Approximately 250,000 heroin-addicted individuals are incarcerated in the United States each year, yet many prison systems across the country still lack adequate medical treatment for heroin and opiate addiction.

Despite the fact that existing programs and research have demonstrated the social, medical and economic benefits of opiate replacement therapy (ORT), only half of all federal and state prison systems offer ORT with the medications methadone and buprenorphine, and only in very limited circumstances.

In addition, only 23 states provide treatment referrals for some inmates upon release from prison. Guidelines issued by both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say prisoners should be offered ORT for treatment of opiate dependence.

"Pharmacological treatment of opiate dependence is a proven intervention, is cost-effective and reduces drug-related disease and reincarceration rates, yet it remains underutilized in U.S. prison systems," said Amy Nunn, ScD, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. "Improving correctional policies for addiction treatment could dramatically improve prisoner and community health as well as reduce both taxpayer burden and reincarceration rates."

Josiah Rich, MD, MPH, co-director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School, believes that addiction treatment is as crucial as treatment of other long-term chronic diseases.

"Opiate addiction, like all forms of addiction, causes long-term changes to the structure and functioning of the brain, which is why it is classified as a disease," he said. "Addiction requires treatment just as other chronic diseases, like diabetes and cancer, do. Unfortunately, there is a large gap between the number of prisoners who require addiction treatment and those who actually receive it."

(Source: www.eurekalert.com)

Labels: addiction, heroin, opiates, substance abuse, treatment

Experts have known for a while that cheese, one of America's favorite foods, contains addictive opiates. In 1981, researchers at Wellcome Research Laboratories found traces of morphine in cow's milk. Further investigation revealed that cows actually produce morphine, codeine, and other opiates in their livers.

Milk contains a protein called casein that releases various opiates called casomorphins during digestion. Casomorphins can contain up to one-tenth the pain-killing power of morphine. The cheese-making process creates a much higher concentration of casein than the casein levels in milk. In addition, cheese contains an amphetamine-like chemical called phenylethylamine, which is also found in chocolate.

Significantly, cheese cravings, like opiate cravings, are reduced by the drug naloxone. Naloxone is a special narcotic used to reverse the effects of other narcotics, especially opiates.

Although knowledge of cheese's addictive properties has existed for several decades, the information has become especially pertinent in recent years, with the rise of obesity in the United States. Cheese consumption per person in the United States has tripled since 1975, from 11 pounds per year to 31 pounds per year and is expected to rise to 37 pounds by 2017. Since 1990, the average American has gained 13 pounds.

Both the federal government and cheese producers promote cheese consumption. In a 2000 USDA report to Congress on dairy promotion programs, the agency reported partnering with cheese makers to encourage fast food restaurants to increase the use of cheese in their foods. Currently, as a result of these efforts, Domino's Pizza is launching a new line of pizzas that uses 40 percent more cheese.

(Source: www.examiner.com)

Labels: addiction, codeine, morphine, opiates

A drug commonly prescribed to help with nausea is showing promise as a treatment for opioid addiction withdrawal. Scientists at Stanford University found that Zofran (ondansetron) prevents symptoms of withdrawal associated with drugs like heroin, morphine, and codeine, and that it does so without the drastic side effects of other medications that are currently used to treat these withdrawal symptoms. In a Stanford news release, Dr. Larry F. Chu, an assistant professor of anesthesia and lead author of the study, commented on the significance of the finding:

"Opioid abuse is rising at a faster rate than any other type of illicit drug use, yet only about a quarter of those dependent on opioids seek treatment. One barrier to treatment is that when you abruptly stop taking the drugs, there is a constellation of symptoms associated with withdrawal." (Source: www.forbes.com)

Labels: addiction, opiates, treatment

In the National Drug Threat Assessment 2005 Summary Report, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) states that although demand for heroin is markedly lower that for comparable illicit drugs (including cocaine, meth, and marijuana), the risks and outcomes associated with heroin abuse are so severe that it continues to represent a substantial threat.

Heroin is the most widely used opiate (drugs derived from opium). The report also indicates that demand for heroin has remained fairly stable over the past few years, ever since a significant increase in demand in the late 1990s. However, data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates a recent increase in the number of current heroin users.

According to the 2006 Treatment Episode Data Set, collected by the states and reported to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration, the percentage of people admitted to drug rehab programs with a primary addiction to heroin has remained stable over the past decade. Heroin addicts tend to seek treatment after using for several years. This is a factor that makes it extremely difficult to treat heroin addicts.

The most recent national Survey on Drug Use and Health (2006) indicates that the number of current heroin users (those who have used within the past 30 days) increased from approximately 136,000 in 2005 to 338,000 in 2006. The prevalence rate for use increased from 0.06% to 0.14%. The survey supports the assertion by the Department of Justice that demand for heroin is relatively low.

By comparison, the survey reported much higher numbers for current users of other drugs: 14.8 million for marijuana, 5.2 million for prescription pain medicine, and 2.4 million for cocaine. Only PCP (approximately 100,000) and LSD (fewer than 100,000) showed lower numbers of users than heroin. According to the survey, a relatively low number of people (approximately 91,000) first tried heroin in the past year, and the mean age for first use was relatively high (20.7 years). By comparison, approximately 2.1 million people first tried marijuana in the last year, and the mean age for use was 17.4.

Although heroin users account for only a small percentage of drug users in the United States (less than 2%), they consistently comprise a notable segment of those admitted to drug treatment programs. According to 2006 TEDS data, the percentage of people admitted to substance abuse programs with a primary addiction to heroin has remained stable over the past decade. Between 1995 and 2005, heroin admissions comprised 14-15% of all admissions to public substance abuse treatment facilities. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 446,000 people reported receiving treatment for substance abuse in the past year, compared to 1.2 million for marijuana.

The TEDS data also indicates that heroin addicts tend to use for many years before seeking treatment. Users who inject heroin abuse the drug for an average of 12 years before seeking treatment, and users who snort heroin abuse the drug for an average of 11 years before seeking treatment. Because heroin addiction is usually obtained at a later age than most other illicit drugs, users wait so long to seek treatment, a high percentage of heroin addicts are intravenous users, and because heroin is one of the most potent illicit substances, heroin addicts usually arrive in treatment with serious health problems and are typically more difficult to treat than other addicts. According to TEDS data, approximately 64% of current heroin users are intravenous users.

Long-term intravenous drug use, in particular, carries serious health risks. Intravenous drug users are exposed to and contract diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis C, and bacterial pneumonia at significantly higher rates than other segments of the general population. In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that 36% of new Hepatitis C infections in the past year were related to intravenous drug use.

Labels: addiction, opiates

A study published earlier this year by the University of Chicago Medical Center found that nicotine and opiates have similar effects on the brain's reward system. Naturally rewarding experiences such as eating, sex, and exercise cause the brain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine stimulates the pleasure centers in key areas of the brain. Researchers found that although opiates and nicotine are very different substances, the end result as far as dopamine signaling is very much the same.

Daniel McGehee, Associate Professor in Anesthesia & Critical Care at the University of Chicago Medical Center commented on the findings:

"There is a specific part of the nucleus accumbens [a pleasure center] where opiates have been shown to affect behavior, and when we tested nicotine in that area, the effects on dopamine are almost identical."

The study provides support for the physiological nature of addiction, as well as the seriousness of nicotine addiction. If nicotine ultimately affects the brain in the same way as opiates, how can it be less serious (Source: ScienceDaily.com)

Labels: dopamine, nicotine, opiates