Most people think of ADHD as a childhood disorder. While it’s true that the disorder has a high diagnosis rate among children – according to CDC figures from 2010, nearly 10 percent of children under age17 have received an ADHD diagnosis at some time in their life – the disorder frequently continues into adulthood. According to WebMD, between 30 and 70 percent of children with ADHD will experience symptoms into adulthood.

ADHD is a disorder that involves inattention, hyperactivity and poor impulse control. The physical cause of the disorder is thought to be abnormal neurotransmitter activity in parts of the brain that control attention, affecting an individual’s ability to maintain focus. Psychological symptoms associated with ADHD in adults include mood swings, anger management issues and low self-esteem. When adults with ADHD develop substance abuse and addiction problems, they often go without treatment because their underlying disorder has not been detected. In general, adult symptoms of ADHD are hard to diagnose or are misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder.

Drugs and alcohol are frequently used by adults with undiagnosed ADHD as a form of self-medication. Stimulant drugs like cocaine are among the substances most often abused. Stimulants affect those with the disorder differently than the general population, slowing down the brain rather than speeding it up. Many adults with ADHD also use alcohol or other drugs to help them sleep or improve their mood.

Substance abuse treatment for adults with ADHD is most effective when both disorders are addressed. Recent studies suggest that ADHD treatment should begin after a few weeks or months of sobriety have been achieved. Although there is no cure for ADHD, symptoms can be controlled in most cases with drugs like Concerta (an extended-released form of Ritalin) or with non-stimulant medications such as Norpramin and Wellbutrin. Many adults find it easier to stay sober once their ADHD and associated impulsivity is under control. Therapy is also a key element in substance abuse treatment for people with ADHD.

While this drug is a very effective pain killer, the side effects can be dire. Oxycontin is much like heroin and morphine, and can be just as addictive and dangerous as heroin. The appeal of this drug in street use is that it will give you an opiate similar high.

Many are fooled into thinking that because this is a prescribed medication that it is perfectly safe. The drug chemically alters your brain in a way that does not allow you to think clearly and can cause you to become depressed. This can lead to a situation where withdrawal and during abuse, many become suicidal.

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturers of Oxycontin, at one time wrongly reported that abuse of this drug was less likely than that of other pain killers. This report lead doctors to prescribe the medication more often, causing more addicts. After these reports, Oxycontin related deaths rose an astounding 400%. Another of the problems with the drug is that addicts quickly began to take it in ways that they are not normally prescribed. Addicts who want to gain their high faster usually crush their pills and will snort or inject them after mixing them with water. This makes the drug even more volatile. They often do not realize the added risks that they are taking by practicing their drug habits in this way. It is possible to overdose the very first time in doing this by shutting down your central nervous system, which can have fatal results.

Purdue Pharma has begun to change the formula of Oxycontin to turn it into a gel when mixed with water. This makes the drug much harder to inject. In theory, this seems like a great idea; however, it could cause deaths from other reasons.   This plan may help stop new users from injecting the drug, but it doesn’t help treat the addicts already abusing who may switch to heroin in order to combat their withdrawals.

All of this highlights the importance of getting help from a reputable rehabilitation center in order to transition into sobriety in a safe way but also set up the tools for remaining sober for the rest of your life.

In addition to being highly addictive and potentially fatal, new research has found that the chronic use of cocaine can cause users’ brains to age almost twice as fast as the brains of nonusers. Although cocaine users may feel more alert after taking the drug, long term use causes brain atrophy and cognitive decline at an accelerated rate.

Cocaine Users Should Seek Help

Although 12 step programs are widely used for the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction, there has been limited published research on their effectiveness in treating teens with substance abuse problems. A new study confirms that many teenagers can benefit from these programs.

The study, which was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, followed 127 adolescent substance abuse patients for one year from the time they first began treatment. The study group included 95 boys and 32 girls aged 14 to 19. About one-third of the teens in the study chose to attend 12-step meetings throughout the year. Researchers concluded that those who attended meetings at least once per week had significantly better success with drug or alcohol abstinence.

According to John F. Kelly, PhD, psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, teens who stayed in contact with a 12 step sponsor and who participated in meetings had the best outcomes. The findings support many clinical recommendations that substance abuse patients should attend meetings and become active in a 12 step community.

In a journal news release, Kelly suggested that encouraging teens to participate in 12 step programs early in the course of substance abuse treatment can help ensure that they will continue to attend meetings in the months following treatment. Not all teens will be motivated to attend meetings, according to Kelly, but it is often the most severely affected who are willing to give meetings a try. Treatment facilities can improve the chances that teens will participate in 12 step meetings by making it easy for patients to attend meetings early in their course of treatment

The 12 step model for recovery was originally developed by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. It has since been modified and applied to a variety of other disorders, including drug abuse and gambling. The model is based on a set of 12 guiding principles that provide a framework that supports recovery. The 12 step method also provides a life-long support system in the form of meetings that help recovering teens and adults maintain life-long sobriety. Since most teens are sensitive to feelings of belonging, attending 12 step meetings can help them replace peer relationship that encourage substance abuse with healthier relationship that are based on sobriety.  The ’12 step model’ is still by far the most popular when it comes to rehab for addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Teens Share Prescription Drugs

Adderall is addictive yet highly accessible because of how frequently it is prescribed to young people. This drug is currently one of the most common gateway drugs to harder substance abuse among teens and college students. A large percentage of people who take Adderall buy it from an individual rather than obtaining it legally through a prescription. This is one reason why addiction and abuse may be even more prone to happen – from a lack of knowledge of the medication.

Because Adderall can increase your productivity, people commonly take it “to get twice as much done in half the time” without being aware of the psychological effects. Adderall raises the brain’s levels of dopamine while lowering levels of epinephrine. To individuals with normal levels of these, the psychological effects of Adderall can be far more drastic and lead to delusions, insomnia, and depression when not under the influence of the drug.

Curbing Adderall Abuse Starts at The Top

Illegal sellers are not solely to blame for the Adderall epidemic. Obtaining a prescription for Adderall is often a fairly easy process. Diagnosis of ADHD has almost doubled within the past ten years. Going into a Doctor’s office and reporting difficulty concentrating or focusing is often enough to get an attention deficit disorder diagnosis (or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and get prescribed Adderall.

Between 2009-2010, the number of written Adderall prescriptions increased a dramatic 13.4%. In fact, Adderall is now so commonly prescribed that the FDA has officially added it to their list of drug shortages as of this year. Adderall is currently classified as a Schedule 2 drug. This means it is a high risk drug for addiction and abuse. Sometimes referred to as “legal meth”, the main ingredient in the drug is similar to that of cocaine and meth. In the state of California, possession of Adderall without a prescription is a felony.

As we have seen over and over again in the last decade, it is important to spread the word on the dangers of prescription drugs like Adderall, so that parents and friends can be on the look out for possible abuse and addiction problems; so if they do occur –  help can be found.  The Camp is a residential treatment center for addiction to drugs like Adderall (and other substances – OxyContin, marijuana, alcohol, etc).

According to a recent report issued by the California Office of Traffic Safety, the issue of driving while under the influence of drugs is continuing to grow. This 2010 report, which contains data from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed that as many as 30 percent of motor vehicle operators who were killed on California roads and highways tested positive for both legal and illegal drugs. This percentage has been steadily rising since at least 2006.

DUI Includes Prescription Meds

This problem has not received the media attention it deserves and it is not widely known. The media and public are certainly aware of the problem of driving under the influence of alcohol, but fatalities due to driving under the influence of alcohol have been steadily decreasing. The rise in the number of fatalities due to driving under the influence of drugs is going mostly unnoticed and unreported.

Both legal and illegal drugs can cause impairments which lead to drugged driving. The impairments these drugs create are often amplified when a motor vehicle operator consumes alcohol, even in small quantities. The Director of the Office of Traffic Safety has said, “The bottom line is drugs and driving do not mix.”

One of the reasons that drugged driving is underreported is because it’s hard to detect. There are very few tests available to determine if a driver is under the influence of a drug, and it’s very hard to prosecute these cases. In the cases in which an officer determines there is probable cause to believe a driver is under the influence of drugs, the toxicology tests required to obtain enough evidence for a conviction are very expensive. In addition, there is little to no legislation that exists to determine what legal threshold might exist for the amount of any given drug in a person’s system.

The California Highway Patrol and local police and sheriff department are working with the Office of Traffic Safety to try to mitigate this problem. Law enforcement officials who work regularly with the public are now receiving specialized training to recognize and detain suspected drugged drivers. Funding for this training is being provided by the federal government. In addition to training, the funding allows district attorney’s offices to create special prosecutors that will handle drugged driving cases from the initial arrest all the way through trial.

California is simultaneously raising the penalties for DUI but also passing legislation that will reduce sentences for merely possessing illegal drugs.  The idea is that women and men who are caught in the throes of an addiction seek treatment for that addiction and turn their lives around.

We have seen an ever increasing amount of clients (especially young adults) who are seeking treatment for heroin addiction.

The largest-ever heroin seizure in southern Oregon has drawn attention to the drug as an intractable problem in the northwest, and provides some insight about its distribution, sale, and use.

On February 11, police in an inter-agency drug task force stopped two suspects on a commercial bus bound for Vancouver, Washington, carrying 47 pounds of heroin in their luggage.  Local police estimate its possible street value at $2.5 million (although those estimated values are often inflated), and its likely destination as the large, regional illegal drug markets in the Seattle area.

Both suspects, aged 18 and 21, were from southern California.  Immigration officials were also involved in the arrest.

Police on the task force, assembled from elements of city, county, and state law enforcement agencies along with the FBI, say that the two young people carrying almost fifty pounds, unconcealed and casually wrapped, in two bags, was both an unusually large amount and an unusually bold risk.

Couriers on their way through Oregon attempt an ever-changing variety of methods and smuggling tactics, forcing police to constantly adapt.  And once the drug hit Seattle, officers say, some quantity would have trickled back into southern Oregon to meet its surprising demand for black tar heroin.

Another seven pounds had been seized near Medford, two days earlier, in a routine traffic stop by Oregon State Police, adding to another five ounces of black tar discovered on February 2nd.  These are record-breaking numbers.

Habitual opiate users may be turning to heroin because of the increasing controls on prescription medications.  In recent interviews the Medford Police Chief, Tim George, notes that his department finds the street cost of the drug has dropped.  This obviously puts it into easy reach of more users and potential users, but it’s also an economic signal of increased demand in the area.  The police chief also says that the method of use has moved away from injections and towards inhaling heroin smoke, and therefore away from the stigma of needles and possible exposure to HIV and other diseases.  Heroin has plainly become cheaper, easier to use, easier to find, and a lot more popular in southern Oregon.

• Michael Jackson
• Heath Ledger
• Anna Nicole Smith
• Brittany Murphy
• Corey Haim

and now quite possibly

• Whitney Houston

were the result of fatal prescription drug overdoses. These high profile (and seemingly endless) number of unfortunate celebrity deaths garner a lot of media attention. But these deaths are obviously minute in comparison to the number of overall prescription related deaths nationwide.

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Overdose deaths from prescription painkillers have skyrocketed in the past decade. Every year, nearly 15,000 people die from overdoses involving these drugs;” more than those who die from heroin and cocaine combined. That is an amazing statistic, when you consider that most people, if asked would point to the illegal drugs as being the biggest problem in the country. What’s even more shocking is the recent CDC statistic which reveals that non-medical use of prescription painkillers occurs in 1 out of every 20 people who are 12 and older.

Some of the most commonly recognized prescription painkillers include:

• OxyContin (now known as OxyNEO – active ingredient oxycodone)
• Morphine
•  Vicodin

The intended use of these drugs is to alleviate serious temporary or chronic pain in patients. Unfortunately for some, the therapeutic use of these drugs can become a full scale drug addiction. Measures are being taken at state and federal levels to help prevent unnecessary prescription overdoses while still providing legitimate patients access to effective and safe treatment options.

According to The Sacramento Bee, all but two states and the District of Columbia have enacted some kind of prescription drug monitoring program.

These electronic databases, or PDMPs, are used to track all painkiller prescriptions and have the capability to monitor data that may indicate abuse allowing for doctors and pharmacists to more closely track a patient’s prescription history.

This also allows doctors and pharmacists the ability to more easily identify patients at-risk for developing addictions and to ensure that early interventions take place. The oldest prescription drug monitoring program in the country was put to use in California in 1939. Originally, pharmacies, doctors, and the state’s Department of Justice in Sacramento all kept carbon copies of prescriptions. In 1998, the system finally took to the web, and now certified parties are able to go online to verify prescriptions that are filled anywhere in the state.

Even though these types of programs do their part to help monitor the use of prescription drugs by people who really need them, they still are not fully effective when it comes to those who aren’t in need but still manage to obtain them fraudulently or use drugs which are prescribed to others.

What Else Can Be Done?

A proposal has been made by Peter Shumlin, The Gov. of Vermont, to include law enforcement as certified users of the state’s PDMP. In Tennessee, a bill has been proposed, that includes making the state’s prescription drug database available to other states as a way to combat doctor-shopping. Additionally, Kentucky Legislators are working on bills that would require every prescriber to register written prescriptions with the state’s drug database.

There is no quick fix to the issues surrounding misuse of prescription drugs in our country, but every preventative measure enacted at the state or federal level is a step in the right direction.

Symptoms of a High Functioning Addict