Salonpas / The Discovery House Kicking Opioid Addiction June 29, 2015

turn-to-help-for-opiate-heroin-painkiller-addiction-300x254Chronic pain is a growing public health issue with economic, social and medical costs.  As the percentage of the U.S. population utilizing opioid analgesics for pain control grows, so does the rate of abuse, misuse and overdose of these drugs.  Examples of opiates include morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, heroin, oxycodone and heroin.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that, among persons aged 12 years or older who were abusing analgesics, 53% reported receiving them for free from a friend or relative. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 17.000 overdose deaths involving opioids occurred in 2011. From 2000 to 2010, the number of hospitalizations for addiction to prescription opioids increased more than 4-fold to over 160,000 per year. In 2010, one out of every eight deaths among persons aged 25 to 34 years was opioid-related. In a 3-year period (2003 to 2006), more than 9000 children were exposed to opioids. (more…)

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Monsters & Critics / The Discovery House Kim Richards’ Mexican Wedding Debacle Underscores Rehab Differences May 28, 2015

This last week, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kim Richards’ volatile behavior earned her more tabloid headlines as she reportedly melted down at her daughter’s wedding in Mexico, allegedly causing her sober coach to quit, and her daughter to stop speaking with her.

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Kim Richards – Center courtesy of Instagram

Multiple sources gave TMZ all the poop from south of the border, that Kim was “under the influence of something,” and whatever Kim took or drank, she did so in private, but when she appeared in public she was “a mess.” (more…)

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KTLA News / The Discovery House Money Smart (marijuana) May 26, 2015

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Fox News / The Discovery House Cartels Turning to Hard Drugs to ReplaceDrop in Pot Profits May 19, 2015

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Monsters & Critics / The Discovery House Josh Hamilton Heading Back To Texas Rangers, Despite Sheen’s Tweet May 5, 2015

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Baseball pro Josh Hamilton is back with the Texas Rangers after he had left the team during the 2012 season as a free agent. The Los Angeles Angels officially ended their relationship with Hamilton, sending him off with a huge severance check to the Rangers, ending a tenuous relationship that boiled over after a drug relapse and reuniting the one-time star with the team with which he won an MVP award. (more…)

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Daily Candid News / The Discovery House THERE IS A DRINKING AGE FOR A REASON AND PROM IS NO EXCEPTION April 17, 2015

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Senior Prom is a major event in a teenager’s life, it signifies the transition from high school to college or a full time job. A time when high-schoolers begin to see that first glimmer of freedom from parental supervision, because in a few short months they’ll be living away from home and becoming true adults.

(more…)

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Daily Candid News / The Discovery House Why Luxe Hideaways Won’t Cure Scott Disick: An Expert Weighs In March 18, 2015

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Scott Disick voluntarily checked himself into a rehab clinic in Costa Rica for his addiction issues where he was treated with a controversial drug called Ibogaine.

But will it work?

Dr. Walter Thomas, the consulting medical expert for The Discovery House Treatment Center in Los Angeles explained what Ibogaine is and the dangers of treating addition with another addictive drug.

“Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants of the Apocynaceae family and has been banned in the United States since 1960,” he tells the DailyCandidNews.

Dr. Thomas goes on to explain that, “various other psychedelic treatments have been tried for addiction and are being studied.  However, it is important to understand the real and significant issues in the science of addiction and treatment.

“Firstly, we would always want to avoid medication that has addiction potential in the treatment of addiction because of the physiological impairment in the Dopaminergic Mesolyombic system, an example of this is when Dr Sigmund Freud used cocaine to treat opioid addiction with disastrous result.  Remember, what drives addiction is a biological and inherited brain disease(broken pleasure center).  Secondly, the search for Hedonic tone, in other words emotional well-being that is not normally present with addictive illness.

When treatment professionals turn away from addictive science they inadvertently become codependent professionals in treating  mental illnesses with addictive substances as is  happening in this center in Costa Rica and elsewhere.

Principle of recovery treatment is to release natural reward systems in the brain through non-chemical means, in other words recovery behavior and spiritual emotional growth.

In recovery you develop a menu of natural safe and reliable sources of normal emotional well-being, unlike the disease of addiction where you go from lows to highs through the artificial release of massive doses of neurotransmitter resulting in highs that are not sustainable, insatiable and create the vicious addictive cycle with progression of the addictive brain chemistry”

Original Article

The Discovery House

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Monsters & Critics / The Discovery House Why Luxe Hideaway Rehabs Won’t Cure Scott Disick March 18, 2015

In Touch Weekly is reporting that Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ cast member Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian’s partner, voluntarily checked himself into a posh rehab clinic in Costa Rica for his addiction issues where he was treated with with a controversial drug called Ibogaine.

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Dr. Walter Thomas, the consulting medical expert for The Discovery House Treatment Centerin Los Angeles, explained what Ibogaine is and the dangers of treating addition with another addictive drug.  Yesterday we interviewed Dr. Thomas about the dangers of “dabbing.”

“Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants of the Apocynaceae family and has been banned in the United States since 1960.”

Dr. Thomas goes on to explain that, “various other psychedelic treatments have been tried for addiction and are being studied. However, it is important to understand the real and significant issues in the science of addiction and treatment;

“Firstly, we would always want to avoid medication that has addiction potential in the treatment of addiction because of the physiological impairment in the Dopaminergic Mesolyombic system, an example of this is when Dr Sigmund Freud used cocaine to treat opioid addiction with disastrous result. Remember, what drives addiction is a biological and inherited brain disease(broken pleasure center). Secondly, the search for Hedonic tone, in other words emotional well-being that is not normally present with addictive illness.

When treatment professionals turn away from addictive science they inadvertently become codependent professionals in treating mental illnesses with addictive substances as is happening in this center in Costa Rica and elsewhere.

Principle of recovery treatment is to release natural reward systems in the brain through non-chemical means, in other words recovery behavior and spiritual emotional growth.

In recovery you develop a menu of natural safe and reliable sources of normal emotional well-being, unlike the disease of addiction where you go from lows to highs through the artificial release of massive doses of neurotransmitter resulting in highs that are not sustainable, insatiable and create the vicious addictive cycle with progression of the addictive brain chemistry”

Original Article

The Discovery House

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Monsters & Critics / The Discovery House Dabbing, The New Meth? March 18, 2015

Leave it to some overachievers to take a natural herb and make it nearly lethal.  There are many people under physician’s care who smoke (or ingest) dried marijuana plant to alleviate stress, pain and neurological disorders. Of course, there are those who feel all marijuana in any form is to be avoided.

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If you are unaware, Butane hash oil (BHO)–aka dab, dabs, dabbing, honey oil, wax, oil, shatter, or budder–is a potent marijuana/hash oil concentrate that can exceed 80% THC content. Most educators, parents and even some law enforcement are playing catch-up on this substance that anyone can easily tuck into a vaporizer and puff away with little to no trace of tell-tale skunk-y odor. It’s seriously potent drug, meaning one hit can get you stoned out of your gourd.

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“BHO has been gaining in popularity in the past three years,” High Times senior editor Bobby Black told Wired. “It’s been done for decades, but it was only done by a few people and it was very underground. Even at High Times we didn’t really talk about it or cover it because it was so rare.”

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The user will inhale a heated up “dab” of this amber looking goo and inhale the vapor from a pen like looking tool called a vaporizer for a high.

It is in the making of this portable concentrate that the danger begins. Explosions, immolation, surface burns and toxic chemical exposure are some of these dilemmas the home distiller and user faces.  The main solvent that extracts the active chemical compounds of the plant, butane, has all sorts of dodgy “grades” even in containers that claim it is a purified product. An editorial in High Times magazine claims that only butane that is “quadruple-refined or better” is suitable for ingestion. But know that there are no standards for purity verification. Adding more to this dirty process, the actual pot plant may have been treated with chemicals or have fungus or other contaminants that will also be part of this concentrated muck.

Like Meth labs set up in trailers and homes, hidden away until someone hears the big boom, these BHO homebrewers too face all the same risks using these highly flammable materials. Especially if they are doing it stoned themselves.

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 The vapor emitted from this final product is reported to be up to five times stronger than just smoking marijuana, and is described as the free-basing of marijuana.

Dr. Walter Thomas, the Medical Consultant of The Discovery House a respected residential inpatient drug and alcohol treatment center in Southern California, weighed in on this breaking story.

“Marijuana, like any drug can be addictive and once someone gets swept up into the drug culture, the chances of substance abuse – especially to those who are genetically inclined to addiction – increase.  Dabbing presents health dangers beyond smoking marijuana. The potent vapors that are inhaled — up to 80% pure THC compared to 18% for a joint — are highly psychoactive. The intense high can make people actually lose consciousness with all the unintended consequences that presents.”

The impurities also concerned Dr. Thomas. “There are also the risks of inhaling trace elements of butane that have not been removed from the finished product, and this is especially true of the homemade varieties …which makes up the vast majority available. Other contaminants like pesticides, used to grow the marijuana, may not be removed during the extraction process.”

In the end, children and teenagers are still not finished developing, and drug use remaps the brain and intellectual capacity.  Dr. Thomas added, “Any heavy use of a drug, be it alcohol or marijuana, is especially dangerous to youth. The human brain is still developing through the teen years until the age of 21 and studies have shown that high levels of THC can inhibit the development of cognitive function and overall brain structure volume.

“Making the product itself can be extremely dangerous because of the explosive nature of butane,” Dr. Thomas noted the inherent physical dangers of the process too. “Lastly, inhaling butane hash oil is very unhealthy and both claims of it curing addiction and relieving all kinds of addiction withdrawal are totally false. In fact, we have no cure for the disease known as addiction.”

Original Article

The Discovery House

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Healthline / The Discovery House Dabbing: The New, Explosive Way to Smoke Marijuana March 18, 2015

Dabbing

‘Dabs’ are a much more powerful form of marijuana that critics say can be dangerous to users.

The legalization of medical and even recreational marijuana in some states has given rise to a sort of “I told you so” attitude among some users. (more…)

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Healthline / The Discovery House Female Marine Breaks Silence on PTSD Struggle that Mirrors ‘American Sniper’ February 24, 2015

In an exclusive interview with Healthline, war veteran Kara Moreland discusses her fight to heal the wounds from combat as well as harassment.

Female War Vet Breaks Silence on PTSD

Like so many who go off to war, Kara Moreland brought the conflict home with her. (more…)

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Monsters & Critics / The Discovery House When Rehab Goes Good February 3, 2015

One family owned center in the San Fernando Valley is approaching drug and alcohol addiction with an unvarnished, affordable and familial approach that is resonating with experts in the field. Monsters and Critics toured the facility in January, 2015.

TDH_IMG_3320 (more…)

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Healthline News / The Discovery House Abuse-Deterrent Painkillers Unlikely to Deter Addicts January 29, 2015

Abuse-Deterrent Painkillers Unlikely to Deter Addicts

Recently released data show that fewer Americans are addicted to painkillers. But don’t be fooled into thinking America has a handle on its opiate addiction. (more…)

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