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

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

<div class="singlesubtitle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px initial initial; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 20px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> 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.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img height="145" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/qqHCyp86JOpa0inpkmWjGQ0KddMYL7jnD-vZ0VV4SUixunDPfC-o4OUy4LLk3S-gZKPwWJH6wzytSfZ5HwpBhhGq7km2tVephGyLLJ3_nVnBa6Gbvo3d4A8Hz00VLbF9skqoub9jvXw" width="200" /><br /><br />LOST SOUL: Amy Winehouse in London on July 23, 2009, exactly two years before her death. (Photo by Shaun Curry/Newscom.)<br /><br />This week, Amy Winehouse’s official cause of death 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br />UrbanFaith: After Amy Winehouse’s death, the Huffington Post featured a commentary by Rabbi Shais Taub which asked the question, “Was the World Powerless to Stop Amy Winehouse?” In other words, are there addictions so strong and pervasive that they’re beyond human understanding and control? How would you answer that?<br /><br />LaTonya Mason Summers: 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.<br />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 “When will Amy Winehouse die?” 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?<br /><br />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?<br /><br />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.<br />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?<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br />Over the summer, former NBA star Jalen Rose was sentenced to 20 days in jail 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?<br /><br />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.<br />What kinds of miracles have you seen in your work with people battling addictions?<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ZxsRhw9EfneW1Pa1Z97Pvk9_t2m3GF01m4O23U8GN7PDAObhkaEfW9ibN3N0p2T8mAbGHCxZjo9Cm7F33-JtiNVgUZzhM4ucN1DAc5eV97fVQOIpzzWrI_I6vCaCsY3YOQ" /><br /><br />LaTonya Mason Summers<br /><br />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.<br />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?<br /><br />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 toIsaiah 50:1-7, believing I am called as a therapist.<br /><br />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?<br />Is it possible to effectively treat addiction without addressing the spiritual aspects of the problem? <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.</div> </div> <!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbanfaith.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2FWinehouse-reflection350x255.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/qqHCyp86JOpa0inpkmWjGQ0KddMYL7jnD-vZ0VV4SUixunDPfC-o4OUy4LLk3S-gZKPwWJH6wzytSfZ5HwpBhhGq7km2tVephGyLLJ3_nVnBa6Gbvo3d4A8Hz00VLbF9skqoub9jvXw" --><!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbanfaith.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2FLaTonya-Mason150x200.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ZxsRhw9EfneW1Pa1Z97Pvk9_t2m3GF01m4O23U8GN7PDAObhkaEfW9ibN3N0p2T8mAbGHCxZjo9Cm7F33-JtiNVgUZzhM4ucN1DAc5eV97fVQOIpzzWrI_I6vCaCsY3YOQ" -->

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. B...

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many teens were using the Internet as a tool for exploring questions of personal identity, successfully building their own future lives using what they discover on the Web

<p> </p><p>The risk of youth wasting huge amounts of time on social networks like Facebook and Twitter as well as the shared videos of YouTube is well known, but a Tel Aviv University researcher claims that these resources can actually promote psychological development. Prof. Moshe Israelashvili of TAU’s Jaime and Joan Constantiner School of Education, with his master’s degree student Taejin Kim and colleague Dr. Gabriel Bukobza, studied 278 teenage girls and boys from schools throughout the country. They found that many teens were using the Internet as a tool for exploring questions of personal identity, successfully building their own future lives using what they discover on the Web. The study, published in the Journal of Adolescence, encourages parents and educators to look at engagement with the online world as beneficial for teens. Social networking, Israelashvili says, is a positive example of Internet use: “Facebook use is not in the same category as gambling or gaming,” he insists, and as a result researchers should redefine the characteristics of the disorder called “Internet addiction” in adolescents. The teens were asked to rate themselves in terms of Internet use, ego clarification and self-understanding and how well they related to their peer groups. The researchers discovered there was a negative correlation between Internet overuse and the teens' levels of ego development and clarity of self-perception. This, he said, is an indication that some Internet use is destructive and isolating while some is informative and serves a socializing function. These results show that the current understanding of adolescent Internet addiction demands redefinition. Psychiatrists now classify an “Internet addict” as a person who spends more than 38 hours on the Internet every week. But it’s the quality, not the quantity that matters, argues Israelashvili. The researchers determined that many teens who participated in the study met the psychiatric standard of “Internet addiction” but were actually using the Internet as a tool to aid in their journey of self-discovery. There are two different kinds of teenage Web addicts, he continued. The first group is composed of adolescents who really are addicted, misusing the Internet with things like online gaming and gambling or pornographic websites, isolating themselves from the world around them. The second can be defined as “self-clarification seekers” whose use of the Internet helps them comprehensively define their own identities and place in the world. They tend to use the Internet for social networking and information gathering, such as on news sites or Twitter. Parents and educators should change the conversations they have with teens about Internet use, the researchers urge. The Web is a big part of our modern lifestyle, and both adults and children are spending more time there. As a result, what is important is how that time is used. Students must learn to use the Internet in a healthy way – as a source of knowledge about themselves in relation to their peers around the world, recommends Israelashvili. If parents still don't like the amount of time their teens are spending in front of the computer, they should consider becoming an information resource for their adolescent children, encouraging a healthy flow of conversation in the household itself. “Too many parents are too preoccupied,” the researcher says. “They demand high academic achievements and place less importance on teaching their children how to face the world.” Teens won't give up the Internet, but they may spend less time online if family interactions meet some of the same needs. “By the time teens reach the age of 18 or 19 they enter a new phase of life called ‘emerging adulthood,’ in which they take the lessons of their adolescence and implement them to build a more independent life. If they have spent their teenage years worrying only about their academic performance or gaming, they won't be able to manage well during their emerging adulthood and might have difficulties in making personal decisions and relating well to the world around them,” he concludes.</p>

many teens were using the Internet as a tool for exploring questions of personal identity, successfully building their own future lives using what they discover on the Web

  The risk of youth wasting huge amounts of time on social networks like Facebook and Twitter as well as the shared videos of YouTube is wel...

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prescription painkiller addiction

<p> </p><p> Painkillers in Maine: A cure that came with a curse Maine’s out-of-control pill habit is among the worst in the nation, and all of us bear the costs of its abuse. By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com Staff Writer First of six parts click image to enlarge A pharmacist counts out Vicodin pills at a pharmacy in Portland last week. Maine was one of the first states to see an explosion of painkiller addiction and it remains among the worst states in the nation for pill abuse. The human and societal costs associated with the epidemic – almost 1,400 Maine people have died from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the past decade and thousands more need treatment for addiction – are staggering, experts say. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer click image to enlarge . Ten years ago, Maine’s former U.S. attorney called prescription pain-pill abuse “the greatest criminal problem and possibly the greatest social problem facing Maine.” The problem, as it turns out, was just getting started. Maine was one of the first states to witness the explosion of prescription painkiller addiction, and its pill habit, still out of control, is among the worst in the nation. The damage continues to pile up. Nearly 1,400 Mainers have died from pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the past decade. And all residents bear the costs of the abuse. They pay for the pills, police the crime and care for and treat the addicts. Substance abuse in Maine is now estimated to cost $1.18 billion a year, or $900 for every man, woman and child, and much of that comes from misuse of prescription drugs. “It’s extraordinary how deep this epidemic has gone,” said Dr. Mark Publicker, an addiction specialist in Westbrook. “It was eating its way through the culture, and it was diagnosed too late.” Now human and social costs are at historic highs, leading to a renewed urgency to fight back. • Overdose deaths from pharmaceuticals in Maine set a new record in 2009 – 165 – and for the first time exceeded the number of Mainers killed in motor vehicle accidents. One hundred and sixty-two Mainers died from the drugs in 2010, the second-highest year on record. • Pill abuse continues to rise among teens, according to experts. Nearly one in four high school seniors in 2009  – 23.6 percent – said they have used prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them. • A record number of Maine babies – 572 – were born last year to mothers who were known to have used painkillers or other drugs during pregnancy, more than triple the number in 2005. Most of the babies experienced painful opiate withdrawal and spent their first two weeks in the hospital. • Crimes driven by pill addiction – especially pharmacy robberies and home invasions – are becoming more common and more dangerous, according to police statewide. These crimes have turned county jails into busy detox centers. • Prescription pain pill addicts are seeking treatment in record numbers – nearly 4,000 last year. Maine has more people per capita in state-funded treatment than any other state, eight times the national average, according to federal and state data. After a decade of efforts to contain the abuse, Maine’s Legislature and the Attorney General’s Office are among those calling for a more aggressive, coordinated response. A seven-year-old effort to track opiate prescriptions statewide, for example, has never been put to full use because of limited resources and participation. “I think there’s enough fault to go around for everybody,” said Jay McCloskey, who sounded the alarm as Maine’s U.S. attorney a decade ago and is now in private practice. FERTILE GROUND The 10-year toll and Maine’s inability to contain the epidemic come as little surprise to those who have experienced addiction. “It just really quickly takes control. And then it takes and takes,” said Daryl Blums, a 27-year-old recovering addict from the Sanford area. Painkiller abuse is the side effect of powerful new pain relievers introduced more than a decade ago. Drug makers targeted Maine physicians with promises that the pills were safe and effective. And doctors who took an oath to relieve suffering felt they could no longer allow pain to go untreated, at least not without violating their oath and losing patients. Maine’s fishermen, loggers and other physical laborers provided plenty of demand for the new pain medications, and the prescriptions flowed. Maine has been a consistent leader in the prescribing of narcotic painkillers such as oxycodone. Teens and others quickly figured out how to crush the pills and snort the powder to get the full euphoric rush of the synthetic opiates, which are as powerful and addictive as heroin and morphine. As a rural state at the end of the distribution network, Maine didn’t have a lot of experience with hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. But now, here was a drug delivered to every community in pure, pharmaceutical-grade, precisely measured doses. Experienced drug users loved the pills because they could trust them to work. The inexperienced considered them safer than street drugs. And there was a ready appetite for the pills, especially among teens and among adults wanting to wash away depression or escape the stress of unemployment and financial insecurity. Police, meanwhile, were all but powerless to keep the pills out of the wrong hands. “Drugs used to come from foreign countries and people would smuggle them in,” said Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross. “Today, they are in the medicine cabinets of our homes.” HIGHLY ADDICTIVE At first, prescription opiates – also called opioids – give a warm, on-top-of-the-world feeling, users say. Pretty soon you need larger amounts to get high. Then one day you feel like you have a horrible flu – pain, vomiting, sweats and chills – and you realize it’s because you missed a dose. Opiate receptors in your brain, spine and intestines have gone into a kind of shock. Opiate withdrawal doesn’t kill you, but addicts say you wish it would. “You don’t have a care in the world when you’re on it. And when you can’t get it, it’s the worst experience in the world,” said Chuck Lawson, a recovering addict in Portland. Some addicts say it took them as little as two weeks of regular use to get hooked. The extreme highs and lows physically change an addict’s brain. Getting the next dose becomes the first thing – and sometimes the only thing – on an addict’s mind. Some addicts, chasing the high and trying to avoid withdrawal, mix painkillers with Xanax or other anti-anxiety pills or dissolve the pills and inject them directly into their veins. Both push addicts closer to a potentially fatal overdose. “Once you got past a certain point, there is no going back,” said 31-year-old Nicole Martin, a recovering addict who injected the drugs and used heroin when she couldn’t get pills. “Anything you say you haven’t done yet, you will do eventually.” WIDELY AVAILABLE Finding the drugs is rarely a problem, addicts say. Users share them, buy them, steal them, forge prescriptions for them and, if desperate enough, trade sex for them. Some go out of state to get the drugs, including to Florida’s so-called “pill mills” – clinics that offer painkiller prescriptions for cash. Many addicts get prescriptions from their local doctors – sometimes for real pain and often not. Some are even bold enough to file false police reports of pill theft so they can convince their doctors to give them more. Those with their own prescriptions get their pills on the cheap – MaineCare and private insurance cover most of the cost. And they quickly learn they can sell their pills for as much as $30 to $100 apiece depending on the type and strength. Addicts buying their pills on the street can spend $100 to $400 a day to feed their habits. That gets very expensive, said Blake Carver of Portland. Carver, now 24, was a teenager when he started breaking into houses looking for money to buy “Oxys,” he said. And he always cleaned out the medicine cabinets in the homes he robbed. “Even if there wasn’t something I wanted, I knew somebody who would,” he said. ‘NO FAMILY IS IMMUNE’ The epidemic has affected Mainers of all ages and backgrounds – middle schoolers and senior citizens, clam diggers and doctors. “No family is immune from this particular issue,” said Troy Morton, chief deputy of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.  “They are the youngest of kids, in their early teens, and people in their 70s. They are the poorest of the poor and the richest. There are no boundaries.” Abuse often starts among teens, who don’t understand the danger and are more vulnerable to addiction. Addiction, meanwhile, is most common among young adults who were in their teens when the pills first flooded into Maine communities. Thirteen percent of Mainers age 18 to 25 said they abused painkillers in the past year, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most recent available. The rate is 6 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds and 4.7 percent of all Mainers over 12 – a total of 52,000 people. The overall cost of painkiller abuse in Maine is not known. Through taxes, health insurance premiums and higher medical costs, Mainers are helping to supply the pills, pay for emergency room visits, investigate crimes, lock addicts in jails and provide the treatments to help them get sober. Opiate addiction treatment alone costs Maine taxpayers millions of dollars a year. The state spends about $12 million a year on substance abuse treatment programs, not including its share of MaineCare coverage for treatment services. Painkiller addiction accounts for about one-third of substance abuse treatment admissions. However, every dollar spent on treatment saves as much as $12 in medical care and crime-related costs, according to Maine’s Office of Substance Abuse. Opiate abuse – including both heroin and prescription painkillers – was responsible for 30,451 emergency and outpatient hospital visits in Maine in 2008, a 28 percent increase from the year before, according to a May report. Pharmacies have banklike security, with surveillance cameras and tracking devices, and still get robbed repeatedly in some cases. County jails and state prisons are straining financially to hold and care for all the addicts arrested for drug-related crimes. RENEWED URGENCY State government, the medical community, law enforcement, drug makers and others have all taken action to try to contain the problem. There are new prescribing guidelines, tamper-proof prescription sheets, overdose prevention campaigns and collection drives for unused drugs. Experts say many of the efforts have helped keep the abuse from doing even more damage. But frustration is clearly peaking after a decade of watching the problem steadily worsen. “It just seems that if we’re leading the way with this problem, we ought to show some leadership in dealing with it,” said Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland. Hinck proposed a bill in the Legislature earlier this year that would have established new rules for doctors, including a requirement that they check patients’ medication records before prescribing them painkillers. The proposal failed, but lawmakers instead created a study group that is due to propose policy changes by Dec. 1. McCloskey, the former U.S. attorney, said the state and federal governments have not devoted enough resources to educating kids about the dangers of abuse. “It hasn’t been a priority,” he said. McCloskey, meanwhile, took criticism himself after leaving the federal government in 2001 and working as a consultant for the maker of OxyContin. McCloskey still maintains the pharmaceutical industry is not to blame for the abuse. “If we don’t reduce the demand for drugs we’ll never be successful.” Most now agree that pill abuse is so entrenched in Maine’s culture it will take more than doctors or state agencies or police alone to control it. “People want to point a finger. Let’s blame the pharmaceutical companies. Let’s blame the physicians. Let’s blame the druggies. (Some) people still think it’s a problem of will power,” said Marcella Sorg, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. “The reason we haven’t been able to tackle it is because it’s so darn complicated.” Maine Attorney General William Schneider has invited leaders in government, law enforcement, medicine, education and addiction treatment to attend a one-day summit Oct. 25 and come up with a coordinated action plan. “It’s staggering,” Schneider said. “I don’t think it’s going to be solved by any one particular tactic, but I think if we choose several different tactics we can make a difference.” Those who have experienced addiction first-hand have no easy answers, either. The pills are too easy to get and too powerful, said James Cox, a 31-year-old recovering addict in Jonesboro. “I don’t think they’ll ever get rid of it,” he said.</p>

prescription painkiller addiction

   Painkillers in Maine: A cure that came with a curse Maine’s out-of-control pill habit is among the worst in the nation, and all of us bea...

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Justin Townes Earle looks back at year of recovery

<p> </p><p>In the days following Justin Townes Earle's arrest last September in Indianapolis, he slipped so deeply into a cocaine psychosis it began to change his personality. Gone was the brash, cocksure young singer-songwriter who against the steep odds of addiction and a tough upbringing had transformed himself into a true artist with the critical acclaim to prove it. In its place was a 150-pound wraith haunting the East Village in New York City with an overriding paranoia brought on by an eight-ball of cocaine and a half-gallon of vodka every day. The continuous binges were destroying his talent and making his intense live shows occasionally forgettable. They were destroying his friendships one by one. Nearly six years of sobriety, all gone during an increasingly tight downward spiral over a year's time. Earle fixated on an erroneous news report that said he hit a woman while destroying his dressing room in an Indianapolis club. For a man raised by a single mother, the idea he would hit a woman was devastating. It prompted a five-day bender. "I'd just be walking down the streets in Manhattan thinking everybody was looking at me," Earle said. "I thought everybody knew about what happened and it absolutely was just crushing me. I remember vaguely calling my publicist at the time — I fired my manager not long before that had happened, and my publicist and my booking agent were the only people still working for me — and just hysterically crying and saying I just didn't want to do this anymore. I didn't want to tour any more. I didn't want to make records." Not long after, Earle entered formal treatment for the 13th time. In the 10 months since he completed rehab, the 29-year-old son of country rebel Steve Earle has experienced a series of highs and lows he shared in several interviews. He's slipped back into heroin use and rallied, turning to a new treatment that seems to have helped him settle into a healthier routine. He's been hailed as a new voice for his generation and targeted by cruel attempts at gallows humor. He split with his old girlfriend and started a new relationship that's brought him back to his hometown. Today he's on the "marijuana maintenance plan" and enjoying the benefits of anti-addiction drug Soboxone. He's exercising and feels as fit as he ever has. He's touring much of the fall and is preparing to record his fifth record, a significant step that has Earle pointed directly into the future. "And I'm as content as I've ever been," Earle said. "Which doesn't mean I'm content, but I'm as content as I've ever been. I'm still always going to be a little bit discontent because I'm a little bit crazy and I'll always want more than I have. That's what keeps me going. That's what keeps me driven to keep on doing what I'm doing." Perhaps it's that drive that's kept him alive so long. ___ Sometimes, Justin Townes Earle is amazed he's still above ground. Images flashed through his head as he sat backstage at The Mercy Lounge last November, staring out a window at bejeweled luxury high rises. The Nashville he's looking at doesn't much resemble the lazy town with the seedy side he grew up in during a nearly feral, often lonely and always confusing childhood. At the same time, some things look very much the same. "I remember when you'd look out this window and there wasn't (expletive) anything there," he said. "It was a rail yard. Well, hell you can still buy crack on 8th Avenue." A few weeks out of rehab, Earle admits his mind is often on drugs. He catches himself falling prey to the classic addict behavior of daydreaming about scoring. "I feel good now, but at least once a day I come up with some kind of hare-brained scheme to get high and get away with it," he said with a laugh.</p>

Justin Townes Earle looks back at year of recovery

  In the days following Justin Townes Earle's arrest last September in Indianapolis, he slipped so deeply into a cocaine psychosis it be...

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Food addiction, although controversial, has recently gained attention in scientific literature and comes under the realm of atypical eating disorders.

<div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="color: #3f3f3f; float: left;"><div id="sshow"><div class="cnt" style="margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 10px; width: 310px; display: inline; float: left;"><div id="bellyad" style="padding-left: 3px;"><div class="mainimg1" style="position: relative; float: left; display: inline; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding-bottom: 10px; margin: 0px;"><div style="float: left; position: relative;"><span style="color: #336797;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?msid=10376638&width=300&resizemode=4" style="display: block; margin-right: 5px; border: 4px solid #e1e1e1;" vspace="0" width="300" /></span><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 20px; bottom: 7px; left: 275px; position: absolute;"><img align="left" alt="" border="0" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/5766056.cms" style="display: block; margin-right: 5px;" /></span></span></div><div class="zoomimg1" style="right: 4px; bottom: 4px; width: 300px;"><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: left; padding-right: 5px; color: #757575; font-style: italic;">Are you addicted to food? (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="Normal" style="font-size: 15px; font-family: georgia; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #336797;"><em><br /></em></span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">We all over-eat occasionally. However, a food addict eats too much food and wrong kinds of food all the time. It may be associated with an obsessive/compulsive relationship to food - where an individual indulges in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, else experiences anxiety if he is unable to do so. However, this may have serious health implications in due course. </span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">Nutritionist and </span><span style="color: #336797;">obesity</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;"> consultant Naini Setalvad says, "Food addiction basically means a person eats uncontrollably, for reasons besides</span><span style="color: #336797;">hunger</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">. One reason for this is the neurobiological imbalances in the levels of the chemical, serotonin. Once its levels drop in the body, a person feels low and needs to eat again. This leads to overeating, which in turn leads to feelings of guilt, depression, </span><span style="color: #336797;">mood swings</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">, weight gain and a reinforcement of low self-esteem. Because of this, a person looks to food for comfort and the vicious cycle continues." </span><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">How can one overcome it? "One way is by breaking the cycle. If it is a severe case, then psychological treatment must be accompanied with a healthy food plan. Replace addictive foods with healthy ones, which also boost the mood and serotonin levels. Stick to whole grains, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds and make </span><span style="color: #336797;">vegetables</span><span style="color: #3f3f3f;"> a habit. Also, drink lots of water. These foods not only comfort a person, but also take away the 'guilt' factor. You can eat three mangoes and not worry about the amount of fat you have eaten, since there is none. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #3f3f3f;">However, the natural sugar in mangoes perks a person and makes him feel better," says Setalvad. If you are addicted to food, it's time to take an honest look at your life and make a commitment to loving yourself. </span></div></span></div>

Food addiction, although controversial, has recently gained attention in scientific literature and comes under the realm of atypical eating disorders.

Are you addicted to food? (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images) We all over-eat occasionally. However, a food addict eats too much food and wrong...

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Addiction Recovery:

<p><a href="http://almostthetruths.blogspot.com/2010/02/many-of-us-have-wasted-lot-of-time.html">Addiction Recovery: Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn't work. You can easily see why.</a></p><blockquote>We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn't work. You can easily see why.</blockquote>

Addiction Recovery:

Addiction Recovery: Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn't work. You can easily see why. We usually conclude the...

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Addiction Recovery: age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!

<p> </p><blockquote>age of miracles is still with us.  Our own recovery proves that!</blockquote>

Addiction Recovery: age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!

  age of miracles is still with us.  Our own recovery proves that!

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Addiction Recovery

<p> </p><blockquote>However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble your- self much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do want society.</blockquote>

Addiction Recovery

  However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do...

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