For an individual fighting a substance abuse problem, the safest place they can be this Holiday Season is in a long-term drug rehab, as that will increase their chances to be able to spend many more holidays in the future with their family.

If you or someone you love has a drug or alcohol problem, contact us today and we can help you locate successful drug rehabs that work.

The conspiracy surrounding buprenorphine, and the development of the drug sponsored by the Federal Government, was disturbing enough, but it appears that the market was flooded with prescription painkillers in advance of the drug’s approval to create more users “in need” of this new prescription.

Here are the facts that you can draw your own conclusions out of:

- Buprenorphine (in the form of Subutex and Suboxone) was approved by the FDA in 2002 for the treatment of opiate addicts, with doctors being initially limited to 30 patients.

- The number of patients was increased to 100 per doctor in 2006.

- The number if buprenorphine prescriptions increased from 2.12 million in 2007 to 3.54 million in 2008.

- The number of people dependent on prescription painkillers rose 49 percent from 2002 to 2009, totalling 1.4 million Americans.

- The number of people who received drug addiction treatment for prescription painkillers in the previous year more than doubled from about 360,000 in 2002 to nearly 740,000 in 2009.

- There are roughly 5.3 million Americans aged 12 or older that have abused prescription painkillers in the last year.

It’s more than coincidental that the statistics tracking back from 2002 show that use has rapidly INCREASED since buprenorphine hit the market, and this doesn’t even count those addicted to heroin. I have stated before that we are on the brink of a new heroin epidemic following the prescription drug boom.

Roughly 23,000 deaths have been linked to drug cartels in Mexico since the end of 2006. More than 60 deaths have occurred specifically at treatment programs just in the last two years, where cartel members are exploiting people in the clinics by offering drugs to participants and threatening them with death if they do not join their operations.

The article cites that there were about 2,000 deaths from heroin overdoses in 2000, and they were over 3,000 by 2008 with only 36 states reporting. That is a 50% increase in less than a decade, and there was a 20% increase just from ’06 to ’08.

While the increased availability and purity of Mexican black tar or brown heroin may be a culprit, you also have to draw parallels with the increase in prescription painkiller abuse. As I have stated, there is a hidden heroin addiction epidemic where people addicted to painkillers wind up turning to heroin for a stronger and cheaper fix to continue getting high or even to just keep from experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

This is very much a created demand for the drug, and if I were more of a conspiracy theorist I would tell you that it has been carefully orchestrated and that there are some of the same hands in the pots of both the legal and illegal opiate trade.

We will continue monitoring admission trends for drug rehabs to document this prediction (I predicted the prescription drug addiction outbreak many years ago as well) and also keep promoting successful rehabilitation options to help people permanently recover.

A quote from Boby May, associated director for the Association of State Correctional Administrators said, “When inmates are busy, they’re not getting into bad things. Programming is good and helps build responsibility and accountability.”

The article notes that eliminating drug and alcohol rehab programs from prison systems will likely cause an increase in recidivism.

One of the major problems with our nation’s prison system, aside from the fact that too many people are incarcerated instead of receiving other forms of help, is that there are many private facilities charging our country more money to contract with the government to house criminals.

A much more effective long-term plan would be to have a higher rate of alternative sentencing so that the money could be used for successful drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, especially long-term rehab programs.

It’s no wonder that so many of our nation’s military personnel are developing substance abuse issues. In a recent USA Today article, Army vice chief of staff General Peter Chiarelli claimed the US Army needed to double the number of addiction treatment counselors to help soldiers, citing rampant alcohol abuse.

What is also happening is that an alarmingly high number of soldiers are being labeled with mental disorders and are given a deadly mixture of psychiatric drugs. Complications from these drugs have been demonstrated in numerous news stories.

Veterans’ Affairs advocate site vawatchdog.org talks about toxic overdose of military personnel from anti-psychotic drug cocktails.

There have also been reports of murders and suicides involving returning military veterans that had been placed on similar drugs.

The point is that in most cases drugs will not make people well, and our government is turning against our nation’s soldiers by prescribing them mind-altering drugs with very dangerous side effects. Many of these drugs also have a high potential for abuse in themselves, like anti-anxiety drugs (benzos), etc. These courageous men and women need real help – rehabilitation that does not put them on more drugs.

If you are a veteran or a family member of one in need of help to get off alcohol or other substances, there are effective drug rehabs available. Let us help you locate one that works. Call 1-877-421-9659 now.

While it is clear that more inpatient drug rehabs are needed, these figures make me wonder how many people stop using drugs every year. If it is not more than eight percent, then national drug prevention and drug rehab strategies aren’t working. We do already know that more money needs to be spent for addiction treatment programs, and one possible source is to divert funding from overseas enforcement operations.

However, when listening to this, you have to think for yourself if you actually agree with them on your original opinion of the other center(s), or if they can provide facts to back up their remarks rather than just providing some criticism.

If someone is quick to point out negatives in others, that typically isn’t a good characteristic, because that probably means they do that with their own friends and family members as well and most likely aren’t very trustworthy. On the flip side, if they work to educate you on the various types of drug rehab programs available and what each one offers and how they fit into the mix and let you make your own educated decision, then that shows integrity.

If you think you have found the right addiction treatment center for yourself or a loved one, then someone comes along and spreads rumors, don’t let those remarks throw you off what you feel is the right decision. Call the counselors back at the facility, tell them what you heard and allow them a chance to respond or to disprove the rumors if they are false.

If you would like more information about the types of rehabilitation programs available, then using a rehab referral service, such as this one, is a good start.

Methadone is a highly addictive and deadly drug that hurts more people than it helps in the long run. Like all drugs, there may be some medical uses, but the astronomically high number of overdose deaths associated with the drug calls for an outside inquiry into why the FDA and other government agencies not only continue to allow it’s wide usage but also promote it to people with chronic pain and opiate addictions.

If you or someone you know is has a methadone addiction and would like real help to get off with the help of a successful drug rehab center, contact us today by calling 1-877-421-9659.

Some of the trends noted were that there was an increase of more than 135% in the number of drug-related emergency room visits for marijuana among 12-17 yr olds from 1995 to 2002. There was also nearly a 500% increase in the number of admissions to addiction treatment centers listing marijuana as the primary problem from 1992 to 2006.

One of the reasons for this can be said to be pop culture glamorization of the drug, but CASA noted that the increase in potency of marijuana as been by 175 percent from 1992 to 2006.

With millions of people abusing and becoming addicted to drugs of all kinds, including marijuana, the need for successful drug rehab centers has never been more clear.