Addictions Treatment Blog

Recent reports have surfaced that actress Lindsay Lohan was incorrectly diagnosed as having ADHD and put on a stimulant like Adderall. Her legal team may be using this incorrect diagnosis and prescription drug treatment as the cause for her erratic behavior in an effort to remove some of the responsibility from her.

However, as famed anti-psychiatric-drug Dr. Peter Breggin points out on MTV.com, drugs like Adderall create the same effects in people whether they have any diagnosis or not. Amphetamines are speed and if you give someone the drug long enough it will produce negative side effects and even dependency. In fact, Adderall addiction is a major problem in America today.

Many young people fake symptoms in order to obtain prescriptions for Adderall and other drugs simply because of the effect the speed produces, and many unsuspecting doctors actually believe that it works differently in people who have an ADHD diagnosis. Do they think the same thing about cocaine or methamphetamine? It's very close to be the same thing. Talk to some people who have attended a drug rehab for these types of addictions and see what they say.

When Tiger Woods' accident occurred and he was reportedly passed out in the grass, we correctly assumed he was on Ambien at the time. Now one of his former mistresses, Rachel Uchitel is cashing in even more on her dubious ways by joining the cast of 'Celebrity Rehab' for - Ambien addiction.

Reports also surfaced that somehow Lindsay Lohan is allowed to continue to take prescriptions for Ambien and Adderall in jail. If this is true it is a huge oversight on the part of the jail, as those are two of the most abused non-opiate prescriptions alongside drugs like Xanax.

Thousands of people per year seek addiction treatment for these drugs. In face, the Treatment Episode Data Set shows that there has been a 38% increase in the number of admissions to drug rehab centers for sedatives and tranquilizers combined between 2003 and 2008.

For both Rachel and Lindsay - they would be better off going to a non-12 step drug rehab program that doesn't use prescriptions to cover up the symptoms of addiction or hide behind a label as an excuse to take drugs with very high potential for abuse.

Titan Pharmaceuticals issued a press release stating they have a patent now for their subcutaneous (implanted under the skin) buprenorphine drug that is currently finishing up clinical trials for treating opiate addicts. Not only have they gotten funding from taxpayers to develop the drug via a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) for $7.6 million, but once it's through the greased palms, I mean line, of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then this company will stand to make potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from this drug.

Having just written about opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and Mexico producing larger than ever quantities of heroin, as well as the raging number of prescription opiate addicts in the U.S. currently, the conspiracy theorist inside of me can't help wonder why the timing of all of this seems more than coincidental. The scariest part is that our government is involved with every aspect of it - from the border patrol to the drug regulation and distribution to the grants developing more drugs to treat the addicts that are created - it is pure insanity. This is one example of why the government by itself will not solve addiction - it must come from individuals and non-governmental groups and drug rehabs.

The new movement that is organizing that does provide solutions to addiction is called The New Face of Recovery. It's a group of recovery advocates and addiction treatment professionals who go against what the system says and instead promotes what works. Find out more today or get real help for a loved one in need. Don't become a victim of a cleverly laid out plan of pharmaceutical injection thinking that is going to work. Call us today at 1-877-372-5719.

Florida may be home to many wonderful things, but it is also a haven for prescription drug addicts. There is an overabundance of pain clinics where people, many from out of state, are able to walk in with a 'condition' and walk out with more than 200 pills of heavily addictive drugs such as prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin or Vicodin.

Florida's Manitee County is adopting strict laws as an emergency action to try and regulate, limit and ultimately get rid of these types of pill mills. Prescription drug addiction has led many people to seek addiction treatment centers in Florida, while thousands of others don't survive. Over 200 drug overdose deaths were reported for 2009 just between Manatee and Pinellas Counties alone, and the numbers are sure to be higher this year.

It is horribly ironic that we will spend millions of dollars fighting supply reduction in other countries while our own government, pharmaceutical industry and thousands of doctors are actually creating more addicts and deaths within our own borders. It's sickening that these doctors are allowed to practice, that the clinics are allowed to have their own drug-dispensing pharmacies, and that there aren't more strict laws in place to regulate these places.

After many years of fighting for equal coverage for substance abuse treatment under private health insurance plans, a law was passed earlier this year finally making it a requirement. While there are restrictions, it does mean that more people are able to gain access to long-term drug treatment facilities than before.

One of the mandates is that eligible policies must have the same yearly and lifetime maximums for substance abuse treatment as they do for other health care services. In many cases it has allowed people to finally be able to attend drug rehabs that work, instead of being limited to only short-term or outpatient programs that provide traditional treatment. An example is that more addicts are attending biophysical drug rehabs thanks to these facilities now being covered by their policies. The trend toward long-term, non-12 step programs is increasing and the pendulum is starting to swing in the favor of these more successful treatment practices.