PBS Frontline Highlights America’s Heroin Epidemic

ADS Board Member, Stacy Smith, recently notified ADS staff of a powerful documentary she viewed which just aired on PBS. The film is titled Chasing Heroin. It is an expertly produced piece on the resurgence of heroin addiction in America. Chasing Heroin profiles a number of individuals and families who are struggling with heroin/opioid addiction.
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The Stigma of Addiction

People who face addiction also deal with the social stigma attached to having an alcohol or drug problem. Addiction is a powerful disease that changes people and often leads to a life of repeated disappointments and failed restarts. These failures are frequently visible to friends, family, and employers. As family and others watch on, often
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Chronic Marijuana Use Affects Memory and Cognitive Function

The emerging marijuana legalization effort in the U.S. has created growing concerns about the effect that chronic pot use will have on the developing brains of teens and young adults. A recent CNN article highlighted research findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that point to diminished verbal memory, processing speed
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New NIDA Study on Increase in Heroin Use

A National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) article highlights findings recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study determined that new opioid prescription policies which more carefully regulate the prescribing of opioids have not directly led to a rise in heroin use over the last few years. Researchers found that an individual’s
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Thinking About The Meaning of Recovery

The word Recovery is a powerful symbol of hope for people who deal with addiction. Before alcohol and drug addiction were so readily addressed in society, the medical community used recovery as a reference to that period of time when a person was recuperating from a surgery or extended illness. So-and-so has had a full
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CNN Article on Heroin-related Overdoses

A new article from CNN cites an announcement by the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) confirming that heroin use is increasing rapidly across the United States. The staggering result of this is that: “Deaths from heroin-related overdoses nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013.” The CDC report indicated that heroin use doubled among women
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Town Hall Meeting On Addiction And Recovery

A new Town Hall Meeting will occur in High Point at the High Point Arts Council on Tuesday evening July 14th. Fact: Two out of three families are somehow touched by addiction! The Town Hall Meeting will address addiction in our community and how family members can do something about this illness to hopefully prevent
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The Drug Problem In China Is Growing

A Reuter’s (Beijing) article, published in Business Insider, just covered the rise of heroin and methamphetamine abuse in China. 2014 saw nearly 49,000 drug-related deaths and an estimated financial loss of approximately 500 billion yuan ($80 billion is U.S. dollars). The story indicates that China has instituted a nationwide crackdown on drugs in response to a
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Medscape Article Highlights Drug Overdose In Death Statistics

A June 2015 article in Medscape points to continued public concerns with drug overdose in the United States. Megan Brooks of Medscape writes: “Drug overdose is now the leading cause of deaths from injury in the United States.” She addresses that 26 states have seen an increase in drug overdose deaths over the last 4 years. In 36
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Youth Dabbling In New Abuses of Marijuana

“Vaping” is a recently popularized method of drug delivery that originated with electronic cigarettes. Vaping involves inhaling the aerosol vapors of a heated liquid – which in the case of cigarettes is about ingesting nicotine. However, there are other intoxicants that can be “vaped’, and there is emerging national concern that youthful experimentation with e-cigarettes
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