Simply put, OxyContin is an FDA approved narcotic that is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is very similar to the pain reliever, morphine.

When taken, generally twice a day, it slowly releases the active ingredient, oxycodone, over a specific period of time.

OxyContin, when used inappropriately, such as being chewed, crushed or broken, can lead to fatal overdoses. It is prescribed for those who experience intense pain regularly. It is not intended to be used by those who only need occasional pain relief.

Various reports have shown OxyContin abuse all across the United States since it’s release in 1995. The result of this abuse has been serious and includes death in some cases.

Studies show that it appeals to the same people that use heroin or morphine as a way to get high.

The mixture of some drugs with OxyContin can lead to death or serious injury. It should never be mixed with any other pain medication, sleeping pills, or tranquilizers. The two could interact dangerously. It is important that your doctor is fully aware of any type of medication, whether prescription, over-the- counter or natural remedies, you are taking before taking OxyContin.

Those who take OxyContin, have been known to develop a physical dependence on this drug. Addiction can lead to serious complications.

As with any drug, there is a potential for side effects and overdose. Some side effects that can occur with OxyContin include constipation, nausea, rash, light- headedness, emotional disorders, mouth dryness, sedation, confusion, respiratory depression, vomiting, sweating and dizziness.

Other serious side effects include seizures, slow breathing, weakness, coma, loss of consciousness, clammy or cold skin.

Constriction of the pupils can indicate an overdose. Overdose and death can occur if OxyContin is mixed with depressants such as benzodiazepine or alcohol.

OxyContin is a Schedule II Controlled Substance meaning it is under the full control of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) with the department of Justice in the United States. It is required that all physicians and pharmacists keep strict records on prescriptions for the drug.

Cocaine Use Increases

An article entitled “Cocaine Epidemic Feared As Cocaine Deaths Nearly Double In Florida Over Past 5 Years” was featured on the “Medical News Today” website on October 21, 2006. Not surprisingly, the information contained in this article was quite disconcerting. For instance, one of the key points in the article was that cocaine use is on the rise among college students with disposable income and also among high-profile celebrities. Perhaps of more importance, however, are two facts that are associated with the escalation in cocaine use: the increased cocaine-related emergency room visits and the rising cocaine-related fatalities. In fact, according to Florida drug authorities, cocaine-related deaths in Florida have almost doubled from 2000 to 2005.

Why People Use Cocaine

Why do various individuals use cocaine? Cocaine gives a person a feeling of euphoria, energy, and at times, an unbelievable, almost superhuman sense of control and mastery. For instance, some people who have taken cocaine have been known to leap out of windows or off rooftops, thinking that they could fly or that they could jump dozens of feet without getting injured. There is, however, a physiological reason why people continue to use cocaine after their first encounter. Cocaine exhausts the “feel-good” neurotransmitter dopamine, thus causing a need for even more use. In short, and from a physiological perspective, cocaine use perpetuates more cocaine use.

Fatalities and Cocaine Use

To gain a better understanding of the ultimate danger inherent in cocaine use, namely death, one needs to focus on the timeframe regarding its life-threatening effects. To accomplish this, cocaine use will be compared with prescription drug abuse.

The abuse of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Adderall can trigger abrupt cardiac or respiratory arrest at the time of abuse. Thus the critical and fatal timeframe when abusing prescription drugs is mostly “short-term.” Conversely, due to the snowballing effects of cocaine, especially regarding the blood vessel damage that increases the risk of stroke or heart attack as a person ages, users can suddenly die years after their cocaine abuse started. Therefore, the critical and fatal timeframe for cocaine use, unlike the same measure for prescription drug abuse, is typically “long term.”

Why the Rise in Cocaine Use?

Why is cocaine use increasing? One of the reasons is that celebrities who are addicted to cocaine have become “walking cocaine advertisements” and, as a result, have been able to adversely influence others, such as students, who have access to relatively large amounts of disposable income.

The Need For Intervention and Education

Florida drug experts stress that additional drug education and intervention need to take place in schools, colleges, and in local communities nationwide to help prevent a full-blown cocaine epidemic. I agree, but to be effective, I assert that the intervention and educational strategy has to include facts that challenge the lifestyles of the cocaine-using celebrities. Let me explain. Students need to be aware that they are observing a “snapshot in time” that does not reveal “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say. Stated differently, college students who are impressed by cocaine-using high rollers need to learn how to see through the VIPs’ facade and realize that they are getting “sold” faulty goods by the cocaine-using rich and famous.

Many celebrities are at or approaching middle age. As a result, most, if not all, of the high-profile chronic cocaine have learned first-hand about the consequences of their drug-related lifestyles. On the other hand, most “traditional” college students are either teenagers or very young adults. Due to the cumulative effects of cocaine use, however, college students who continue to use cocaine are essentially playing Russian roulette with their near and long-term future.

The Rest of the Story

College students must be made aware of the fact that the cocaine-using celebrities that they are impressed with are really loose cannons that may explode into oblivion at any time because of their drug-related lifestyles. This “ultimate” and fatal consequence, however, does not tell the whole story. Indeed, the “rest of the story” also focuses on both the short-term and the long-term health consequences of cocaine use.

Short and Long-Term Effects of Cocaine Use

What the impressionable students have not seen are the friends of celebrities who have died from cocaine-related cardiac arrest, seizures, strokes, and respiratory failure. In addition, the vulnerable students have not been told about the “coke crash” that certainly has left some of the rich and famous depressed, irritable, and fatigued.

Not only this, but the easily influenced students have not been informed about the loss of smell, problems with swallowing, and the nosebleeds experienced by some of the rich and famous who got their cocaine “buzz” via snorting. Moreover, the “receptive” students have not been notified about the bizarre, unpredictable, and at times violent behavior of many high rollers who took increasingly larger doses of cocaine in order to experience the desired high.

Additionally, the suggestible students were not informed about the abdominal pain and nausea experienced by some of the cocaine-using celebrities. In a similar manner, the impressionable students were not told about the paranoid psychosis and auditory hallucinations experienced by various VIPs who experimented with binge cocaine use, i.e., taking more frequent AND higher doses of the drug at the same time.

Moreover, the vulnerable students were not told about the fever, convulsions, blurred vision, muscle spasms, and comas experienced by some of the cocaine-using VIPs or by some of their friends who “party” with them. Similarly, the impressionable students were not told about the major weight loss, malnourishment, and loss of appetite experienced by numerous celebrities who have been chronic cocaine users. And finally, the susceptible students were not informed about the severe chest pains, coughing, shortness of breath, and bleeding in the lungs experienced by some of the celebrities who got their cocaine “buzz” via smoking.

Conclusion

College students need to become knowledgeable of the immediate and the long-term health problems that virtually all chronic cocaine users, even celebrities, eventually experience. In addition, they need to become aware of their vulnerability to cocaine use due to the fact that, statistically speaking, the 18 to 25-year-old age group currently has the highest rate of cocaine use compared to other age groups. Until college students can “see” the contradictions and damaging effects inherent in the questionable lifestyles of cocaine-using VIPs, however, some of them will continue to follow the destructive paths of the high-profile cocaine-using celebrities.

US researchers just announced that they will be conducting the first ever study to find a treatment for the addiction to such popular painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.

The study will be funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and will judge the effectiveness of the medication buprenorphine/naloxone tablets (brand name Suboxone) that helps users cut dependency on addictive painkillers. The study will monitor 648 patients and will also document the effectiveness of several different types of counseling.

The study will be conducted at New York University Medical Center, New York City, with the help of Bellevue Hospital Center, and 10 other sites across the country.

The patients will receive Suboxone for one month at the beginning of the examination period. The dose will be tapered off as part of a detoxification process. Patients who go two months without abusing painkillers will have completed the study.

According to HealthDay, Half of the patients in the study will also be enrolled in an intensive individualized drug counseling program when they get their Suboxone prescriptions. The other half of the patients will receive a brief drug counseling session from their doctors.

NIDA director Dr. Nora D. Volkow said, “Opioid analgesics were designed to help people in pain, and we want to be sure that those who require them for legitimate reasons can continue to effectively manage their pain. However, we must also recognize the risk of addiction to pain medications and develop treatments for those who become addicted to them. This trial is an important first step in reaching that goal.”

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Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-• A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.• According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers’ usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.• Non-medical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period, from 1.6 in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2006.• Teenagers and youngsters are the main sections involved in prescription drug abuse. It is found that, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the last year (2006).• NIDA states that OxyContin use in the last year was reported by 1.8 percent of 8th-graders, 3.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 5.2 percent of 12th- graders.• Vicodin use in 2006 was reported by 2.7 percent of 8th-graders, 7.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 9.6 percent of 12th-graders, remaining stable at relatively high levels for each grade.• Friends or relatives are becoming the first reason and an easy source for the prescription drug abuse. Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medical reasons in the past 12 months (2006), 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug most recently they used, was from a friend or relative for free.• Doctors are also an easy source to obtain narcotic medications. 19.1 percent of the prescription drug abusers reported they got the drug from just one doctor.The above facts clearly state that, youngsters are clearly becoming vulnerable to prescription drug abuse. All the sections of the society should take serious steps to stop prescription drug abuse from doing further damage to the community.

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge James Jones ordered Purdue Pharma L.P., the maker of OxyContin, to pay $634.5 million in fines for misleading the public about the addictiveness of the painkiller.

According to the AP, “Judge James Jones levied the fine on Purdue, its top lawyer and former president and former chief medical officer after a hearing that lasted about three-and-a-half hours. The hearing included statements by numerous people who said their lives were changed forever by addiction to OxyContin, a trade name for a long-acting form of the painkiller oxycodone.”

The pill was designed to be digested throughout a users system over a 12 hour period, but when crushed up, snorted, or injected, the painkiller produces a heroin like high.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency stated in a report that from 1996 to 2001, the number of oxycodone-related deaths nationwide increased fivefold while the annual number of OxyContin prescriptions increased nearly 20-fold.

Michael Friedman, who retired in June as Purdue’s president, general counsel Howard Udell and former chief medical officer Paul Goldenheim were each found guilty of a misdemeanor account of misbranding the painkiller. 34.5 million of the total fine was directed towards those three.

The judge also placed the company on probation for 5 years and each individual on probation for 3 years. He also ordered the three to perform 400 hours of community service related to prevention of prescription drug abuse.

Former New York mayor and Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani negotiated with federal prosecutors on behalf of the Purdue. Judge Jones however denies any allegations that Giuliani had any influence in lessening the judges ruling.

Some, such as former OxyContin addict Robert Palmisano, were disappointed with the ruling and hoped the officials would receive some jail time. “Money can’t buy all the lives that are lost,” Palmisano said.

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Every day across America, nearly a million American kids age 12 to 17 abuse a pain reliever for the very first time just to get high. If you do the math, that’s nearly a million kids a year risking their lives — or at the very least, risking a life interrupted or ruined by prescription drug addiction. Teenagers are abusing more prescription and over-the-counter drugs than all illegal and illicit drugs except marijuana, according to federal statistics. In 2006, more than 2.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 reported abusing prescription drugs. And kids as young as 12 and 13 told researchers that prescription drugs are their “drug of choice.” The drugs that lead to prescription drug addiction for thousands of these young people are powerful narcotic painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. These are the heroin-in-a-pill type drugs that can cause breathing collapse and coma, that have led to tens of thousands of cases of prescription drug addiction across the country. OxyContins were responsible in part for the death of actor Heath Ledger, and literally thousands of other “just plain folks” across the country in recent years. Anti-anxiety drugs and depressants, especially the benzodiazepine drugs — Xanax is a popular brand, as are Valium, Librium and many others — are particularly dangerous. They rapidly create dependencies that can lead to prescription drug addiction — some people are hooked after just a day or two on Xanax — and they are really difficult to get off of safely. And benzos can cause death when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Stimulants are another type of drug that kids are abusing to get a buzz, particularly the kinds prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adderall and Ritalin are two of the most abused, and these, because of their side effects, are basically cocaine-in-a-pill. Kids are trading and selling their ADHD prescription drugs with other kids, and stupidly risking their friends’ lives. Speed drugs can cause seriously abnormal heart rhythms, seizures and death. Meanwhile, a recent University of Texas study showed conclusively that methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin, causes chromosomal damage — the organized structures of DNA in our cells. No one has a clue yet what damage that will do long-term, but messing with someone’s DNA can’t be harmless. But while that research continues, millions of parents keep feeding these drugs to children. It’s time for a reassessment. Teens are also abusing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as cough and cold remedies, which contain dextromethorphan and other drugs which are, like those prescription drugs, extremely deadly when combined with other drugs or with alcohol. OTC drugs can cause blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, coma, and even death. And they’re a stepping stone to prescription drug addiction, too. Thousands of kids wind up in hospital emergency wards every year fighting for their lives because they overdosed on prescription or OTC drugs mixed with alcohol — all for fun! These drugs are readily available from home medicine cabinets or from friends, and even from on-line pharmacies. A lot of kids still think they’re a safer way to get high than street drugs, and many of them who wouldn’t touch cocaine or heroin don’t realize they are abusing almost identical drugs, and risking prescription drug addiction or death. What’s needed is for parents to start talking to their kids, and to clearly spell out all the very real dangers of prescription and OTC drugs. And they need to show strong disapproval of drug experimentation and abuse, and create and enforce anti-drug rules. Parents need to be firm, but they need their kids to understand that rules are to protect them — kids should be healthy, not in the morgue with a tag on their toe or in medical drug detox recovering from addiction.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a major problem next only to marijuana abuse. One of the main reasons for the growth of prescription drug abuse is the easy availability of the medications over the counter from a drug store, from a doctor or through online pharmaceuticals. It is becoming easier mainly to youngsters to access narcotic medications like tranquilizers and stimulants, in which the abuse is rapidly growing. Some of the facts about prescription drug abuse are as follows-%26bull;    A considerable number of people are abusing prescription drugs. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, an estimated 48 million people (20%) who are aged 12 and above of US population have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes or reasons.%26bull;    According to SAMSHA, non-medical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain relievers%26rsquo; usage, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006.%26bull;    Non-medical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period, from 1.6 in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2006.%26bull;    Teenagers and youngsters are the main sections involved in prescription drug abuse. It is found that, 15.4 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the last year (2006).

%26bull;    NIDA states that OxyContin use in the last year was reported by 1.8 percent of 8th-graders, 3.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 5.2 percent of 12th- graders.%26bull;    Vicodin use in 2006 was reported by 2.7 percent of 8th-graders, 7.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 9.6 percent of 12th-graders, remaining stable at relatively high levels for each grade.%26bull;    Friends or relatives are becoming the first reason and an easy source for the prescription drug abuse. Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers non-medical reasons in the past 12 months (2006), 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug most recently they used, was from a friend or relative for free.%26bull;    Doctors are also an easy source to obtain narcotic medications. 19.1 percent of the prescription drug abusers reported they got the drug from just one doctor.The above facts clearly state that, youngsters are clearly becoming vulnerable to prescription drug abuse. All the sections of the society should take serious steps to stop prescription drug abuse from doing further damage to the community.

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What is Drug Rehab Program?
by Roberta Groche

What is drug Rehab? This is medical and psychological form of treatment which done to treat drug dependency. Drug dependency cannot be treated without professional help and care. A patient who is addicted to drug or alcohol should have to go under a rehabilitation program.

The treatment in the drug rehab center depends on the drug to which the patient is addicted. Nowadays teenagers as well as adults are addicted to both prescription and street drugs. Most common street drugs which can cause addiction are cocaine, meth, crack, or heroin. Prescription drugs which are commonly abused by the people are oxycontin, vicodin and morphine.

The person who is addicted to drugs should be treated physically as well as psychologically. The physical treatment starts with drug detoxification. Drug detox process washes out the entire harmful chemical from the body. The patient`s organism functions better after this detoxification process. The second step after the detoxification is psychological treatment.

One of the most important parts of a treatment process is psychological therapy. The counselor tries to find the cause of the addiction problem. The patient goes under the psychological treatment on a regular basis. There are two types of sessions which are used by the counselors. The first is group session and second is one-on-one session.

Nowadays lots of rehab centers are being opened. According to recent studies and research the rehab centers are very helpful for the people fighting with addiction.

There are many people who need drug rehab program but not every addict is aware of his problem of addiction. Nowadays more and more people are finding information about drug rehabilitation programs and centers.

There are lots of sources which can give enough information about drug treatment centers. One of them is internet. Internet is an extensive source of information. There are lots of websites devoted to this topic. It is a good idea to read some articles providing important information on this topic. I have gone through many article directories which provide free cost articles related to drug addiction and other health and fitness related topics.

Nowadays every reputed rehab center has a website. These rehab centers provide a lot of information about the treatment of addiction. Most of them offer free counseling sessions. It is a good idea to visit these counseling sessions. There are different counseling sessions for the patient and the family members. As you go through the website you should read not only about the treatment technique but also about the staff members. Proper rehab center should recruit professional staff members. You should also know about the emergency care system of the center. The person suffering from addiction needs professional support and emergency care 24 hours a day.

Florida drug treatment centers say the number of people seeking help for the abuse of painkillers is on the rise. OxyContin, Vicodin, and other opiates are only available with a doctor %26#39;s prescription, but more and more people are still able to abuse them. In fact, an estimated 5.2 million people are believed to be abusing painkillers right now. Because people with this type of addiction are often living with chronic pain, their addiction requires an individual plan introduced by residential drug rehabs to be treated.Who Is Abusing Painkillers?What was once a very hidden addiction is now making headlines throughout the country. In Georgia in 2007, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven-year-old son before killing himself after a history of concussions, drug abuse, and an addiction to painkillers. This isn’t the only famous addiction to painkillers. Many famous names such as Anna Nicole Smith and Matthew Perry have also suffered from this terrible addiction. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has also admitted to abuse of opiates.Residential drug rehabs aren’t just treating the rich and famous for this addiction, however. Many ordinary people start using painkillers after an accident or injury that is causing genuine pain, eventually becoming addicted. This occurs because the longer someone takes the opiates, the more their body becomes accustomed to the drug. This requires them to increase their dose in order to achieve the same effect. Once that person becomes an addict, say Florida drug treatment experts, the addict can be taking upwards of thirty or more pills every day.Where Are They Coming From?In 2005 in Florida, drug treatment wasn’t in the mind of one 60-year-old family physician. The doctor received a 25-year sentence and $550,000 in fines for trafficking Oxycodone, fraud, and racketeering and an additional five-year sentence for selling and handing out Xanax and Valium. Doctors do not generally cause addictions intentionally, but an estimated 50% do fail to talk to their patients about their addiction.Pain pill addicts don’t just rely on their regular prescriptions for the drugs either. They use excuses such as losing their medication or saying that they spilled them in order to get their doctor to prescribe more. Florida drug rehabs say that when this stops working, addicts will head to drop in clinics or jump between several doctors to get enough medication to satisfy their habit.How Painkiller Addictions Are TreatedOne of the first steps residential drug rehabs take to treat someone addicted to opiates is a medically controlled detoxification. This doesn’t cure the addiction, but it makes the violent withdrawal caused by the addiction much easier to deal with. This withdrawal causes chills, vomiting, pain, and a variety of other symptoms that make the abuser very ill. From there, Florida drug treatment centers say, a personalized program is developed to help the addict live a drug-free life. This includes an alternative treatment plan for dealing with pain that many addicts do suffer from.The abuse of opiates is a tragic reflection of modern society and it is taking its toll in devastating ways. It isn’t a poor man %26#39;s drug, it isn’t a fad of the rich, it is a very real addiction that permanently affects millions of lives every year. Florida drug treatment experts say the only way to combat this form of addiction effectively is to educate the public, work with healthcare professionals, and get addicts into residential drug rehabs before it is too late.

Study Finds Teens Use Drugs to Cope With School Pressures

Just as millions of youth are headed back to school, a new 2007 study by the Partnership for a Drug Free America reports that 73% of teens stated that dealing with the pressures and stress of school was the number one reason for drug use. This is a shift from retailer research that indicated that teen’s use of drugs was primarily to fit in or ” be cool”. Parents may not truly appreciate the amount of stress young people are under, and, in view of this new data, may falsely believe that if their teen hangs with a ‘good crowd’ they will be protected from drug use.While there are many indicators, including the 2007 PATS Teens study, that overall drug use among teens is declining, prescription and over-the-counter abuse is rising. Too, many teens feel that abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medicines is less harmful than street drugs, and the fact they are not illegal drugs, may make them feel safer. According to a 2005 PATS survey, the proportion of teens who thought there was great risk in trying prescription medicines that were not prescribed for them dropped from 48% in 2004 to 44% in 2005, while the number of teens receiving treatment for addiction to pain relievers increased. This begs the question of what role does increased use of both pain and anti-anxiety medications by adults play in increased abuse by teens? If youth model what their parents do, and if their parents use medications to reduce their stress, is this having a carry over effect?Teens report that prescription medications are easy to get from family or friends, or via the phone or Internet. According to several studies, Vicodin and OxyContin are two of the most common pain medications being abused, and the abuse of Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety agent, is also increasing. The prevalence of abuse of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines is growing, and some surveys indicate that as many as one in ten teens are using cough medicines to get high (PATS, 2005). Alcohol, which remains the most commonly abused substance by youth, is often combined with prescription and over-the-counter medicine abuse and can yield serious and fatal consequences. Teens in our community report that mixing the two has become a common practice.So, as our youth begin another school year, school officials, community coalitions, PTA’s, law enforcement and health professionals must be aware of new trends and work to educate parents on the latest research. If, indeed, more youth are turning to drugs as a means to reduce stress, parents and community members alike may need to alter the messages they are delivering to young people.Pharmacies can also help improve the safety of our young people through providing practical tips on how parents/grandparents can keep prescription medicines out of the hands of teens, tips on proper disposal of unused medicines and the tell tale signs to look for that might indicate prescription or over-the-counter medicine abuse.Taken as a whole, the fact that overall substance abuse in teens is declining is a good sign. Additionally, the fact that the number one reason teens report using drugs is as a means to cope with stress, and the increase in the abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medicine, is not.