Addiction Recovery News

Women More Likely to Get Addicted to Cocaine

A woman is numb from cocaine use

Addiction is a behavioral disease that affects people all around the world, regardless of demographics like class, race, or gender. However, it would be naive to assume that these factors didn’t play a part in particular substances and their prevalence on a particular demographic. For example, despite its stereotype for primarily being a male drug, cocaine addiction is actually more prevalent amongst women, who are more likely to get addicted to cocaine than men. Here are some reasons why this appears to be the case...

While addiction is a prominent problem in the United States, it’s important to recognize that it is something that goes far beyond our borders, and is truly a global epidemic.

In the world of addiction recovery, there are many different tools that we have available to us to help people who are struggling with addiction. However, our options are sometimes mitigated by the trends of the market around us. The rising prices of many lifesaving drugs on the marketplace have been commonplace for years, and have recently become a hot topic in the national conversation about healthcare. In particular, Naloxone is one drug in the addiction recovery world that has been particularly susceptible to this issue...

Partiers drink beer out of a straw, for some reason.

For many people in America, binge drinking has become a core part of their social lives. This has created a culture that, in many cases, excuses dangerous behavior that is caused by alcohol abuse. Because of this, it is imperative that we, as a society, have a hard discussion about what this means for our young people, our future, and how far past the point of unacceptability we have come. Recently, HBO and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have produced a documentary called Risky Drinking, which looks into the lives of various people who suffer from their own battles with alcohol abuse.

lot of 100 dollar bills with a place for your text

Drug abuse, and particularly opioid addiction, has skyrocketed over the past decade. Based on current models that rightly view addiction as a mental disorder, addiction has become an epidemic that has spread across the entire country. Indeed, addiction adversely affects every demographic in the United States, regardless of class, race, gender, or geographic divisions. Not only does this problem destroy the lives of millions of Americans, but it also is a costly issue that causes billions of dollars in losses for our economy. Here is some information about how our government is planning to handle the problem, and what issues are going overlooked...

Does Alcohol Cause Cancer?

Alcohol and a cigarette on a table.

Obviously, engaging in heavy drinking doesn’t do any favors for your health. However, over drinking can cause a lot more damage than you think it can. There is an ample amount of research that shows it is very likely that alcohol can be a major component of increasing an individual’s risk to cancer. Here are some of the links between cancer and alcohol abuse that an alcoholic should be worrying about...

Young People, Marijuana, and Brain Damage

A graphic of marijuana in the brain. Marijuana is a drug that has gained immense popularity in recent years, although it has always been prevalent in American society. The main difference now is that marijuana use is visible at the surface of so many parts of our culture, from its widespread usage in media, to the states that have legalized its use, recreationally and medically. While we don’t want to ruminate on the ethics of this situation, as it is complicated and full of grey areas, it is important to keep in mind that we need to be aware and vigilant about the effects that this can have on our society, and particularly our young people. Recently, there was a study conducted about the effects that marijuana can have on young people, and the effects must be noted...

Prescription Opioids and Our Epidemic Part 2

A pack of orange opioid pills PART 2

Note: All numbers are cited from the Center for Disease Control.

We are currently in the midst of a large national problem. If one prescribes to the notion that addiction is a mental disease, then one cannot deny that the alarming rise of opioid abuse in the United State constitutes nothing less than an all out epidemic. Oftentimes, this gets framed into the picture of rising rates of heroin abuse. However, the much more disturbing truth is that the biggest culprit behind this epidemic in American society is not an illegal substance like heroin, but one that is recommended by our own health professionals. Indeed, it is prescription opioids that largely drive opioid abuse in many forms. Here is a quick look at the challenges posed by prescription opioids...

Prescription Opioids and Our Epidemic Part 1

Six blue opioid pills on paper. PART 1

Note: All numbers are cited from the Center for Disease Control.

All the Dangers of Cocaine Part 3

A businessman crazy on cocaine.

PART 3: Legal Ramifications

No single drug works as a pop-culture reference to the high-life of Western culture than cocaine. We’ve seen it in films. We’ve heard it in music. And there is a strong possibility that we have known someone who has struggled with cocaine abuse. However, despite the fun and high-energy portrayal that we frequently assign to cocaine, there are plenty of dangers that are directly attributable to the drug. Aside from marijuana, cocaine is the single most used illegal substance on the planet, and it is one that is highly physically addictive. Using cocaine presents a clear danger to your health, greater society, and disadvantaged people in the countries that produce it. This 3-part series will examine the effects of each of these categories…