Drug classes seem to go in cycles of popularity. The 1980s were a decade of cocaine abuse with heroin being a dirty distant reminder of the 1960s and 1970s. London in the 1960s was awash in heroin addicts. Marijuana has steadily remained a visible milder drug of choice, now legally available in 20 states, though most require doctor exams and evaluations. But of late, heroin has made a dramatic popularity comeback.
Heroin Overdoses Emerging Again As Major Public Health Crisis
MYFOXLA reporter Phil Shuman interviewed the highly respected addiction expert Dr. A.R. Mohammad of Inspire Malibu rehabilitation center to explain the ramifications of Attorney General Eric Holder’s alarming ” public health crisis ” warning concerning heroin overdoses, and the call to have on hand drugs that counteract opiates like heroin to save lives.
FOXLA interviews a patient named Ryan, drinking since he was 12 years old, adding pot and various drugs until his first hit of heroin was nirvana for him. At the age of 22, he is now under the care of Dr. Mohammad at Inspire Malibu’s residential treatment center in the canyons above the city dubbed “the rehab Riviera.”
Heroin, like crystal meth, can literally “rewire” the brain so treating this addiction is a lifelong effort.
Reporter Phil Shuman finds out that Ryan stole from his family and friends to feed his habit, even taking the harder to obtain 30 dollar per pill Oxycontins, three times the price of a comparable bag of heroin.
Dr. Mohammad explains that this vicious cycle of dependency, quitting, relapsing, trying something new and different, and partly explains why 80 percent of those who try to kick opiates relapse within a year.
The recent death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has sobered many people up to the lethal nature of their drug dabbling.
Unlike more expensive rehabs, Dr. A.R. Mohammed takes on sacred cows of addiction therapy like 12 step AA talk therapies and “feel good” outdoor hikes and equine therapies that look pretty in brochures, but do nothing in the long-term to keep a diseased addicted patient from relapsing.
Dr. Mohammad’s approach works with health insurance for a residential treatment program, combines intense personal, group, and family therapy with medication (Suboxone). Dr. Mohammad says, “About 17 states and the District of Columbia allow naloxone, or Narcan as it known, to be distributed to the public to reverse heroin overdoses and save lives.”
The attorney general’s public support for an antidote that could be used to rescue overdosing drug users mirrors the position of the White House drug policy office, which has also urged all first responders to have the medication on hand.
“Addiction to heroin and other opiates, including certain prescription pain-killers, is impacting the lives of Americans in every state, in every region, and from every background and walk of life — and all too often, with deadly results,” Holder said in the message.
Dr. Mohammad says that Narcan will save lives if administered within a certain window. But critics fear that making the antidote too accessible could encourage drug use.
