I have lost many friends and family to the devil of addiction. And a devil it is. People who have not experienced it really do not understand it is a disease that takes place in the brain. It is to simplistic to say they need to just stop or they have no self control. I also understand how hard it is to walk away from the self destrictive behavior of the addict, but sometimes you have to. Great blog. Until we treat this as a disease and really learn how the brain is changed by drugs and alcohol then we are just ignoring the problem.

Thanks for writing this. A very thought provoking piece.

Great piece Angela!

As a Medical Massage Therapist, I see pain med addictions on a daily basis. It angers me too, that nobody wants to look at the bigger picture...the physicians. Apparently, it's easier to pass out a prescription that it is to listen to their patients and give them advice and ideas on how to manage their pain...that DOESN'T include drugs. Sadly, many people become not only addicted to the medication, but to the person they are on the medication. Both their pain (emotional or physical) and their med. become their identity and they simply don't know who they are without it. Nice article!

Amen to all that, Angela. I have a daughter of 28 who warns me about the dangers of suntanning while taking another drag on her morning cigarette! The commonest legal drug of all is booze and painkiller­s and antidepres­sants are, respective­ly, the first and third largest prescripti­on categories
in the US (statins and the like are second). Some combinatio­n of those seems to have been Whitney's downfall.

Like you, I think this is a subject for all of us. I've blogged my thoughts here: http://ivo­rgoodbody.­com/?page_­id=41

The only point where I may take issue is over the value of activism. Folks don't like to be lectured, in my experience­, but what may work is gently raising awareness of issues they may not have considered­, and setting the example of a COMPLETELY drug-free life oneself. And yes, I'm sorry, that means no over-the-c­ounter meds, no cigarettes­, no booze, little or no coffee, no sugar-char­ged cinnabuns etc. Otherwise, don't we quickly get into just another game of "my drugs are better than yours"?

How many dirty needles does a Pharmacy need to find in their trash cans before the local police department tells the pharmacy to remove all their trash reciptacles?

I don't know the answer, but the manager of the Rite Aid on 23 mile & Van Dyke does. Just ask.

Heroin is cheaper than OxyContin and that's why you keep reading about outrageous crimes at the local McDonalds and coffee shops.

Keep your fingers crossed and hope you don't wake up to a home invasion.

It is a disease and a growing problem. Unfortunate that our media markets and advertises "drugs" for everything with the promise of a healthy happy life-just look at the ads--people buy into it-people want quick fixes and people believe that drugs fix all of life's problems and they will be living the ideal life--many doctors have taken a very strong position on prescription drug use-they confront the issues , don't prescribe the drug(s) unless necessary and limit the quantity, they also make the referrals for the proper help. Unfortunate though, this is still an individual decision.
It is a disease and there is no easy cure. The pharmaceutical companies need not glorify their drugs and need to curb how and where they advertise for their "profits".
They encourage the use of their drugs to a wide audience. Cigarette companies don't due to addiction and health effects.

It would help if we as a nation could have a "national" pharmaceutical data base where every pharmacy could be alerted to multiple and incompatible prescription combinations. That would go a long way to stop over-prescribing and this database could also hold an "alert" emergency flag for any addict that requests it. I also heard that Mexican doctors are within 5 yrs of offering a vaccine that could help opiate addicts with cravings...similar to antibuse for alcoholism...and vaccines to cocaine and others could come soon afterward. Hopefully it wouldn't take the U.S. another 5 yrs to offer it here! Can't come soon enough.

This is already in place, at least at a State level through the use of e-prescribe, Medco and MAPS. Doctors can log into MAPS and see every script written, where it was filled, date and quanity, but that report may run 2 weeks behind. Most offices utilize one of these tools with every prescription written. Pharmacies already notify physicians of non-compatible drugs and over use prior to filling a script. So, why do we have this problem?
Some physicians prescribe a greater quanity, some patients pay cash, some patients run to three doctors and in one day, use several different pharmacies within a few hours, and some patient lie as to the "loss" of the medication.....there are lots of stories out there. We are catching up now on how to best avert these problems-

Excellent article. Thank you for sharing your personal experience.

good article...just not sure why several comments are blaming the "physicians"....and why not blame the "addict" or the "enablers"....this is much deeper than blaming the source of the pill... do you think a patient would go to a doctor if doctor told them they could only have half as many pills? are we blaming the gun store for death? are we blaming budweiser for the fatal car crash...everybody is sympethetic for the poor addicted person...fact is they are the cause of the addiction...some outside factors contribute to their addiction, but they ultimately are at fault.....and enablers could go back to their childhood...parents? tramatic events? also the part in the article about telling them to stop?? that obviously does not work....the person themselves has to hit rock bottom to make a decision..life or death...

Part of the definition of addiction is acting contrary to one's own moral code. If it were just about WILLPOWER to stop using substances to change one's mood, all of us would stop overeating and abusing any substance! Ultimately, the addict betrays his own moral code to his own confusion and dismay. Why some addicts can stop using is a mystery, even to themselves at times. It takes what it takes, but judging addicts as weak compounds the problem and their shame, which in turn creates more reason to use to change the feelings of shame, worthlessness and failure. There is a physiological component to addiction that must always be factored in, not to give an excuse for an addict to continue using, but to provide compassion to the addict who is ready to seek help and create new neural pathways. Change can be hard no matter what, but it makes it a bit more understandable to non-addicts when they learn more about the neurological science of addiction. I do not envy the position that doctors are in as they get caught up in the addicts' web of self-deceit. The inner war waged within an addict propels them to seek the complicity of others to fulfill their misguided missions of securing substances. Doctors are constantly pulled from every direction: patient, patient's family members, and pharmaceutical companies among others. Addicts must ultimately help themselves when they are ready but need compassion and love (sometimes from a distance!) until they do help themselves!

Forget Hollywood. What is Rochester going to do about prescription drug abuse? We really need to bring these issues into the light so I appreciate everyone's comments! Parents here still don't get it. Young people in our community are getting pills from your unlocked medicine cabinets and from other people's houses too. Often here in our own community opiate pills like Oxy lead directly to heroin addition because it is cheaper and still easy to get. We've have way too many young people and families suffering in silence because of addiction and deaths from overdose. It should matter to all of us and we need to keep the conversation going. Sending love and encouragement to all the families in crisis! Some related links for families... http://rahcc.org/Links.html

I owe Tony Bennett an apology.

Back on Feb 15, three days after the sad news of Whitney Houston’s death, I blogged that the veteran jazz performer and painter “seemed to have mounted entirely the wrong hobby horse” by calling for drugs to be legalized, since the evidence at the time suggested legal prescription drugs may have been the cause or causes.

One specific culprit appeared to be Xanax. In my defence, I did stress the toxicology report might not bear out that conclusion. Now we know it won’t. Last night we had the coroner’s initial news release, and it turns out cocaine was the only drug directly implicated. Here’s what it said:

"The final cause of death has been determined to be:

DROWNING
EFFECTS OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC HEART DISEASE AND COCAINE USE

HOW INJURY OCCURRED: FOUND SUBMERGED IN BATHTUB FILLED WITH WATER; COCAINE INTAKE

OTHER SIGNIFICANT CONDITIONS: NONE

MANNER OF DEATH: ACCIDENT

TOXICOLOGY: COCAINE AND METABOLITES WERE IDENTIFIED AND WERE CONTRIBUTORY TO THE DEATH. MARIJUANA, ALPRAZOLAM (XANAX), CYCLOBENZAPRINE (FLEXERIL) AND DIPHENHYDRAMINE (BENADRYL) WERE IDENTIFIED BUT DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEATH."

My words of warning on the dangers of legal prescription drugs in general, and especially when taken in combination with alcohol, still stand.

But they have no bearing on Whitney’s own case.

Sorry Tony. You were wiser than I understood.

Wishing you lifelong health

Ivor