VistaTaos

Binge drinking isn’t just for college students anymore. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17% of American adults binge drink, which means that they consume more than four (for women) or five (for men) drinks in one occasion. That’s about 38 million U.S. adults, but the percentage could be much higher because many people will not admit to exactly how much they drink.

The highest numbers of binge drinking still occur in the college-aged population (18- to 24-year olds), with 28% of the people in this age range admitting to binge drinking. Men are much more likely to binge drink than women.

Older adults, though, also admit to binge drinking. In fact, those aged 65 and older were more likely to binge drink more frequently. Although the majority of other binge drinking groups drank in excess about four times per month, drinkers aged 65 and older reported that they binge drink five to six times per month.

Binge drinking habits also vary by location. Wisconsin drinkers were most likely to binge drink, with 25.9% of the adult population bingeing. However, Kentucky drinkers were most likely to participate in binge drinking more often, with an average of six binge drinking occasions per month. Utah, West Virginia and New Jersey residents had the lowest levels of binge drinking. 

Unfortunately, binge drinking can harm individuals’ health. It can increase the odds of liver and stomach problems, certain cancers, being involved in car accidents and can bring about many bad decisions during the intoxication phase. Many binge drinkers would therefore benefit from an alcohol treatment program.

At an alcohol treatment program like Vista Taos in New Mexico, program residents can participate in an alcohol treatment program that meets their individual needs. For more information, contact an alcohol treatment program near you today.

Anxiety and opioid abuse are linked, according to a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It seems the link works two ways: researchers have found that those who suffer from anxiety and mood disorders are more likely to abuse opioids, and those who are given prescriptions for opioids, like Oxycontin, are more likely to become anxious or suffer from mood disorders after taking the prescription medications.

These two links can become a vicious cycle. Patients prescribed opioids for a purely medical reason may continue to take the medicine after the medically induced need disappears, this time to treat anxiety or mood disorders caused by the opioid. Additionally, patients with mental health needs could become hooked on an opioid prescribed to assist with anxiety or other disorders or opioids obtained on the black market.

Prescription drug abuse, particularly opioid use in America is on the rise. Opioids have become the second most-widely used illegal drugs in the United States, after marijuana. This new research could shed some light on why the drug has become so popular, since opioids can both cause and relieve feelings of anxiety, depression, and panic. This is a dangerous recipe for addiction.

While prescription drug abuse is on the rise, drug abuse treatment centers like the Vista Taos Renewal Center in New Mexico have been staying up-to-date on the newest research and treatment options. If you or a loved one suffer from prescription drug abuse, the best way to break the addiction is to attend a treatment center, where you can find the most current treatment options available. Let Vista Taos show you how to comfortably detox from opioids and learn to live your life without a dependency on prescription pain drugs. Vista Taos can also help patients with underlying reasons for addiction, such as mood disorders; the treatment process takes the entire person into consideration.

Hundreds of children and adults in need of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prescription medication have been unable to fill  them recently. Pharmacies across the nation are in short supply of the generic form of ADHD pills, the name brand of which are called Ritalin and Adderall.

This shortage is due in part to the drugs’ manufacturers trying to limit the supply of generic brands to maximize their profits in sales of the name-brand drugs. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is also to blame; the DEA must set limits on the numbers of drugs that each manufacturer may produce, in an effort to decrease the potential for misuse among adults and particularly among college students.

College students have taken to snorting the ADHD medications because when non-ADHD adults take ADHD medication, the pills often have the completely opposite effect from their intended treatment. Instead of becoming calmer from the drug, non-ADHD adults can become hyperactive, which can result in an almost super-human ability to accomplish tasks. For the college crowd, this hyperactivity can help them study – often late into the night with cram sessions before big tests.  

For the DEA, the increase in the prescription pill misuse is difficult to control. The agency estimates that one in four adults who receive ADHD prescriptions may be faking symptoms. Once the non-ADHD adults have the prescription, they can abuse the pills themselves or sell them on the black market.

Unfortunately, the abuse of ADHD medication and the subsequent shortage of generic brands could continue for a while until the DEA can better police the misuse. Eventually, the DEA may be able to crack down on black market rings, but until then, users who need prescription pill treatment will have to seek centers like Vista Taos for assistance.

Reports are readily available with statistics to show that students who abuse these drugs in the name of getting better grades are actually doing worse in school before they starting using. There is no positive side to abusing ADHD medication. Don’t start. If you’ve already started, get help.

If you or someone you love is in need of prescription pill treatment, please seek out the assistance of a prescription pill treatment center  like Vista Taos Renewal Center.  Their expert staff can talk to you about their programs for prescription drug addiction; get the help you need before it destroys your life.

The New Years’ weekend was busy for police departments across the country. As each precinct focused on keeping drivers who were under the influence off the roads, they made many arrests.

In Dallas on New Years’ weekend, 31 people were arrested for driving under the influence. This number is lower than last year’s 34 arrests, and perhaps this year’s “no refusal” initiative influenced drivers to celebrate more responsibly. 

From Dec. 30, 2011 to Jan. 2, 2012, the Dallas Police Department enforced the “no refusal” initiative. This acting law states that any driver who refuses to take an alcohol breath test will be subject to the warrant process, wherein the arresting police officer obtains a warrant to draw the driver’s blood.

This process expedited the standard arrest protocol. During normal daily law in Dallas, drivers are able to refuse a breath test upon arrest and wait until they arrive at the station to have their blood drawn. In many cases, the extra time spent booking the citizen could allow him or her to become sober enough to pass the blood test with a legal blood alcohol content.

 Dallas and San Antonio both adopted the “no refusal” initiative over the weekend, and the Dallas P.D. was able to make six arrests over the weekend due to the initiative: six persons refused the breath tests; warrants and tests were issued; and the offending citizens were arrested.

After the successes seen during the initiative period, speculation abounds that the initiative will be adopted as daily law in parts of Texas.  

For those who face alcohol abuse and/or drunk driving issues, the implementation of this potential law could be the driving force needed to seek alcohol rehab assistance. Alcohol rehab programs, like Vista Taos in New Mexico, can help alcoholics overcome the underlying issues that lead to addiction. Alcoholism can cause a long list of problems. It can damage your heath, your relationships and bring about legal problems. If you or a loved one need help, contact Vista Taos’ alcohol rehab program to learn more. Located in New Mexico, clients from the Dallas Texas area, as well as other surrounding cities in Texas and southern states have found help within Vista Taos.

For those people in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico, who are interested in preventing drunken driving, the DWI Planning Council is seeking new members. Community members with a background in media, emergency services, law enforcement and legal counsel are invited to apply.

The DWI Planning Council works to document the county’s problems with alcoholism. The council also assesses the resources needed to fight the county’s alcohol abuse problems, which include screening, assessment, sentencing, treatment and prevention.

To be considered for appointment to the council, community members must attend at least two DWI Planning Council meetings and submit a letter of interest, a resume, a questionnaire, and a conflict of interest form to the Santa Fe County Health and Human Services Division, Attention Steve Shepherd. To obtain the forms, Shepherd may be contacted by phone at (505) 992-9840 or email at sshepher@santafecounty.org. 

Council meetings are held at 2052 Galisteo Street, Suite B Conference Room, and the next meeting dates are December 15, 2011; January 12, 2012; and February 9, 2012. The application deadline is December 19, 2011.

Alcohol abuse has reportedly been a problem in New Mexico for years, in addition to the many drug problems that the state faces. To combat such statistics as the 2006 stats that placed New Mexico at one of the highest rates of alcohol related death (2006 stats listed NM deaths related to alcohol abuse as 1.7 times national average), the DWI Planning Council was established.  

To date, the DWI program has introduced media events that have reached 13 million (duplicated) persons, and it has served over 27,000 residents through prevention activities for the entire community. The hope is that such efforts will decrease the rate of alcohol abuse throughout the city and the county.

For more information about alcohol abuse treatment and prevention, please contact Vista Taos Renewal Center.

A guard employed at the Rio Arriba County Detention Center in Tierra Armarilla was caught drinking at a casino hotel, leaving a 9 year old child in charge of 2 other young children. None of the children were harmed; they remained in their hotel room while Issac Maestas drank at the casino resort with friends. The mother of the children is also a jail guard, and was working at the Santa Fe County Jail at the time of the incident.

Because of Maestas’ employment with the Rio Arriba jail, he was arrested and booked with the Santa Fe Police Department. The children, ages 9, 4 and 2 were released to their mother. He is also facing 3 charges of child endangerment. Police received a call from a 9 year old boy from the hotel saying he did not know where his father was and was scared, saying his siblings were there with him. Police traced the call and were able to locate Maestas with the cooperation of the 9 year old child.

Upon entering the hotel room, police officers discovered the 3 children all present and unharmed. There were empty containers of alcohol within reach of the children as well as opened containers still containing substantial amounts of liquid in them; surveillance video shows the children were left alone for about an hour before the authorities arrived. The entire situation could have ended in a tragedy had the oldest child not called for help; Maestas may end up serving jail time for the child endangerment charges, but he most definitely will need some sort of assistance from an alcohol treatment center.

Usually, when a conviction includes drugs or alcohol, the sentence includes treatment of some sort. North of Santa Fe in the village of Taos, alcohol treatment center Vista Taos can offer treatment options beyond the standard 12-step processes in the traditional clinic settings. If you could benefit from an alcohol treatment center near Santa Fe, New Mexico, please give Vista Taos Renewal Center a call to learn more about getting started on the recovery process.

People these days are beginning to become addicted to hard drugs like heroin through legal substances like pain pills. With about ten percent of young adults reporting they have taken prescription medications without a prescription, DEA agents are beginning to crack down on the doctor’s offices that may prescribe medications too easily. 

In a sting operation earlier this year, DEA agents investigated many doctor’s offices that had been reported as easy prescribers. They found that some patients jump from one easy-prescribing office to another in search of narcotic drugs. The drugs were then available for young adults to purchase on the black market or pilfer from adults’ medicine cabinets.

Once these young people became addicted to legal narcotic drugs, they often found that drugs like oxycodone and Vicodin were too expensive on the black market. So many young adults sought cheaper illegal drugs that could offer the same kind of high, like heroin. In essence, legal narcotic pain pills have become the new gateway drug to heroin abuse.

Since possession of legal narcotic drugs is not illegal, it has been a little more difficult for the DEA to investigate the trend. Agents must dig deeper to determine whether a young adult in possession of a narcotic drug is a legitimate act of pain prevention or an illegal act of drug addiction.

Since drug overdose is the number one cause of accidental death in New Mexico, many rehabilitation centers like the New Mexico’s own Vista Taos Renewal Center have been focusing on helping people overcome heroin abuse and other addictions. If you or a loved one suffers from heroin abuse, you may wish to contact a rehabilitation center immediately; kicking heroin abuse can help many people live more meaningful lives. Don’t wait until it’s too late; jail is no place to detox from heroin. The detoxification process from drugs like heroin (and prescription drugs) can be very painful and even dangerous. Symptoms of withdrawal should be monitored by a medical professional during the detox phase. Steps can be taken; you can comfortably detox from heroin. Let Vista Taos help you safely get away heroin before it takes your life.

When many people first hear Kayla Proffitt’s story, the horror often eclipses the silver lining. Proffitt’s mistakes in her youth, though, can now help others today.

Proffitt was 20 years old when she committed vehicular manslaughter. She killed a 13-year old girl and harmed eight other people while she was driving drunk.

The incident occurred on February 17, 2005, on Texas Highway 183 near Dallas. Proffitt was driving the wrong way at 3:30 a.m., and she struck an approaching hotel van on its way to the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, causing the injuries and the death.

The tragedy may have deterred some from reform, but Proffitt was not deterred. After serving her time in prison and attending rehab at an alcohol rehabilitation center, Proffitt, now 27, began to speak out against drunk driving. She shares her story now in hopes that she can inspire others to drink responsibly, to hire a cab, or to designate a non-drinking driver.    

In her own words, Proffitt said, “It’s now my passion to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.” The young woman now volunteers her speaking services to the DWI Task Force.

Proffitt’s recovery and newfound commitment to helping others avoid future tragedies is in part due to her rehab at an alcohol rehabilitation center. Like Vista Taos, the alcohol rehabilitation center that Proffitt took part in most likely focused on multiple aspects of alcoholism, including the underlying reasons for the addiction.  

Thankfully, Proffitt was able to reform her addictive behavior and take back control of her life. If you or a family member are also in need of reform, contact an alcohol rehabilitation center like Vista Taos Treatment Clinic in New Mexico, where caring staff can help guide you to recovery.

The term “binge drinking” has been around for a while to define alcoholism, particularly among the college population. However, the term does not encompass a percentage of college students who drink beyond the binge drinking thresholds.

In women, binge drinking is defined as drinking about four servings of alcohol in one evening. For men, drinking five drinks is classified as binge drinking. In colleges across the nation, though, drinking two or three times the binge drinking threshold is somewhat common, which has lead researchers to coin a new alcoholism term: extreme drinking.

The new term applies to men or women who imbibe in alcohol well beyond the binge drinking threshold, and a study was conducted to ascertain the levels of extreme drinking across the United States, focusing on 14 U.S. college campuses.

Findings show that students often participate in extreme drinking, with 20% of men and 10% of women surveyed reporting an extreme drinking episode in a two week time period. And those percentages could be misleading.

Many students do not know exact serving sizes of alcoholic drinks. With bartenders and home mix-masters serving alcoholic drinks that may contain more than one serving of alcohol, students who participated in the survey may have underestimated the total amount of alcohol consumed.

Even though the study focuses on college students, extreme drinking can be applied to all subsets of the population, including teens and adults. So if you or a loved one frequently drink more than four or five drinks in one night, extreme drinking could apply.

For help with alcoholism and alcohol rehab, you may wish to contact an alcohol rehab center. Many exist across the nation, and centers like Vista Taos Renewal Center could help you or your family member recover from extreme drinking or other alcoholism issues. Vista Taos takes a holistic approach to substance abuse and alcohol rehabilitation; it is not like your typical treatment facility. With the focus on getting the patient’s entire mind and body well, the chances of lifelong sobriety are greater than a standard treatment process. If you or a loved one are tired of being weighed by the chains of alcoholism, let Vista Taos offer treatment assistance today.

Charlie Sheen’s twin boys may have another troubled parent in their lives. The boys’ mother, Brooke Mueller, was arrested on Saturday, December 3, 2011 for assaulting a woman in a popular Aspen bar. Mueller was also in possession of cocaine, which she intended to distribute. Cocaine possession with intent to distribute is a felony.

Mueller is no stranger to drug and alcohol charges. In September 1996, she was arrested for driving under the influence. In March 2001, Mueller faced charges for cocaine possession, but since she had no drugs in her system, the charges were dropped. In May 2011, Mueller entered an outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, which she completed.

As the primary custodian of her twin boys, Mueller has been the more stable influence in the twins’ lives. Sheen assaulted Mueller on Christmas Day 2009, and his past drug and alcohol abuse has been extensive. Sheen has recently battled and overcome his abuse issues very publicly, and now he appears to be back on track in all aspects of his life. In fact, in August 2011, Sheen and Mueller vacationed together, and they have recently tried to resolve their conflicts.

Unfortunately, despite Sheen’s ability to turn his drug abuse around, his ex-wife appears to be on track to a potential cocaine addiction. At this point, since charges are only pending (until her court appearance on December 19), the twins still remain in her custody.  

It is hopeful that Mueller can get the help she needs for her cocaine addiction through a drug rehabilitation program, like Vista Taos Renewal Center. Getting her life back on track and battling her cocaine addiction could very well be the stability that her twin boys need.