Drug Rehab and Alcohol Rehab

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/ourwork/pressoffice/pressreleases/Street_drug_trends_2009.htm

The above link refers to the ‘DrugScope Street Drug Trends Survey 2009: Falling illegal drug purity ‘accelerates trend’ in uses combining different drugs’.

This survey emphasises that recreational use and substance addiction is unlikely to involve just one drug. Whilst the purity of drugs (such as cocaine have fallen to as low as 2% on the illegal market) has contributed to poly drug use there are also other motivations for the increase in people using a mixture of drugs. A significant proportion of users report using alcohol with illegal drugs, but the rise in the popularity of ‘legal highs’ and prescription drugs have added to the problem of ‘mixing’.

When you think of addiction or recreational drug use how many drugs come to mind? Four? Five? Maybe more? The facts are that substance abuse does not revolve around a few drugs, but a huge variety of legal, illegal and new substances that have unreported effects, especially when mixed with other drugs. It is well known that Benzodiazepines when mixed with alcohol can be extremely dangerous, but what about drugs that are only just registering on the radars of many support groups? Ketamine is a prime example, it has been available on the streets of the UK for over 10 years, but how many GPs know about the drug and how it is used?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8170813.stm

The above links refers to ‘Tokyo’: a 18.2% abv, £9.99 bottle of beer recently launched by the Scottish brewery, BrewDog. BrewDog says launching such drinks will help to reduce binge drinking:

Whilst Alcohol Focus Scotland chief Executive Jack Law has warned that high alcohol percentage beer could cause as much damage as drinking more lower percentage beers:

What do you think? Are drinks like ‘Tokyo’ adding to or solving a massive problem?

It is vitally important to take into consideration that whilst there are a number of people who can drink sensibly, there are also a large number of people in the UK who have alcohol addictions – an alcohol addiction is not defined by how much you drink or what you drink, but rather how your drinking impacts you life. Thus, one person could drink 3 cans of low percentage lager per night and experience problems attending work, maintaining relationships and develop health problems. Someone who drinks 3 large glasses of whiskey a night is no more of an alcoholic than the person who drinks lager because the abv % is higher in whisky – it all depends on how the alcohol affects your life. Which is why some people drink regularly and can stop and why others can’t stop, but drink in physically and psychologically damaging binge cycles.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/jul/25/gary-reinbach-alcoholic-madeline-hanshaw

Above is a link to an article published in The Guardian over the weekend that writes about Gary Reinbach, a 22 year old who died from liver failure last week. The article discusses his mothers experience of her son’s drinking and ultimately his death as well as more general issues, such as should an alcoholic be given a liver transplant if there is a chance they may start to drink again? Surely there is always a chance that an addict will return to drinking or using, but they deserve the opportunity to get into recovery and that requires specialist help.

As Gary’s mother discusses and reject, the population have attributed a far proportion of blame to her for Gary’s death, but it is also clear that if Gary was eligible for a transplant he may well still be alive, so who should decide if someone should or should not be given a second chance? A key point is that if more alcoholics were treated in suitable rehab clinics then there would not be so much demand for livers or indeed so many alcohol related deaths.

What is most shocking about this tragic story is that a man aged 22 years old could die from a condition that is widely associated with older people who have 40 years old alcohol abuse under their belts. Indeed, even Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist has been shocked by the number of liver failure cases he has seen in young people.

“What Luke and his mates have discovered the hard way is what liver specialists like Dr Nick Sheron, of Southampton General hospital, have been saying for some time: that young people who abuse alcohol heavily will suffer the same consequences that older people who’ve been abusing it for many years do; in other words, their livers will fail.

The lost of this young man’s life not only highlights the severity of alcohol abuse, but also emphasises the need for people who are experiencing problems with alcohol to seek help no matter how old they are.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/Plight-of-the-pensioners-who.5458745.jp

The above link refers to an article published in the Yorkshire Post: ‘Plight of the Pensioners who are Driven to Drink in Retirement.’ This article highlights two things: firstly, that our misconception that only young people abuse alcohol could not be further from the truth and secondly that there is no more readily available NHS help for older alcohol abusers than there is for young alcohol abusers.

When did we first decide to ignore the older generation of substance abusers and just concentrate on streets full of binge drinking teenagers? I’m not saying that young people dying before they are 25 due to drink related illnesses is not a huge problem, but what about those who are shut indoors, ordering alcohol with their weekly shopping, who are not exposed by the media, but need help nonetheless?

The implication is that it is not only drunk 20 year olds who are getting behind the wheel causing accidents or teenagers jamming up A&E departments, the figures in this article suggest that the older generations are contributing to these problems just as much as the younger generation. If you know someone who needs help don’t hesitate to get in touch and find out what help is available – whilst government funded services may be scarce there is immediate help available, treatment might not be inexpensive, but it is life saving, no matter how old you are.

Addiction knows no boundaries, it does not discriminate, it is not dictated by age or race or class or sex – it ruins hundreds of thousands of lives – people from all different walks of life.