... not widely used" (Nadelmann, 1996). Methadone is the most tightly restricted drug in America. It is confined to specialized treatment programs, which tend to be under-funded, punitive, and in short supply. Doctors in general medical practice can't prescribe methadone, and regular pharmacies don't distribute it. Given the upswing in heroin use in many U.S. cities, coupled with a raging HIV/ ... users. It is time to give serious consideration to foreign methods of providing methadone, which utilize not only standard methadone clinics but family medical doctors, pharmacies, methadone buses...

• Word Count: 1899
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... on abrupt discontinuation of opioid dependence includes signs and symptoms that reflect compulsive, prolonged self administration of opioid substances that are used for no legitimate medical purpose, or, if a general medical condition is present that requires opioid treatment, that are used is doses that are greatly in excess of the amount needed for pain relief. Persons with opioid dependence tend to develop such ... .gov). LAAM blocks the effects of the drug for 72 hours and has minimal side effects. This is only needed three times a week unlike the methadone. Other drugs used for treat...

• Word Count: 2333
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... shaking of hands or other body parts. These symptoms can commonly last several weeks after the drug use is decreased, even though one can seek medical treatment and the symptoms can be eliminated much more quickly. The more of the drug that comes into the body, the more the chemistry is suppressed. ... shaking of hands or other body parts. These symptoms can commonly last several weeks after the drug use is decreased, even though one can seek medical treatment and the symptoms can be eliminated much more quickly. The more of the drug that comes into the body, the more the chemistry is s...

• Word Count: 3097
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• Grade Level: High School

... ), drug users stop taking the drug or drugs which they have become accustomed and are helped through any overdose complication or withdrawal symptoms they may suffer. The second phase of treatment usually involves psychotherapy. Some therapy takes place in a psychiatrist's office. The therapists help users understand the nature of their problem and how it has come to run their lives. ... problem is not essential for a drug-free state. Eventually, the therapist and user will have to deal with relapse. The setting for a rehabilitation treatment is usually a medical institution of some kind...

• Word Count: 3784
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ), drug users stop taking the drug or drugs which they have become accustomed and are helped through any overdose complication or withdrawal symptoms they may suffer. The second phase of treatment usually involves psychotherapy. Some therapy takes place in a psychiatrist's office. The therapists help users understand the nature of their problem and how it has come to run their lives. ... problem is not essential for a drug-free state. Eventually, the therapist and user will have to deal with relapse. The setting for a rehabilitation treatment is usually a medical institution of some kind...

• Word Count: 3784
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ), drug users stop taking the drug or drugs which they have become accustomed and are helped through any overdose complication or withdrawal symptoms they may suffer. The second phase of treatment usually involves psychotherapy. Some therapy takes place in a psychiatrist's office. The therapists help users understand the nature of their problem and how it has come to run their lives. ... problem is not essential for a drug-free state. Eventually, the therapist and user will have to deal with relapse. The setting for a rehabil! itation treatment is usually a medical institution of some kin...

• Word Count: 3787
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , 191). Drunk driving and lung cancer are one of the number one killers. This makes illicit drugs not as harmful. Doctors need drugs sometimes for medical use. "Two prime uses of marijuana are for the treatment of glaucoma and as an adjunct to cancer chemotherapy. Marijuana relieves the constant nausea and vomiting that are an unfortunate and inevitable side effect of cancer ... in aiding psychotherapy and in reducing tension, depression, pain, and fear of death in the terminally ill; they also have demonstrated some potential, as yet unconfirmed, to aid in the treatment of alcoholism" (...

• Word Count: 1656
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... should take professional help. The cocaine addict must give up not only cocaine, they must give up using alcohol and marijuana because other drugs can create a strong desire for cocaine. Treatment should include a strong educational part to provide the patient with a basic enviorment for understanding his/her addiction. In many cases, recovery of the cocaine addict is extraordinarily difficult without the ... addicts should be strongly encouraged yo participate 12-step program of Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), or alcoholic anonymous (AA). Self-help meetings are an inv...

• Word Count: 1164
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... what America wants as an outcome of the War on Drugs? Marijuana should be legalized because current drug laws are not working, it has medical uses, crime rate will decrease, and the War on Terror can be won if marijuana is legalized. Many opposers to legalization argue that if ... crime. In 1996 marijuana-possession arrests exceeded 545,000 nearly a doubling in a five-year period. (Glasser 139). Jeffrey Singer, a Phoenix surgeon and medical spokesman for Drug Policy reform, discovered that people in large numbers felt that the war on drugs was a failure and that focus groups strongly re...

• Word Count: 1609
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... blackouts and hallucinations. Alcohol intoxication and withdrawal causes physical, psychological and mental effects on the user. Withdrawal from alcohol usually requires behavioral intervention by professionals trained to help the alcoholic. Treatment facilities are available for the alcoholic, as well as support groups and individuals who are friends or family members who want to help the alcohol abuser. The older the person ... with the withdrawal, such as sweating, trembling, hallucinations and constipation. If a person is in a treatment facility, rather than at their home, withdrawal...

• Word Count: 2291
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... survey was given; this equates to about 8.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older." While these numbers are disturbing they are the facts.Drugs have medical uses but when they are abused, it becomes a problem, and when it spreads to the youth, as most drugs do, it can be fatal. The ... rehab centers, fall back to drugs shortly after. Although rehab may not be the best solution for addiction, it is said that  for every dollar invested in treatment there is a reduction of  $4 to $7 in drug related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft. So in an unrelated way rehab is successful....

• Word Count: 1399
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• Grade Level: High School

... have pros and cons. But in my opinion, I am not with making drugs illegal. I believe that drugs can be used for medical reasons, but why when there are medications available with less risk or side effects. Cocaine deals with the central nervous system. It is ... also reduces pressure so are you going to be drunk all day to treat glaucoma. The nations top cancer expert rerets marijuana for chemotherapy treatment. The caneer institution itself noted that other anti nausea agents have been more useful. More research is suggested in using these drugs and some ... proof has been found that m...

• Word Count: 607
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• Grade Level: High School

... For starters, I must inform you that the effects of using marijuana are not like other drugs. Marijuana has proven to have benefits in the medical field and, furthermore, it has been proven that marijuana is not addictive. Yet, when it comes to marijuana, many people show such negative ... marijuana? There are millions of people that smoke it and I haven't heard of anyone dying from it. Secondly, marijuana has many medical benefits that people choose to dismiss. The main active chemical ingredient in marijuana is THC. THC does not go to work as reliably or ... as quickly as marijuana sm...

• Word Count: 628
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• Grade Level: High School

... because it takes so little for a person to overdose. If a person snorts one quarter of a gram in an hour that person could die. Treatment of cocaine dependants is very difficult. A majority of addicts believe they can control their cocaine use even after terrible experiences. There are several ways ... to treat cocaine addicts. The first and most obvious is to completely and permanently stop using. Another treatment method is inpatient treatment. When a person enters an inpatient program they are admitted to a hospital, where they cannot have access to the drug. Anti-depressants ... in ...

• Word Count: 1357
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• Grade Level: High School

... make a profit. On the streets its know as little d or lords. Its affects also last 3 to 6 hours. Used orally or injection. Methadone is actually a treatment for narcotic addiction. Like most drugs it is misused and instead of helping it kills. It last about 12 to 24 hours. Opiate Analogs is a drug that all the ... heroin users couldn't wait to get there hands on it. On the streets its known as New Heroin, tango, and cash. It is not used for medical use at all and has the same affects as heroin but a little stronger. Opium is an ancient drug that has been around for many years. It is ......

• Word Count: 848
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• Grade Level: High School

... injection) for preoperative sedation, as a supplement to anesthesia, and for analgesia. It is the drug of choice for relieving pain of myocardial infarction and for its cardiovascular effects in the treatment of acute pulmonary edema. Traditionally; morphine was almost exclusively used by injection. Today, morphine is marketed in a variety of forms, including oral solutions, immediate and sustained-release tablets and capsules ... as morphine. It is, however, used more than morphine across the globe due to its not as harsh side effects. Codeine is the most widely used, naturally occurri...

• Word Count: 904
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• Grade Level: High School

... cause lung cancer. The only major effects of marijuana are some memory loss, damage to the lungs from the smoke, and possible physical addiction. Experts who have kept track of medical data report that marijuana is rarely mentioned in death reports. As far as overdosing, there is no scientifically valid evidence of anyone dying of an overdose of marijuana smoke (Marshall ... absence of criminal sanctions and a black market for marijuana. Another argument is that only through law enforcement and criminal justice pressure do addicts receive treatment (Bender 78). This may be true, but the...

• Word Count: 1341
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• Grade Level: High School

... doctors have prescribed the drug for short-term, mild pain, whereas it is approved only for constant, moderate to sever! e pain that is expected to last a long time. "A number of medical professionals have been responsible for prescribing it wantonly," especially in rural areas, says Chuck Miller, an official with the U.S. Department of Justice's National Drug Intelligence Center. It is said that ... last 20 years has been so widely abused after its release, federal officials say. OxyContin is a leading treatment for chronic pain, but fear is that it may succeed crack cocaine on the str...

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• Grade Level: High School

... needle exchange program is a very controversial issue among people. It is controversial because some people think that the needle exchange program encourages illicit drug use and that "junkies" get special treatment. On the other hand, some people are for the needle exchange program because it is a method of reducing the transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through exchanging needles on ... when there are the strong support of their communities. Another thing usually needed for needle exchange programs to work is when the programs refer their participants to rehab and ...

• Word Count: 936
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• Grade Level: High School

... drugs are illegal it causes prices to soar and quality to decline. Users must maintain a relationship with a criminal to supply their drug habit. An addict who wants treatment has to admit to being a criminal before receiving treatment. 7.) According to the Federal Health and Human Services Department, two-thirds of all terminally ill cancer patients did not receive adequate pain medication. This serious ... medical injustice is directly linked to pressures placed on physicians who prescribe drugs. 8.) Our war on drugs has undermined the stability of foreign governments. It has also led...

• Word Count: 523
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• Grade Level: High School

... % of the opiate abuse in the United States. Heroin is a Schedule 1 drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act because of its high abuse potential and the lack of any acceptance medical use. Studies have suggested shifting from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction. The ... cause death. Breathing becomes very slow, body temperature drops and heartbeat becomes irregular. The major problem of short-term use of any opiate is the way it is used. Under medical supervision, short-term us...

• Word Count: 1133
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• Grade Level: High School

... users are infected with AIDS, whereas, one percent of IV users are infected in Liverpool. Liverpool has adopted the policy of decriminalization, and treats the drug problem through counseling and medical treatment. Because of the newly created dilemma of prison overcrowding, intertwined with the increasing harsh punishments for drug offenses, such as the "three strikes" law and mandatory minimum sentencing, another ramification ... has been so grossly distorted that "reefer madness," ignanimous and fearful regard, will continue to plague public belief. In fact, the DEA's Administrative ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... that typical politicians are afraid to address is that of what to do with the nation's illegal drug problems. Although we hear terms like "The War on Drugs" and "Drug Treatment", a fresh approach to this issue is needs to come soon. The country should take a new look at drug legalization as a solution to a problem that has been long out of control ... addiction, food addiction, work addiction, television addiction, and love addiction. Although a person may feel that he or she can't live without their particular "addiction", there is no scientific proof or medical test for an addict. To ...

• Word Count: 1485
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• Grade Level: High School

... distribution of weed is an aspect of the culture that involves illegal profit; this aspect of the culture involves several different levels. In recent years the use of weed for medical treatment has been experimented with although not legal in all parts of the U.S. it has been legalized in some states. Finally I will discuss the effects of the usage of marijuana both ... ...

• Word Count: 2911
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... policy of prohibition, the fulcrum of our drug policy. The failure of prohibition as public policy stems from its transformation of some citizens' cocktail-hour-like drug use and others' medical and psychological problems into crimes. It is no less devastating than if we made both possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages illegal. Social drinkers and alcoholics alike would suddenly be ... conservatively $21 billion per year to fund harm reduction. This money would be required, by law, to be used to buy the drugs for resale, run the outlets and fund treatment on demand ($12 billi...

• Word Count: 1388
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School