Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

<p> </p><p>2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young. Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet. For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor. "The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said a 19-year-old female heroin addict whose scar are more than skin deep. She grew up far from the west side's rough and tumble streets, amidst the manicured lawns of the far west suburbs which seems an unlikely breeding ground for a new crop of heroin users. "I always thought of them as homeless and not caring about what they look like and real skinny and everything," the 19-year-old addict said. Heroin has never been cheaper and more pure. Just $100 can buy a two day supply. "I knew. The first time I did it I was like, 'This is bad. I like this way too much. And this is going to be bad," said the 19-year-old addict, whose identity ABC7 has hidden. DEA Agent Jack Riley says powerful Mexican drug cartels have partnered with Chicago street gangs to make heroin easily available. "If I had to liken anything to a weapon of mass destruction, it would be heroin," Riley said. After smuggling the drugs here, Riley says the cartels often operate in Spanish-speaking areas near Midway Airport. "They can assimilate into these hard working neighborhoods. They can appear to be great citizens, take care of their lawn, put Christmas lights up," Riley said. The cartels need the gangs to distribute the drugs but officials say fights between the two groups are increasingly to blame for the near-daily violence plaguing some neighborhoods. "What we consider to be senseless violent acts, many of them may be actually connected to the cartel's operations in Chicago," Riley said. It seems the danger is of little deterrent to users. "Within two weeks I was getting sick physically without it, and I needed it," the 19-year-old addict said. It wasn't until an overdose nearly killed her that she began treatment a few weeks ago at New Hope Recovery Center in Geneva. In four years, the facility has seen a seven-fold increase in heroin cases and many involve teens first hooked on prescription painkillers. "They'll run out, and someone will say 'Well, snort some heroin. It'll help you, so you won't go through withdrawals,'" said Jake Epperly, New Hope Recovery Center. That may have been how Billy Roberts began using. The Homer Glen 19-year-old died of an overdose two years ago and his father now warns of heroin's dangers. "I do it for him," said the victim's father John Roberts. "And I'll continue doing it as long as I'm alive. To give my son's life meaning. A former Chicago cop, Roberts says it's time for new solutions. "We need help. The police cannot do this alone. We need a comprehensive, strategic approach to this problem if we're ever going to see these numbers turn downward," Roberts said. To put in perspective how big the problem is here, the Chicago DEA has secured funding for a 90-person strike force to combat the operation run by the cartels and gangs in the city. Officials say it's the only such strike force outside of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 19-year-old woman interviewed by ABC7, who is currently in treatment, says she knows at least 20 other kids her age, from her community, who are current or former users.</p>

Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

  2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation. The drug...

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Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

<div class="lead_photo" style="font-size: 16px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/oct/29/161288/"><img alt="Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles. " src="http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/420111029155357001_t607.JPG" style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></a><div class="lead_photo_caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #666666; border-bottom-color: #dadada; border-bottom-style: solid;"><p class="photo_credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 10px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">PHOTO BY <a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Michael Patrick" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/staff/michael-patrick/">MICHAEL PATRICK</a>, COPYRIGHT © 2011 // <a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Buy this photo" href="http://gallery.pictopia.com/knox/e/?photo_name=420111029155357001.JPG&t_url=http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/420111029155357001_t607.JPG&photographer=Michael%20Patrick&caption=Michael%20Patrick/news%20sentinelThe%20two%20most%20wanted%20prescription%20pills%20on%20the%20streets%20of%20East%20Tennessee.%20The%20small%20pills%20are%20Roxie%2030%20and%20the%20large%20green%20pill%20is%20an%20Oxycontin%2080.%20The%20second-generation%20Oxys,%20made%20by%20Purdue%20Pharma,%20are%20now%20wrapped%20in%20a%20sticky%20gelcap%20coating%20that%20will%20burn%20nostrils%20and%20resists%20needles.">BUY THIS PHOTO</a></p><p class="caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the streets of East Tennessee. The small pills are Roxie 30 and the large green pill is an Oxycontin 80. The second-generation Oxys, made by Purdue Pharma, are now wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that will burn nostrils and resists needles.</p></div></div><div class="entry-content" style="font-size: 16px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left photothumb_inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="View Full Size" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/2011/oct/29/161401/"><img alt="Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects." src="http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/10/29/103011pillsgraphic1_t160.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></a><p class="photo_credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 10px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">PHOTO BY SOURCE: U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE</p><p class="caption" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Effects of oxycodone: The high caused by oxycodone and other opiates affects nearly every major organ in the human body. So does withdrawal. This chart illustrates some of those effects.</p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxy's out. Roxies rule.A tiny blue pill, no bigger than a baby aspirin, overshadows nearly every other illegal drug on the market in East Tennessee. Men and women beg, haggle, threaten, lie, steal and kill — all for a handful of pills.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"It's the new crack," Knox County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Hopkins said. "Most of the addicts we see don't even shop for Oxys now. They've all switched to Roxies, and it's worse than crack ever was."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Doctors, police and emergency workers see the fallout every day. Sometimes it's a pill-sick addict who steals today to buy tonight's fix. Sometimes it's a baby born shaking with seizures from withdrawal.</p><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left text-inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="tab_header gallery" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 14px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #313131; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><h4 class="subhead" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 160px; height: auto; color: #c2c2c2; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Commonly abused prescription drugs</h4></div><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxycontin: A time-release form of oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, produced by Purdue Pharma and used to treat chronic pain. Strengths range up to 80 mg per pill. Nicknames include Oxys, O's and hillbilly heroin.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxicodone: Instant-release form of oxycodone produced by Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and used to treat breakthrough pain. Strengths range up to 30 mg per pill. Nicknames include Roxies, blues and stars.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Opana: Time-release form of oxymorphone, a synthetic opioid, produced by Endo Pharmaceuticals. Nicknames include stop signs, biscuits, octagons and Mrs. O.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Methadone: Synthetic opioid, typically prescribed in pill or wafer form, used to treat pain and to ease withdrawal symptoms for opiate addicts.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Percocet, Endocet, Roxicet: Mixtures of oxycodone and acetaminophen.Percodan, Endodan, RoxiprinMixtures of oxycodone and aspirin.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet: Mixtures of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Nicknames include Vikes and hydros.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Fentanyl: Synthetic opioid, stronger than morphine, typically prescribed in patch or lollipop form. Nicknames include china white and perc-a-pop.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Xanax: Brand name of alprazolam, a benzodiazepine produced by Pfizer and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg. Nicknames include footballs and totem poles.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Valium: Brand name of diazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 10 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Klonopin: Brand name of clonazepam, a benzodiazepine produced by Roche and used to treat panic, anxiety and insomnia. Strengths range up to 2 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Ambien: Brand name of zolpidem tartrate, a sedative produced by Sanofi-Aventis. Strengths range up to 10 mg.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Suboxone: Combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, used to treat opiate withdrawal.</p></div></div><div class="inline_wrapper inline-left text-inline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; clear: both; width: 191px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="tab_header gallery" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 14px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #313131; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><h4 class="subhead" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 14px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 160px; height: auto; color: #c2c2c2; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Pill Sick: The series</h4></div><div class="inline_bucket" style="font-size: 0.875em; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #eaeaea; padding: 14px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid #d2d2d2;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Sunday</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/tennessee-drug-task-force-waging-lonely-war/">Tennessee drug task force waging lonely war on Rx diversion</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/law-enforcement-battling-to-cut-off-pain-drug/">Law enforcement battling to cut off pain drug pipeline</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/drug-wars-new-front-makes-for-unlikely-targets/">Drug war's new front makes for unlikely targets</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/living-for-the-needle/">Living for the needle: Addict's life a daily, desperate struggle</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/prescription-pills-are-east-tennessees-new-crack/">Prescription pills are East Tennessee's 'new crack'</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/year-of-pills-drugs-leave-trail-of-damage-crime/">A year of pills: Drugs leave trail of damage, crime</a></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #5b7ba4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/oct/30/pain-pill-findings/">Summary findings from the News Sentinel investigation into the pill trade</a></p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Sometimes it's a corpse — a dealer killed for pills or an addict who chased the last high off the edge of oblivion.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Oxycodone hydrochloride tablets sell at the pharmacy counter under the brand name Roxicodone and offer quick relief from chronic pain for the old, the aching, the crippled and the dying.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth — all without the pesky time-release formula that coats Oxycontin, the drug's sister medication.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"It's the epidemic of the day," Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said. "Everything is attached to it now. Our investigators will tell you that 90 percent of the folks we see who've committed a crime say it's to get their medicine. That's what they call it — medicine.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"The days of the crack dealer on the corner are slowly waning. It's become the medicine dealer on the street."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Drugs of choice</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Three people died last year in South Knox County when two men broke into a former police officer's house to steal legally prescribed painkillers. Police say a North Knoxville man's stepson beat him and his wife to death in August to steal pain pills, then burned down the house to cover up the crime.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A rash of drugstore robberies last fall and winter set a local record. Semiannual drug roundups keep rural jails packed and court dockets clogged.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Officers on the beat report dealing with addicts desperate to avoid jail and the agonies of withdrawal. Sometimes they run. Sometimes they fight.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"We're out here beating the bushes today, and in a few months we'll be out here again doing the same thing," said Capt. David Honeycutt, chief investigator for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, as he headed out with a stack of indictments in another drug roundup. "Pills have changed the face of law enforcement. It used to be pot, maybe Valium. Now it's pain pills, and they're crazy as hell on them. You'd be hard-pressed to find a family that's not been hurt by these drugs."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Tennessee topped the nation last year in busts of methamphetamine labs, where addicts churn out toxic waste breaking down cold and sinus pills to produce a homemade stimulant. Meth hasn't gone away, but police say they spend more time and money now fighting to keep the cap on the prescription bottle.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"People are afraid of meth, because everybody doesn't do meth," Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults said. "Everybody doesn't do crack. But everybody's on pills of some kind. Pills come from a doctor. People see that as safe. A doctor gives them out, so they've got to be good."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-size: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From Oxy to Roxies</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Purdue Pharma's Oxycontin tablets once stood as the gold standard for opiate abusers, with concentrated doses of up to 80 mg of oxycodone locked inside a time-release formula easy to crack. Addicts crushed the pills to powder, then snorted or injected them to turn 12 hours of pain relief into an instant high.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">That golden egg gained an extra shell when Purdue introduced a new formula last year meant to cut down on abuse. The second-generation Oxys come wrapped in a sticky gelcap coating that burns nostrils and resists the needle.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Some addicts claim to have found ways to beat the coating. Most don't bother.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Roxicodone and its generic equivalents deliver smaller doses of the same drug to treat the short, sharp bursts of breakthrough pain that plague cancer patients and others between round-the-clock doses of painkillers like Oxy. The pills come in 15 mg and 30 mg strength with no gelcap and no time-release coating, ready to deliver instant relief — or an instant high.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"There's no preparation," said Officer Phil Jinks of the Knoxville Police Department's Repeat Offender Squad. "It's straight out of the bottle."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The easy access and potential for profit have caught on among young and old.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"We're dealing with kids in high school, and we've got people retirement age selling," KCSO Sgt. Chris Bryant said. "Pills are easy to get for kids. We've given several drug education classes to teachers, and the first question is always, 'What are those little blue pills we keep seeing?' Those are Roxies."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Some officials expect the problem will only get worse. Opana, a time-release form of oxymorphone introduced five years ago, and fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine, offer a stronger high than the old Oxycontin with an even greater potential for overdosing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Meanwhile, addicts keep working on ways to crack the new Oxys.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">"Any time there's a chemical change, there's somebody out there who can alter the effects of that change," Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin said. "I don't think you can stop these people from doing what they're doing. The only thing you can do is try to slow them down."</p></div>

Roxies sell on the street for as much as $30 per pill and offer a high that tops crack, heroin or meth

PHOTO BY  MICHAEL PATRICK , COPYRIGHT © 2011 //  BUY THIS PHOTO Michael Patrick/news sentinel The two most wanted prescription pills on the ...

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Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

<p> </p><p> </p><p>Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only show several brain abnormalities similar to those found in addicts, but become themselves susceptible to addiction (the glucorticoids, which are stress hormones, were used to mimic pre-natal stress).  But even more remarkable, Ana João Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa and colleagues were able to reverse all the abnormalities  (including the addictive behavior) by giving the animals dopamine (a neurotransmitter/ brain chemical).  The study has several implications – for a start it alerts for the dangers of high levels of stress during pregnancy, but - since GC are often prescribed as an anti-inflammatory or to help organ maturation during pregnancy - it also calls for an urgent investigation on the effects of this drug in pregnant women. But it is what we learn about addiction that is most interesting - the work not only unveils stress as a new susceptibility factor for the disease, but  also a very simple treatment that, if translated into humans, could one day mean an effective treatment, and maybe even the prevention of human addiction.  Drug addiction was for a long time a character flaw, a moral problem. Now, instead,  is accepted as the complex brain disease that is with the addict a patient in need of treatment. After all many people try drugs, but only a few become addicts And it is in these few that lays the key to the disease and its treatment. So what do we know about these patients and the disease? First although the psychological and social contexts in which the drug is taken are important,  as much as 50% of the compulsion is in the  individual’s genetic makeup. We know that addiction is linked to the mesolimbic system - the brain area that evolved to provide feelings of pleasure to actions that increase our survival chances, such as eat, sex and social stimulation. In fact, drugs activate the mesolimbic circuit too, only far stronger than any physiologic stimulus.  This leads to the production of very high quantities of dopamine – the brain chemical linked to pleasure – creating the euphoria that brings users back. After while, though, the brain no longer can cope with the constant ” high” and adapts by becoming desensitised to dopamine (produced by any type of stimulus) what leads users to consume more in order to “feel” again and trapping those more susceptible in addiction. And with the brain changes induced by drugs being apparently long-lasting - since both cravings and relapses don’t disappear with time – it is not easy to escape once trapped. Adding another piece to the puzzle, recently the disease was also linked to stress during crucial developmental periods, such as feotal life. In fact, high levels of prenatal stress increase propensity to mental problems and now have been suggested also to substance abuse, with the effects being mediated by glucocorticoids (GC).    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Rodrigues and Sousa’s group have a long history of interest in stress and have seen before that  rats from mothers injected with GC while pregnant (mimicking pre-natal stress) show changes in their mesolimbic area and in the dopamine response. So in the study now published, following these results and the addiction-stress link, the researchers investigated the responses to drugs in rats exposed to GC while in the uterus. These rats were found to have a susceptibility to addiction not present in control (non-exposed) rats. When their mesolimbic system was examined they also showed several structural and molecular abnormalities,  including less dopamine. The levels of their dopamine receptor Drd2, despite initially being very high, once they experimented drugs, went to abnormally low levels . So why is this important? Because reduced dopamine and Drd2 levels are typical of addicts suggesting that stress and long-term exposure to drugs affect the brain in very similar ways what could explain why the first could lead to the second.  Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The good news is that low levels of dopamine can be treated so Rodrigues and colleagues restored the rats’ dopamine levels to normal just to find,much to their surprise, that all the structural and molecular abnormalities induced by prenatal GC were reversed. Even more surprising, the addictive behavior also disappeared. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As Ana João Rodrigues explains, “This is a remarkable result because it suggests that with a relatively simple pharmacological approach- restoration of dopamine levels- we can eventually treat, and even more importantly, potentially prevent drug abuse in vulnerable individuals. Of course that we still have a long way to go but our results are quite promising. In fact, if we know where susceptibility to substance abuse lies – and low dopamine and altered Drd2 response seems to be it - then maybe we can find better ways to prevent/treat this disorder. “ Restoring dopamine levels has been used to treat cocaine cravings but the few trials looking at its effect on addiction were never very clear. One possible reason might be the length or the dosages used – in Rodrigues’ study, rats treated for 3 days reverted back to an addictive behavior 3 weeks after the end of the treatment,  but this no longer occurs if the treatment continues for 3 weeks Now it will be necessary to test this new theory in humans what could be problematic with addicts as they are notoriously not the most cooperative or reliable research subjects. Large human studies on the effect of prenatal stress are also difficult to mount but there are a couple of them being run at the moment that could be tagged into such as “Project Ice Storm” in Canada.This study is following women pregnant n January 98 in southern Québec during an extreme ice storm that led to electrical power failures affecting more than 3 million people for as much as 6 weeks during the coldest month of the year(when temperatures can go to -18 C).  It is still early for any studies on addiction(the children are only 13 years old after all) but it will be an interesting place to look, especially since abnormal levels of behavioral and cognitive problems have already been detected by scientists. Drug abuse and addiction carry enormous social and financial costs to society, families and individuals.Only in the US, the National Institute for Drug Abuse calculates that more than600 billion dollars are being spent, annually, to combat the disease. Despite this,a steady increase of drug use among teenagers and in prescription drugs continues with treatments remaining as inefficient as ever.  Rodrigues and Sousa’s work might be the first step towards a solution if their remarkable results can be translated into humans.</p>

Addiction's Brain Abnormalities Can Be Reversed

    Researchers from the University of Minho in Portugal have discovered that rats exposed before birth to glucocorticoids (GC) not only sho...

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UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

<p> </p><p>Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to new treatments for individuals who struggle with addiction. By measuring the neural activity of macaque monkeys, researchers were able to pinpoint the two specific ways the brain makes decisions, which they explained in a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They now understand that neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex determines the value of decisions, while neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex evaluates the difference between expectations and results, which is responsible for future behavior. “The brain is basically a computer, and the neuron is taking information and then giving information that they’ve calculated,” said Jonathan Wallis, associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the principal investigator of the study. “This is the first time we’ve been able to show the specific computation to decision-making in specific areas of the brain. That was really the novelty.” While previous research has determined that these sections of the brain are dysfunctional in addicts, the new research explains how the damage leads to addiction. If these parts of the frontal cortex are impaired, addicts lack the signals that provide them with accurate information about how valuable a choice is, making it less likely that they will learn the consequences of their actions, according to Wallis. “If you’re an addict and this area is impaired, you may not realize your goals, and you potentially are not going to learn from unhealthy decisions,” Wallis said. Wallis and his team conducted the research by testing the neural activity of macaque monkeys as they played games that gauged their ability to make decisions. Researchers could measure the calculations that the monkeys were making in the different areas of the brain, which mimicked the way that humans make decisions. The researchers completed the experiment in 2006 and have spent the last five years analyzing the data. Although still a few steps in the future, the ultimate goal of the study is to use the results to treat for individuals with addictions. “Besides therapy, there is nothing we can do for someone that is severely addicted,” Wallis said. “So far no surgical or pharmaceutical treatments exist. By figuring out what is going on when healthy people are making decisions, we can figure out what is going wrong when addicts make bad decisions and find some ways to target these specific areas of the brain.” While the study has led to a greater understanding of how the brain values decisions, researchers will still need to further investigate how addictive drugs are valued in order to develop more effective treatments, according to Howard Fields, professor of neurology and director of the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at UC San Francisco. “This is a new and important scientific advance,” Fields said. “It is likely that addiction involves dysfunction of the relation between valuation of outcomes and subsequent decision making. In other words, drugs become overvalued compared to other action outcomes. Only by understanding the relation of valuation to action selection will we fully understand how drugs become addictive. After we do that, we’ll be able to develop more effective treatments.”</p>

UC Berkeley researchers pinpoint areas of brain linked with addiction

  Researchers at UC Berkeley have determined the specific areas of the brain that value and interpret decisions, which they hope may lead to...

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Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

<p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become 'a complete stain on our world'.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>He unveiled the measure after talks at a Commonwealth summit in Australia with leaders of countries in the Horn of Africa over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms laws.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Officials said around 200 ships were expected to be in line to take up the offer, which would only apply for voyages through particular waters in the affected region.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>It is expected to be used by commercial firms, rather than private sailors such as hostage victims Paul and Rachel Chandler.</span></span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Pirates: There are around 50 ships currently being held hostage" class="blkBorder" height="230" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/30/article-2055254-0E75C29500000578-633_468x230.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pirates: There are around 50 ships currently being held hostage</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Asked if he was comfortable with giving private security operatives the right to 'shoot to kill' if necessary, Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'We have to make choices.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>'Frankly the extent of the hijack and ransom of ships round the Horn of Africa is a complete stain on our world.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>'The fact that a bunch of pirates in Somalia are managing to hold to ransom the rest of the world and our trading system is a complete insult and the rest of the world needs to come together with much more vigour.</span></span></p><div class="relatedItemsTopBorder" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates,

Armed guards are to be deployed on British civilian ships for the first time to protect them from pirates, David Cameron announced today. A ...

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Drug That Killed Michael Jackson "Was Self-Injected"

<p> </p><p>The jury hear evidence that MJ had also taken a large number of sleeping pills… 08:42, Sunday, 30 October 2011 The last defence witness in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician, has told the courtroom that he believed the star was responsible for his own death.   Dr Paul White told jurors that the most likely cause of death was self-injection of a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol, after Murray had already administered a small amount. "With the administration of the additional 25 milligrams that we're speculating was self-injected by Mr Jackson, the level increases rapidly and at the time of death would be almost identical to the level found in the urine at autopsy," Dr White said. He revealed that the superstar also appeared to have taken a large dose of sedatives – eight Lorazepam tablets – earlier in the night without Murray’s knowledge. White said that mixing the two drugs would be deadly. "The combination effect is potentially profound." Earlier this week a specialist testified that Michael may have also been addicted to the painkiller Demerol, and was also a regular user of Botox. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter into the star’s untimely death in June 2009. The prosecution has already presented four weeks of evidence so it won’t be long before the jurors retire to decide the verdict. Michael’s sister Janet Jackson recently postponed tour dates in Australia in order to be in LA when the verdict is announced. She explained her decision in a statement: "When I planned these shows, the schedule in California was completely different. After talking with my family last night, I decided we must be together right now.”</p>

Drug That Killed Michael Jackson "Was Self-Injected"

  The jury hear evidence that MJ had also taken a large number of sleeping pills… 08:42, Sunday, 30 October 2011 The last defence witness in...

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The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral.

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Occupy London protest at St Paul's" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/guardian/About/General/2011/10/29/1319903537602/Occupy-London-protest-at--006.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">As the storm of controversy over the handling of the <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Occupy London" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/occupy-london">Occupy London</a>Stock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Protest" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest">protest</a> in the absence of support from St Paul's. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: "We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">With senior officials at St Paul's apparently intent on seeking an injunction to break up the protest, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the cathedral's handling of the protest had been a "car crash" and predicted more high-profile resignations from the Church of England.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have already stepped down over the decision to pursue legal action to break up the camp.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, it has emerged that Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, is attempting to mediate in the dispute. She said she had contacted the corporation, cathedral and protesters to offer a "neutral space" to sort out the impasse. The corporation had not yet responded, she said, although St Paul's had acknowledged her offer. She said the protesters had been enthusiastic in their desire for dialogue and a peaceful resolution.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"It would have been easy to opt for a line of action that would have led to images of police dragging away protesters, but they want to talk."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">It was claimed last night that a highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's amid fears it would inflame tensions over the protest. The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked if they thought they were worth their salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">But publication of the report, by the St Paul's Institute, has been delayed in apparent acknowledgement that it would give the impression the cathedral was on the side of protesters.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Christian groups that have publicly sided with the protesters include one of the oldest Christian charities, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the oldest national student organisation, the Student Christian Movement,<a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Christianity" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/christianity">Christianity</a> Uncut, the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the Christian magazine<em style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Third Way</em>. In addition, <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on London" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/london">London</a> Catholic Worker, the Society of Sacramental Socialists and Quaker groups have offered their support.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">A statement by the groups said: "As Christians, we stand alongside people of all religions who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. The global economic system perpetuates the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. It is based on idolatrous subservience to markets. We cannot worship both God and money."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Bartley said: "There are some very unhappy people within the Church of England. The protesters seem to articulate many of the issues that the church has paid lip-service to. Many people are disillusioned with the position St Paul's has adopted. To evict rather than offer sanctuary is contrary to what many people think the church is all about. The whole thing has been a car crash."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">On Saturday afternoon, more than 20 religious figures gathered on the steps of St Paul's to support the occupation, which began two weeks ago.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, has promised to attend St Paul's in an attempt to persuade activists to leave. But protesters say they have no intention of packing up, many reiterating their intention to stay at the cathedral until Christmas and beyond.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">A spokesman for Occupy London urged the City of London Corporation to open a dialogue with protesters to avoid a lengthy legal battle that could prove expensive for the taxpayer.</p></div>

The Occupy London Stock Exchange protest encampment outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp o...

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Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.

<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="panel-pane pane-views pane-stories-media panel-slideshow" style="padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; clear: both; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; margin: 0px;"><div class="pane-content" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: #8d8d8d;"><div class="view view-stories-media view-id-stories_media view-display-id-default view-dom-id-1" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="view-content" style="outline-width: 0px; 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outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: middle; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="610" /></a></div></div><div class="views-field-field-video-thumbnail-fid" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></div><div class="views-field-body" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: left; width: 360px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="views-content-body" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Clause takes a nap at his room to cool down his system.</p></div></div><div class="views-field-nid" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: left; width: 360px; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><div class="views-content-nid" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">ID: 898947</div></div><div class="views-field-field-meta-date-value" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: left; width: 360px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="views-field-nid" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: left; width: 360px; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><div class="views-content-nid" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="item-list" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><ul style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">   </ul></div></div></div><div class="views-field-addtocartlink" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; position: absolute; top: 512px; right: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="views-content-addtocartlink" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="add-to-cart" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><form id="uc-product-add-to-cart-form-898947" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; " action="http://www.demotix.com/news/898960/life-chronic-drug-addict-denmark" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post"><div style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; 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outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; position: absolute; top: 476px; right: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="views-content-view-node" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="View image tags, dimensions and download options"><a style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; color: #384680; text-indent: -1000px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; display: block; height: 26px; width: 107px; background-image: url(http://www.demotix.com/sites/all/themes/clean_demotix/images/more-info-button.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="http://www.demotix.com/photo/898947/life-chronic-drug-addict-denmark">More Info</a></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="panel-pane pane-content-field pane-context-field-teaser panel-story-teaser" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: #8d8d8d;"><div class="pane-content" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px;">Waking up every day with a craving for a substance which has not only destroyed your life but has also taken away your brother,everyone's trust in you, and puts you in the<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />same categories as the lowest members of society,ever wondered what is it like?<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.He is noticeably shaking and restless as he sits down on the mattress in the<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />small, dirty living room.The surroundings seem to lack everything, as if all the valuables and appliances that once sat in this small, deteriorating room has been used to barter for<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />more drugs.Claus goes to his empty fridge and removes three small bottles of Methadone dosage prescribed by his doctor which he has to take everyday.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever, similar to Morphine. It reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to heroin or other narcotic drugs without causing the "high"<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />associated with the drug addiction.Clauses older brother was on heroin and died six years ago due to overdose. "That shocked the sense out of me,but i haven`t been able to stop using it"says Claus.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />I remember smoking tobacco when i was 14 and was given cigarettes by my friend.During lunch hour at school we used to sneak out to smoke. I continued smoking until i was 18 years old then I started using Marijuana."I did not feel high i wondered why people smoke it" he says.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />I smoked it because my friends used it,peer pressure you could call it. His school grades started dropping down because he lost concentration in class due to excess of marijuana.He then dropped out of school and never continued with his secondary education.At the age of 19, during a new year party there were people taking cocaine and some of my friends talked me into trying some.I remember feeling so warm and secure.At this point Claus would do just a little bit of it at a time to make the feeling and the supply last as long as possible.I started out doing it only on the weekends.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px;">Then it wasn’t long afterwards, he started buying for his own. Soon he was doing it every weekend. It became the main focus of all his activities.I liked traveling a lot and everywhere I went with my friends we wanted to have cocaine.It made the experience a lot more fun and enjoyable.Other friends we met really appreciated us having some really good stuff and it made me feel like I was important and gave me a powerful sense of control.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />He takes a one minute nap while seated at a chair during the conversation and immediately wakes up and apologizes.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px;">He used cocaine for some years before his taste in drugs turned to heroin.At the age of 24 he became addicted to it.On the 6th December 1989 he was admitted at a psychiatric<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />hospital for mental disorder because of excessive usage of heroin. "I dont know what happened but i became dependant on it and i kept using more" he says.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />Claus has been in and out of the psychiatric hospital for many years.The treatment did not only work on his mental health but also his love life,in 2004 while at the hospital he fell in love with 55 years Lene who was also undergoing treatment on mental disorder at the time. They both fell for each other and have been together for six years now. "I used to feel rejected and lonely but after meeting her ,it made me feel appreciated and loved despite the fact that i have my addiction,"he says.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />Both live apart and don`t have kids.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px;">He admits that he cannot perform any job without a dose of Cocaine fuelling his system and that does not come cheaply since one dose of the kill-me-slowly powder costs<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />DKK180. “Drugs have definitely become part of my body system and I cannot do without. I don’t even fear the police or dread contracting diseases any more,” he says.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />In February this year Denmark opened its first clinic equipped to distribute free heroin under medical supervision to people heavily addicted to the drug.The clinic is set to serve<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />only 120 of some 300 hard-core heroin addicts.The objective is not to cure heroin addicts, but to help those who are not satisfied by Methadone by providing them with clean<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />heroin, allowing them to avoid disease and the temptation of criminal acts to obtain the drug.<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />Clause is one of the beneficiaries.He receives his doses everyday and he prefers methadone to injecting himself but still he sniffs cocaine. He receives DKK 13,000 per month<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />from the government for his upkeep which mostly he uses to buy cocaine. Each cocaine addict needs roughly DKK 300 a day to satisfy his or her crave. This amounts to DKK 109,500 Thousand per year to spent on cocaine alone.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; word-spacing: 0.125em; padding: 0px;">According to the 2009 report on the drug situation in Denmark prepared by the National Board of Health, the Danish “Focal Point”,there are an estimated 13,000 intravenous drug users in Denmark.It also states that In 2008, more than half (61%) of the young population aged between 18 and 24 years was admitted to treatment for cannabis use as their primary drug, whereas 17%, 6% and 2%, respectively, of the young population were admitted to treatment for use of amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy as their primary drug. Globally, United Nation Office On Drug and Crime estimates that between 155 and 250 million people, or 3.5% to 5.7% of the population aged 15-64, had used illicit substances at least once in the previous year. Cannabis users comprise the largest number of illicit drug users(129-190 million people). Amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most commonly used illicit drugs, followed by opiates and cocaine. However, in terms of harm associated with use, opiates(Heroin, Morphine)<br style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" />would be ranked at the top.</p></div></div></div></div></div></span></p>

Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.

Clause takes a nap at his room to cool down his system. ID: 898947     More Info Waking up every day with a craving for a substance which ha...

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Deadly Drug Overdose Leads to Pill-Pushing Doctor

<p> </p><p>Montgomery County doctor and his son surrendered to police Thursday morning after investigators discovered that they were supplying known drug addicts with large supplies of narcotics, according to authorities. At least one person died of an overdose on Dr. Richard Ruth's drugs, police say. Ruth, of Souderton, was performing insincere medical exams for drug seekers and then providing them with prescription drugs that often ended up being sold in large quantities on the street, police say. Ruth has been running this drug operation for years, authorities say. The lengthy police investigation into Ruth's alleged crimes was called "Operation Pill Pusher." "We know that this community has been plagued by prescription drug abuse and overdoses and this was the go-to guy in the community," said District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Ruth’s son, Michael Ruth, was his medical assistant. "For them to come in and say he’s unlawfully doing things is just an atrocity," a teary-eyed Michael told NBC Philadelphia’s Denise Nakano. Michael also faces charges in the drug scheme that involved charging patients for the narcotic prescriptions and insurance companies for the bogus office visits, police say. Police were tipped off to Dr. Ruth’s drug dealing scheme when sources told them last September that they were able to obtain large amounts of oxycodone from the doctor. In addition to providing drugs to people who dealt them on the street, Dr. Ruth ignored pleas from family members of the drug-addicted patients who asked him to stop prescribing drugs like Percocet and Oxycodone, police say. Dr. Ruth was charged with more than 40 counts of fraud, knowingly prescribing to drug addicts, prescription fraud, and conspiracy, among others. His son Michael was charged with similar crimes.</p>

Deadly Drug Overdose Leads to Pill-Pushing Doctor

  Montgomery County doctor and his son surrendered to police Thursday morning after investigators discovered that they were supplying known ...

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Is it possible to effectively treat addiction without addressing the spiritual aspects of the problem

<p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="singlesubtitle" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px !important; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The public struggles of celebrities like the late Amy Winehouse reveal how insensitive our society has become to drug and alcohol abuse. But the problem is real, says therapist LaTonya Mason Summers, and we need to reject the ugly trend of laughing at its destructive effects.</div><div id="attachment_17095" class="wp-caption alignright" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: right; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; width: 360px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-17095" height="255" src="http://www.urbanfaith.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Winehouse-reflection350x255.gif" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 640px; float: left; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="350" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #666666; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 10px !important; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px !important; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; float: left; font-weight: bold; width: 340px; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; padding: 5px; border: 0px initial initial;">LOST SOUL: Amy Winehouse in London on July 23, 2009, exactly two years before her death. (Photo by Shaun Curry/Newscom.)</p></div><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">This week, <a style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #666666; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/coroner-amy-winehouse-died-too-much-alcohol-123334324.html" target="_blank">Amy Winehouse’s official cause of death</a> was finally announced, three months after the singer was discovered dead in her London home on July 23. After initial autopsy results came back inconclusive, the coroner determined that Winehouse died from consuming an extreme amount of alcohol. According to test results, the 27-year-old singer’s blood alcohol level was five times the drunk-driving limit. Her doctor said the troubled star had resumed drinking in the days prior to her death, after a short-lived period of sobriety.</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Besides being a talented artist, Winehouse was emblematic of the numerous celebrities today whose public battles with substance abuse are regularly in the headlines. By the end of her life, Winehouse’s struggles had stretched to the point of becoming fodder for jokes and riddles (“Q: What was Amy Winehouse’s biggest hit? A: Her last one!”). Sadly, our society has grown so accustom to addiction that we now laugh it off. But for those in its grips, it’s no joke.</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">We asked LaTonya Mason Summers, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based mental health therapist, to comment on the realities of drug and alcohol addiction and what we can do to help those affected by it.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">UrbanFaith: After Amy Winehouse’s death, the Huffington Post featured a commentary by Rabbi Shais Taub which asked the question, “<a style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #666666; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shais-taub/amy-winehouse-death_b_908050.html" target="_blank">Was the World Powerless to Stop Amy Winehouse?</a>” In other words, are there addictions so strong and pervasive that they’re beyond human understanding and control? How would you answer that?</strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></strong><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">LaTonya Mason Summers:</strong> The word choice is interesting here, and I agree: the “world” was powerless to stop Amy Winehouse. But it was the “world” that fueled Winehouse’s addictions. Not “world” in the sense of the “earth,” but “world” as defined by Winehouse’s frame of reference — the background, culture, and lifestyle out of which she lived. Addictions are strong, pervasive and hard to understand and control, but it’s even more difficult when one tries to stop addiction by their own strength and understanding. It is reported that Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning. Drug and alcohol abuse is a byproduct of something far deeper. Oftentimes, it’s a symptom of low self-esteem, unresolved trauma and abuse, rejection and abandonment, and mostly fear. We do a great disservice to addicted persons when we focus on their addictions and ignore the underlying problems.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">We see so many celebrity drug and alcohol addicts today that our culture has almost grown cold and callous to it. For instance, before her death there was a website devoted solely to the question of “<a style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #666666; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.whenwillamywinehousedie.com/" target="_blank">When will Amy Winehouse die?</a>” We see celebrities such as Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, Whitney Houston, and Charlie Sheen, and we make jokes about them. How does this affect our culture’s understanding of addiction?</strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></strong>When we have a culture entertained by reality TV shows, court and crime TV, and sensationalized Web broadcasting — not to mention today’s popular music — we can’t help but have a desensitized society. We are no longer afraid of or empathetic toward anyone or anything because we’ve been there and done that through TV and the media. So, why wouldn’t we have a “When will Amy Winehouse Die?” website?</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Unfortunately, we live in a society that “dumbs down” addictions but tacitly gives a “thumbs up” to its portrayals. Remember when there used to be cautionary documentaries on drugs and alcohol, and on people who struggled with them? Now, we have reality shows that glorify dysfunctional behavior. No wonder we are ignorant. Understanding addictions is no longer newsworthy.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">How do you counsel a person with a serious drug addiction? Where do you begin, and what kinds of things should family and friends understand as they’re trying to help that person?</strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></strong>I used to set up and run treatment programs for adolescent and adult substance abusers. I absolutely loved that line of work, but it was emotionally tough. After 11 years of doing it, I stepped away to work solely with mentally ill people. The public sees addicted persons as weak people who lack self-control and deserve every consequence they face. But can you imagine the level of shame, guilt, frustration, and hopelessness that those substance abusers felt by the time they got to me? Imagine having failed everyone, including yourself, family, friends, employers, and the legal system — not to mention God. I always started treatment by instilling hope and restoring the addicted person’s sense of worth. It was much easier to establish rapport, trust, and motivation that way.</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">God forbid I say this, but oftentimes the families were more sick than the addicts. In fact, family members would wind up on my couch before the addict would. Family work is important in substance-abuse treatment, because the family members can make recovery hard. They help too much. Their helping sometimes hurts the addict. When my patients had toxic families, I’d send my patient to a treatment program in another city or state so they could get better.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Over the summer, former NBA star <a style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #666666; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/jalen-rose-gets-20-days-jail-drunk-driving-160144351.html" target="_blank">Jalen Rose was sentenced to 20 days in jail</a> for drunk driving. Some wondered if the treatment was overly harsh because he was a black celebrity, since others have gotten off easier. Do you think jail time is an effective way to steer people clear of destructive behavior involving alcohol and drugs?</strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></strong>In my experience working in the court system as an advocate for my clients, the courts made it worse. The punishment given rarely fit the crime. The probation officers were inconsistent. The judges sent mixed messages by punishing minor crimes with maximum sentences and vice versa. Jail time is punitive, and punishment does not work when the drug or alcohol use is secondary to something else. Addicts don’t mind punishment because they typically feel useless and worthless anyway. That kind of punishment affirms what they believe about themselves. However, I am not saying they should not suffer consequences for drunk driving, drug use, etc. I am saying that offering them rehab while they’re incarcerated might yield greater results.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">What kinds of miracles have you seen in your work with people battling addictions?</strong></h2><div id="attachment_17103" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; float: left; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; width: 160px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-17103" height="200" src="http://www.urbanfaith.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/LaTonya-Mason150x200.gif" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 640px; float: left; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="150" /><p class="wp-caption-text" style="background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #666666; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 10px !important; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px !important; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; float: left; font-weight: bold; width: 140px; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; padding: 5px; border: 0px initial initial;">LaTonya Mason Summers</p></div><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Goodness, the stories I can tell. I’ve had a hand in imparting into the lives of addicted persons who are now pastors, business owners, and even addictions counselors. I had a 15-year-old girl whose parents brought her to me as a last resort. She had refused other counselors, and I assumed she would do the same with me. After I asked her parents to leave, the girl opened up to me like a book. (It wasn’t because of anything special that I said to her, but other professionals simply had failed to remove the parents.) The girl was a cocaine user and held me by her confidentiality rights, so I could not tell her parents. We made a pact that if she stopped using I would keep her secret. I cannot tell you the anxiety I had for weeks thinking something would go wrong. I collaborated with her physician to drug test her weekly to ensure the girl’s abstinence. After three months, her parents called thanking me for my help. The girl had returned to a healthy weight, her appetite had been restored, and her mood had improved. Today (four years later) she is a successful college student studying psychology.</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Among the celebrity success stories that stand out are Robert Downey Jr.’s eventual victory over substance abuse. It only came after several stints in jail and a long, public battle. What kinds of things contribute to a successful road to recovery, and when do you know that someone is legitimately recovered?</strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">My biggest weapon is instilling hope. I do this by challenging the addicted person’s mentality and perspective. I am a cognitive behaviorist, which means I help change the way people think. I do not know what works, as I have often thrown up my hands on clients who later recovered. Then I have lost clients whom I thought had arrived. All I really know is, pray hard in each session. I ask for God’s help. I ask Him to give me the words to say, and I hold on to<a style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: #666666; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2050:1-7&version=NIV" target="_blank">Isaiah 50:1-7</a>, believing I am called as a therapist.</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">I honestly don’t know when a person is legitimately recovered, as I believe it’s a lifelong process. Like those of us who are not addicted, we have our own lifelong battles — we try to stop lying, cheating, stealing, yelling, cursing, overeating — everyone has a Goliath they must face. And can any of us say we’ll ever arrive in this world? From my perspective, messing up is just as much part of the recovery process as getting it right is. And, if you get it right all the time, how do you know you’re recovered?</p><h2 style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: none; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Is it possible to effectively treat addiction without addressing the spiritual aspects of the problem? </strong></h2><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></strong>Absolutely not! I’ve had to learn how to minister without saying “God” and “Jesus,” so that I can reach everyone. However, I know how to make others want what I have. I was mentored by a man who told me, “I may not be able to make a horse drink the water, but I should be able to make him thirsty.” And that’s the approach I take in therapy. I see myself as sowing seeds, believing someone will come behind me and water them, and eventually increase will come.</p><p style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #000000; font-size: 14px; line-height: 28px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Addiction is spiritual. I believe an addict’s zealousness can be indicative of the great calling on his life. He just needs to move that zealousness away from destructive behavior to purposeful, life-giving behavior.</p></span></p>

Is it possible to effectively treat addiction without addressing the spiritual aspects of the problem

The public struggles of celebrities like the late Amy Winehouse reveal how insensitive our society has become to drug and alcohol abuse. But...

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