As a former police chief, I have seen the devastating effect that substance abuse and addiction can have on individuals, families and communities. Almost 16,000 overdose deaths involved prescription painkillers in the United States in 2009. That is four times the number of people killed by these drugs at the end of the 1990s.
That is why this year the Obama Administration allocated more money for drug prevention and treatment programs -- $10.1 billion -- than for U.S. law enforcement and incarceration. This Administration understands substance dependence is a public health issue, not just a law enforcement issue. Reducing drug use and its consequences -- especially drug overdose deaths -- is essential to our mission, and we support efforts to bring help to people who need it.
One organization that is providing this kind of help is Project Lazarus in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Project Lazarus serves an area that has borne a disproportionally large share of the suffering caused by the prescription drug abuse epidemic in America. In 2009, the death rate in Wilkes County due to drug poisoning was four times the North Carolina state average.
Project Lazarus assists community groups and healthcare professionals throughout the state to help prevent and intervene in drug overdoses. The organization was founded on the principle that communities are responsible for their own health, and that every drug overdose is preventable. Project Lazarus empowers communities and individuals to prevent drug overdose deaths through training and overdose prevention programs. The services provided by Project Lazarus and other programs like it quite literally save lives.
Naloxone, a drug that reverses an opioid overdose, is one of the many tools used by Project Lazarus to prevent drug-related deaths. The Administration supports the use of naloxone by public health and law enforcement professionals because we have seen how effective the drug can be. While results from Project Lazarus' work are still preliminary, according to their numbers, Wilkes County has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of overdose deaths related to opioids: a 71 percent drop from 2009 to 2011. Other communities in the United States with overdose prevention and intervention programs have also seen declines in overdose deaths.
Of course, the most effective and sustainable way to prevent drug overdose is to prevent drug use in the first place. To that end, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has worked with partners in and out of government to develop an array of programs to help parents, teachers, young people, leaders and others prevent drug use in their communities. These include the "Above the Influence" media program, which educates young people about the dangers of drug use and inspires them to choose healthy alternatives, and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, which distributes grants to anti-drug coalitions in more than 700 communities throughout the United States.
Prevention efforts do not always succeed, so we must make sure treatment is available when a substance use disorder develops. President Obama did exactly that by signing the Affordable Care Act, which includes substance use disorders as one of the ten elements of essential health benefits. By including these benefits in health insurance packages, more health care providers can offer and be reimbursed for these services, resulting in more individuals having access to treatment.
We also realize that in order to turn the tide on substance abuse and overdose rates, we must work together to break the stigma of addiction and bring the promise of recovery into the light of day. International Overdose Awareness Day -- on August 31st -- brings attention to the sorrow overdose causes and provides an outlet for those silenced by stigma to speak out about the pain of losing a loved one to overdose.
By sharing our stories and by addressing the root cause of overdose, we can save lives and build a safer, healthier America.
Follow R. Gil Kerlikowske on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ONDCP
Laura Knowles: Painkillers Cause Headaches - Finding Another Way
Meghan Ralston: Confronting the Truth on Overdose Awareness Day
A variety of fresh fruits does have every Vitamin, Mineral and Amino Acid required for optimum human health http://www.thefruitpages.com/contents.shtml, but it would take awhile to stabilize, since you must be able to absorb what you eat, for the body to metabolize what you eat into the correct bio-available chemicals and get it to the brain for use. Most people have a quite weak digestive system and the neurotransmitters are highly deficient, so they will also require much higher "doses" of the nutrition that comes from food. Another tidbit of info though, is most people are way off base on how much protein the human body requires - it's only 2%, so fruit is a great choice, but I'd at least throw in a good portion of greens, if for no other reason, sugar can be a trigger at least initially, in quitting addictive substances.
Supplementing or juicing are both great ways to achieve higher doses and one should also be tested for deficiency levels, so they aren't just guessing what they need. Scroll down towards the bottom of this site http://www.holistichelp.net/neurotransmitters.html to see the best ways to get the best tests for your particular needs.
Food when converted to chemicals, by the body, is still medicine and you want optimal amounts to correct each specific health issue, because to much of a good thing, can be too much even here. You need to work with someone who understands real nutrition, along with getting exercise and enough sleep.
In general though, you are correct. All chronic illness can and will only be cured through nutrition - along with exercise, adequate deep sleep, sunshine, fresh air and clean water - not just what you drink, but also what you bathe with. In a typical shower, the body absorbs the equivalent of 8 or more glasses of water - along with all the fluoride, chlorine, drug and chemical residue it contains. This toxin absorption, along with all the chemicals in mass produced soaps, lotions, shampoos, toothpaste, etc... completely bi-passes the filtering of the digestive process and goes directly into the blood stream to the brain.
There's a lot to know in getting and staying healthy in this drug crazy world. I'd suggest learning about Amino Acid IV Therapy to end addiction or get a book by Charles Gant called "End Your Addiction Now" and sign up for nutrition sites like www.doctoryourself.com
Think, better yet, Read before you speak.
http://www.addictionsolutionsource.com/drug_addiction_treatment/amino-acid-therapy-what-is-it
When we view the "drug war" from the viewpoint of the incentives of these bureaucracies (DEA, Gil's group -White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, etc), it is in the interest of the 20+ billion dollar per year bureaucracies to continue increasing the drug addiction problem, not solve it. The only way these organizations can grow and their members prosper is to increase the addition problem and these organizations respond to the real incentives they face not some good sounding statements.
But if the Drug Czar actually believed that drugs were a public health issue, instead of a police power issue, he'd be working to end needle prohibition, because that's caused far more deaths from spreading AIDS and hepatitis than the drugs themselves have caused. Needle exchange is a start, but it's really better to just let junkies buy needles at the drugstore the way diabetics do, even though it means that it'll be a bit easier for people to use needle drugs.
It's going to be a long time before American society is going to be politically willing to legalize opiates (even though the black market kills more people with gunfire and gang violence than with the heroin and cocaine they're selling), seeing as how we haven't even re-legalized marijuana, but ending needles is something that's much less challenging politically. It's a straight-forward public health issue for most people, and just as with naloxone, it's a way to have fewer people sick and dying, and to make non-users safer as well.
And as somebody who thinks there's no excuse for marijuana prohibition, I'd still much rather have needles legalized and let the police keep harassing us hippies while we keep pretending those swirly glass pipes are for "tobacco".
It is silly that Americans and our elected officials still think you can "treat" people for engaging in personal freedom! We can punish the drug abuser for committing a crime; stealing, abusing children, violence... It is NEVER possible to criminalize; drug use, food consumption, violent speech, bad hair cuts, and horrible breath!
or
just not a law enforcement issue?