VistaTaos

Two Houston Police Department officers were injured in a crash during a high speed drive to the scene of an unrelated shooting crime. The men suffered multiple injuries between the two of them; one officer broke a hip and was struck unconscious, while the driver received hand injuries.

According to police, Ubaldo Sagredo illegally turned left onto Berry Road, right in front of the officer’s marked police car. The police vehicle was traveling fast since the officers were on their way to offer assistance at a shooting scene, but the emergency cruiser lights were on at the time. The officers were unable to stop before impact.

A search of Sagredo’s truck revealed four empty beer cans , and the man was intoxicated. He admitted to police that he drank six beers at a friend’s house before the incident.

Sagredo was charged with intoxication assault, but blood test results are still pending.

Fortunately, both officers survived the ordeal, but now Sagredo is in for an ordeal of his own, including court costs. Depending on how the judge rules in the case, though, Sagredo may receive the help he needs at an alcohol rehab program, like the one offered at Vista Taos in New Mexico.

Hopefully, Sagredo receives the care he needs to battle his alcohol addiction, and should he attend an alcohol rehab program at Vista Taos, he will find himself amongst some of the best in the business, who can carefully guide him through recovery, focusing not just on treating the addiction but on treating the causes behind his addictive tendencies. So many each year are involved in injuries and fatalities from driving under the influence. If you or someone you love needs help battling alcohol addiction, help them get the help they need before it’s too late.

It seems that children have now joined the drug smuggling game, acting as deflectors for their drug dealing parents. In the last few weeks, agents at checkpoints have found around six children were used as decoys in their parents’ drug smuggling. And many of these parents were mothers.

As most people know, drug smugglers try to blend in with traffic so that they are not stopped at checkpoints for a search. Children help them blend in more, in hopes that checkpoint agents, who only have seconds to ascertain whether or not a traveler is worthy of a vehicle search, will let them pass.

In fact, a Tombstone, Arizona, checkpoint was one of the most recent drug seizures that involved a child. The eight year old child was used as a decoy, but when agents stopped the mother to search the car, they found 104 pounds of marijuana in the trunk.

In another case, a different eight year old was used by her mother as a decoy, and agents found 50 pounds of marijuana in the spare tire.

Child decoys are not only used in drug trafficking but in smuggling illegal aliens as well. Recently, a mother was stopped for search, and the officers found several illegal aliens in the vehicle. The mother’s children were also with her.

Drug abuse is on the rise in the United States, and unfortunately, mother smugglers see no reason to leave their children out of the smuggling operation. As drug abuse and demand continue to rise, these smugglers may have to take even more extreme measures to fit in with the crowd.

Fortunately, if we stop the chain of drug abuse and dependence, we can stop this form of child abuse. Drug rehabilitation centers like Vista Taos can help those dependent on drugs break the cycle. Vista Taos Drug Abuse Center is in Taos, New Mexico and can cater to many people living in the southern United States dealing with substance abuse.

Popping pills may not be the recreational past time people once thought it to be. Prescription drug death rates are rising across the United States, topping the death rates for cocaine and heroin use combined. Particularly, the death rate for narcotic pain pills has increased to four times the narcotic pill death rate in the previous decade.

Of course, pain pill use of this magnitude must be prescribed, and there has also been in increase in the numbers of prescriptions written that corresponds with the death rate. Sometimes narcotic drugs are prescribed for legitimate pain, but other times the narcotics are prescribed by “pill mill” doctors, who hand out prescriptions to addicts for cash. These doctors only have interest in money, not treating people for the betterment of their lives. If reviewed further, many of these doctors have faced legal issues surrounding malpractice laws and find that pill mills are the best way to make money and not be held accountable for their diagnosis.

Often, the start of addiction begins because of legitimate pain. When the patient is prescribed heavy-duty narcotic pain meds, they could become addicted quite quickly. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a caution to doctors, requesting that they carefully screen their patients before prescribing narcotic pain pills.

 The death rate for narcotic pain medications is highest in New Mexico, and the highest abuse rate is in Oklahoma. Overall, the death rates are the highest in poor or rural counties, and the death toll is higher among whites and Native Americans, including Alaskan Natives than other races.

Prescription drug abuse can be treated, so if you know anyone suffering from prescription drug abuse, getting them to treatment centers like the Vista Taos Renewal Center, located in the number one state for pill deaths: New Mexico, could save their lives and improve their level of life enjoyment. Prescription drug abuse is not automatically a death sentence; help is waiting. Don’t become another statistic.    

A Colorado marijuana farm was busted this November, and the growers were charged with cannabis trafficking, possession of cannabis, and unlawful delivery of cannabis. The operation was based on a 100 acre farm in Elbert County, Colorado. Elbert County is located about 70 miles south east of Denver, Colorado.

The four growers were arrested after ties with a Chicago distribution operation were linked to the pot farm in the Elbert area. The investigation had been going on since March, and the forces of the Illinois State Police, USDA, Colorado Springs Police Department and Elbert County Sherriff’s office helped narrow down the suspect list to an operation in Colorado Springs, based on information from a Chicago sting.

Once officials were on to the Colorado Springs operation, it was only a matter of time until another suspect with links to the Elbert County operation took the bait that officers dangled in a sting. Officers set up a controlled delivery operation from the Colorado Springs operation to the Chicago delivery site, and once the delivery took place, the suspect/delivery person was linked to Elbert County.

When law officials searched the Elbert County farm, they found 140 pounds of marijuana, 26 plants and numerous grow locations, some of which were greenhouses, rock outcroppings, buildings and trees. Four growers were arrested, including Daniel Haggerty, Matthew M. Tunzi and Anthony M. Munizzi.

This latest sting is just one of many in the fight against marijuana addiction. While the drug is often thought to not display addictive properties, many people have fallen to marijuana addiction. However, there is help in the form of marijuana addiction treatment centers, like Vista Taos Renewal Center in New Mexico.  

Singer Amy Winehouse died at home on July 23, 2011, and for a while, the cause of her death was not clear. Drugs and alcohol were suspected causes at first, and then reports that the singer had attempted to detoxify from alcohol abuse on her own surfaced.

Finally, we know the reason for her death. Winehouse suffered from alcohol poisoning. Her blood alcohol level was five times the legal limit for driving, but there were no illegal drugs in her system. Additionally, the autopsy found that there were not large amounts of prescription drugs in her system that would cause or contribute to her death.

In the days leading up to her death, the singer had resumed drinking again. Winehouse’s doctor, Dr. Christina Romete, was following her progress and head even prescribed her the drug Libirium, which helps lessen the effects of withdrawal during alcohol addiction recovery. According to the coroner, Libirium played no role in her death.

Even though Winehouse was cleared of the suspected self-detoxifying, it is important to note that self-detox is not advised for those suffering from alcohol addiction. Often, it takes a team of doctors and specialists to address the needs that arise from alcohol addiction recovery.

At Vista Taos Renewal Center in New Mexico, teams are available to assist alcoholics in their recovery efforts. Here, the focus of recovery is individualized, and root causes of addictive behavior are identified and treated. Recovery can safely be achieved with assistance; without the help of a recovery center, the struggle to recover from alcohol addiction may be more difficult.

On 7 September 2011 the DEA banned mephedrone, MDPV, and methylone, also known and sold as Bath Salts and plant food. It’s chemical name methylenedioxypyrovalerone, and newer pyrovalerone derivatives, is essentially speed.  Speed, meth, amphetamines, Ecstasy are highly addictive and quite simply very bad for human and animal consumption.  They have no medicinal value.

Methyl derivatives come from theme and variation of the molecular compound of amphetamine, adding hydrogen and carbon molecules on a skeletal structure to create slightly different forms of speed.  The compounds are extremely dangerous to the human brain and the human body.  Unfortunately, the effect on the human brain and body initially inspires euphoria with increased energy and stamina not obtainable by any natural way.  The effect is alluring and embracing, the side effects are profoundly dangerous and permanently damaging.

The variation of methyl compounds exceeds the rate of state or federal regulations to ban or prohibit these different variations until now that the DEA imposed the Schedule 1 prohibition.  The boom of Bath Salts came legally selling a highly toxic mood altering substance – marketing their product as plant food and of course bath salts. 

Effects of these methylamphetamines appear as agitation, psychosis, attempts at suicide, hallucinations, chest pains, bizarre behavior, compulsive behavior, irrational thinking and death.  How much a person consumes, the purity of the methyl structure and the individual’s response is so wildly unpredictable it took but a month before the negative effects of these Bath Salts were flooding emergency departments across the country.  The brain damage – especially cognitive thinking- remains profound for long periods of time after one stops ingesting the substance.

There are always two larger questions:  What drives humans to consistently pursue getting high to the point that they become suicidal?  What does treatment do to help people recover from the devastating effects of designer drugs? 

The first question has no simple or brief response; humans are designed to enjoy feeling good and for 10%  to 25% of the population people are prone to feeling good ALL of the time no matter what.  Treatment helps stabilize people – bringing them back to reality and giving them ways to cope with the normal, and not so normal, ups and downs that life gives us.  Treatment gives people 12 step recovery, guides to trusting a recovery and healing process that no drug or chemical can offer.  Treatment offers people the chance to sincerely bond with others to find a depth of happiness and closeness not otherwise obtainable.

Sam Darcy
Executive Director
Vista Taos Renewal Center

References:
Laural J Martin, MD (Editor webMD.com)
Petros Levounis, MD (Addiction Inst of N.Y.)
Zane Horowitz, MD (Oregon Poison Control)

Prescription drug abuse is on the rise in seniors and disabled beneficiaries who use the Medicare program. It was recently reported that this abuse cost the program nearly $150 million in 2008. In the report, it shows that some patients went to at least five doctors in order to receive multiple prescriptions for drugs that are often misused or abused. These are drugs on the FDA “Controlled Substances” list. They are prescription drugs like: Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet, Xanax and Valium.

About 170,000 individuals enrolled in the Medicare Part D prescription program were found to be “doctor shopping” for drugs ranging from oxycodone to hydrocodone. That means that approximately 1.8 percent of the total 43 million Medicare patients had these prescriptions. The study was started in 2010, using the data obtained in 2008.

One shocking example shows a patient who received prescriptions from 87 different doctors in a single year. That means some patients have gone to great lengths to have the government feed their drug addiction and need for these medications. Not only are these patients taking advantage of the system, but they are also fueling an addiction to medications that will ultimately land them in trouble.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have also been receiving many complaints lately regarding this type of drug abuse. When CMS receives these complaints, they then notify doctors about patients who could be abusing prescription drugs in order to stop abuse on their end. Prescription drug abuse is very dangerous and many people believe just because a doctor writes a prescription that it makes it okay to for them to ingest. This is far from the case and can lead to deadly consequences.

If you or a loved one needs help with prescription drug abuse, please contact Vista Taos Renewal Center today. They are a holistic drug abuse treatment center located 85 miles north of Santa Fe in New Mexico that can help anyone and everyone get their life back on track. Now is the time to get help and live a better life.

A new bilingual helpline was recently created by drugfree.org to aid parents and families who may not have access to other resources in dealing with family members who might be struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction. Many parents struggle with how to educate their children on the dangers of substance abuse. It is never an easy process and parents need as many resources as they can get in order to know what their kids might be involved in and how they can help them stay drug-free. Remember: start talking about the dangers of drugs and alcohol now. The sooner the better, but it’s never too late!

This new toll-free hotline for parents, 1-855-DRUGFREE – (1-855-378-4373), is staffed by social workers with sensible experience in substance abuse intervention and drug treatment. The social workers will offer advice on how to help parents plan a course of action when dealing with a child who is struggling from an addiction as well as supply them with resources and treatment facilities that are local to where the family is living.

It must be noted that this hotline is not a 24-hour crisis line, but it will be staffed and open Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm EST. Through this, the staff is able to work with parents to understand the unique needs of their children so that they can then help them find drug treatment options while promoting support and family involvement through their recovery process. Helping a child dealing with substance abuse is never an easy process and takes a lot of support for the parents and the child. At Vista Taos, the upmost drug treatment care is provided to those struggling with the disease of addiction. Now is the time to seek help in healing our youth and educating them on the positives of leading a drug-free life.  If you are 18 years of age or older and need help with addiction, Vista Taos can help you.

Doctors have possibly been prescribing the wrong medicines for the wrong conditions, including drug and alcohol abuse. Those seeking treatment for drug and alcohol abuse from general psychiatrists rather than specialists in rehabilitation centers like Vista Taos have often been prescribed antipsychotic drugs.

These antipsychotics have been used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with satisfactory results. However, when the drugs containing risperidone (which include the brand names Risperdal, Abilify, Zyprexa and Seroquel) are prescribed for drug and alcohol abuse, they do not effectively treat the patients.

In fact, the side effects of risperidone-based drugs include stroke, tremors, weight gain and fatigue. When the drug is not effectively treating drug and alcohol abuse and is producing unwanted side effects, it is a wonder that psychiatrists would prescribe it to those whom it does not benefit.

Unfortunately, psychiatrists may just be grasping at straws when they prescribe these antipsychotic drugs to addicts. Those unfamiliar with drug and alcohol abuse treatment can sometimes prescribe medications as a trial and error, which can prove to be very difficult for addicts hoping to recover.

Rehabilitation centers like Vista Taos of New Mexico, however, are well-versed in drug and alcohol abuse treatments that work well. At Vista Taos Renewal Clinic, for example, the rehabilitation center focuses on treating the whole person, including any underlying issues. Treatments include individualized counseling, family counseling and after care services. 

When weighing your options in alcohol and drug abuse treatment, you may wish to consider rehabilitation centers over general psychiatric help. Those trained to treat drug and alcohol addictions can often better treat your addictions.

A new study completed recently showed results that could shock students who might partake in the hard-partying life-style that can be linked to many college students. Binge drinking is now shown to have affects on the brain even after the alcohol has worn off. This new study shows a link between binge drinking and a decreased ability to learn verbal information.

In the study, college students who participated showed lower scores on the verbal learning test than those who did not binge drink. Researchers believe this is due to alcohol's toxic effect on the hippocampus, which is the brain area responsible for learning and memory. Binge drinking, which is defined as drinking five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting (four for women), can be very dangerous and sometimes can lead to alcohol poisoning or even death.

Many people think that participating in binge drinking does not make them an alcoholic but that is not the case. It is actually one of the more scary alcohol addictions as a person never knows when that one more drink will cause them to hurt themselves or end up in a hospital. That is why it is so important for those dealing with an alcohol problem to seek alcohol treatment. Through an alcohol treatment program, a person is able to learn the negative effects of binge drinking while also learning to live a life not dependent on alcohol. If you or a loved one is suffering from an alcohol addiction, please contact Vista Taos today and ask them about their alcohol treatment programs and how they can help you.