Recently in Substance Abuse/Dependency Category

CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Troubled singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted to a London hospital after suffering a bad reaction to medication, her representative said Tuesday.

Yeah! I got up early enough to write a quick blog post. I've checked the news. It damn near put me back to sleep. What news that is out there is being pressed into service as the next worst thing to ever happen in our nation. It's a shtick that right wing radio has had down pat for decades, but now it seems as if the Legacy Media and the various blogs are flagging that old approach well past it's death.

Yeesh. It's just a slow news day. Seriously. After 7 plus years of BushCo™, I suspect we are going to find ourselves bored with the lack of sensationalism. No one, and I mean no one, is going to displace BushCo™ as the most controversial United States administration in modern times.

We are all going to be like drunks looking for that elusive intoxication. Try as we might, we will never feel that exhilaration we first felt as we published a post about the latest outrage from the impertinent son of a misplaced New Englander.

Our drug of choice has actually been gone for quite some time. He's gone into hiding now that his popularity has sunk lower then Nixon's.

So, like any good addict, we've switched; thus lies the explanation of our fascination with Sarah Palin. In my using days, if I couldn't get pot, I got drunk. In today's blogging milieu, if we can't have our BushCo™ story, by God, we've got Sarah to take it's place. It's the same cheap, tawdry content, only with a feminine label.

Soon, though, she'll be empty. Then what? Write outrage over Obama? Does anyone really think that Barack will be as incompetent, as amoral, as ignorant as George W. Bush? If anyone out there thinks that; put down the pipe, back away, and check yourself into treatment. Or the psych ward. Because, DAMN, your either high or psychotic. Or both.

CNN

NEW YORK (AP) -- As Marcia Brady on "The Brady Bunch," Maureen McCormick projected an image of the wholesome girl next door. But off camera, she spiraled downward into drug addiction and depression.

Yup, I finished what reading I had left, took the tests, and got myself the rest of my licensing CEUs. Never mind that I have to pay three times the amount a Doctor or a Nurse pays for their license. Never mind that I have to acquire three times the amount of CEUs as a Nurse or Social Worker. Never mind that I am in the lowest paying career in contrast to the other three previously mentioned careers.

It seriously sucks to be a Substance Dependence Counselor in the State of Minnesota. $400.00 to renew my license. That is ridiculous. 40 hours of CEUs. That is ridiculous. And to make matters worse, with the slow, steady strangulation of my field, the employers are no longer supplying free in services. Roughly speaking, it is about $13.00 per CEU. I spend over $900.00 to remain in my field.

And people wonder why I am fucking mad all the time.

Shakopee Valley News

Zyprexa, as well as the other atypical antipsychotics, are being prescribed for children, even though this is an unapproved, off-label use. Eli Lilly has been charged in allegedly pushing the drug for children in more than one state.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!

This is nothing more than lazy parents and teachers looking for the easier, softer way to deal with children.

Children are naturally hyper. Children are naturally loud. Children have a tendency to be mean and cruel to each other. Name calling, anger, temper; it is all par for the course with children. They become overwhelmed with their own growing energy. They have short attention spans. They do not need medication.

An ADHD diagnosis should not be made by a primary physician at the local clinic. Nor a child put on any type of antipsychotics, or any mood-altering chemicals, unless they have been thoroughly evaluated by competent, trained and experienced psychiatrists.

All any child really needs is patience, tolerance, and love; with firm, consistent, and continuous boundaries (which requires constant effort by parents to think about more than themselves) that will teach them proper social behavior. And finally, parental realization that they will not see instantaneous results.

I swear, some days it seems our society is one big addict; always wanting what it wants when it wants it and wanting it Right-God-Damn-Now!

In my industry, denial is a common behavior we expect from our clients. Any means to avoid the truth about their drinking and drug usage. Imagine my surprise to discover the Beer, Wine, and Spirits industry is having the same difficulties with the truth.

The Sentinel Online

A Camp Hill man admitted this morning that he faked a painkiller addiction to protect his wife n a dermatologist accused of writing fake prescriptions.

Sometimes, they really are sicker than the addicts they love.

Now, before anyone gets their underwear all in a bundle, let me first say that co-dependency in addiction is a loosely comparable concept to co-defendants in a criminal trial. So, please don't get hung up on the old stereotypical image of one person being addicted to another. Though it does happen, it's just not that common.

With chemical dependency, even though only one in the relationship maybe actively using, both are affected by the illness.

msnbc.com

WASHINGTON - After finding no evidence of astronauts drinking before launching into space, NASA said Wednesday it is considering limited alcohol testing of its employees, including astronauts. An internal investigation recommended alcohol testing while at the same time clearing astronauts of much-publicized drinking allegations. In response, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he would come up with a policy for testing after a mishap or when there are suspicions of substance abuse.

So, is Michael Griffin's policy going to replace the one instituted back in 1989 by James C. Fletcher.

nytimes.com archives
Published: January 31, 1989

Random drug testing for key personnel, including astronauts, will start in March at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the chief of the agency has announced.

The NASA administrator, James C. Fletcher, said Thursday that a system of random drug testing will be applied to all employees in sensitive positions, including senior level management, astronauts, flight controllers, researchers and engineers.

In addition, Dr. Fletcher said, ''drug testing may be required if there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal drug use or an accident or unsafe practice.''

Of course, it would appear that Dr. Fletcher's policy might not have been adequate for the job.