NEW YORK — Sales of the nation’s two most popular prescription painkillers have exploded in new parts of the country, an Associated Press analysis shows, worrying experts who say the push to relieve patients’ suffering is spawning an addiction epidemic.

From New York’s Staten Island to Santa Fe, N.M., Drug Enforcement Administration figures show dramatic rises between 2000 and 2010 in the distribution of oxycodone, the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan. Some places saw sales increase sixteenfold.

Meanwhile, the distribution of hydrocodone, the key ingredient in Vicodin, Norco and Lortab, is rising in Appalachia, the original epicenter of the painkiller epidemic, as well as in the Midwest.

The increases have coincided with a wave of overdose deaths, pharmacy robberies and other problems in New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Florida and other states. Opioid pain relievers, the category that includes oxycodone and hydrocodone, caused 14,800 overdose deaths in 2008 alone, and the death toll is rising, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Nationwide, pharmacies received and ultimately dispensed the equivalent of 69 tons of pure oxycodone and 42 tons of pure hydrocodone in 2010, the last year for which statistics are available. That’s enough to give 40 5-mg Percocets and 24 5-mg Vicodins to every person in the United States. The DEA data records shipments from distributors to pharmacies, hospitals, practitioners and teaching institutions. The drugs are eventually dispensed and sold to patients, but the DEA does not keep track of how much individual patients receive.

The increase is partly due to the aging U.S. population with pain issues and a greater willingness by doctors to treat pain, said Gregory Bunt, medical director at New York’s Daytop Village chain of drug treatment clinics.

Sales are also being driven by addiction, as users become physically dependent on painkillers and begin “doctor shopping” to keep the prescriptions coming, he said.

“Prescription medications can provide enormous health and quality-of-life benefits to patients,” Gil Kerlikowske, the U.S. drug czar, told Congress in March. “However, we all now recognize that these drugs can be just as dangerous and deadly as illicit substances when misused or abused.”

Opioids like hydrocodone and oxycodone can release intense feelings of well-being. Some abusers swallow the pills; others crush them, then smoke, snort or inject the powder.

Unlike most street drugs, the problem has its roots in two disparate parts of the country – Appalachia and affluent suburbs, said Pete Jackson, president of Advocates for the Reform of Prescription Opioids.

“Now it’s spreading from those two poles,” Jackson said.

The AP analysis used drug data collected quarterly by the DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System. The DEA tracks shipments sent from distributors to pharmacies, hospitals, practitioners and teaching institutions and then compiles the data using three-digit ZIP codes. Every ZIP code starting with 100-, for example, is lumped together into one figure.

The AP combined this data with census figures to determine effective sales per capita.

A few ZIP codes that include military bases or Veterans Affairs hospitals have seen large increases in painkiller use because of soldier patients injured in the Middle East, law enforcement officials say. In addition, small areas around St. Louis, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Newark, N.J., have seen their totals affected because mail-order pharmacies have shipping centers there, said Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Many of the sales trends stretch across bigger areas.

In 2000, oxycodone sales were centered in coal-mining areas of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky – places with high concentrations of people with back problems and other chronic pain.

But by 2010, the strongest oxycodone sales had overtaken most of Tennessee and Kentucky, stretching as far north as Columbus, Ohio and as far south as Macon, Ga.

Per-capita oxycodone sales increased five- or six-fold in most of Tennessee during the decade.

“We’ve got a problem. We’ve got to get a handle on it,” said Tommy Farmer, a counterdrug official with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Many buyers began crossing into Tennessee to fill prescriptions after border states began strengthening computer systems meant to monitor drug sales, Farmer said.

In 2006, only 20 states had prescription drug monitoring programs aimed at tracking patients. Now 40 do, but many aren’t linked together, so abusers can simply go to another state when they’re flagged in one state’s system. There is no federal monitoring of prescription drugs at the patient level.

In Florida, the AP analysis underscores the difficulty of the state’s decade-long battle against “pill mills,” unscrupulous doctors who churn out dozens of prescriptions a day.

In 2000, Florida’s oxycodone sales were centered around West Palm Beach. By 2010, oxycodone was flowing to nearly every part of the state.

While still not as high as in Appalachia or Florida, oxycodone sales also increased dramatically in New York City and its suburbs. The borough of Staten Island saw sales leap 1,200 percent.

New York’s Long Island has also seen huge increases. In Islip, N.Y., teenager Makenzie Emerson says she started stealing oxycodone that her mother was prescribed in 2009 after a fall on ice. Soon Emerson was popping six pills at a time.

“When I would go over to friends’ houses I would raid their medicine cabinets because I knew their parents were most likely taking something,” said Emerson, now 19.

One day she overdosed at the mall. Her mother, Phyllis Ferraro, tried to keep her daughter breathing until the ambulance arrived.

“The pills are everywhere,” Ferraro said. “There aren’t enough treatment centers and yet there’s a pharmacy on every corner.”

The American Southwest has emerged as another hot spot.

Parts of New Mexico have seen tenfold increases in oxycodone sales per capita and fivefold increases in hydrocodone. The state had the highest rate of opioid painkiller overdoses in 2008, with 27 per 100,000 population.

Many parts of eastern California received only modest amounts of oxycodone in 2010, but the increase from 2000 was dramatic – more than 500 percent around Modesto and Stockton.

Many California addicts are switching from methamphetamine to prescription pills, said John Harsany, medical director of Riverside County’s substance abuse program.

Hydrocodone use has increased in some areas with large Indian reservations, including South Dakota, northeastern Arizona and northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Many of these communities have battled substance abuse problems in the past.

Experts worry painkiller sales are spreading quickly in areas where there are few clinics to treat people who get hooked, Bunt said.

In Utica, N.Y., Patricia Reynolds has struggled to find treatment after becoming dependent on hydrocodone pills originally prescribed for a broken tailbone. She said the nearest clinics offering the rehabilitation programs she wants are full and not accepting new patients.

“It’s a really sad epidemic,” Reynolds said. “I want people to start talking about it instead of pretending it’s not a problem and hiding.”

The following is an article featured on familydoctor.org.

Fiction #1

“Smoking isn’t any more of a problem for people in recovery from alcohol abuse than it is for anyone else.”

Fact: Almost 85% of people who are in recovery from alcohol are also smokers, compared with 21% of the general public. Compared to smokers who aren’t in recovery, smokers in recovery from alcohol abuse may be more addicted to nicotine and often smoke more cigarettes.

Fiction #2

“Quitting smoking will threaten my sobriety.”

Fact: Smokers who are in recovery from alcohol abuse can stop smoking without starting to drink again. Because smoking and drinking often go together, smoking can lead to a stronger craving for alcohol. So quitting smoking during or right after treatment for alcoholism can actually increase your chances of staying sober.

Fiction #3

“Alcohol addiction was the biggest threat to my life and my health, and I’ve quit drinking. Smoking won’t hurt me that much.”

Fact: Smoking is an addiction. It’s as likely to kill you as any other addiction — maybe even more so. People who have been in treatment for alcohol problems are more likely to die from tobacco-related diseases than from alcohol-related problems. In fact, recovering alcoholics who smoke are more likely to get heart disease, lung disease and cancers of the head, mouth and throat. They are also likely to die earlier than people in the general public.

Fiction #4

“I’m too addicted to quit smoking. I tried to quit before and failed.”

Fact: You may be more addicted to nicotine than other smokers, but very few people succeed the first time they try to quit smoking. Part of the problem may be that you tried to stop smoking on your own. Lots of resources can help you quit. They include: your doctor, friends and family members, stop-smoking support groups, nicotine replacement therapy, and organizations such as Nicotine Anonymous, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. All you have to do is ask for help.

When you stop smoking, you may experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability, nervousness, difficulty concentrating and constipation. Counseling, medicine or both may help you handle the withdrawal symptoms. Ask your doctor what treatment is right for you.

Fiction #5

“I’ll fail–I know I will. Quitting smoking will be harder for me than quitting drinking was.”

Fact: There’s a good chance you felt this way, at times, about recovering from alcohol abuse. Feeling powerless and admitting you need help is the first step to kicking your smoking addiction. You need to approach quitting smoking the same way you approached quitting drinking–one step at a time. What gave you the strength and courage to give up drinking? The same tools such as treatment, therapy, group support, spirituality, and friends and family can help you quit smoking.

Fiction #6

“I could never quit. Most of my family members and friends smoke.”

Fact: Being around smokers can make quitting harder. But giving up any addiction is hard and requires you to make your own choice about what’s best for you and your loved ones. Asking family members and friends not to smoke around you gives them the opportunity to be supportive. At first it may help to stay away from other smokers.

Fiction #7

“I have too much stress in my life to quit right now.”

Fact: Your body is addicted to nicotine, so it feels better with the drug than without it. If you are under a lot of stress, maybe another time would be better to quit smoking. But remember that, like all other people, you will always be under some kind of stress. Waiting to be stress-free before you try to quit smoking may just be an excuse to avoid facing your nicotine addiction.

Fiction #8

“I can’t quit smoking because I’ll gain weight, and that’s bad for my health too.”

Fact: Most people gain no more than 5 to 10 pounds when they quit smoking, which is much less of a health risk than smoking. Exercising regularly and eating low-fat foods can help you avoid gaining too much weight.

The Impact of Diet and Nutrition on Recovery

Choosing a sponsor is no small matter – for either person. First, an intimate relationship will develop; a relationship that works both ways. The purpose of sponsorship is to have one person who knows you and your situation inside and out – someone who can share the joys and disappointments, and give useful advice. It flows the other way too. Being a sponsor is a great obligation, but there are rewards as well. Just as the fellowship as a whole aids and supports the addict, so too does the sponsor/sponsored interaction. It is not unusual for the sponsored to help with the sobriety of the sponsor. For the sponsor, it’s a way to show commitment and pay back a Karmic debt. It’s a way to pass the torch.

Because secrets will be shared and dirty laundry aired out, personalities should mesh well. Trust is a real issue. Without it, the relationship won’t work well. Along with this is a common, but unofficial rule that only those of the same sex should pair up as sponsor/sponsored. With same sex pairing, issues about speaking the same language, and issues about emotional attraction can be avoided.

In the modern world, tools are available for “remote sponsoring.” This includes phone calls, texting and the Internet at large. The advantage is retained anonymity, but the disadvantages are a lack of shared personal space. How much that matters depends on the people involved. Traditionally, a sponsor broke anonymity and helped in day-to-day affairs outside the 12 step group – things like employment and relationship issues that might arise at anytime. Whatever the mechanics, a sponsor should be available to fill the often large gaps between formal meetings.

Finally, a sponsor shouldn’t replace the 12 step program as a whole. Group meetings are still important, as is the literature. A sponsor should augment these, not detract.

Featured on: 12step.com

12 Step Origins

Perhaps some of the more important features of the newer editions are the appendixes, which hold valuable information and points of clarity on the role of spirituality and addiction recovery.

The 12 steps followed the creation of A.A. by a few years, and they did not come into being all at once; rather, they developed somewhat organically before coming together in a very short period of time while co-founder Bill Wilson was writing what would become the Big Book in 1938.

He reached the realization that a book was not enough, that they needed a specific program for recovery. A number of the steps had already existed though mostly by word-of-mouth; Wilson’s epiphany was to put what existed under a single banner and add to them what might have been missing. His point was to make the program perfectly explicit through codification. Wilson recollects that writing the steps down required, “no more than twenty or thirty minutes. Seemingly I had to think little at all. It was only when I came to the end of the writing that I re-read and counted them. Curiously enough, they numbered twelve and required almost no editing.”

Those original 12 steps featured the use of God on several occasions, which Wilson reduced down to the minimum. The famous qualifier “as we understood Him” was not added until later. Beyond that, according to Wilson, the 12 steps “stand today almost exactly as they were first written.”

For many of the steps, AA owes a debt of gratitude to the Oxford Group, a Christian organization in existence around the early part of the 20th century that proved influential to early founders of AA. According to Wilson, the Oxford Group “laid particular emphasis on spiritual principles that we needed. But in fairness,” he added, “it should also be said that many of their attitudes and practices” were discarded because they were found to be incompatible.

Since then those 12 steps have been adopted by numerous organizations to deal with everything from narcotics abuse to emotional disorders and more. Each organization typically tweaks the twelve steps only slightly, just enough to emphasize the relevant substance or affliction, and generally—although not always—do so with the approval of Alcoholics Anonymous.

As featured on 12step.com

In the study, which compared 10,529 people who received prescriptions for sleep aids with nearly twice as many people with similar health histories who did not take sleeping pills, researchers found that those who had prescriptions were more than four times as likely to have died during the study’s 2.5-year follow-up as those who didn’t take the drugs.

What’s more, the researchers also documented a 35% increased risk of cancer among people taking sleeping pills, compared with the non-prescription group. The risk of developing lymphoma, lung, colon or prostate cancer associated with sleeping pills was greater than the effect from smoking, says the study’s lead author, Dr. Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic. Kripke says users aren’t warned adequately enough about these risks on the drug’s label. “The results were pretty surprising, and as far as I know, the mortality and cancer risks are not reflected in any labels,” he says.

It will be interesting to see if future studies reach similar conclusions.

(featured on www.addictionandrecoverynews.wordpress.com)

In what may turn out to be the first instance of a really great idea, Rutgers University in New Jersey has started a new type of residential hall – for those in addiction recovery. The dorms are an outgrowth of the university’s alcohol and drug assistance program and they have one essential element – students are protected from the pressure of drinking and drugging that comes with living with non-addiction students.

But the recovery option is more than just abstinence, according to the program director.

“A recovery room is for students who are actively pursuing staying sober.”

The extent to which addiction negatively impacts the pursuit of a college degree isn’t known. For many, graduation isn’t prevented with binges on the weekends. But, just as in other areas of life, especially where there is high pressure to perform, an addiction crisis can cripple someone’s chances. In a college setting, failing one class in a mandatory series can set a student back an entire year. That’s huge.

The dorms, which are reported to house 31 students this year, give addicted students a positive atmosphere and one where recovery is on the menu. The all important ingredient is peer relationships. Instead of the party focus, there’s a sober understanding of the power that drugs and alcohol has to ruin lives. They meet twice a week in either AA or NA meetings and a trained addiction therapist is available.

According to school sources, fun is one key element in the mix. The idea is to not only stop using behaviors and maintain recovery, but to replace those harmful things with enjoyable activities like intramural sports and other social events that don’t involve alcohol or drugs.

It’s certainly not all smooth sailing though. But when residents relapse, there are peers ready and waiting to help them back to sobriety. In this situation, your AA and NA sponsor might be your neighbor the next door down. College is tough enough already, and it’s nice to see Rutgers taking the lead to help those who want to help themselves.

Article taken from 12steps.com

In keeping with helping  to understand the 12 steps I’ve written this from my own experiences and those who have helped me over the years to become free from addiction. I hope it helps you too.

Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives have become unmanageable.

This is without a doubt the most important step and really the simplest to do, yet we balk at it. Why? We initially shared with society the idea that an alcoholic was a bum, a hobo, you know the guy on the street looking for change to get that bottle of $2.00 wine. Many alcoholics may become that, but they were alcoholics way before they were homeless. I know you’re probably saying I’m not like that so how can I be an Alcoholic or Druggy?   Well Take a step back. Examine your life and be honest with yourself. Can you control your drinking or drugging or are you in the words of this step “powerless.”
Alcoholics and Drug users are good at lying to others and even better at lying to themselves. The fact that you can “stop for a while” must be weighed up against the truth of what happens when you take the first drink or snort. I could stop for months at a time, but when I stopped in at the pub for that “quick beer” before I went home, I was unable to stop until I gotten a good buzz on.  You know that numbness feeling in your cheeks.  But, I could stop for months at a time, the hardest part for me was realizing that it never just stopped at “one”.   For this reason I now choose NOT to Drink.  Because I know in my soul I can’t stop.

Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

For the agnostic or the atheist, this is a difficult step. It requires us to suspend intellectual faculties and cynicism. My feeling is that my intellect and skepticism didn’t help me avoid beer.  This “God” person never saved anyone from dying that I knew.  So how in the hell was he going to save me.  For me this was one of the most struggle-some of steps to accomplish – I had to let go – yea right! took years to understand that line. Now some 20 years later I laugh at myself – if only I had done this sooner.

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and out lives over to the care of God as we understood him.

How do I understand God? I have been Christian for years, having been brought up in a religious home. If a God exists and he/she/it is omnipotent, how can I comprehend this being?  I read the bible, and went to church and there were so many unanswered questions that I gave up – hence for me my life changed for the worse.
Again, take a leap of faith, step off the edge of the cliff and into the realm of faith. Whatever understanding you need, God will give you. The only way of approaching faith is to surrender human intellect.
It is not important that your perception of God match anyone else’s perception. It may be difficult, for example, for someone subjected to years of abuse by their father may have trouble thinking of God as a “father”. That doesn’t matter. Define God in the way you can. Just surrender your life as it is now to that which you call Your God or Higher Power.

Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

This is so difficult for everyone.  After years of conning ourselves and others, we now have to shift away from this mind set and examine ourselves warts, blemishes, and all, and they aren’t very attractive. Yet it cannot be escaped. To 
change our dependency on alcohol or drugs, we need to change ourselves, this cannot not be done without ruthless self examination.  This is a daily process not one that is to be taken lightly either. For every day we step on toes and hurt someone’s feelings.  It’s understanding the reasons, and whys that helps us to be better people.  This leads us to the next step.

Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

It’s easy enough to admit your faults to God, who can be viewed in abstract terms. It’s more difficult to admit them to yourself, but to someone else! No way! Stop, let me off this roller coaster. I Quit!
Don’t stop now. This is necessary. It acts as an unburdening of all the things you have kept secret for so long from family and friends. As difficult as this may be, it is one of the most important steps in overcoming your addiction.
To understand this step, it is necessary to understand the disease of alcoholism and drug abuse itself. It is a disease which works on three levels. These are the physical, the mental and the spiritual. To confess to God helps remove the spiritual disease and to confess to another human being eases the mental anguish. It also says to us that after years of avoidance we are now going to stop lying to ourselves and to others and to make the necessary behavioral changes to overcome our addictions.

Step 6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

This seems easy, but there must be a word of caution here. The words are easy, but behind the words must be an earnest desire for the removal of these flaws in our self. Nobody can do this but you, so don’t look to a sponsor or family member to get you through this one and Do not pay lip service to this stage.

Step 7. Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.

Here again sincerity is everything. This is a final admission that we have shortcomings. Just as before this can be one of the hardest steps to achieve for you are going against everything that is natural to you – you are trusting in something you can’t put a face to.

Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Wait a sec, didn’t I do that already? Nope!  You just admitted you had flaws. 
now comes the task of making amends to them. There are probably so many names it will scare the day lights out of you, I know it did me.  When you have completed the list, go back and add other names from your earliest memories as a child. The more cleansing you do here the stronger you’ll become and stay in the future.  There will certainly be those you have either forgotten or avoided and yes you have to add them as well. Remember you can’t hide anymore!

Step 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure others.

Stop! I want to get off again  I feel that this step is perhaps the most difficult and certainly the most intimidating. In the last step we did all those wonderful people we loved, well guess who we get to approach now… yep those that we forgot. 
Many tears will be shed with step, as you admit not only to yourself and to those you approach how hard and cruel you’ve been to them over the years.  So be prepaired to walk lightly on this step.  Wait, a sec, what’s the Injure mean then? Name calling and fighting are a given here.  I and a friend came darn near to blows when I approached him.  I had to use a 3rd party to make contact with them because there was so much dirt over the years that had to be taken care of.  You also have to look at that persons circle of friends, they may be unwilling to accept the “new you” and rather hold onto the “old you” this too may cause friction in this step. You’ll be judged from this day forward by them and any friends for weakness.

Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

It is necessary for us to continuously monitor ourselves for faults because the two biggest dangers to an alcoholic and drug user are guilt and resentment. An additional danger is to become complacent. This step asks us to continue to live with humility and a knowledge of our frailties. As a method of conducting this step try the following way of taking your personal inventory:
A.Become quiet and become aware of the presence of your higher power. 
  B.Ask your higher power for guidance to see and understand the inventory you are taking. 
  C.Review the period since you last did this. Look for instances when you were guided by your higher power and look too at the instances where you did wrong. 
  D.Examine the instances of error and determined who and why you responded or did not respond to the guidance of your higher power. 
  E.Plan how you can more effectively conduct your life in harmony with the will of your higher power.
This may not work for you, but try it. The lovely part of this is that it also incorporates the 11th step.

Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.

It is through God as we understand him/her that we find our strength to stay sober and to change the old habits that came so close to destroying us. This is your personal time to reflect on all that has and will be. Listen to your inner voice, and your “gut”, pay attention when you are in a situation that you shouldn’t be and act accordingly.

Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and drug users, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

This step is vital as it shows us what we were and it is in serving that we find redemption.  You become the hope of others who will look upon you for strength when they are weak. Be ready to support and guide them as you begin your new way of life free from your personal addiction.
And always remember that the 12 steps are a way of life for you now.  With out them you’ll be right back where you were when you started so practice them every second of the day and before long you’ll find that today is over and you will have made it –  clean and sober.  Then tomorrow do it again, and before long it will be a week, and then a month, and then a year.   You have the choice to change but it’s your choice to make so what are you waiting for take the leap of faith.

12-steps-recovery.com/library/page7.html