Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy Died

The world lost another great man this week, a man who had traits that we could all hope to have. In May of 2008 Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 - August 25, 2009) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor which limited his appearances in the Senate. He died on August 25, 2009, at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. According to Wikipedia, "Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including laws addressing immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care, civil rights, mental health benefits, children's health insurance, education and volunteering. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. At the time of his death, he was continuing to work on universal health care legislation, which is often described as his 'life's work'".

Ted Kennedy was the champion of many great causes in the United States; the mistakes he made in his early life are now overshadowed by his great deeds. Over the years, it has been said, Teddy had his struggles with alcohol, as did his son Patrick Kennedy; both of them fought for the rights of addicts as well as the rights of all. We owe a lot to the Kennedys for the legislative changes they were responsible for during their lifetimes; our younger generations are truly not aware of most of their great deeds. The blood, sweat, and tears that the Kennedy family gave and is still giving is absolutely amazing and something to marvel over!

Representative Patrick Kennedy (RI) has been a champion for the cause of alcoholics and addicts; he himself suffers from Bi-Polar disorder and the disease of addiction. Patrick worked tirelessly for the bill HR1424 (known as the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008) and it was finally passed in 2008 as part of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The bill ensures that people who suffer from the disease of addiction and mental disorders can get a fair shake from their insurance companies. According to then Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico: "This bill targets insurance plans that cover more than 50 employees. About 113 million people, we figure, are in group insurance plans that have, as part of their health care, mental health coverage. All of those, now, will have imposed on their insurance policy by operation of law that the insurance company will pay for mental health treatment in exactly the same way they cover physical ailments — the same amount of days in the hospital, the same amount of co-pay, and all the other technical words will be equal. And that's not what it used to be, and not what it is today. Insurance companies were already moving in that direction, but now we've made it so they can't slide backwards"(Time.com).

I encourage everyone to watch this video of Rep. Patrick Kennedy testifying concerning mental health parity at a House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions hearing on July 10, 2007. This is a powerful video and it helps to clarify the "disease of addiction." I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Michael Jackson Death Has Been Ruled A Homicide

The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office report on the death of Michael Jackson has finally been released. Michael Jackson's death has been ruled a homicide as a result of the findings. The fact of the matter is that Michael Jackson was indeed a drug addict for many years with ample opportunity to receive help; time and time again he refused help and continued to abuse prescription medication with the help of his doctors and particularly Dr. Conrad Murray who is now most likely facing homicide charges. "I'm a little bit surprised," Jane Brackley of London told MTV News in Times Square. "Then again, you knew he was taking quite a few prescription drugs, and somebody had to give them to him." However, we have to ask ourselves whether or not we charge drug dealers with homicide, let alone attempted homicide, when people overdose and die from the drugs they were sold. Michael Jackson, despite being highly intoxicated, was well aware of the choices he was making and was urged to check into treatment; but, the choice to go to treatment has to be the patients and his doctor (whose salary was $150,000 per month) was not just going stop prescribing Jackson drugs that he was addicted to.

"According to the affidavits lodged with the search warrants, Jackson had a roster of half a dozen doctors who prescribed him drugs, excluding two in Germany who had allegedly introduced him to propofol." reports the Australian On-Line Newspaper. Do we punish all of those doctors or just the one who gave him the medications that Jackson already had a dependency for? While being interviewed by detectives, again according to the Australian: allegedly Dr. Murray said Jackson "was very familiar with the drug (propofol) and referred to it as his 'milk'". Sedatives and pain killers can be extremely dangerous drugs if not properly managed by a doctor who specializes in that field, so it is not all that surprising that something like this happened. Dr. Murray claims that after realizing Jackson's dependence to Propofol he attempted to get him off it. The Australian reports: "He became concerned about the possibility of addiction to propofol and decided to wean Jackson off the drug. For two nights before the death, he administered a different drug cocktail and Jackson was able to sleep. But the night before his death, Dr. Murray gave Jackson Valium at 1am and stayed beside him all night, trying different drugs to induce sleep. Finally, at 10:40am, he relented and gave Jackson propofol." After Jackson stopped breathing it took 82 minutes before an ambulance was called, which clearly shows that Murray knew that he was in trouble and tried everything he could to fix the problem on his own.

One thing seems very clear, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle of Jackson's death and there is not just one responsible party. It is easy to agree with the idea that Murray is liable for the pop star's death, but, to say that one doctor should be charged with homicide for the death of a person who had a lot of help along the way by multiple doctors and even "friends" seems absurd. There is no question in my mind regarding the negligence of Dr. Murray on that fatal night; however, he was given a patient to fix who had already been broken by several other doctors over the years. Michael Jackson's drug addiction was facilitated by many family, friends, and doctors for over twenty years and it was only a matter of time before his disease got the best of him. The question that remains now, is whether we punish the doctors or change the legislation regarding the ability for private doctors to prescribe certain drugs?

Baby Boomers Abuse of Drugs and Alcohol

The rate of illicit drug use is going up in the 50-59 age group; this group includes America's Baby Boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964. The Baby Boomers' abuse of drugs(both legal and illegal) and alcohol has been increasing in the United States. This becomes more apparent as people in this age bracket need to see doctors for other ailments and request pain medication. Woodstock may have ended 40 years ago but the party has stayed the same for many who were young adults at that time. "The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Wednesday that rates of illegal drug use by the older generation have doubled in recent years." Statistics are showing that people age 50 to 59 who admit to using illicit drugs in the past year nearly doubled from 5.1% in 2002 to 9.4% in 2007 while rates among all other age groups are the same or decreasing. The use of drugs and alcohol by people at that age will no doubt add to increased hospitalization in the coming years. "These findings show that many in the Woodstock generation continue to use illicit drugs as they age," said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick. "This continued use poses medical risks to these individuals and is likely to put further strains on the nation's health care system, highlighting the value of preventing drug use from ever starting."

The information used in the study came from various surveys including 16,656 men and women participating in the 2002 through 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. On top of illegal drugs there are many who use pharmaceuticals as well; the CDC states that "of 2.4 billion drugs mentioned in patients' medical records in 2005, 118 million were antidepressants. High blood pressure drugs followed, with 113 million and arthritis or headache drugs were mentioned in 110 million." I find those numbers to be staggering and a good indication that there are just as many Baby Boomers addicted to legal drugs as illegal - if not more! There are some serious issues that need to be addressed regarding this with respect to the solution. How to go about stopping a generation of people who have been using drugs in one way or another for over 40 years is not an answer that we can come to easily.

I will say that many Baby Boomers do end up recognizing the problem and check themselves into drug an alcohol treatment facilities. But drug and alcohol treatment programs typically need to be fine tuned to deal with the additional health problems that can affect the Baby Boomers age group. These problems might include hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and chronic lung problems. I am curious how you feel about this study.

People tend to start having health problems in the age group and there is no telling what effects the use of illegal drugs will have. I encourage you to watch a video called Woodstock Generation Still Getting High.

Baby Boomers and the Elderly have been Binge Drinking

Binge drinking has always been considered a problem with teenagers and young adults, but, studies now show that this phenomena may not always be limited to the younger age groups. Researchers are finding that more and more baby boomers and even the elderly have been binge drinking. This trend goes relatively unnoticed because many people in those age groups do not tell anyone how much alcohol they are consuming; even doctors are misled by patients about the amount they drink and the way in which it is consumed. Duke University scientists, who researched and analyzed data of nearly 11,000 middle-aged and elderly adults from the 2005 and 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, report in the American Journal of Psychiatry that:

* 14% of men and 3% of women 65 or older admit to binge drinking -- defined as quaffing five or more alcoholic beverages on a single occasion within the past 30 days.

* Among 50-64-year-olds, 23% of men and 9% of women admitted to binge drinking

* Bingeing and at-risk alcohol use was more common among people 50 to 64 than those in the older group.

* Among males, binge drinking was associated with higher income, being separated, divorced, or widowed while being unemployed.

* Among women, non-medical use of prescription drugs was associated with bingeing.

* Bingeing also was associated among all those studied with the use of tobacco and illicit drugs.

* Men in both groups are more likely than women to binge drink.

This trend indicates that as time goes on more baby boomers and elderly people will begin binge drinking, according to researchers studying problem drinking. Moreover, studies show that those who binge drink are 14 times more likely to get behind the wheel, as reported about Diane Schuler a mother who drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway killing herself and seven others. Her husband swears that Diane was not an alcoholic and that he never saw her drunk. But, when a mother of two gets in a car, drinks the equivalent of ten drinks and apparently smokes marijuana with her kids and her three nieces in the car, there must be a problem. Binge drinking is a clear sign that a person is in the grips of addiction and more times then not, help is necessary if this problem is to stop. There is no age restriction on being an alcoholic; the disease affects children as well as grandparents.

I encourage you to watch a short video that ABC did about this same problem, called Binge Drinking in Middle Age. It makes some interesting points and is worth watching. Please send me your thoughts on the subject.

Two Dozen Teenage Girls Have Gone Missing In Juarez

On top of the all the drug related violence throughout Mexico's border cities there is a new problem rising up. Two dozen teenage girls and young women have gone missing in the turbulent border city Ciudad Juarez in the last year and a half. Nobody seems to have an answer to this mystery, according to the Chicago Tribune "Monica Alanis, an 18-year-old college freshman, never came home from her exams. That was nearly six months ago. Across town, 17-year-old Brenda Ponce didn't return from a job-hunting trip downtown. That was a year ago." The families of the missing girls do not believe that they would just pack up and leave Mexico without telling anyone. This problem has families with young daughters left scared, "There is no theory. There is no hypothesis," said Ricardo Alanis, Monica's father.

There are many possibilities but no certainties when comes to this situation. The girls could be caught up in the ramped sex trade that has become an international problem; girls are kidnapped, forced into sexual slavery, and forced to use drugs in order to get hooked. That way once they are addicted they can't run away even if they wanted to, it's a vicious cycle. This problem seems to be something new; it does not resemble what happened in the 80's when more than 350 women were killed during a 15-year period. The 350 who were killed back then were from all over the country and their bodies were eventually found, usually with evidence of sexual abuse and even signs of torture.

In this case though, none of the young women have been found which leads people to believe that they are still alive and being used in the sex trade. Some of the families believe that the same cartels responsible for all the violence have stolen their children and brought them into the United States to be used in prostitution rings. That seems like a very plausible scenario for the fact that this kind of activity goes on all over the world with very little out there to stop it. The families continue to search for answers, but, unfortunately most of the time girls caught up in the sex trade are never found or heard from again.

If you follow our blog on a regular basis, you may wonder why we chose to discuss this story today. Our goal is to bring you topical information about addiction and recovery and while today's post may appear to be about kidnapping and prostitution, the bottom line is addiction and drugs more than likely plays a role in controlling these young women. We welcome your thoughts...

Whole Family has become Addicted to Opium

In war torn Afghanistan Opium is about the only drug that people can get their hands on. Opium is used for medicine in Afghanistan, after decades of struggle between the Russians in the 80's and the United States beginning in 2001 the country is left in the dark when it comes to medical aid. What was once used for medicine has now become an epidemic much like China in the 18th and 19th centuries, where whole villages have become hooked to Opium. National Geographic just interviewed the Beg family in the village of Sarab which has a population of fewer than 2,000, and half are already addicts. "I started taking a smoke until I got addicted to this (opium). I lost my property, I lost my strength, my bravery and now I am laying here with an empty stomach", says Islam Beg age 65. His whole family has become addicted to Opium and his one-year old grandson has already started taking the drug, the family's argument is that there is no other medicine - all they have is Opium.

Islam Beg once was the owner of much of the land in his village along with many animals, but now, he has nothing other than the pipe, as he and his family sold everything in order to keep it filled. Islam Beg is ashamed of the person that he has become and there is not much help out there for people in his position. The country of Afghanistan has few drug treatment facilities available, with less than 200 beds for drug rehab nationwide it is not surprising there is such a staggering number of addicts. Afghanistan's chief export happens to be Opium which is sold to pharmaceutical companies around the world for pain medication; and the opium that is not exported legally to pharmaceutical companies is exported illegally as the raw ingredient for heroin. Millions of dollars pour into Afghanistan, purchasing the drug for use in nations around the world. The United States in 2004 gave 4.4 billion dollars in aid for infrastructure, which I highly doubt much or any of that money went to heath care in a nation that has an estimated 150,000 opium addicts and a further 50,000 heroin addicts. Without support directed towards the addiction problem, many people will have little choice but to die an addict.

Islam Beg is "hopeful that his grandchildren will escape his fate, he believes they're not yet addicted", but, when you start using Opium at the age of one it is hard to see any other path. People will give up anything for the drug and without drug education and medical alternatives it is not surprising. Corporations make billions of dollars at the hands of a country in the grips of addiction. Villages in Afghanistan are in desperate need of relief in the way of drug treatment facilities; without foreign aid I do not see how children have any other fate away from the Opium pipe. "Decades of war and poverty have instilled a sense of hopelessness in many people here, making narcotics an easy destructive way to deal with an often grim reality."

Your thoughts?

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Pregnant Woman Arrested Trafficking Heroin in Laos

A pregnant woman from Great Britain, arrested for trafficking heroin in Laos, will be sent home to serve her sentence. Samantha Orobator, age 20, is believed to have artificially inseminated herself while incarcerated. Heroin trafficking is an offense punishable by death in Laos, but, Laos has a law against executing pregnant women; in June Orobator pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Great Britain and Laos made a pact last May that allows for Orobator to be extradited to finish out her sentence; according to the AP, "The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding last week bringing the agreement into force."

Samantha Orobator got a second chance that many people trafficking drugs never get; it will be interesting to see how much time she serves considering the difference in punishment from one country to the next.

Orabator's mother, Jane, has been fighting for a year to have Samantha extradited to England. "Police said they found 1.5 pounds (680 grams) of heroin in 68 capsules on Orobator's body when she was arrested last August at Vientiane airport on her way to Australia." Despite the fact that Laos expects Orobator to finish the rest of her life sentence in England, it is highly unlikely that she will. They need to get Orobator to England as soon as possible, she will be 36 weeks pregnant on Aug. 12 and will not be able to take an international flight.

All of this should be a wake up call to Samantha Orobator and her family, a baby is probably the only thing that saved her life. When she gets out of prison, which she undoubtedly will, I hope that she can find it in herself to be a mother to the child. Second chances some times come once in a life time and you can only gamble with your future so many times before something bad happens.

I will try to follow this story and keep my readers informed on whether or not Samantha takes advantage of her second chance. Let me know what you think.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince Depicts How Drinking Alcohol...

The new Harry Potter has some people frenzied about excessive drinking throughout the movie. It has some people wondering if there is too much alcohol and if it is sending the right message. Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince depicts how drinking alcohol will calm ones nerves and give one the courage needed to take on challenges. Social norms come in question about what is acceptable in children's movies, and how to appropriately talk to children about how they are interpreting the messages.

In England, the legal drinking age is 18, but, one can order drinks with food at the age of 16; Harry Potter and his classmates are 16 in The Half-Blood Prince. The complaints on this subject are coming from Americans who have taken their kids to see this movie and then watched 16 year old teenagers constantly drinking mead with their friends and professors. Then, after the movie having to explain to their children that alcohol is not a healthy coping mechanism.

This segment of the Harry Potter story is about coming of age, teenagers drinking alcohol is a part of the real world. It is easy to side with the author's point of view that if we shelter our kids from alcohol we may be doing them a disservice; parents need to talk to their kids about drinking and this movie gives them the ability to open up the conversation. On top of that, Harry Potter is not just for children for the fact that it is a story that people of all ages can relate to.

Many people would like to hold the media and Hollywood responsible for underage drinking and drug use. They believe that if a child sees something they will try to imitate that behavior, especially if it is a person that has become a role model in the child's life. When it comes down to it, children will make poor decisions if they are not properly educated about drugs and alcohol; furthermore, differentiating between fiction and reality is also very important. If children are properly equipped, then it shouldn't matter if they see teenagers drinking in movies or not. There are statistics that show that exposure to drinking in movies may cause people to start drinking at a younger age and there may be some truth to that. However, it is what happens outside of the movie theater that will determine whether or not the child will act on what they see or not.

This argument is not new, people have always found a way to tear apart great movies based on what their kids are exposed to. I am not sure how seeing teenagers drink to cope with anxiety or stress is any worse than a teenager seeing their parents drink after work to unwind? Teenagers and children are constantly barraged with messages both inside and out of the theaters that it is alright to drink; but it is the outside that is more important because that is where the action takes place. More education is the only way to keep our youth informed about alcohol and the damage that it can do if you don't understand it.