Opiate addiction – or dependence upon drugs like heroin and prescription painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone – has been a growing problem in Russia for years. Despite the government’s interest in correcting the problem and providing prevention and treatment to those who need it, they are adamantly against the use of evidence-based treatment protocols like methadone maintenance and Suboxone treatment.

Substitution Therapy Ban

In the United States, the effectiveness of methadone and Suboxone is well established through multiple studies and thousands of success cases. In Russia, however, that’s not the case. According to the Toronto Media News Co-op Russian experts say that: “The effective way to solve the problem of drug addiction treatment is an intensive search for and introduction of new methods and means that focus on complete cessation of drugs use by patients with addiction, their socialization into a new life style free from drugs, but not on exchanging from one drug to another.”

Naysayers believe that “substitution therapy” is nothing more than trading the object of addiction. They believe that addicts will continue to be addicts after treatment and that nothing substantive about their life and habits will change as a result. The evidence says, however, that those who use a controlled substance under the care of medical professionals have a lesser chance of overdose and can slowly lower their dose over time until they are completely drug-free, allowing them the opportunity to immediately begin to live a functional life that is not controlled by drug dependence.

Krocodile Abuse

The problem with avoiding well-known, positive treatments for opiate addiction in Russia is that addicts are left to fend for themselves, often overdosing, contracting HIV and other transmissible diseases by sharing needles, and creating new drugs that have effects similar to heroin but are less expensive – drugs like Krocodile. When heroin gets too pricey for addicts – most of whom live in poverty – they instead turn to homemade drugs like Krocodile. Similar to morphine, Krocodile, or desomorphine, it is made from codeine, which does not require a prescription in Russia, and actually turns the skin of the user scaly and green like a crocodile, an effect caused by gangrene and phlebitis. Krocodile users are expected to live only two to three years.

Fighting Addiction

In some ways, Krocodile is a substitution for heroin, but one that is devastating to addicts. In the same way, in the United States, those who can’t afford prescription painkillers often turn to heroin, which is far less expensive. If opiate addiction is an issue for you, rather than opt for a more dangerous substitute, consider choosing a positive substitution therapy at a medical rehabilitation center. Call us now to find out more about how we can help.

In the past, stereotypes about drug addiction and those who suffer from the disorder often threw up an insurmountable obstacle in providing treatment for those who needed it at a community level. Many small towns and neighborhoods would protest and block plans for new methadone clinics or sober living homes on their streets out of fear of an increase in crime, violence, and other unsavory activities that they felt were associated with addiction – even when that addiction were being actively treated.

It appears that, due to widespread education and increased awareness about the issue of heroin addiction and opiate dependence and treatment, those attitudes are changing. In small town Rutland, Vermont, a methadone clinic that was previously proposed was opposed by local law enforcement, the medical community, and locals alike. Ten years later, those opinions appear to have shifted: the new methadone clinic proposed for the town have been met with approval.

Changes in Attitude

Over the past decade, it has become clear that opiate abuse and addiction to prescription drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet and other painkillers have become more and more prevalent. The one thing that seems true across the board about those is that there are few unifying characteristics of those who develop this type of dependence. There are no class barriers, race and gender is not an issue, and few Americans have been untouched by the epidemic. The reality of how devastating and debilitating opiate addiction can be has increased the urgency to get help where it is needed –and if that means creating a local methadone clinic or allowing for sober living services within the town limits, then people are opening their minds to the possibilities.

Heroin Addiction Help

Heroin addiction is the main form of opiate addiction treated at methadone clinics, and even small towns like Rutland, Vermont, have been exposed to the health problems and crime related to its spread. Back in 2000, only 49 patients sought treatment for heroin addiction in Rutland. By the following year, that number had almost doubled to 96. By 2008, the number of patients in search of heroin rehab would reach 315.

The best way to lower this number is to provide services that include more than just medical detox through methadone. A comprehensive heroin rehab program that provides detox as well as intensive psychological treatment will help patients to stop abusing their opiate of choice and learn how to live without drugs of any kind, including alcohol.

If you would like to learn more about the woman-centered heroin addiction treatment options we provide here at The Orchid, contact us today

It’s becoming more and more common in the UK and in some parts of the United States: where drug courts provide drug addiction treatment for those who committed nonviolent crimes while under the influence of drugs or in pursuit of money to buy more drugs, many who stand before a judge as a result are actually requesting to be remanded to treatment. In fact, some “criminals” are asking for drug treatment, saying that they hoped to be arrested for their crimes so that they could get the help that they couldn’t get for themselves out on the street.

One car thief, Stewart Reith, recently stood before a judge in the UK and asked to be locked up so that he could get drug rehabilitation help. The judge said ‘yes.’

Everything about Reith’s crime was very highly visible. He went to a car dealership and posed as a staff member, walking the floor with a clipboard and wearing the company jacket. The cameras on site captured him getting into the Vauxhall Corsa VRM and driving away; the car was found a few days later without its tires.

Even with the camera footage of Reith doing the crime, there was no forensic evidence to help investigators track him down from the abandoned vehicle. The homeless Reith ultimately turned himself in and gave law enforcement all the details they needed, saying he had stolen the car with the hope of selling it to fund his habit but couldn’t find any buyers.

Finding Drug Rehab the Right Way

Reith’s story sheds light on the sheer desperation that many living with addiction feel when it comes to conquering their drug abuse issues. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish even with all the right resources – those who are alone and without support have almost no chance. Not everyone is lucky enough to have family who will help them get the help they need to heal or friends who will persevere and help them to enroll in treatment.

If someone you care about is living with a drug or alcohol addiction, don’t wait to confront the issue. They may not be immediately ready to enter drug rehab, but if they have the determination to get clean, you can help them find a drug rehab that can help.

The Orchid offers a comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment program that treats women who are living with a drug dependence. Call now to find out how you can help a woman you care about get the help she needs to start a new life without addiction.

Spirituality is a big part of drug and alcohol addiction recovery, in part because it has so little to do with active addiction. The new way of looking at life can make recovery so much different from active addiction that patients can honestly start fresh and build a new life for themselves.

When patients in recovery take the time to explore their spiritual feelings and inclinations, many find a new reason to live beyond the material, a kind of high that exists well beyond the benefits provided by the instant gratification of drugs and alcohol. A new definition of joy and happiness – even contentedness – becomes the norm and makes day-to-day experience less black and white. Rather than create their own brand of spirituality, many turn toward established religions like Christianity for guidance. Can Christianity cure drug and alcohol addiction?

Christianity in Recovery

Though there is no cure for drug and alcohol addiction, there are a number of therapies and treatment approaches that have been proven successful for those in recovery. Everyone is different and not everyone responds to a treatment model that includes or emphasizes Christian tenets – in fact, many patients may be turned off completed by the religious and moral issues raised by a Christian focus in recovery. However, there are a number of people who credit their continued and long-term sobriety to the Christian focus of the program. By “finding God,” they found a purpose for their lives that made sense to them, a purpose that did not include drug and alcohol abuse. Simply avoiding relapse in order to protect their health the feelings of those who love them was not enough; God’s will gave them the purpose and strength they needed to walk away.

Additionally, the focus on service to others, giving up control to God, and allowing God to work through others and events in your life gives many the freedom to let go of outcome and avoid overwhelming feelings of frustration, anger, self righteousness, pride and other emotions that can be triggers for relapse.

12-Steps and Christianity

The 12-step program (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, et cetera) is heavily focused on the spiritual aspect of recovery. Giving up control of addiction to a Higher Power almost immediately is a stutter step for some and the easiest step of all for others. Though many 12-step groups turn down the focus on religion, others embrace it. In fact, a number of 12-step meetings are held in churches.

Finding the type of 12-step treatment program and focus that works for you can be key to your success. There are a number of different options and, if you feel drawn to what Christianity can offer your recovery, there are tons of opportunities to incorporate that focus into your recovery.

Has Christianity worked for you or helped someone you care about get through addiction treatment and recovery? Share your story below!

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), drug dependency and addiction costs our society $484 billion each year. To put that number into perspective, that in nearly 3 times more than all cancers combined. And that is just the cost in pure dollars and cents. That figure does not take into account the mental and emotional toll drug and alcohol dependency takes on addicts and their loved ones. For these reasons, researchers over the past few decades have been working towards developing vaccines for a variety of drug addictions.

How Can You Vaccinate Against Addiction?

The body’s immune system must be fooled by scientific intervention in order for a drug addiction vaccine to work. Currently, the vaccine being developed to combat cocaine addiction at Baylor College of Medicine is pairing the drug with a deactivated pathogen, in this case cholera. Since the cholera is no longer active it can’t harm the body, but the body is stimulated enough to make antibodies to defend against it as well as the cocaine that is attached to it.

Drugs that cause addiction are able to stimulate the reward centers in the brain causing an intense desire for the drug. Although a vaccine would not completely protect the brain from the onslaught of the addictive substances, the immune system would destroy most of the drug before reaching the brain. The resulting high would be very weak. So much in fact, research is finding it does not cause people to seek out more of the substance, rather to gradually stop using over time.

Potential Uses For Addiction Vaccinations

The following drugs are currently undergoing development for vaccines and some are in the clinical trials period:

• Cocaine
• Nicotine
• PCP
• Meth
• Heroin

Experts in the field are confident these vaccines are going to be available on the open market in 10-20 years, with some estimates even sooner than that. If these immunizations are shown to be safe and effective, they are being targeted for a variety of possible uses in the future. The prospects include:

• Jump-start the treatment and recovery process
• To stop a patient’s ability to relapse when they leave rehabilitation
• Prevention of future drug addiction in children

Varying opinions tend to arise around the topic of vaccinations. How do you feel about the vaccinations for drug addicts? What about as prevention against the possibility of future drug addiction in children? Feel free to state your thoughts and opinions on this topic below.