Get fitter by being kind to yourself
Pip Coates was a swimmer until life got busy and she discovered the addictive simplicity of running. She's never looked back. View more entries from The Long Run · Tweet · Pin It · submit to reddit · Email … “I constantly see masters athletes …
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Fitness calendar
Double Trouble in Recovery – The 12-step program for people with mental health and addiction issues has open meetings at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday and Friday at the Winds of Change Recovery Mall, 2685 Palmer St., No. C (second floor). Coffee is provided.
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Clubs and Meetings: Week of Sept. 2
Topic: Bead Embroidery for Quilters. 775-2171. HEALTH/FITNESS Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program at 10 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday at Mingus Café, Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, 3700 N. Windsong Drive, Prescott Valley. Low impact …
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Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly thrilled to beat odds
He's been humble, upbeat and very proud of his sobriety and overcoming his addiction. He knows he still has to … The team is off Tuesday and returns to practice Wednesday, so all three will have a day to recover from their workout. The only player …
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Vivitrol and Families Matter Help Three Residents with Addiction
Each person featured in this article was a part of the Vivitrol Pilot Program, a Driving Under the Influence Initiative from the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The six-month study has had very positive … At first Sue's …
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Help & support
Visit www.nhal-anon.org. n CELEBRATE RECOVERY: A Christ-centered 12-step recovery program based on the Scripture and open to the public, will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays at Bethany Church, 500 Breakfast Hill Road, Greenland. … n ARE YOU …
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Recovery Month event focuses on vets, families
The Minnesota Department of Human Services marked the beginning of Recovery Month this September with an event celebrating Minnesotans in recovery from addiction and mental health disorders, particularly veterans and service members. The kick-off event …
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Question by Kirk: What is the medical and legal definition of “narcotics abuse”?
If a patient suddenly discovered he had been given a diagnoses of “narcotics abuse”, what does that mean? It’s a false claim and it needs further investigation, and moreover, an explanation. But ,can you break it down for me? It immediately conjures up an extremely negative connotation for me.

Best answer:

Answer by KoalaMama
Let’s start at the basics. Narcotics are any of a group of drugs, such as heroin, morphine, and pethidine, that produce numbness and stupor. They are used medicinally to relieve pain but are sometimes also taken for their pleasant effects. Prolonged use may cause addiction, which leads to the abuse.

The definition of abuse would be “misuse, maltreatment, or excessive use.” So, the overindulgence in and dependence on said substance, leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical or mental health, or the welfare of others, would be defined as narcotics abuse.

In other words, narcotic use is considered abuse when people use narcotics to seek feelings of well-being apart from the narcotic’s pain-relief applications.

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Online addiction support groups are one of the best ways to obtain speedy addiction recovery. They are safe, effective social outlets for addiction related problems, and a getaway for those seeking addiction recoveries. Most good and popular addiction related websites have features such as addiction forums and addiction chat rooms in addition to addiction support groups. Here are 4 ways to best utilize addiction support groups for addiction recovery :

1.Use them as additional therapy for rehabilitation
Along with professional therapy, being part of addiction support groups can go a long way to help you in your road to addiction recovery and rehabilitation. Interacting and talking to other people in the same condition as us has a therapeutic effect, and when you are a part of addiction support groups, you give out and receive encouragement from others that inspire and touch you.

2. Use them to interact with others
Sharing experiences or just talking with other people in the same condition as us has a therapeutic effect on us, since it gives us newer outlooks and fresh new pairs of eyes to see the condition in a whole new light. Addiction websites have addiction chat rooms and addiction forums that you can use to interact with others on the website, and share your experiences and problems with others who understand you. For instance, you can start a new addiction recovery forum to narrate your story and encourage others to share their experiences too.

3.Use them to garner information about addiction recoveryAddiction support groups and Addiction related websites are hotpots of information on addictions since they are home to people rehabilitating and coping with the condition.

Members often share their experiences with professionals and their road to addiction recovery in the addiction forums , and sometimes those members are individuals who have already beaten the problems. Popular addiction related websites also have detailed information on addiction and problems that arise from them, and reading them is very worthwhile too.

4.Use them for recreation
Addiction Support Groups and addiction forums differ according to the topic they are based on, ranging from serious ones like a recovery forum on rehab methods and others like groups about pop music. So naturally, they are great online getaways for people looking for some light-hearted fun along with addiction recovery. Starting an addiction group or addiction recovery forum topic on your hobbies or favourite sports may prove to be great fun!

Addiction Treatment Center Destination Hope Reminds Families to Remain …
Destination Hope is a full service drug, alcohol, dual diagnosis and addiction treatment center for men suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues. Drug rehab Florida treatment programs include: drug rehab, alcohol rehab, outpatient rehab, …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

Alcohol Treatment Toms River Restructures Plans to Help More Recovering …
Alcohol Treatment Toms River now offers an even wider variety of alcohol and drug abuse treatment plans. The hesitancy to go to a rehabilitation center inspired Alcohol Treatment Toms River to restructure their existing programs to appeal to anyone and …
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More rehab centers needed to curb drug abuse
Anang Iskandar said that the country lacked drug rehabilitation centers and that the government needed to do more to handle the drug problem, especially now that the number of drug users is an estimated 4 million people. “Each year, the BNN …
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Helping Alcoholics Admit Their Problem at Alcohol Treatment Palm Bay
Alcohol Treatment Palm Bay offers a brand new comprehensive and caring drug and alcohol treatment program which allows chronic drinkers to recognize their illness before it progresses. Admitting to alcoholism is often the most difficult part of recovery.
Read more on PR Web (press release)

Question by Evan: I NEED TO KNOW THE MONEY SPENT ON ALCOHOL REHABS YEARLY. RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.?
RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
The most recent I could find for the US has the figures for 1997:

“A study shows that the U.S. spent a combined $ 11.9 billion on alcohol and drug abuse treatment, while the total social costs were more than $ 294 billion. The results were part of the National Estimates of Expenditures for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1997, which was released at the end of April by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

The report, prepared by the MEDSTAT Group for SAMHSA, examines how much is spent in the U.S. to treat alcohol and drug abuse, how that spending has changed between 1987 and 1997, how much of the spending is done by the private and public sectors, and how substance abuse expenditures compare to spending for mental health and other health conditions in the U.S.”
http://www.usmedicine.com/newsDetails.cfm?dailyID=54

In NY:
“States report spending $ 2.5 billion a year on treatment. States did not distinguish whether the treatment was for alcohol, illicit drug abuse or nicotine addiction. Of the $ 2.5 billion total, $ 695 million is spent through the departments of health and $ 633 million through the state substance abuse agencies. We believe that virtually all of these funds are spent on alcohol and illegal drug treatment.”
Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

States Waste Billions Dealing with Consequences of Addiction, CASA Study Says
May 28, 2009

The vast majority of the estimated $ 467.7 billion in substance-abuse related spending by governments on substance-abuse problems went to deal with the consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, not treatment and prevention, according to a new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

The report, titled, “Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets,” found that 95 percent of the $ 373.9 billion spent by the federal government and states went to paying for the societal and personal damage caused by alcohol and other drug use; the calculation included crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction.

Just 1.9 percent went to treatment and prevention, while 0.4 percent was spent on research, 1.4 percent went towards taxation and regulation, and 0.7 percent went to interdiction.

“Such upside-down-cake public policy is unconscionable,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s founder and chairman. “It’s past time for this fiscal and human waste to end.”

CASA estimated that the federal government spent $ 238.2 billion on substance-abuse related issues in 2005, while states spent $ 135.8 billion and local governments spent $ 93.8 billion. The report said that 58 percent of spending was for health care and 13.1 percent on justice systems.

Researchers estimated that 11.2 percent of all federal and state government spending went towards alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addictions and its consequences. The report said that Connecticut spent the most proportionately on prevention, treatment and research — $ 10.39 of every $ 100 spent on addiction issues — while New Hampshire spent the least — 22 cents.
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/states-waste-billions-dealing.html

Key Findings

Of the $ 3.3 trillion total federal and state government spending, $ 373.9 billion –11.2 percent, more than one of every ten dollars– was spent on tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction and its consequences.

The federal government spent $ 238.2 billion (9.6 percent of its budget) on substance abuse and addiction. If substance abuse and addiction were its own budget category at the federal level, it would rank sixth, behind social security, national defense, income security, Medicare and other health programs including the federal share of Medicaid.

State governments spent $ 135.8 billion (15.7 percent of their budgets) to deal with substance abuse and addiction, up from 13.3 percent in 1998. If substance abuse and addiction were its own state budget category, it would rank second behind spending on elementary and secondary education.

Local governments spent $ 93.8 billion on substance abuse and addiction (9 percent of their budgets), outstripping local spending for transportation and public welfare.¹

For every $ 100 spent by state governments on substance abuse and addiction, the average spent on prevention, treatment and research was $ 2.38; Connecticut spent the most, $ 10.39; New Hampshire spent the least, $ 0.22.

For every dollar the federal and state governments spent on prevention and treatment, they spent $ 59.83 shoveling up the consequences, despite a growing

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