29 Million Addicts Worldwide and Heroin Addiction is Leading The Way

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According to World Drug Report issued last Thursday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said there are now over 29 million people suffering from drug addiction and drug use disorders worldwide. The number of people addicted to drugs across the world has risen for the first time in years. Last year it was reported that only 27 million people around the world suffered from drug addiction. The report also mentioned that heroin is the deadliest drug and leading cause for this epidemic worldwide. The increasing use of heroin addiction in the United States is a particular concern. As of 2014 a record number 1 million people were using heroin, almost three times the number of people in 2003. Even more staggering, heroin related deaths shot up 5 times what they were in 2000. The heroin use and related overdose deaths has some calling this “alarming” and immediate action needs to be taken against the rise of heroin.

There has been a lot of theories about why heroin is on the rise. The biggest theory is that the crackdown on prescription opioid painkillers has led to the heroin epidemic. Many believe that opioid painkillers were being over prescribed and since the slow down and recent CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids have rolled out, more people are turning to heroin. Prescriptions drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin are harder to find these days, people are turning to the streets to get their fix. Unlike the pharmaceutical drugs, street heroin is unregulated and the potency of the drug can change from batch to batch, causing a wide spread heroin overdose related deaths across the nation.

Even though the UN report also indicated that there was a large decline in opium production worldwide in 2015, heroin deaths are still on the rise. Due to the high production levels in previous years, it could be awhile before we see a decline of heroin on the streets. Heroin addiction is flooding the streets of America and stealing the life from families. It is estimated that 29 people overdose each day. Worldwide 250 million people consumed at least one drug in 2014, the UNODC said. Of the estimated 29 million heavy users, some 17 million are addicted to opiates, which include heroin, opium and morphine

Now what about those who seek treatment? The numbers are slim. On average 1 out of 6 people addicted to drugs will seek the treatment they need. Overdose deaths have surpassed car accidents as the number one accident related death cause in America. The heroin train doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Here at Hill Country Detox in Detox we offer heroin detox, alcohol detox, and other drug detox programs. Located in the Hill Country of Texas, our beautiful facility offers a luxury style setting when ridding your body of the toxic substances. If you or a loved one is in need of drug detox, give us a call today at 888.512.5020 to find out how we can help. Or Contact Us Here.

Synthetic Marijuana Causes 16 Overdoses in Houston on Thursday

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The Houston Fire Department responded to calls about people appearing to have “altered states of mind” in the notorious “Kush Corner” on Thursday around 2:30. The area of Hermann Park is well known for its synthetic marijuana use and packets of the fake pot were found throughout the park. When the emergency responders first showed up they found dozens of people who needed hospitalization. Many appeared to have overdosed on synthetic marijuana and paramedics had taken 16 people away in ambulances before the day was over. Houston, TX has been plagued with bizarre incidents involving synthetic marijuana use. One incident where two men attacked and shot at their neighbors when they found a piece of cold chicken on the lawn during a BBQ. Another incident was deadly when a man beat, stabbed, and choked his girlfriend to death during an argument after allegedly smoking a bad batch of synthetic marijuana. The city of Houston has multiple lawsuits against local shops selling the drug. Many fear that this is just the beginning of the synthetic marijuana overdoses they could see this summer.

 

What is Synthetic Marijuana?

Synthetic Marijuana or Synthetic cannabinoids refers to a man-made mind-altering chemicals that are sprayed on shredded plant material so they can be smoked. The chemicals are called cannabinoids because they are related to the chemicals found in the marijuana plant. Many users of the synthetic drug believe it is a safe alternative to real marijuana. In fact, the chemically sprayed shredded planet material effect on the brain can be more powerful than marijuana, their actual effects can be unpredictable, and even cause hallucinations, panic, and violent outburst of rage. Many of the packets containing the drug are labeled “Not for Human Consumption”, and claim to have “natural” material. However, the only parts of these products that are natural are the dried planet materials. The chemicals that are sprayed onto the drug are made in laboratories.  Easy access and the belief that synthetic cannabinoid products are “natural” and therefore harmless have likely contributed to their use among young people. Another reason for their use is that standard drug tests cannot easily detect many of the chemicals used in these products. 

Where is synthetic marijuana sold?

For many years’ synthetic pot could easily be purchased in drug paraphernalia store, gas stations, and through the internet. Authorities deemed the chemicals to have no medical benefit and had a high potential for abuse so they banned the sale and possession of these chemicals. Many were packaged with catchy names like Black Mamba and Kush. Two of the most notorious products were K2 and Spice. However, manufacturers try to sidestep these laws by changing the chemical formulas in their mixtures. Creating new, even more powerful synthetic drugs.

Effects synthetic marijuana has on the brain.

The chemicals in the synthetic pot act on the same brain cell receptors as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Some researches believe that the chemicals bind more strongly than marijuana does, which produces a stronger effect. Because the chemical composition of many synthetic cannabinoid products is unknown and may change from batch to batch, these products are likely to contain substances that cause dramatically different effects than the user might expect.Some users of the synthetic drug have reported elevated moods, relaxation, altered perceptions, symptoms of psychosis, extreme anxiety, confusion, paranoia, and even hallucinations. Other health effects reported are rapid heart rate, vomiting, violent behavior, and suicidal thoughts.

Are synthetic marijuana addictive?

Yes, synthetic marijuana can be addictive.

Nova Recovery Centers residential drug and alcohol rehab center offers evidence-base therapeutic interventions to address substance use disorders. After completion at our Detox Center, clients will receive individual treatment plans, combining treatment modalities with a twelve-step program to create a curriculum built to meet all addiction needs. Our long-term care strategy allows clients to experience and over the various stressors of life in a safe, therapeutic setting before starting their new life in recovery. Contact us Today or Call us today at 855.969.3668 for more information.

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Heroin Addiction: The Untold Cost of Heroin

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Heroin addiction treatment in Texas- The unspoken amount of cost of heroin addiction is rarely spoken about. The drug epidemic gripping the Nation and its devastating effects on our younger generation. Heroin tears families apart, destroys stability, steals innocence, happiness and any sense of safety in the family. The disease of heroin addiction doesn’t care about race, color, or size, it doesn’t care what neighborhood you live in or where you work, it can effect anyone. Instead of getting the love, care, and attention children need to grow, they’re becoming secondary to heroin. Heroin replaces your morals with corruption, lies, and stealing. It doesn’t take long from the average American to become hooked on heroin, within weeks a person can change and do whatever it takes to get the drug. The ended quest to get the next high, and we say “endless” unless a proper intervention and heroin addiction treatment takes place there may be little hope. The enormous toll is breathtaking. To put the untold cost of heroin addiction in perspective lets us talk directly about the parents who use heroin who have children. Aside from the family financial burden and emotional toll, foster care homes are filling up with children left behind from heroin addiction. In Kentucky alone, foster care and other placement homes are at an all-time high. Reaching 8.084 fostered kids, over a 1000 person increase from six years ago. State and local leaders say drugs; especially the heroin drug are to blame. Another state dealing with a heroin problem is Indiana, where records show 2,600 children were removed from their homes because of parents’ drug use during the six months leading up to March 2015, that’s an increase of 71% from the previous 2 years. While these numbers are quite grim, other child welfare statistics are equally as mind-blowing. Kentucky’s substantiated social service reports involving drug abuse rose to 8,542 last year, up from 6,303 in 2011. Drug abuse also helped swell the ranks of children growing up without either parent, Kids Count data show, from 63,000 in 2010 to 80,000 two years ago in Kentucky, and from 81,000 to 89,000 in Indiana. What does this mean for the children who have to grow up without a parent? The answers could be endless, some studies have been done for child with absent parents and the outcomes are unpleasant. Now this doesn’t mean everyone child effected by the heroin epidemic will have to endure counseling or be at higher risk of abusing drugs when they grow up. A child needs both parents in their life, there helpless against the disease of addiction and the effects it has on the families. Children taken away due to their parents using heroin will miss out on family holidays, birthdays, and life events. This could be a very lonely time for a child, and they could build resentment against their parents. The unspoken price ones family has to pay for addition is astonishing.

Here at Nova Recovery Center we offer Heroin Addiction Treatment in Texas. We can help those family members who suffer from abuse of heroin and other opioids and drugs including alcohol. Our 90 Inpatient Residential Rehab Center is located on 20 acres of beautiful Texas hill country. Our onsite Doctor, Counselors and Recovery Specialists can provide you with the tools to overcome your addiction and get your life back. If you or someone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, we can help. Call us Today at 855-969-3668 Or Contact us here for help.

Battling Prescription Drug Abuse in Texas

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Like most states in the U.S., Texas is facing a severe problem with abuse of and addiction to prescription opioids, such as hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (Kadian, Avinza), codeine and related drugs.

Use and Abuse of Prescription Medication

Opioid medications are typically prescribed for painful conditions, including dental work and injury-related pain. Morphine is often used before and after surgical procedures to alleviate severe pain. Prescriptions for codeine are more commonly used for mild pain, but are also given to relieve symptoms like coughing and diarrhea.

These drugs have legitimate medical uses, but they are also being used in unintended ways and for durations longer than necessary, and they are often diverted or sold to those who do not have legal prescriptions or genuine conditions requiring these medicines.

During the “America’s Addiction to Opioids” presentation, which was given to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Nora Volkow stated, “Several factors are likely to have contributed to the severity of the current prescription drug abuse problem. They include drastic increases in the number of prescriptions written and dispensed, greater social acceptability for using medications for different purposes and aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies. These factors together have helped create the broad environmental availability of prescription medications in general and opioid analgesics in particular.”

Prescription Drug Abuse Trends for Texas 

According to the report “Substance Abuse Trends in Texas,” hydrocodone is the most prevalent prescription opioid used for nonmedical purposes in the state. The report also indicates an increasing problem with abuse of codeine cough syrup and attributes the rise, in part, to music promoting “sippin’ syrup” and several cases of popular singers getting in trouble because of their use of “syrup.”

Trends in Texas center around illicit pain clinics, pharmacies and physicians. The most desired pharmaceuticals continued to be the three that constitute what is known as the Houston Cocktail: hydrocodone, carisoprodol (Soma), and alprazolam (Xanax). The DEA reported prescriptions from Houston pain management clinics were filled in pharmacies as far north as Oklahoma, as far east as Alabama and as far west as El Paso. 

Large numbers of patients from Louisiana and other states travel to the Houston area for the purpose of prescription fraud. Pill crews recruit “patients” to fraudulently obtain multiple prescriptions from pain clinics, which are filled at local pharmacies and then given to the pill crew leader for illicit distribution. Houston area physicians were also found to be mailing prescriptions to patients in other states—primarily Louisiana and Mississippi. 

Monitoring Abuse and Controlling Diversion

Texas House and Senate committees continue to examine ways to limit prescription drug abuse and agree that Texas should interactively share its drug monitoring database with other states. State lawmakers also propose that doctors should be encouraged to use online databases identifying patients who “doctor shop” for medications.

Since diversion of prescription drugs is a significant abuse problem, The Texas Prescription Program was created to monitor controlled substance prescriptions. This program provides an efficient, cost-effective tool for investigating and preventing drug diversion.

Medical practitioners and pharmacists use the program to verify records and inquire about patients to help detect possible illicit use. In addition, the program can be used to generate and disseminate information regarding prescription trends.

Naloxone Available Without A Prescription

Another recent effort to combat the increase of deaths from opioid overdose involves the drug naloxone. Naloxone can be administered to someone actively overdosing on opioids and can reverse the effects of opiates almost immediately.

Last year, advocates and public health experts convinced state lawmakers to pass a Senate bill to expand the availability of naloxone in Texas. In February of this year, Walgreens announced it was rolling out a comprehensive initiative to make the life-saving drug available without a prescription at its pharmacies in 35 states and Washington, D.C. According to the plan, Texans will be able to get naloxone at Walgreens by June.

Sober Living in Houston, TX: Best City for A Career

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For recovering addicts looking to start a career Houston, Texas is the place to do it. Houston’s Job market isn’t as strong as it once was a few years ago, but the city still ranks in the top 10 best cities to start a career. WalletHub a finance website recently released a ranking of the top 150 cities for starting a career. Texas grabbed 4 cities in the top 10. Houston ranked No. 9 overall and No.2 for professional opportunities.Based on a score compiled using eight professional opportunity metrics and nine quality of life metrics. Each city on the list refers to the city proper and excludes surrounding metro areas, the Texas City stole the 9th spot. In recent years the struggle has been real for young Americans finding a job. Hiring is on the rise in 2016, and employers plan to hire more, according to the National Association of College and Employers. There is optimism for sobriety in 2016, with the recent heroin epidemic and opioid painkiller addiction taking lives of famous celebrities. Americans are starting to wake up to the drug addiction effecting its nation. Many drug addicts fear going to treatment due to maintaining their current job. Although returning to an old environment straight out of drug rehab is concerning, Sober Living in Houston offers recovery and employment opportunities.  After completion of a drug and alcohol treatment center it is encouraged that you move into a sober living home. Those active in career building or a finding a part time job while attending school can benefit from the support of the sober living home, because at home support in recovery can increase chances at long term sobriety and success in the workplace. Work can be stressful and reclaiming your spot in the workplace after your addiction, can be difficult. Having the ongoing support of your recovery peers in your sober house and the structure of a sober living environment can make a large difference. Sober living houses allow you to practice the tools of recovery in everyday life, returning from a stressful day at work and being able to talk to someone about it, can make all the difference.  Sober living houses are designed to provide structure and peer support for addicts in recovery.  When co-workers venture off to the bars to celebrate a long work week, you can venture off with your sober living roommates instead. The house provides residents with regular alcohol tests/drug tests, a curfew, chores, and involvement in the 12-steps of recovery. Many recovering addicts claim that holding down a steady job was difficult in their addiction.  So if you’re looking for a recovery, and a city that is ranked high for starting a career and professional opportunities. Sober living in Houston could be the best choice for you.

If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction, and is looking for help. Contact Us today for Sober Living in Houston and other Cities across Texas and Colorado. Our highly trained admissions team can help consult you with treatment care options and sober living options in your area.

City for Recovery: Sober Living in Austin

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Sober Living in Austin – Many drug addicts who enter treatment find it to be a life changing event. With a new found awareness of the disease of addiction, solid spiritual principles to live by and knowledge and skills to use, addicts in recovery after rehab are often encouraged to move into a sober living house. Successful completion of a drug and alcohol treatment center is just the first step towards a life filled with sobriety. Transitioning into a continuum of care program is the second step and offers a better chance at sobriety. Many recovering addicts face the decision of moving back into their old neighborhood, or moving to a new city. Understanding that you’re beginning a whole new life after rehab, a fresh start in a new city may be the best choice for you. Many recovering addicts are warned about hanging around old people, places and things that are directly connected to your addiction.  If you think you can just return home directly after drug rehab, you may be setting yourself up for a relapse. Although relapse can be caused by many things, temptation is one of the most dangerous things in early recovery. Hanging around old friends that still abuse drugs and alcohol may tempt you. Returning to unhealthy relationships with friends and family may tempt you to use. Even old hang outs like bars may tempt you to slip back into your old ways. By moving to a new city, you can avoid many of these past temptations. Even better, a new city can give you an opportunity for a fresh start after drug rehab. Many addicts find Sober Living in Austin to be an answer after their stay at rehab. The already established recovery community in Austin is very strong and welcoming. With over 100 twelve step meetings a day, addicts in recovery always have a meeting to go to.  The strong support network in Austin is significant for many addicts in recovery. If you’re considering a move to sober living in Austin, the ever growing city just might be a place you want to call home.

Why Sober Living in Austin?

Austin, Texas is constantly ranked in magazines for best-cities lists. We have made the top 10 best cities for vegetarians and BBQ and our Burgers are off the chain. Even local restaurants have even been featured in cult classic films like Dazed and Confused.  Austin has even ranked No.1 on Forbes list of best big cities for jobs.The Fiscal Times  ranked Austin No. 2 on its list of The 10 Top Cities People Are Moving to in 2012. A study from U-Haul even backs that stat up. Realtor.com has even said that Austin is the second-best investment market in the United States. If that isn’t enough reason to move to Austin, Census numbers say were the third-fasted growing city in America. Need we say anymore? Austin is one of the best U.S. cities to find work, according to Adecco Staffing U.S. Austin is the ninth-best city in the country for business and careers. And for all the recovering addicts who have an appetite, according to GrubHub Inc, Austin, Texas ranked in the top ten most vegetarian-friendly cities. Don’t like veggies? The city ranked No.13 on Travel magazine in 2012 America’s Best Burger Cities, and U.S News says our  barbeque is 5thbest in the country.

It’s simple. When completing a drug and alcohol rehab center you will be encouraged to move into a sober living house. Make sure the city you choose is growing just like your recovery will be. That’s why Sober Living in Austin, Texas should be your choice. If you know someone who is struggling with addiction, and would like help please contact us today. We provide gender specific sober living in the Austin Area.

Can Suboxone Help Heroin Detox?

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Across the nation approximately 1 million people abuse the heroin drug. Even more staggering, 9.2 million people are abusing heroin around the world, according to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Time Magazine reports only 373,000 people were using heroin in 2007, compared to 669,000 in 2012, today the numbers could be closer to 1,000,000. Just imagine that Montana, Rhode Island, or Delaware only consisting of heroin addicts. The populations of these entire states separate, equal the number of current addicts struggling with the heroin drug in America. Did you know that, Heroin takes the lives of more than 8,000 people a year, which averages out to 23 people a day, 1 person an hour? With the current heroin epidemic taking America by storm everyone is looking for an answer to solve the problem. Heroin addiction treatment is on the rise in most states. One of the struggles many addicts face is the heroin withdrawal. With strong commitments and promises not to use heroin, the user can still find himself relapses after attempting to get clean. Medical heroin detox uses Buprenorphine to eases the symptoms of withdrawal.

History of Heroin Detox Programs

For almost 40 years, Methadone was the primary option for people seeking medicated assisted treatment for heroin. Methadone is an opiate agonist that is prescribed under controlled circumstances to treat the symptoms of heroin withdrawal. America started to noticed people getting hooked on methadone, which has more severe withdrawal symptoms then most drugs.

More recently a newer drug is being used for heroin addiction treatment. Buprenorphine contains chemicals that connect with the opioid receptors in the brain to reduce pain and produce a comfort feeling. When mixed with Naloxone a drug called Suboxone is formed. Only around 40 percent of opioid receptors in the brain are activated by Suboxone, and this aids in keeping the patient safe from abuse potential. Patients are placed on a controlled dose of Suboxone that is lowered over time to gradually wean their body off opiates. This process is used in medical heroin detox program or medicated assisted treatment programs. When combined with the proper drug treatment rehabilitation programs and counseling, Suboxone can be a start for those seeking recovery. While many heroin addicts can face pain during the withdrawal period Suboxone can help manage your cravings and help the physically discomfort that withdrawal symptoms may cause you.  The FDA has recently approved an implant that will last 6 months, to administer a daily dose of the drug.

Suboxone remains the most effective and widely used method of heroin addiction treatment, and addicts can stand to benefit a great deal from heroin detox treatment with it. To learn more about how Suboxone can help start your recovery,contact us today to learn more.