Are “Pill Mills” a problem for us here in Columbia South Carolina?
When I was very young, which admittedly now was a long time ago, I would occasionally hear peers proclaim, “it’s for the money stupid”. I never really wanted to believe that statement in conjunction with the “nature of mankind”. I somehow wanted to believe, in some way, that man’s time here on earth served some higher purpose other than the accumulation of “money”.
In Columbia South Carolina, you may or may not have recently heard a new phrase in relationship to our “war on drugs” and that phrase is “Pill Mill”. It sounds harmless enough, perhaps some industrial warehouse for the pharmaceutical companies but no, we must check naievity at the door when examining our current drug environment our children live in. Parents, there’s a new term in town and that word is “Pill Mill”. Sadly, “Pill Mill’s” are in fact, just “for the money”. And before you ask, this too is a deadly problem for our South Carolina families!
“Pill Mills” is a recent term to describe a doctor, clinic or pharmacy that is prescribing or dispensing powerful narcotics inappropriately or for non existant medical reasons. They give good doctors a bad name and they put people's lives at risk. Pill mills are places where bad doctors hand out prescription drugs like candy. "Pill mill" clinics come in all shapes and sizes but authorities say more and more are being disguised as independent pain-management centers. Pill Mill’s tend to open and shut down quickly in order to evade law enforcement. Although the problem is nationwide, Drug Enforcement Administration officials believe the highest concentration of pill mills are in Florida and Texas with the Florida pill mills earning the nickname "oxy express" as oxycontin is the primary drug being trafficked.
Some obvious signs of a “Pill Mill” are:
Accept cash only
No physical exam is given
No medical records or x-rays are needed
You get to pick your own medicine, no questions asked
You are directed to "their" pharmacy
They treat pain with pills only
You get a set number of pills and they tell you a specific date to come back for more
They have security guards
There may be huge crowds of people waiting to see the doctor
Government efforts to curb abuse have shown little success, with emergency room visits from prescription drug overdoses doubling from 2004 to 2009 when they topped 1.2 million, according to federal health officials. And more overdose deaths are connected to prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined.
A recent report by Florida medical examiners found that in the first six months of 2010, 1,268 deaths in Florida were caused by prescription drugs, or about seven fatalities a day. A Kentucky governor is quoted as saying “82 people die of overdoses each month in his state”. Renee Doyle, a Fort Lauderdale mother whose son Blayne was in an oxycodone haze when he was struck and killed by a car in 2009, said her son was able to get 240 pills on each monthly visit to a local pain clinic by doing little more than asking for them. More than 850 pain clinics are currently registered in Florida, where doctors prescribe 85 percent of all such pills in the nation. "I think people were just not paying attention and then greed took over," she said. "They are legal drug dealers and they should be outlawed”.
It really is, just “about the money”. I still do not want to have to believe that.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Monday, June 20, 2011
Frappe Mocha Addiction?
Just what is “addiction” anyway? I mean, is “addiction” a bad thing? Always? In Columbia SC, is addiction synonymous with “law breaking”? Really?
Wikipedia defines addiction as, “a physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances (for example alcohol, tobacco, heroin and other drugs) which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain”. But is this definition truly accurate? Must our addictions really be associated with a drug, law-breaking, or outright evil? Always?
Webster defines addiction a little differently stating “to devote or give oneself habitually or compulsively”. Webster’s definition offers a bit more latitude in conforming my on personal behavior into a certain mold.
When I use to drink, my behavior was often a slave serving my master… which was king alcohol. What I mean by that is my actions to obtain a drink of alcohol was often dictated by the alcohol itself. Looking back on my thirty one year drinking life, I often found myself “slipping” out of the house while the family slumbered. When cash was short, found myself sifting through my wife’s slender purse. In a rush, seldom did I care about my personal appearance.
These were the thoughts in my head early this bright Saturday morning in the waning hot days of a South Carolina spring as I rose earlier than anyone else in the house. I looked out upon the day, considered what I might write in this column, licked my lips as my minds eye locked onto what I really wanted, eased through my wifes purse to find her debit card and car keys, drove myself through the familiar "drive through window" a few blocks away at the neighborhood golden arches and with eyes as bright as any child on Christmas morning... asked for my “Frappe Mocha”!
Will I ever be cured?
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Wikipedia defines addiction as, “a physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances (for example alcohol, tobacco, heroin and other drugs) which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain”. But is this definition truly accurate? Must our addictions really be associated with a drug, law-breaking, or outright evil? Always?
Webster defines addiction a little differently stating “to devote or give oneself habitually or compulsively”. Webster’s definition offers a bit more latitude in conforming my on personal behavior into a certain mold.
When I use to drink, my behavior was often a slave serving my master… which was king alcohol. What I mean by that is my actions to obtain a drink of alcohol was often dictated by the alcohol itself. Looking back on my thirty one year drinking life, I often found myself “slipping” out of the house while the family slumbered. When cash was short, found myself sifting through my wife’s slender purse. In a rush, seldom did I care about my personal appearance.
These were the thoughts in my head early this bright Saturday morning in the waning hot days of a South Carolina spring as I rose earlier than anyone else in the house. I looked out upon the day, considered what I might write in this column, licked my lips as my minds eye locked onto what I really wanted, eased through my wifes purse to find her debit card and car keys, drove myself through the familiar "drive through window" a few blocks away at the neighborhood golden arches and with eyes as bright as any child on Christmas morning... asked for my “Frappe Mocha”!
Will I ever be cured?
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Can parents in Columbia SC recognize Marijuana?
Marijuana use in Columbia SC is all to common among all ages let alone our youth. To ask if Columbia parents can recognize marijuana, on the surface, seems laughable but yet it is a question that begs to be asked. If your child is smoking marijuana, can you recognize the associated signs of marijuana use?
Marijuana use is hotly debated in our society but make no mistake; marijuana is a drug and like ALL drugs, marijuana has associated side effects and consequences. All parents of our South Carolina children greatly need to understand and know our current drug delima if we are to save our children from the ravaging effects of any drug abuse. Marijuana is no exception to the greater challenge.
Todays column has an associated pictoral slide show of several typical views of marijuana and is compliments of About.com. Street names for marijuana are; pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, boom, ganja, hash, Mary Jane, cannabis, bubble gum, northern lights, fruity juice, gangster, afghani #1, skunk and chronic. Marijuana is a mind-altering drug and ranks as the most popular illegal drug used in the U.S. It is a mix of dried flowers, leaves and stems from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The active ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta 9 tetrhydrocannabinol) and the drug ranges in color from green to brown.
The most common way to take Marijuana is to smoke it. Users will roll it into cigarette "joints," put it into an emptied cigar casing "blunts" or smoke it in a pipe or water-pipe called a "bong." Marijuana can also be baked into food and eaten or mixed in tea. People smoke marijuana because it elevates their mood and relaxes them. Depending on the level of THC, users may also experience euphoria, hallucinations or paranoia.
Marijuana use is hotly debated in our society but make no mistake; marijuana is a drug and like ALL drugs, marijuana has associated side effects and consequences. All parents of our South Carolina children greatly need to understand and know our current drug delima if we are to save our children from the ravaging effects of any drug abuse. Marijuana is no exception to the greater challenge.
Todays column has an associated pictoral slide show of several typical views of marijuana and is compliments of About.com. Street names for marijuana are; pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, boom, ganja, hash, Mary Jane, cannabis, bubble gum, northern lights, fruity juice, gangster, afghani #1, skunk and chronic. Marijuana is a mind-altering drug and ranks as the most popular illegal drug used in the U.S. It is a mix of dried flowers, leaves and stems from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The active ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta 9 tetrhydrocannabinol) and the drug ranges in color from green to brown.
The most common way to take Marijuana is to smoke it. Users will roll it into cigarette "joints," put it into an emptied cigar casing "blunts" or smoke it in a pipe or water-pipe called a "bong." Marijuana can also be baked into food and eaten or mixed in tea. People smoke marijuana because it elevates their mood and relaxes them. Depending on the level of THC, users may also experience euphoria, hallucinations or paranoia.
Can parents in Columbia SC recognize cocaine?
If your child in Columbia, SC, was in danger of perhaps using cocaine, would you know what to be looking for?
Not all cocaine looks the same. Cocaine comes in several different shapes and forms and is packaged differently according to the quantity being shipped or sold. Although cocaine is typically a white powder, it sometimes comes in other shapes and colors. For instance, crack cocaine looks like a small rock, chunk or chip and it is sometimes off-white or pink in color.
Street names for cocaine are; Coke, Blow, Dust, Toot, Line, Nose Candy, Snow. Sneeze, Powder, Girl, White Pony, Flake, C, The Lady, Cain, Neurocain, Rock, Crack. Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse. Once having tried cocaine, users cannot predict or control the extent they will continue to use the drug.
Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the South American coca plant. It is a strong stimulate that effects the body's central nervous system. Cocaine can be injected, smoked, sniffed, or snorted.
Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in the U.S. Nearly one percent of Americans are currently using cocaine. Users can be from all economic status, all ages and all genders. The drug creates a strong sense of exhilaration. Users generally feel invincible, carefree, alert, euphoric and have a lot of energy. This is usually followed by agitation, depression, anxiety, paranoia and decreased appetite. The effects of cocaine generally last about two hours.
Cocaine is highly addictive, leaving users with an overwhelming craving for the drug. The addiction to crack develops quickly, sometimes after just a few times of smoking it. A slide show of various images of cocaine is associated with this article and is compliments of a recent About.com article regarding cocaine and it’s use.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.comor visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
Columbia, SC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Not all cocaine looks the same. Cocaine comes in several different shapes and forms and is packaged differently according to the quantity being shipped or sold. Although cocaine is typically a white powder, it sometimes comes in other shapes and colors. For instance, crack cocaine looks like a small rock, chunk or chip and it is sometimes off-white or pink in color.
Street names for cocaine are; Coke, Blow, Dust, Toot, Line, Nose Candy, Snow. Sneeze, Powder, Girl, White Pony, Flake, C, The Lady, Cain, Neurocain, Rock, Crack. Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse. Once having tried cocaine, users cannot predict or control the extent they will continue to use the drug.
Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the South American coca plant. It is a strong stimulate that effects the body's central nervous system. Cocaine can be injected, smoked, sniffed, or snorted.
Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in the U.S. Nearly one percent of Americans are currently using cocaine. Users can be from all economic status, all ages and all genders. The drug creates a strong sense of exhilaration. Users generally feel invincible, carefree, alert, euphoric and have a lot of energy. This is usually followed by agitation, depression, anxiety, paranoia and decreased appetite. The effects of cocaine generally last about two hours.
Cocaine is highly addictive, leaving users with an overwhelming craving for the drug. The addiction to crack develops quickly, sometimes after just a few times of smoking it. A slide show of various images of cocaine is associated with this article and is compliments of a recent About.com article regarding cocaine and it’s use.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.comor visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
Columbia, SC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Can parents in Columbia SC recognize Heroin?
Can any parent even begin to imagine the horror’s of what it would be like to have a child taking heroin? How could any parent prevent such a dreadful nightmare?
Mankind has sought retreat from his on concious mind since grapes were crushed if not longer. Opiates are no different from any other chemical in that it is an escape from concious thought. The euphoric release into an intoxicated world is just simply to over powering for most human beings to resist. Time after time the story of heroin addicts has been recounted and the path traveled is always the same.
Answer’s are always something like; “the simple answer is I feel nothing else I have ever experienced compares in the slightest, nothing in my life seems worth stopping for, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it's just too hard to stop”. The path of heroin addiction is precisely the same and predictable every single time a human steps into the abyss.
This edition of Columbia Family addiction is featuring a slide show depicting opium and heroin to provide Columbia SC parents with a small tool in our war on drugs and is compliments from About.com.
Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its use is a serious problem in the United States. Recent studies suggest a shift from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction. Heroin street names are; Smack, H, Ska, Junk, Big H, Blacktar, Brown sugar, Dope, Horse, Junk, Mud, and Skag. Heroin is a highly addictive drug that is processed from morphine, which comes from the seed pod of the opium Asian poppy plant. It is a depressant that inhibits the central nervous system and long term use is typically quite deadly.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in ColumbiaSCwith addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Mankind has sought retreat from his on concious mind since grapes were crushed if not longer. Opiates are no different from any other chemical in that it is an escape from concious thought. The euphoric release into an intoxicated world is just simply to over powering for most human beings to resist. Time after time the story of heroin addicts has been recounted and the path traveled is always the same.
Answer’s are always something like; “the simple answer is I feel nothing else I have ever experienced compares in the slightest, nothing in my life seems worth stopping for, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it's just too hard to stop”. The path of heroin addiction is precisely the same and predictable every single time a human steps into the abyss.
This edition of Columbia Family addiction is featuring a slide show depicting opium and heroin to provide Columbia SC parents with a small tool in our war on drugs and is compliments from About.com.
Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its use is a serious problem in the United States. Recent studies suggest a shift from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction. Heroin street names are; Smack, H, Ska, Junk, Big H, Blacktar, Brown sugar, Dope, Horse, Junk, Mud, and Skag. Heroin is a highly addictive drug that is processed from morphine, which comes from the seed pod of the opium Asian poppy plant. It is a depressant that inhibits the central nervous system and long term use is typically quite deadly.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in ColumbiaSCwith addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Can parents in Columbia SC recognize Ecstasy?
Ecstasy is an illegal synthetic, psychoactive (mind-altering or hallucinogenic) drug that contains the active ingredient MDMA (methylendioxymethamphetamine) and is known on the streets as; Adam, Xtc, X, Hug, Go, Hug Drug, Beans and Love Drug. Because Ecstasy is produced illegally using a variety of ingredients, it comes in a wide range of shapes and colors with many different logos stamped into the pills. A slide show of various Ecstasy pills is attached and is compliments of a recent About.com article.
Ecstasy is known for its energizing effect, as well as distortions in time, perception and enhanced enjoyment from physical experiences. The effect lasts from three to four hours. Ecstasy’s popularity grew in the late 1980s in the rave and club scenes and on college campuses because of its reputation for producing high energy and a 'trusting' effect among those who take it.
The physical side effects that can occur while taking Ecstasy can last for weeks. Users often experience muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating. MDMA is very dangerous for those individuals with circulatory or heart disease, because the drug increases the heart rate and blood pressure.
If you’re the parent of a child in Columbia SC that you suspect might be using or in any way involved with Ecstasy, intervention into that young persons life will go a long way in providing the future you once saw for your child. “Help” can begin at any of the locations found at the end of this article.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
Ecstasy is known for its energizing effect, as well as distortions in time, perception and enhanced enjoyment from physical experiences. The effect lasts from three to four hours. Ecstasy’s popularity grew in the late 1980s in the rave and club scenes and on college campuses because of its reputation for producing high energy and a 'trusting' effect among those who take it.
The physical side effects that can occur while taking Ecstasy can last for weeks. Users often experience muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, and chills or sweating. MDMA is very dangerous for those individuals with circulatory or heart disease, because the drug increases the heart rate and blood pressure.
If you’re the parent of a child in Columbia SC that you suspect might be using or in any way involved with Ecstasy, intervention into that young persons life will go a long way in providing the future you once saw for your child. “Help” can begin at any of the locations found at the end of this article.
If you enjoy this column, please click the “Like” button and also subscribe. If you would like to participate, submit questions or make comments, you may do so here or contact the author at: AnthonyEBaker@Hotmail.com or visit the author’s recovery and sobriety blog at Tony’s Sobriety Rack. If you or a loved one is suffering in Columbia SC with addiction issues or for further assistance with chemical dependence and addiction, please see: Columbia Treatment Centers. Additional addiction questions can be channeled through Columbia’s Alcoholics Anonymous Intergroup office located at:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
ColumbiaSC 29205
(803) 254-5301
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