Articles

OxyContin abuse on the rise in Ontario

Publicly paid prescriptions for potent, often-abused painkiller skyrocket – and so does the death rate.

Public dollars are funding a dramatic rise in the use of narcotic pain pills that are killing more and more people in Ontario every year, a Star investigation shows.
    Last year, doctors prescribed $54 million of OxyContin – called "hillbilly heroin" by street dealers – under a provincial program that provides free medications to people on social assistance, seniors and people with disabilities. That's nearly triple the $19 million handed out five years before.

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Battling Addiction: Are 12 Steps Too Many?

By JOHN CLOUD Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009

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The Signs of Addiction

They’re not going away so you must do something about it.

Sleeping all the time, missing work, taking no responsibility, unreliable, lies about everything, moodier than usual, argumentative, saying horrible things, disappearing for days, or even weeks on end, keeps asking for money.
    I am sure there is more, but how many changes in behaviour and mood will it take before something is done? Don't get me wrong, it's not that we don't notice. But what is actually happening here? Why are all of their problems coming back to us? There has to be an end to all of this, right?

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When you remove drug residues from your body, your physical cravings stop.

by Dr. David E. Root
A presentation by Dr. David E. Root, MD, MPH, Sacramento, California.

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Pharmacotherapy: Millions Spent, Little Gained.

by Max Ben, Ph.D.

Drug abuse is a complex problem, and approaches to solving it have been as varied as the faces of addiction itself. In the wake of rehabilitation failures, law enforcement officials increasingly speak of the need for harsh punishment of drug offenders, including first-time users. Ironically, national tension and confusion surrounding drug abuse are not unlike the tension and confusion that may propel individuals to drug dependence. The irony of this is reflected in the fact that current private and federal research priorities emphasize developing drugs to solve the riddle of addiction.

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Are we ignoring effective substance abuse treatment solutions?

Vitamin therapy as an essential treatment component.

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What is Detoxification?

by Forest Tennant, MD

It is very critical for everyone who deals with drug dependence to understand that if, for example, you take Heroin long enough your natural body levels of endorphin will deplete your body will make less of it because the Drug provides it. If you take Drugs like Cocaine long enough at a high enough dose, your body stores of dopamine will deplete. Once you get this depletion, the body sets up what we call a "craving cycle," desiring more of the Drug to make up for the chemical that you have depleted.

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