What message are we sending by implementing needle exchange programs in this country? This has been a highly volatile subject taking heat from both sides. On the one hand, of course we want to lower the risk of HIV/AIDS contraction through infected shared needles of drug users and by all other means. I’m all for public health and less cases of diseases with and without a cure.
On the other hand, is this giving a free pass to IV drug users to continue their abuse, walking around with an “immunity card”, preventing them from being arrested for carrying drug paraphanelia? This attitude is almost like giving up on these people and saying, “if they want to use drugs, let them - just as long as they don’t increase our health care costs with more HIV/AIDS cases.”
I tend to lean more to the side of the latter opinion. What are we saying to these people? The needle exchange program comes complete with clean needles and an “acceptance” of IV drug use. Addiction is not something that becomes okay because clean needles are being used. Addiction is a horrible disease that costs our society billions of dollars in addiction treatment, hospitalization, and incarceration costs. Just because we may be able to decrease a small number of HIV/AIDS cases from infected needle sharing doesn’t mean we’ll avoid HIV/AIDS cases brought on by prostituting for drugs or engaging in reckless sexual behavior while under the influence of drugs. What about crimes committed for money to buy drugs, violence as a result of drug use and black market drug dealing? What about the millions of families and close relationships destroyed on a daily basis because of drug abuse? What are we going to do about these things?
We shouldn’t encourage programs that give addicts exemption from the illegality of carrying around drug paraphanelia, this just perpetuates their addiction. Perhaps this serves the interest of public heath in one area while undermining it in other, arguably more harmful areas. This is supposed to save the lives of drug addicts? They’re killing themselves, HIV or not. If it is the will of our society to save the lives of the millions of Americans struggling with addiction, we need to put more money and effort into drug rehab programs and drug addiction education. Sobriety is the only life-line an addict has, not the availability to get clean needles which they can then turn around and sell for more drug money, or use to overdose. This is ludicrous to me. What real difference is it going to make in the lives of those who struggle with drug addiction to have clean needles to use to get high and continue to kill themselves?
I’m dying to hear an opinion which will make this program somehow make sense to me.
Al Gore III was arrested on July 4, 2007 at 2:30 am carrying marijuana, Xanax, Vicodin, Valium, and Adderall, none of which he had a prescription for. This isn’t the first time he’s been in trouble with the law involving his car and drugs. In 2003, he was arrested when he was pulled over for not having his headlights on and police discovered marijuana in his car. In 2002, he was arrested for drunk driving near a military base in Virginia. And in 2000, after being clocked at 94 mph, he was ticketed for reckless driving in North Carolina.
Now, after this past arrest he has been offered what appears to be Prop. 36 - the option to attend a drug rehab in order to avoid jail and formal charges. It is rumored that he has signed himself into a drug rehab for 90 days and is completely dedicated to the rehab program. Although it is my sincere hope that he is dedicated to recovery this time, he has done this before. After his arrest in 2003 for marijuana possession, he attended a drug rehab program, 12 weeks of urinalysis testing, and community service. Here we are 4 years later with a far more serious charge than just marijuana possession. As a first time felony drug offense, I see it as only fair that he is offered Prop. 36 and allowed to attend a drug rehab program instead of instant jail time.
I just hope he makes a real effort this time and truly understands the severity of his offense, and the reality of addiction, with the importance drug rehab but only time will tell. Drug rehab programs do a lot of good for people completely under the grip of addiction as well as those who are just beginning to walk the line. Drug rehab can work as a preventative measure just as effectively as it can a recovery measure.
The latest news of public figures fallen to prescription drug abuse is Al Gore III, the youngest of the Gore kids. He was arrested for marijuana possession in 2003 while attending Harvard University, but on July 4, 2007, the Orange County Police pulled him over with a small amount of marijuana as well as a stash of benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium without a prescription.
No surprise there, as the number of people experimenting with and abusing prescription drugs is rising on a daily basis. It’s so sad to me that this epidemic is running wild in our society because these kinds of drugs are highly addictive and very dangerous. As it is with alcohol, benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium are life-threatening both in their abuse and during the detox process. I wonder if people have any idea of what they’re getting into when they decide to use these drugs without legitimate reasons.
Alcoholism is a form of addiction that takes thousands of lives every year. For many alcoholics, the addiction is not only lodged in the brain, but it produces a physical dependency which causes extremely uncomfortable and life-threatening symptoms when alcohol use is stopped abruptly. For this reason, most alcoholics cannot stop using on their own and need alcohol rehabilitation to recover from the disease. Usually alcohol rehabilitation involves the process of removing the alcohol from the body under medical supervision, referred to as detox. This usually takes place in a hospital setting where medical staff can monitor the alcoholic during the removal of the toxins from the alcohol in the system.
Once an alcoholic has gone through the process of detox, they can then begin rehabilitation. The rehabilitation process is one where the alcoholic will learn about what alcoholism is and understand that it is a treatable disease. In rehabilitation, alcoholics learn how to cope with life stressors and situations without turning to the bottle. They learn that they must change everything about their lives, including associates, social life, thought patterns, health, and surroundings. Alcohol rehabilitation is literally the retraining of the brain to habitually practice healthy, productive activities to help the alcoholic abstain from drinking.
In many cases of alcoholism, there are deeper underlying issues that the alcoholic must face. Sometimes, there has been physical or mental abuse during childhood. In other cases, the alcoholic may have co-occurring mental disorders adding to the severity of the alcoholism. These cases of alcoholism require dual diagnosis treatment. This form of alcohol rehabilitation employs all the same techniques as the process without co-occurring disorders, but adds the element of more intense therapy, sometimes coupled with medication for the disorder.
In every case of alcoholism, it is imperative to find help immediately. Even more important is the success of the program, which does not lie in the program itself. The success rate for alcoholics is completely dependent on the alcoholic and that person’s dedication to sobriety. The whole world can do everything to help an alcoholic, but that help is useless until the alcoholic wants to get help for themselves.
August 1, 2007 – 10:52 am
You could call me naive and I would have agreed with you a few years back. I used to be a bartender at some of the trendiest and busiest spots in San Jose. Up until very recently - maybe 2 years, I was completely unaware of the ridiculous amounts of drugs and alcohol being abused in these places. I would have to say that the restaurant business is one of the most dangerous industries to develop an addiction if you’re not careful. Short of Hollywood, I can’t think of another industry where someone could find drugs at every turn. The sad part is that the food/beverage industry is not one that requires drug tests for employment and hires 18 yearolds dying to fit in and willing to abandon home grown morals to do so. Before I began bartending, I admit I didn’t know a thing about drugs or alcoholism. I’d never been exposed to either. I never did drugs and I didn’t drink prior to turning 21. I walked a pretty straight line.
For the years that I bartended in San Jose, I saw drug abuse go from obnoxious to frightening. I had a bar manager who was always tweaked out on meth and stealing bottles every night, then blaming the bartenders for the loss. I remember a general manager who would be awake for days on end, eyes popping out of his head all day and still drinking a bottle of vodka after his shift, while chatting with the customers. I watched the owner of a club downtown who’s mood would change like the direction of the wind, depending on his cocaine usage for the day and a co-worker I almost called the ambulance for when the ketamine he snorted didn’t interact too well with the cocaine, alcohol and ecstasy already in his system. God knows the club owner wouldn’t have called an ambulance. He didn’t want the responsibility of an overdose in his establishment.
I started bartending for the excitement and enjoyment of being in a high energy and faced paced environment and I got just that, but I wasn’t expecting to see so many people within one structure, all of whom need to be in rehab. It saddened me to see my former co-workers crushing up Vicodin and taking ecstasy pills, chased by a shot of whiskey. It made me sad for them, wishing there was some way I could get through to them and help them realize they aren’t going to last long with this lifestyle. I’ve tried to talk to many of them, even offering them free treatment at one of the nation’s best rehab centers in Malibu, but like many people in my position, I heard a laundry list of excuses. “My parents can’t find out”, “I have a club to run. I can’t take the time off”, “I can’t afford not to work for a month”. You name it, I heard it. These people don’t think they’re addicts. They think they’re having a good time and hey, “If it doesn’t kill you…” The sad part is that it will kill them and they’ll never see it coming. While I did enjoy my time as a bartender, it became too depressing for me to see this kind of abuse and addiction with such denial - so I had to gracefully bow out.
I guess as long as your the manager of the hot restaurant, the owner of the downtown club, or the bartender everyone knows and loves, the closer the bottom gets, the harder it is to see.
