Recovery month was established more than two decades ago to educate Americans about the benefits of treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction. In recent years the event was expanded to include promotion of mental health services for people affected by mental health disorders. Communities are encouraged to plan local events that spread the work about the effectiveness of treatment. The theme of Recovery Month 2012 is “Join the Voices for Recovery: It’s Worth It.”

The importance of Recovery Month cannot be denied. Over the past decade, addiction to prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin has reached epidemic levels and the use of methamphetamine is on the rise. Earlier this year, The Partnership at Drugfree.org released the results of a survey on alcohol and drug abuse. According to the survey, ten percent of American adults classify themselves as recovering from substance abuse. This means that more than 23 million adults are actively recovering from an involvement with alcohol or drugs that caused problems in their lives. This data should encourage and inspire individuals who are currently struggling with substance abuse issues and are wondering if recovery is possible. According to Steve Pasierb, president of The Partnership, the survey results serve as a reminder that addiction is a disease that can be treated and recovery can be a reality.”

Recovery Month also puts the focus on addiction prevention. The Partnership reports that more than 90 percent of addictions begin during the teenage years and that an estimated 11 million teens and young adults are in need of recovery treatment. During the week of September 23^rd, The Partnership will launch The Medicine Abuse Project. The goal of this project is to protect teenagers by preventing half a million of them from abusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs over the next five years.

Information about Recovery Month and local and media events can be found at www.recovery.gov. The website provides details about nearly 700 planned Recovery Month community events across the nation.

Teens are At Risk

The 17^th annual back-to-school survey conducted by Columbia University’s National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse involved about 1,000 teenage boys and girls who responded to questions about substance abuse by phone. Joseph A. Califano, chairman and founder of the center, described the survey results as profoundly disturbing.

Drug Dealers in Public and Private Schools

The survey found that 60 percent of public high school students say that drugs are available for sale on campus and 44 percent personally know a classmate who deals hard-core drugs at school. More than 90 percent know a student who sells marijuana. A surprising 32 percent of public middle school students said that classmates sell drugs at school.

The survey also noted an increase in drug use in private high schools, with 54 percent of private school students describing their campus as “drug infested.” This is up from 36 percent in 2011.

Digital Peer Pressure

The survey looked at factors that contribute to teenage substance abuse. “Digital peer pressure” in the form of Internet images of peers doing drugs, drinking and passing out was identified by 75 percent of students as influencing their own decision to use drugs or alcohol. According to Califano, digital peer pressure from social media sites like Facebook and YouTube can move beyond a child’s immediate circle of friends and acquaintances and enter the home via the Internet.

Parental and Church Influence

Teens in the survey who reported having parents who are permissive about drinking and smoking were more likely to drink or smoke. Church attendance plays a role in teen abstinence, with teens who regularly participate in religious services being less likely to smoke or abuse drugs.

Parental presence influences their child’s tendency to use alcohol or marijuana. Teens who reported having been left home alone overnight (about 30 percent of those surveyed) were twice as likely to have tried alcohol or marijuana. The take-away message: parents who are involved in their children’s lives and serve as positive role models can help their teens steer clear of drugs, alcohol and tobacco both in an out of school.

PMPs are used by physicians and pharmacists to record information about patients’ recent prescription history and to flag patients who have received multiple prescriptions for drugs that are subject to abuse. The systems can also spot patients who are given prescriptions for multiple drugs that may cause adverse side effects including overdose when used in combination.

The Study on Prescription Monitoring’s Effect on Drug Users

Dr. Green surveyed more than 1300 healthcare providers in Connecticut and Rhode Island, asking about their state’s PMP system. The providers included in the survey are licensed to write prescriptions for Schedule II drugs (this includes oxycodone, methamphetamine, morphine and other highly addictive drugs). Over the past few years, both states have seen a sharp increase in deaths caused by opioid prescription drugs like oxycodone-based OxyContin. Rhode Island has the highest per capita rate of illegal drug use in the nation and ranks third behind Oklahoma and Oregon in prescription opioid abuse.

Among the prescribers who were surveyed, those who use a PMP system said they were more likely to monitor a patient’s use of prescription painkillers more closely or refer a patient for drug treatment when the PMP system alerted them to an individual’s suspicious prescription activity.

The Would Be Prescribers Become De Facto Interventionists

According to Dr. Green, when clinicians use PMP systems they are far more likely than law enforcement officials to help patients get treatment for drug abuse. In the hands of medical experts, PMPs can be tools that help identify addiction and open the door for treatment rather than supplying evidence that allows law enforcement authorities to take punitive measures.

As of June, 2012, the PMP Alliance reports that 41 states have PMP systems in place and nine are in the process of establishing systems. Currently, states with PMP systems report that only about 25 percent of physicians are using the systems. Few states with PMPs require prescribers to check patients’ histories in the system before writing prescriptions. The Rhode Island Hospital study will hopefully provide additional motivation for PMP use in the form of improved access to drug treatment programs for prescription drug abusers.

Prescription monitoring programs were given a major role in the federal government’s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan, which was released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in April of 2011. The plan acknowledges the effectiveness of PMPs and calls for enhancements like real-time data access and interstate data sharing. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy provides a PMP InterConnect program that facilitates inter-state sharing of data. There are currently nine states that (Connecticut, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio, North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia and South Carolina) that are sharing PMP data.

Pill User May Become Heroin User

Switching from Oxy To Heroin

If you or someone you care about is struggling with opiate addiction, please contact our rehabilitation facility (or any drug counselor) to get guidance on how to escape from the grasp of addiction.

Heath Ledger, A Tragic Loss

• diazepam (brand name Valium)
• temazepam (brand name Restoril or Normison)
• doxylamine (brand name Restavit and Dozile)
• alprazolam (brand name Xanax)
• hydrocodone (brand name Vicodin)
• oxycodone (brand names OxyContin, OxyNEO).

These are just a few of the many celebrities that have succumbed to prescription drug overdoses and, sadly, they will not be the last celebrities to lose their battles with addiction. If a patient has enough clout or money, there are times when doctors will turn the other way and write needless prescriptions for the patient’s want of the drug. There are also times when doctors just do not have the best interest of their patients at heart. Unfortunately, it is up to the patient and the community to stay vigilant in getting to know their doctors and following the exact instructions as prescribed by pharmacists and a trustworthy physician.

Dr. Lisa Tseng – The Poster Child for Irresponsible Prescribing

A Southern California doctor named Lisa Tseng  is currently facing second-degree murder charges for the overdoses of three patients. It is alleged that she wrote over 27,000 prescriptions in three years. How could this happen? The famous and non-famous are equally at risk of becoming addicted and gaining access to prescription drugs under unethical doctors and physicians. There is also little oversight and monitoring in California, mainly due to recent state budget cuts and the lack of health professionals registered in the state’s drug oversight program. Therefore, the burden is shifted to patients and their communities to monitor what they put in their bodies.  Finding a doctor that abides by state guidelines and the Hippocratic Oath is crucial.

Mixing Drugs and Especially Alcohol is a Recipe for Disaster

It is also imperative that different drugs are not mixed within the body, and alcohol should not be used if warned as a hazard to the body when taking prescribed medication. The interactions between these drugs are so unpredictable that what worked once to get the abuser high, could kill them the next time. The abuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a problem that is growing among young people and suburbanites, but anyone has the potential of becoming addicted. Post-surgery patients on medication, or anyone on prescription drugs for aliments such as back problems, are all at risk of becoming addicted.

If you find yourself or a loved one is addicted to prescription drugs seek professional help for a second chance at life.  Our treatment center in Northern California is waiting for your call.

Fentanyl’s Popularity on the Rise

The FDA recently issued a warning the about the dangers of fentanyl abuse. This warning coincides with an increase in reported deaths related to fentanyl and the rise of illicit fentanyl production.

A Fentanyl Patch

One of the most powerful prescription painkillers, fentanyl is gaining in popularity among addicts, but its particular dangers may not be known to the general public.

Fentanyl is part of a class of drugs known as synthetic opiates, which are some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Of these, OxyContin may be the most well-known, but it is not alone in this class. Fentanyl, a synthetic opiate, is extremely potent, several times more powerful than opium itself. As with the other synthetic opiates, dependency upon fentanyl can lead to addiction and abuse.

One of the things that makes fentanyl different, and dangerous, is that it is not only abused in its pharmaceutical, prescription form, but it is frequently manufactured on the street.

Fentanyl is most commonly prescribed in a time-release configuration. Typical delivery methods include a swallowed pill, a lozenge held in the mouth, and a transdermal patch. As with oxycontin, addicts have found ways to bypass the time release mechanisms. In addition to crushing, snorting or freebasing the pulverized solid form of the drug, the transdermal patch has been simply eaten whole. The variety of delivery methods, some of which do not resemble pills, makes it extremely important to safeguard children from exposure to fentanyl.

These are a few of the factors that led the FDA to issue its warning. Patients who have been prescribed fentanyl may become addicted. They may also fall prey to family members who steal the drug itself, intercept prescriptions, or make false reports of theft in order to gain duplicate quantities. Patients wearing a transdermal patch may be vulnerable to assault by addicts attempting to forcibly remove the patch. Street-produced fentanyl is often mixed with heroin or sold as a heroin look-alike substance. Of course, this kind of fentanyl has none of the quality control or safety mechanisms of pharmaceutical grade product, with all of the accompanying risks associated with overdose and multi-drug interaction. As a result, fentanyl has been a contributing factor in many overdose deaths.

Treatment for Fentanyl addiction (and all other opiates) is available at The CAMP and many other rehab centers.  For more information call our toll free number.

Treatment Center in The Redwoods of Santa Cruz California

“We’ve created a more stable and engaged culture, which positively affects our patients’ length of stay, which in turn greatly enhances their chances of recovery success,” – James Bailey

Santa Cruz, CA  June 20, 2012

The Camp Recovery Center has publicized the results of a new and improved practice for combatting a major issue in addiction treatment, “AMAs” (an abbreviation for when a client leaves treatment “against medical advice.” The clinical team at The Camp has found that AMAs tended to have a significant impact on the entire treatment culture, so they rolled out some changes in protocol to reduce the occurence of AMAs.  One key method of accountability that had great results was the “buddy system.”

The “Buddy System’s” Positive Results on Treatment Success Rates

“When patients decide to leave a treatment program early, it has an effect on other patients who have made a commitment to remain in treatment for the entire recommended course,” explained James Bailey,  Executive Director of The Camp. “Seeing our AMA rate as being a significant problem within our system, our Quality of Care Improvement Committee met weekly to identify what issues were leading to AMAs and what interventions could be implemented to address the problem.

“We analyzed the data of all AMAs to see if we could identify a profile of those who are most likely to leave the program before the thirty days of treatment was completed. What we found was that patients were not engaging into the program as well as they could be and therefore leaving treatment in an effort to be in an environment that was more comfortable for them.”

The Camp quickly decided to implement some specific strategies to better engage new patients and also provide a more comprehensive treatment environment. This included revising their buddy system.

The Camp’s original buddy system was loosely organized and was more focused on asking patients to assist new patients coming into the program, said Bailey. Some of the buddies did a great job and some didn’t. Earlier this year, the treatment center decided to introduce a more aggressive approach to the buddy system, believing it had the most significant impact on patient engagement. The improved buddy system was more focused on only accepting buddies who volunteered to be buddies and then providing an orientation and checklist to guide them in their duties. Bailey himself conducts a buddy orientation once a week, and the facility provides a “Buddy Board” to enable patients to visually monitor the new admissions on any given day and know when the new patient is in the community.

“We assign the buddy in the morning, and when the new patient has fully completed the paperwork and nursing assessment, and they are ready to enter the community, we place a green dot next to their name in the status column. This gives the buddy the ‘green light’ to immediately meet up with the new patient and engage them into the program,” said Bailey.

The result? In the past 28 months, The Camp has seen the percentage of patients leaving against medical advice (AMAs) go from 14% to 5%. And while in 2011, 75% of AMAs occurred in the first 10 days, only 14% do now.

In addition to improving the buddy system, The Camp now provides more detox support as well as one-on-one counseling with new patients. They also provide additional groups to engage the patients and provide more structure to their first few days of treatment. These interventions, including the buddy system, have had a positive effect on patient engagement.

“We’ve created a more stable and engaged culture, which positively affects our patients’ length of stay, which in turn greatly enhances their chances of recovery success,” said Bailey.

The Camp Recovery Center provides a serene environment where adults and adolescents receive treatment for addiction to prescription drugs, alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine and other substances of abuse. The facility, which is surrounded by majestic redwoods, includes walking trails, a large sun-lit swimming pool and courts for basketball, tennis and volleyball. Since 1984, The Camp’s team of addiction counselors, rehabilitation professionals, nurses and family therapists have helped thousands of clients find a new beginning.