Opioid addiction is an epidemic in this country. Thousands of people abuse opioids and thousands of people overdose and die because of opioid use each year. Opioids affect the nervous system by attaching themselves to opioid receptors and reduce the perception of pain. They come from the opium poppy with morphine being the active substance.…
Since we are young children many of us watch our parents pour a glass of wine with dinner or open a beer to watch the football game. Most family barbecues consist of hamburgers, hot dogs, and booze. We watch people drink to have fun, drink with food, and drink to relax. As teenagers we can’t…
As a teenager it can seem like you are just having a “good time” and doing “what everyone else is doing,” but this is an especially critical time in brain development. Abusing substances during this time can be harmfull to intellectual development, the ability to feel satisfaction and reward from everyday things, and the hard…
For years our Nation has been battling an opiate epidemic that has affected people from all walks of life, in every state, and taken too many lives. This epidemic started with the legally acquired prescription opiates doctors continue to recommend for their patients after surgeries and for chronic pain. These opiates are highly addictive and…
For centuries substance abuse and addiction has been a problem, usually in cities with large numbers of people and discrete dealings. Dealers are able to easily hide amongst the vast numbers of residents and even visiting tourists. So how then are the numbers of those abusing, addicted, and overdosing so high in rural small towns?…
Your child is starting to grow and you want them to be happy and healthy and maybe share in some of your own interest so you sign them up for a sport or two. Soccer, pee-wee football, little league or gymnastics. As they grow they may continue to play these sports and they may become…
Most people think of self-medicating as taking a Tylenol for a headache. While this is true, there are people who take a more extreme and more dangerous chance with self-medicating. Self-medicating is choosing and taking medicines oneself, rather than by prescription or on expert advice or taking addictive or habituating drugs to relieve stress or…
According to internal federal documents obtained by The Washington Post, drug testing in 2016 showed that almost eight percent of railroad workers involved in accidents tested positive for marijuana, ecstasy, benzodiazepine, cocaine, morphine, and OxyContin. The number of drug-positives test obtained after accidents was ten times higher than ten years ago. In 2014 the number…
Your child’s doctor recommends they get their tonsils taken out, common surgery, when it’s done take them home and give them opioids. Your younger sibling’s wisdom teeth are coming in and need to be removed, common surgery, when it’s done take them home and give them some opioids. You were constantly getting gallstones and needed…
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published a report in 2015 based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). NSDUH defines illicit drugs as marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, or prescription-type drugs used non-medically. Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same…
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