I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it. ~Author Unknown

Members of a controversial organization called Project Prevention is roaming the streets of Honolulu with cash in the pockets. They are hoping to persuade drug addicts and alcoholics to undergo sterilization or go on long-term birth control. The group was stated by North Carolina resident Barbara Harris. It offers addicts $300 if they agree to birth control methods such as DepoProvera, patches, or intrauterine devices (IUDs).

The program’s critics say that the addicts will just use the cash to buy drugs or alcohol, a fact which Harris does not argue.

“That’s their choice if women use the money to use drugs, but babies don’t have a choice. At least they won’t get pregnant,” Harris said.

In 1997, Harris adopted four children from a mother addicted to drugs. That experience was the catalyst to the beginnings of Project Prevention. As of February of this year, the group had paid more than 3,000 addicts to go on long-term birth control methods or get sterilized.

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If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. ~Jim Rohn

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned this week that developing countries could face a “health disaster” if wealthy countries do not control the flow of drugs. At a meeting in Vienna, Austria, UNODC chief Antonio Maria Costas said that “the developing world lacks the treatment facilities and law enforcement to control drugs. This seems to have been forgotten by people in rich countries calling for loosening of drug controls.

Costas talked about the increasing heroin use in East Africa, cocaine use in West Africa and synthetic drugs in the Middle East and Southeast Asia as warning signs. Costas believes that drug addiction is a treatable condition, though inequality “within and between states marginalizes poor people who lack access to treatment.”

The UNODC is working with the World Health Organization to achieve universal access to drug treatment programs and work with UNAIDS to stem the spread of HIV worldwide.

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There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. ~Author Unknown

One county in Ohio has the dubious distinction of having the most prescription drug overdose deaths in the state. According to the Ohio Department of Health, residents of Montgomery County are more likely to die of a prescription overdose. This cause of death surpassed car accidents as the top cause of injury death in Ohio in 2006.

In Montgomery County the average yearly death rate was more than twice the state average between 2000 and 2007. During that time, 785 county residents died of prescription drug overdoses.

It is not yet understood why the county’s numbers are so high. Rural counties in Ohio may be underreporting their statistics of prescription drug deaths. Dayton, which is the largest city in Montgomery County, has a reputation for cheaper drugs. According to Joseph Szoke, executive director of the Alcohol Drug Addicttion and Mental Health Services Board, believes that the number of car industry retirees in the county living on a fixed income may have contributed to the “epidemic” of overdose deaths.

“You have people who in a down economy are looking for ways to supplement whatever income they have” and may be selling extra prescription drugs. This in turn increases the supply of these drugs in the county.

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Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself. ~Alfred Sheinwold

A federal judge in New York denied bail last week to Cameron Douglas, the son of actor Michael Douglas. In January, Douglas pleaded guilty to dealing in large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine. Douglas was arrested in July 2009 at the Hotel Gansevoort in downtown Manhattan. Douglas had then signed a plea aggrement with prosecutors. He faces a minimum 10 year prison sentience at his sentencing in April.

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How do we know that the sky is not green and we are all colour-blind? ~Author Unknown
A new research study suggest that heart health benefits disappear when drinkers add the occasional binge to the mix. Researchers found that people who drank heavily at times were 45 percent more likely to develop heart disease.

About 8 percent of Americans have heart disease, according to the American Heart Association.

Occasional heavy drinking was defined as consuming five or more drinks in a day, at least twelve times a year. “Regular” heavy drinkers were excluded from the study. The findings suggest that bingeing, even at irregular times, may erase any heart benefits of lighter drinking.

Regular heavy drinking may raise blood pressure, promote blood clotting and cause disruptions in heart rhythms. The study reinforces the message that “not all alcohol consumption is good for health,” said lead researcher Michael Roerecke, of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

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We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller

Former Oklahoma State University men’s basketball coach Sean Sutton was charged with four drug-related felonies this week. Sutton however, was not in court to hear the charges. Sutton was in treatment at a drug rehabilitation center in Tulsa. Sutton’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his client’s behalf.

“This is a dark day for our community and for Oklahoma State University and the Sutton family,” said Payne County District Attorney Robert Hudson, who is prosecuting the case. The charges come from Sutton’s attempt last week to get drugs mailed to him by a woman in Seattle that he met in rehab last year.

Three of the charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The fourth charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Sutton, 41, told Oklahoma drug enforcement agents that he is fighting an addiction to painkillers. Sutton told the agents he was using the pharmaceutical drugs to help him stop using the illegal drugs. Sutton posted the $10,000 bail and was released with the caveat that he stays in treatment.

Sutton’s problem with substance abuse and addiction were not known until his arrest. His father, Eddie Sutton, is a former Oklahoma State University coach who has battled alcoholism over the years.

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The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

Robert Green Ingersoll

The Army needs to double its staff of substance abuse counselor to deal with the increasing numbers of soldiers requiring treatment for alcohol addiction. General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff, said that about 300 more counselors are needed to meet the demand. This would include offering counseling services at night and on the weekends.

In 2009, 9,199 soldiers enrolled in treatment for alcohol addiction. This was a 56 percent increase from 2003 when the war in Iraq started. According to data from the Army, 16,388 soldiers received counseling last year. In 2003, 5,873 soldiers received treatment and 11, 309 received counseling.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that since 2001 and being involved in two wars…that we probably have a higher incidence of alcohol abuse,” Chiarelli said.

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Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart. ~Author Unknown

Most children won’t say no to a sugary snack, but some children prefer more intense sweetness than others. A new study finds that those children are more likely to have a family history of alcoholism and depression.

“We know that sweet taste is rewarding to all kids and makes them feel good,” said Julie Mennella, lead researcher and a developmental psychobiologist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. “In addition, certain groups of children may be especially attracted to intense sweetness due to their underlying biology.”

The study results do not indicate that a child who likes ultra-sugary foods will become an alcoholic. “At this point, we don’t know whether this higher ‘bliss point’ for sweets is a marker for later alcohol use,” Mennella said.

Both sweets and alcohol activate many of the same reward circuits in the brain. Sugar can improve mood and children who are depressed may reach for sugary foods to feel better.

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Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. ~Kin Hubbard

Exposure to ecstasy or cocaine during adolescence increases the “reinforcing effects” that make people vulnerable to developing an addiction.

“Although MDMA and cocaine are psychoactive substances frequently used by teenagers, very few studies have been done to analyze the short and long-term consequences of joint exposure to these drugs,” said Jose Minarro, the lead author of the study and coordinator of the Psychobiology of Drug Addiction at the University of Valencia in Spain.

The study illustrated how exposure to these drugs in adolescence leads to long-lasting changes that increase the addictive potential though to adulthood.

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‘Tis curious that we only believe as deeply as we live. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our need for stimulation and dopamine’s action upon the brain are intrinsically linked. This explains why people who constantly crave stimulation are in danger of addictive behavior like drug abuse or gambling. The urge to actively seek out new experiences is a personality trait that has been known about for years, but up until now scientists have been unable to prove how this urge relates to the brain’s hormonal activities.

An international research team with scientists from the University of Copenhagen, University of Aarhus and the University of Tokyo have been able to prove for the first time that the quest for stimulation is greater among people who have more dopamine in their brain. Those people who had the strongest urge to look for new and thrilling experiences had both more dopamine and more areas of the brain where dopamine was active.

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