Addiction Solution Source

The evidence is piling up that Michael Jackson died of prescription drugs. (Do you think he looks healthy in this photo? NO! I am sure drugs were taking their toll.)

Deepak Chopra said on CNN that he had been concerned since 2005 that Michael Jackson was abusing prescription painkillers and most recently spoke to the pop star about suspected drug use six months ago.

Chopra said Jackson, a longtime friend, asked him for painkillers in 2005 when the pop star was staying with him following his trial on sex abuse allegations.

Chopra stated that he believed Jackson was addicted to Oxycontin and Demerol (Demerol was injected) The narcotic drugs were used for pain control.

Demerol carries a long list of warnings to users. The government warns that mixing it with certain other drugs can lead to reactions including slowed or stopped breathing, shock and cardiac arrest.

Chopra said he refused but added the nanny of Jackson’s children repeatedly contacted him with concerns about Jackson’s drug use over the next four years.

He said she told him a number of doctors would visit Jackson’s homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.

It sounds like he was doctor shopping to me!

Peter R. Martin, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology and director of the Vanderbilt Addiction Center at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, was a corresponding author for a recent research report that found Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) participants are heavy users of coffee and cigarettes.

“Most individuals (88.5%) consumed coffee and approximately 33 percent drank more than four cups per day. The most common self-reported reasons were because of coffee’s stimulatory effects: feeling better, better concentration, greater alertness.

More than half of the respondents (56.9%) smoked cigarettes; of those, 78.7 percent smoked at least half a pack per day, and more than 60 percent were considered highly or very highly dependent. The most common self-reported reasons were because of smoking’s reduction of “negative affect,” which refers to depression, anxiety and irritability. “Many of these negative affective states are described by patients as contributors or triggers to relapse after periods of sobriety,” said Martin.

Even though it does not seem to appear in the report, I am sure that most of those coffee drinkers are dumping large amounts of sugar (or sugar substitutes which are just as bad) into their coffee.

Why?

Because most alcoholics are hypoglycemic and have a difficult time processing sugar – they can’t get enough! They also may be addicted to caffeine.

A five year study funded by The Canadian Cancer Society and carried out by the Unversity of Montreal, determined that kids begin to think about quitting smoking very soon after their first puffs but increasingly find it difficult to do.

As cravings, withdrawal symptoms and tolerance grew, novice smokers began to lose confidence in their ability to quit. After two years, many had discovered that breaking the habit was not so easy. In the course of the study, more than 70 percent of the teens wanted to quit, but only 19 percent actually managed to stop smoking for at least a year.

The research was published in the American Journal of Public Health by Dr Jennifer O’Loughlin. She is a professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Montreal and Canada Research Chair in the Early Determinants of Adult Chronic Disease.

Dr. O’Loughlin said the study shows that there are milestones in the process of becoming addicted to tobacco. Understanding the steps that lead to addiction could uncover critical periods when kids might be most open to education and support.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new report that states 80% of the more than eight million annual tobacco-related deaths projected by 2030 are expected to occur in the developing world.

This results from a global tobacco industry strategy to target young people and adults in the developing world, ensuring that millions of people become fatally addicted every year. The targeting of young women in particular is highlighted as one of the “most ominous potential developments of the epidemics growth”.

While efforts to combat tobacco are gaining momentum, virtually every country needs to do more. The six MPOWER strategies are within the reach of every country, rich or poor and, when combined as a package, they offer us the best chance of reversing this growing epidemic, said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. Dr Chan launched the WHO Report of the Global Tobacco Epidemic at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Philanthropies helped fund the report.

The six MPOWER strategies to better protect the population are:

OxyContin, a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, is a time-release painkiller available by prescription. It is prescribed for relief of moderate to severe pain from such things as injuries, bursitis, neuralgia, arthritis, and cancer. Designed to be swallowed whole and digested over 12 hours, the pills can produce a heroin-like high if crushed and then swallowed, snorted or injected. As a street drug, it is commonly called OC, OX, Oxy, Oxycotton, Hillbilly heroin, and kicker.

When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is absorbed by the lungs and quickly moves into the bloodstream and then reaches the brain within 8 seconds! Nicotine also acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure and also on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns.

Vulnerability to addiction differs from person to person. In general, the more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking prescription drugs or street drugs will lead to abuse and addiction. “Protective” factors reduce a person’s risk of developing addiction.

What factors determine if a person will become addicted?

No single factor determines whether a person will become addicted to drugs. The overall risk for addiction is impacted by the biological makeup of the individual – it can even be influenced by gender or ethnicity, his or her developmental stage, and the surrounding social environment (e.g., conditions at home, at school, and in the neighborhood).
Which biological factors increase risk of addiction?