Checked himself into rehab and has been clean for a year Determined for Houston's first base job Jon Singleton – the top first base prospect in baseball at the moment who is expected to bring the Houston Astros out of an extended slump – has spoken for the first time about his drug addiction. The 22-year-old, who has become known as a dynamic left-handed hitter, has opened up about his battle with marijuana since first trying it as a teenager and a recent one-month stay at a rehabilitation center to straighten out his life. ‘At this point it's pretty evident to me that I'm a drug addict,’ he told The Associated Press. ‘I don't openly tell everyone that, but it's pretty apparent to myself. ‘I know that I enjoy smoking weed, I enjoy being high and I can't block that out of my mind that I enjoy that. Drug rehab news

Back To Rehab For You Mate

Chris Brown Ordered Back To Rehab By Judge

The R&B star has been ordered to return to rehab for another two months to deal with anger management issues.

A Los Angeles judge has ordered Chris Brown to stay in an anger-management and drug rehab programme for another two months and then return to court. The R&B singer started the programme at a rehab centre in LA three months ago following his arrest over allegations he punched a man. The Grammy winner is still on probation following his attack on then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, and several subsequent incidents have risked violating the terms of his probation. The judge in California on Friday scheduled Brown's next court hearing in LA for April 23. It would come after what is expected to be a brief assault trial in Washington DC earlier that month. In that incident, Brown and his bodyguard are accused of punching a photographer and breaking his nose outside a hotel where he had a nightclub appearance. Brown, 24, denies the charge. Brown's lawyers have asked the judge to await the outcome of the Washington case before hearing evidence on whether the musician should go to jail for a probation violation. Drug Rehab

Eight men charged over £950,000 drugs seizure

Eight men have been charged in connection with the seizure of drugs worth almost £1m, police said. The men, aged between 33 and 55, were detained as part of a Scotland-wide crackdown on serious and organised crime over the past two weeks. Detectives were investigating the seizure of £950,000 worth of diamorphine between August last year and January. Most of the men were detained in Hamilton and Blantyre in Lanarkshire. They have been charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act and are due to appear in court at a later date. Det Ch Inspector Colin Boyle said: "As a result of the investigation, almost £1 million worth of diamorphine was seized before it could cause untold harm on our communities. "Our inquiries have resulted in eight men subsequently being charged with drug offences and these arrests should send a clear message that Police Scotland will continue to act on information from the public to tackle serious and organised crime whenever it arises." Drugs seizure

Mexican Drug Lord's Secret Tunnel Network

Authorities in Mexico have released video footage of a secret tunnel network used by drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman to avoid capture. The footage, released by Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam, shows hidden passageways and staircases the drug lord had built to navigate between his homes. Known as "El Chapo", or Shorty, 5ft 6in Guzman was seized by Mexican marines with the help of US agents in a condo in the resort city of Mazatlan. His arrest was a significant victory for Mexico and the US in the war on drugs, according to the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Michael McCaul said he was encouraging Mexican authorities to send the 56-year-old to America, where he faces at least seven indictments. The US had offered a $5m (£3m) reward for information leading to Guzman's capture, with "multiple indictments in multiple cities" from New York to San Diego. He has also been branded "public enemy number one" in Chicago. Republican Representative Mr McCaul told ABC News it was up to Mexico to decide where the suspect is prosecuted. But he noted Guzman escaped from prison in 2001 - by hiding in a laundry basket - eluding authorities for 13 years. Mr McCaul said Guzman would end up "in a super-max prison" in the US from which he could not escape. Asked if he would like to see him hauled before US courts the politician said: "I would. I think the normal sequence is Mexico, being a sovereign nation, has the first prosecution. "However, there's a history here. He escaped from a prison in 2001. There is corruption in that country." "I would ask that the Mexicans consider extraditing him to the United States, where he will be put in a super-max prison under tight security where he cannot escape, and be brought to justice with a life imprisonment sentence. "I think that would be the best course for not only Mexico, but also the United States, in ensuring that what happened in 2001 does not happen again." Guzman, who arrived at the Mexico City airport after his arrest and was being taken directly to prison, was the most wanted drug baron on the planet. He runs Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel and his fortune has grown to more than $1bn, according to Forbes magazine. It listed him among the "world's most powerful people" and ranked him above the presidents of France and Venezuela. Guzman was found with an unidentified woman and no shots were fired during his capture. His cartel has smuggled billions of dollars-worth of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines into the US, and fought vicious turf wars with other Mexican gangs. He pioneered the use of sophisticated underground tunnels to smuggle drug shipments across the border and also became a major narcotics exporter to Europe and Asia. Nearly 80,000 people have been killed in the last seven years with much of the violence in western and northern regions that have long been major smuggling routes. Drug lords secret tunnels

Russell Brand calls for change in drug laws in wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death

Comic actor and former heroin addict Russell Brand says the recent death of Philip Seymour Hoffman makes the case that drug laws need to be changed. Writing for the British newspaper The Guardian, Brand argues that drug addiction is a “mental illness” and should therefore be treated as a medical condition in hopes of preventing tragedies such as Hoffman, who was found dead in his apartment this past weekend from a suspected heroin overdose. Asks Brand: “Would Hoffman have died if this disease were not so enmeshed in stigma? If we weren’t invited to believe that people who suffer from addiction deserve to suffer? Would he have OD’d if drugs were regulated, controlled and professionally administered?” Change drug laws

Are the "Northern Ireland drug deaths 'different from rest of UK' really"

Drugs-related deaths in Northern Ireland are mostly linked to prescription drugs, unlike other regions of the UK, a study suggests. Whereas the vast majority of drug-related deaths in the UK are linked to opiates such as heroin and morphine, in NI most relate to other drugs. The research was carried out by St George's, University of London. It found there was a small decrease in the overall number of drug-related deaths in Northern Ireland. There were 78 such deaths in 2012 as opposed to 82 in 2011. In Northern Ireland, higher proportions of deaths were attributed to the misuse of drugs such as Tramadol, benzodiazepines and anti-depressants. Northern Ireland also displayed a substantially lower proportion of deaths attributed to heroin/morphine and methadone than other regions of the UK, such as the south of England, the midlands and London. Drug deaths