Heroin use and addiction have a long history in the United States. However, it was not until the opioid epidemic that its usage became mainstream. A significant portion of people who use heroin were initially dependent upon or addicted to prescription opioids like OxyContin or Vicodin, but since heroin is much cheaper and more easily…
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid created to combat severe pain associated with operations, serious injuries, or cancer. For chronic pain, fentanyl can be prescribed after less potent painkillers become ineffective. While fentanyl has legitimate medical uses, its euphoric effects have led to its abuse as a recreational drug with an extremely high potential for…
Non-12-step rehab shares a few common characteristics with its AA predecessor. To begin, both ideas promote abstinence from the abused substances. It should also be noted that, like traditional twelve-step programs, there is no unified non-12 step approach. Some versions feature elements of spirituality, while others do not.
Drug substitution treats addiction by replacing opiates with less of a “high”. One of the most commonly used treatments for opiate addiction in America for many years has been to …
Let’s face it, not everyone who becomes addicted to alcohol or other drugs is immediately ready to receive help. In fact, very few substance abusers will ask for that type …
Much of the success, or lack thereof, in the addiction treatment field thus far has been a combination of the intent of the individual being treated as well as the …
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that treating addiction with chronic care management may not be as effective as once thought. Researchers followed …
Most people acquire prescription drugs legally from their doctor for legitimate reasons, take them as prescribed, and stop taking them when no longer needed. However, many people begin to misuse them for their psychoactive effects. The misuse of prescription drugs involves taking them other than how they were explicitly prescribed. The most commonly abused prescription…
Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant that works by tapping into the brain’s reward system, triggering dopamine release. Cocaine is often cut with other substances like cornstarch or fentanyl, so there is no way of knowing its potency. Cocaine addiction is not only dangerous to your physical health but causes problems in all areas of…
As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage our nation, the number of overdoses and deaths related to fentanyl has reached record-breaking levels. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were nearly 92,000 deaths from overdose in 2020, 21,000 more than ever before. By June of 2021, synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, were involved in…