Public shaming of drug addicts - Do you think its a deterant to drug use?

[Angel4Truth]

New training for kids out there:

9-Year-Old Trained to Use Heroin Overdose Antidote

Most kids play with stuffed animals, but a 9-year-old girl in Kentucky uses her dolls to practice a technique that could one day save a life.

Audrey Stepp's 26-year-old brother, Sammy, has been struggling with heroin addiction since before she was born.

"Audrey just gravitates toward him," said Sammy's and Audrey's mother, Jennifer Punkin-Stepp.

Punkin-Stepp said Audrey overheard her one day talking about Naloxone training and how the drug could save Sammy if he overdosed. Naloxone, now sold over the counter, is used to reverse the effect of opiates used in surgery and can also block the life-threatening effects of a narcotic (opioid) overdose, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Audrey insisted that she learn to administer the drug in case her big brother ever suffered a heroin overdose. That meant she needed to practice filling and using the needle that delivers the drug.

Audrey recently asked her mother what the word "sober" means, but unlike many 9-year-olds, she knows what an overdose looks like.

"Their fingernails and their lips would be blue, and they wouldn't wake up," Audrey told NBC News.

In case she ever witnesses such a horrific scene, Audrey does dry runs of filling up a syringe and injecting a stuffed animal.

Some say antidotes like Naloxone (also known as Narcan) enable drug users, but Dr. Mina Kalfas, an addiction specialist at the Christ Hospital Outpatient Center in Fort Wright, Kentucky, sees it differently.

"Dead people can't recover," he said.

Opioid-related deaths are on the rise. The most recent data show that 28,000 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses in 2014, more than in any other year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"If a kid could save somebody, why not? Instead of having the nightmare of watching somebody die," Punkin-Stepp said.

A kid shouldn't be burdened with any of this.

 

[Angel4Truth]

Ohio Couple Calls Out Heroin Overdose in Teen Daughter's Obituary

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) — Confronted with the sudden death of their 18-year-old daughter, Fred and Dorothy McIntosh Shuemake made a defiant decision: they would not worry about any finger-pointing, whispers or family stigma.

They directed the funeral home to begin Alison Shuemake's obituary by stating flatly that she died "of a heroin overdose." They aren't the first grieving American parents to cite heroin in an obituary as such deaths nearly quadrupled nationally over a decade, but it's rare, even in a southwest Ohio community headed toward another record year in heroin-related deaths.

"There was no hesitation," Dorothy said. "We've seen other deaths when it's heroin, and the families don't talk about it because they're ashamed or they feel guilty. Shame doesn't matter right now."

Her voice cracked as she sat at a table covered with photos of Alison: the high school diploma earned this year, awards certificates, and favorite things such as her stuffed bunny named Ashley that says "I love you" in a voice recording Alison made as a small child.


"What really matters is keeping some other person, especially a child, from trying this ... We didn't want anybody else to feel the same agony and wretchedness that we're left with," she said.

She and Fred, a retired Middletown police detective who investigated crimes against children, want to promote a potentially preventive dialogue about what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls an epidemic. In Butler County, where the Shuemakes live, the coroner's statistics show heroin-related deaths jumped in two years from 30 to 103 in 2014, with 86 recorded already through the first six months of this year.

Their decision has drawn a wide outpouring of support, both locally and on social media, with online comments and emails from around the world.

Scott Gehring, who heads the Sojourner Recovery Services addiction treatment nonprofit in Butler County, praised the Shuemakes' "strength and foresight" to draw attention to heroin's role.

"That's something that needs to happen. People die of overdoses and it gets swept under a rug," Gehring said. "Until we as a society are willing to acknowledge that it is here and affecting all of us, we're going to continue to see the death count rise."

A search of "heroin" on the Legacy.com site with obituaries from more than 1,500 newspapers found only a handful, including Alison's, in the last month. One was from the Ventura County Star in California, describing Cameron Kean Crawford's turquoise eyes, his talent in art and technology and his placid demeanor until "heroin unraveled his life, causing his shocking demise from an overdose on ... his 34th birthday."

Alison's obituary calls her a "funny, smart, gregarious, tenacious and strong-willed teenager with gusto." Dorothy smiled as she talked about Alison's love for "sparkle," which she said also described her personality.

Alison had recently joined a salon staff after being recruited by a manager who admired the way she did her hair and makeup. She and her boyfriend Luther both had two jobs and moved into an apartment together a few weeks ago. Alison, who had been in rehabilitation months earlier for alcohol and marijuana abuse, seemed happy and proud, her parents said.

They were expecting the couple over to do laundry the night of Aug. 25. When they didn't show up, Dorothy phoned and texted without answer. At about 3:30 a.m., their roommate called: "Something's wrong."

She rushed over to the apartment and saw immediately both were "definitely gone." She spotted a needle on the floor.

As police, paramedics and the coroner's investigator did their work, she sat with Alison's body and sang to her their special song, drawn from the children's book "Love You Forever."

Before Alison's obituary was published, her mother called her boyfriend's family to let them know of the plan to name heroin in her obituary. They had no objection.

A few days later, his was published.

It began: "Luther David Combs, 31, of Middletown, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, of a heroin overdose."

 

[shagster01]

not sure that it does

i think it lets society feel like it's accomplishing something



singapore has harsh drug laws, and they don't execute many drug smugglers/sellers/users

they know to stay away





her committing suicide does no good for society


executing her publicly for drug use would

On the flip side Tailand has severe penalties and a very bad drug problem.

 

[Angel4Truth]

Illinois Nursing Home Fined Over $100,000 After Five Residents Overdose on Heroin

CHICAGO — State and federal authorities are seeking to fine a nursing home in Illinois over $100,000 after five residents overdosed on heroin this year.

The alleged incidents occurred at Continental Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Chicago this past February. While the facility is primarily for the elderly, many of its residents are not senior citizens. Some live at the center due to mental illness.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a 33-year-old resident told a health department inspector that a relative of another occupant was selling “white powder in a small zippered baggie.” The resident bought the heroin and blacked out.

“I don’t remember much after that until I woke up and saw the paramedics standing over me,” they said.

One man had difficulty staying awake during the interview with the inspector. His fellow resident advised that he “got high again this morning.”

One of those who had overdosed and were taken to the hospital overdosed again after returning to the nursing facility.

Police had been called to Continental last year after staff were informed that recreational drugs were being used by residents. Employees searched the rooms and located paraphernalia used to shoot narcotics.

In a separate incident, a 56-year-old was found on the floor with packets of a white powder nearby.

Now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is seeking to fine Continental $76,000 over the matter, and the Illinois Department of Health has fined the facility $25,000 for failing to keep tabs on residents with drug addictions.

One of the owners of Continental Nursing and Rehabilitation Center told the Chicago Tribune that he wasn’t aware of the problems.

“If you are right,” Moishe Gubin said, “it goes against what our mission has been.”

The facility is contesting the state fine, and in April, officials released a corrective plan that notes those “with active substance abuse” will no longer be allowed to occupy the center.

As previously reported, police departments in two states have recently released photos of heroin users passed out in their vehicle in order to show the public the serious ramifications of drug use.

Last month, authorities in Hope, Indiana released photos of a young mother who was found unresponsive—with a baby in the back seat of the car.

Erika Hurt, 25, was administered two doses of Narcan, a nasal spray that works to reverse suspected Opioid overdoses. Hurt was transported to the Columbus Regional Hospital for further evaluation, and later taken to Bartholomew County Jail, where she was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and child neglect. The baby was turned over to the custody of Hurt’s mother.

In September, an Ohio grandmother and her friend lost consciousness while on the way to the hospital to obtain help for an overdose. The woman’s grandson was riding in the back seat.

The City of East Liverpool posted to social media an unblurred photo of Rhonda Pasek, 50, and James Accord, 47—along with the young boy—stating that it needed to “be a voice for the children.”

“We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug,” officials explained. “We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess. This child can’t speak for himself but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody.”

Pasek was sentenced to serve six months in the Columbiana County Jail. Accord was sentenced to almost a year behind bars for being behind the wheel. The child was transferred to the custody of his great aunt.

 

[Tambora]

Illinois Nursing Home Fined Over $100,000 After Five Residents Overdose on Heroin

This child can’t speak for himself but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody.

:thumb:

 

[Ktoyou]

I think the whole illicit drug issue is a pain. Old people who need prescriptions have to pay more ( higher tear on Medicare part D) because kids fool around with drugs.

There should be a rule, over 65, no one has to take part in any of this nonsense. I never had anyone besides a physician offer me any drug, and then, by prescription.

 

[Angel4Truth]

I think the whole illicit drug issue is a pain. Old people who need prescriptions have to pay more ( higher tear on Medicare part D) because kids fool around with drugs.

There should be a rule, over 65, no one has to take part in any of this nonsense. I never had anyone besides a physician offer me any drug, and then, by prescription.

I think part of this happening with older people is that they get hooked on the prescription opiates, then when their doctor doesnt give them more or enough anymore, they seek heroin, because its way cheaper than opiate pills on the street.

 

[Angel4Truth]

‘Unprecedented’: Heroin use & overdose deaths triple in US

Heroin use in the US tripled from 2007 to 2014, according to a new report from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA’s findings also show deaths involving the opioid tripling in recent years, while deaths due to synthetics were also on the rise.

There is a greatly expanding public health crisis, due to the use and abuse of heroin and other opioid drugs, a DEA report released Tuesday finds. In addition to the tripling of heroin use from 2007 to 2014, deaths involving heroin increased at about the same rate from 2010 to 2014, from 3,036 to 10,574.

“We tend to overuse words such as ‘unprecedented’ and ‘horrific,’ but the death and destruction connected to heroin and opioids is indeed unprecedented and horrific,” said DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg in a statement. “The problem is enormous and growing, and all of our citizens need to wake up to these facts.”

DEA cites a striking surge in heroin overdose deaths since 2010. https://t.co/N3jDwRQ43L (pdf) pic.twitter.com/7o4bn98JRJ
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 28, 2016

Among the findings were that the number of heroin users had grown to 435,000 in 2014, a threefold increase from 2007, for those who declared they were using. The figures are estimates. In 2015, the DEA said there more than 600,000 heroin users.

The DEA found a disturbing new phenomenon among drug users – deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and other mimics of prescription painkillers. The report found deaths from synthetic opioids had increased 79 percent in just one year, from 2013 to 2014.

DEA 2016 National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary calls use of heroin & #opioid drugs “expanding health crisis.”https://t.co/WfBFo879qd
— National Pain Report (@NatPainReport) June 28, 2016

Synthetic opioids were behind the deaths of 19 people in Florida and California during the first quarter of 2016, the agency said.

The use of opioids as painkillers and sedatives was the creation of Purdue Pharma, a private pharmaceutical company in Connecticut, established by the Sacklers, three psychiatrist brothers. Arthur Sackler wrote the scientific paper that contributed to Pfizer’s successful sedative Valium becoming the first $100 million drug, leading his brothers Mortimer and Raymond to explore pain medications. They converted the generic painkiller oxycodone, invented in Germany during World War One, and installed a timed-release mechanism to stop abuse. Under that generic painkiller are product names such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin.

OxyContin was launched in 1995 with sales hitting $1.5 billion by 2002. The abuse-resistant claim had a loophole though. When the pill was crushed, it broke the time-release mechanism and could be snorted for a heroin-like high. Abuse, overdoses and deaths followed. The product was so successful for the Sackler family, they made the Forbes list in 2015 as new billionaires with a net worth of $14 billion.

120 deaths a day: US heroin & prescription drugs epidemic spinning out of control — RT America https://t.co/g0Plp1ggAZ
— James Brady (@jimbradyispapa) May 28, 2016

Addiction to the drug caused drug seekers to start a practice of “doctor shopping,” where they visited a number of physicians to obtain additional prescriptions.

In 2012, New England Journal of Medicine published a study that found that "76 percent of those seeking help for heroin addiction began by abusing pharmaceutical narcotics, primarily OxyContin," and drew a direct line between Purdue's marketing of OxyContin and the subsequent heroin epidemic in the US.

The DEA discovered that millions of patients were relying on drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet or Lortab for relief from severe pain but also becoming addicted.

The agency first attempted to get Vicodin rescheduled in 2004, but the Food and Drug Administration rejected that request in 2008, arguing hydrocodone combination drugs had less abuse potential than other drugs in Schedule II. The FDA changed its position in 2013 as reports of abuse and overdoses grew.

In October 2014, after years-long comment and hearing processes by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal government elevated highly addictive hydrocodone combination painkillers to Schedule II under the Controlled Substance Act.

'Heroin epidemic': US users at 20yr high - UN https://t.co/iF6TGllOKopic.twitter.com/KkfniPfONz
— RT (@RT_com) June 23, 2016

The new categorization meant the drugs have an accepted medical use but also a high potential for abuse. Under the rules, doctors had to write prescriptions in 30-day increments that must be filled sequentially. Prior to the regulation change, doctors were prescribing six-month supplies.

What was missed, and probably couldn’t have been predicted, was that addiction was so entrenched that demand went underground to rely on illicit prescription traffickers, who produced inexpensive counterfeits containing fentanyl that can be sold on the street.

The report found “the number of users, treatment admissions, overdose deaths and seizures from traffickers all increased over those reported in last year’s summary.”

The report also revealed that the 2,761 agencies of state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies which responded to the survey confirmed “heroin was the greatest drug threat reported by 45 percent (up from 38 percent last year and 7 percent in 2007).”

What is different about the current epidemic is its location in suburban areas and outlying counties rather than the inner cities as was the case in 1970s and 1980s. Also different is the purity and price of heroin. In 1981 the average retail-level purity of heroin was 10 percent, by 1999 the purity had increased to an average of 40 percent. In 1981, the average price per gram was $3,260, and by 1999, the price had decreased to $622.

MORE: Legendary pop star #Prince died of an overdose of opioid painkillers https://t.co/mBKZ2GuVdBpic.twitter.com/bEDR9M84vQ
— RT America (@RT_America) June 2, 2016

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and acetyle-fentanyl are much stronger than heroin and can cause even experienced users to overdose, according to the report.

The DEA said the heroin threat is particularly high in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest areas of the United States, with law enforcements agencies in cities across the country reporting seizing large quantities of heroin. Most of the heroin is now entering the US through the Southwest border from Mexico.

“National Seizure System data show an 80 percent increase in heroin seizures in the past five years, from 3,733 kilograms in 2011 to 6,722 kilograms in 2015,” the report said.

#RedactedTonight: Prescription Drug Reform Destroyed By Big Opioid Producers https://t.co/tkpKhIDyya@LeeCamppic.twitter.com/N7CKcZVv0w
— RT America (@RT_America) February 9, 2016

The report, entitled, “The 2016 National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary,” comes just a week after the UN’s World Drug Report 2016, which found the number of heroin users in the US reached around 1 million in 2014, almost three times the amount in 2003. That study found heroin-related deaths have also increased by five times since 2000.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama proposed $1.1 billion in new funding over two years to address heroin and opioid abuse.

And they did not repent of their drug use...

 

[Angel4Truth]

This is scary:

Nearly 21 Million in US Have Substance Use Disorder: Surgeon General's Report

Nearly 21 million people are grappling with substance use disorder, with only one in 10 getting treatment for the condition, according to a lengthy new report released today by the U.S. surgeon general.

Currently, the number of people with a substance use disorder exceeds the number of people diagnosed with cancer -- any kind of cancer, according to the report. This means at least one in seven people will develop a substance use problem at some point during their lives, the report states. And, while approximately 32,744 people died from car accidents in 2014, the report found that approximately 50,000 people died from either an opioid, alcohol or other drug overdose that year.

The massive report is the first time the U.S. surgeon general has released a report on this issue. Similar releases by the U.S. surgeon general on cigarette use and HIV/AIDS were used to galvanize and inform the public on those topics.

In an emotional forward, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote about nurses at his hospital asking him to step up on fighting addiction when he left to work as surgeon general.

"The nurses had one parting request for me. If you can only do one thing as Surgeon General, they said, please do something about the addiction crisis in America," Murthy wrote. "I have not forgotten their words."

In a summary of the report, Murthy called for more programs and policies, including health coverage, to help treat substance use disorder.

"I recognize there is no single solution. We need more policies and programs that increase access to proven treatment modalities. We need to invest more in expanding the scientific evidence base for prevention, treatment, and recovery," Murthy said. "We also need a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing."

The long-term effects of substance use disorder have become more pronounced in recent years as the opioid epidemic has continued to affect large portions of the country.

In 2014, nearly 30,000 people died from an opioid overdose, including heroin or prescription drugs, and another 20,000 people died from overdoses due to alcohol, cocaine or another kind of prescription drug, according to the report.

"These efforts have to start now," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell wrote in a summary of treatment efforts. "Change takes time and long-term commitment, as well as collaboration among key stakeholders."

Dr. Richard Rosenthal, professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and medical director of the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health System, said the report showed how important it is to have more substance use treatment programs available and to integrate them more with regular medical services.

"It's killing 50,000 a year outright and the information demonstrates clearly the need to invest more dollars into treatment and recovery," Rosenthal told ABC News. Only "one in 10 people get any kind of treatment for their addiction, which is nuts."

Rosenthal pointed out that the Affordable Care Act required insurance plans include coverage for substance use disorders but said more still needed to be done to get addicts into treatment programs.

The report specifically calls for more early intervention programs, screening for substance misuse in healthcare settings and behavioral interventions to help keep people from becoming addicted or from relapsing. The use of medication-based therapies such as methadone to treat opioid abuse is also recommended since scientific data has found maintenance medication can help someone recover from substance use disorder better than abstinence treatment.

However, as the opioid epidemic has progressed, Rosenthal said he's heartened to see more people consider substance use disorder a disease and not just a matter of willpower.

"Rather than a moral failure, it's an illness that requires the same kind of individualized care," said Rosenthal. "This is the first time I've seen convergence between federal, state, local government officials ... and the local public. [It's] because the kids are dying."

I do disagree with that last line, it is a moral failure, due to hopelessness, as God gets pushed further and further out of the town square.

 

[Crucible]

This thread is a bunch of judgemental nonsense, by people who don't know anything about drug addiction or the shoes they walk in. Trying to justify shaming them is ridiculous.
There's a special rung in Hell waiting not for them, but for you :wave2:

 

[Danoh]

"Cures" for issues like ptsd; addiction; etc., were "found" some 30 years ago or so, and have continued to work for their practitioners.

But the Western Medical Model is still lagging in terms of a fuller model of the person it seeks to treat, but is a model driven by a quest for continued Corporate profit through maintenance.

There is far less money to be made in prevention and or cures - way less.

Billions less.

Further, because the industry is largely driven by greed, the education it puts forward is meant to ensure the ignorance required to maintain the continuance of its' massive profits, remains in place.

Said agenda has worked rather well.

The result being that otherwise sharp individuals if presented with the model the "cure" is based on, have long since closed themselves off from even considering it and or its' approach by the time they hear of it; if that much.

It is a frustrating thing to deal with those who comment on a thing clearly clueless of what they speak of.

In this case the issue is beyond frustration - lives are being lost, families are being greatly impacted in the negative, which in turn, greatly impacts society as a whole.

 

[Crucible]

:doh:
I've pretty much settled on everyone who has defended shaming addicts on here are not Christians. This is the litmus test as far as I'm concerned- how one feels about people who suffer with problems

White washed sepulchers- you all literally are like the Pharisees while Jesus sat with the sinners :wave:

 

[Nick M]

Public shaming

Ephesians 5

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret

 

[Nick M]

This thread is a bunch of judgemental nonsense, by people who don't know anything about drug addiction or the shoes they walk in. Trying to justify shaming them is ridiculous.
There's a special rung in Hell waiting not for them, but for you :wave2:

Our apostle Paul is in hell? The Lord Jesus Christ went back to a special rung in hell? Who knew....

 

[Crucible]

Our apostle Paul is in hell? The Lord Jesus Christ went back to a special rung in hell? Who knew....

Neither Jesus or Paul shamed people with problems. In fact, Jesus went to the people with problems while the Pharisee went around doing what you all are doing- there is nothing righteous or holy in yall's contemptible nonsense on this thread, if anyone should be shamed it ought to be YOU.

There are Christians who help these people, and then there's Pharisaic serpents like yall shaming them :wave:

 

[shagster01]

Shame is never the right answer. It's not allowed in my house.

 

[Nick M]

Neither Jesus or Paul shamed people with problems.

Ephesians 5

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret

As Saint John W would say, I like the contrast.

 

[Angel4Truth]

This thread is a bunch of judgemental nonsense, by people who don't know anything about drug addiction or the shoes they walk in. Trying to justify shaming them is ridiculous.
There's a special rung in Hell waiting not for them, but for you :wave2:

Next to John the Baptist?

Luke 3:18 With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people. 19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.…

 

[Crucible]

Next to John the Baptist?

Luke 3:18 With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people. 19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.…

There is nothing in the Bible that upholds your nonsense- you're a piece of crap as with everyone else on here looking to justify shaming people with a disease.

None of you are perfect and have never gone through hardship. Some of you may think you have, but that's just because you're ignorant to what hardship really is. Nobody who knows a life of suffering could possibly sit here with the type of attitude you all have toward people with addiction.

In fact, I would love for any of you to walk into a church, discipleship, rehab clinic- anywhere- with that and they will look at you like you're a straight up TOOL.

 

[Crucible]

. .