Answer Addiction

Tag: meth addiction

  • Singer Chico DeBarge Arrested For Meth Possession

    Singer Chico DeBarge Arrested For Meth Possession

    The 53-year-old singer has a history of addiction.

    R&B singer Chico DeBarge was taken into custody for meth possession last month, according to TMZ.

    DeBarge, who had apparently locked his keys in his car, was spotted trying to use a wire to get into his SUV in a Walmart parking lot in Burbank in early November when police were called. Upon arrival, the police searched DeBarge under the assumption that he was trying to break into the vehicle.

    Authorities reportedly found methamphetamine in his pockets which led to a search of his vehicle where drug paraphernalia was discovered.

    The 53-year-old was taken to Burbank City Jail and is awaiting formal charges, TMZ reports.

    Family History Of Addiction

    DeBarge and his famous family members reached the height of fame in the ’80s where they dominated the R&B charts until addiction dismantled their reign. Bobby DeBarge Jr., the second-oldest sibling, enjoyed success with Switch, an 80s R&B/funk band, but his battle with addiction eventually led to his arrest for particpating in a drug-trafficking ring with his brother Chico in 1988.

    In 1995, at the age of 39, Bobby Jr. died in prison from AIDS-related complications.

    Chico received a six-year sentence and went on to record a comeback album which debuted in 1998.

    El DeBarge

    El DeBarge, arguably the most popular member of the famous singing family, publicly battled addiction throughout his successful career. He has been arrested three times for drug posession, spent time in prison for drugs, and struggled with cocaine addiction for decades.

    “I wasted more than 16 years that I was on drugs,” El told Mlive in 2010. “The drug thing was more like 22 years. I was out on tour with Chaka Khan. My 22 years of drugs, all that time was wasted. That was me not being dedicated to reality. That was me not being responsible to my children. That was me not being responsible to God, who gave me this gift of music. That was me not being responsible to my fans. That’s why it is such a gift that I have this time now to do it again. I didn’t have to be given this second chance because by the grace of God it was given to me. I think what happened is that I got my will power back.”

    El’s comeback tour was halted in 2011 when he entered rehab for addiction treatment, Grio reports. He was arrested for drug possession the following year.

    Other Siblings 

    In a 2011 interview with Dr. Drew, eldest sister Bunny DeBarge revealed that they believe the family is cursed with addiction. Bunny and her brothers Randy and James spoke candidly about using to stop withdrawals and how addiction has hurt their family for generations.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Meth Causes Most Overdoses In Western US, But Little Help Is Available

    Meth Causes Most Overdoses In Western US, But Little Help Is Available

    Meth is the deadliest drug in four out of five regions west of the Mississippi.

    Fentanyl and synthetic opioids are killing more people than any other drug nationally, but in the Western United States, methamphetamine is the most common drug in fatal overdoses, and there’s little public health professionals have been able to do to stop it.

    That’s according to data released Friday by the CDC, reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. Overdose data from 2017 showed that meth is the fourth deadliest drug nationally (after fentanyl, heroin and cocaine), but in all four out of five regions west of the Mississippi, it is the deadliest drug.

    There’s Not Enough Recovery Resources For Meth Addiction

    That’s concerning, because most addiction and recovery resources are aimed at fighting opioid addiction, said Dr. Michael Landen, with New Mexico’s health department. 

    He said, “I think we’re potentially going to be caught off guard with methamphetamine deaths, and we have to get our act together.”

    Addiction specialist and researcher Dr. Josh Bamberger told The San Francisco Chronicle that unlike treatment for opioid use disorder, there is no effective medication-assisted treatment for meth, or drugs that can reverse a meth overdose.

    “It’s a super frustrating place for a physician to be in,” he said. “The take-home lesson is that we have no effective medical treatment for amphetamine addiction. We’ve tried so many medications—antipsychotics, antidepressants, Adderall and more, but none of them has a long-term impact on the addiction. It is very hard to treat.”

    Meth Is Devastating San Francisco’s Homeless Population

    In San Francisco, where meth use is an epidemic among the homeless, researchers and public health officials have even tried paying people to stay clean, increasing the amount each week. 

    “It’s not great, but it seems to be the best way right now,” Bamberger said. 

    Part of the challenge in treating meth addiction is that people who have been using meth experience brain changes that can last long after the drug has left their system.

    Bamberger explained, “Some people continue to exhibit psychotic behavior for days, or even months. And that can involve not just paranoid delusions, but also formication (named after the formic acid ants exude), where you feel you have ants or worms under your skin. It’s awful.”

    Those symptoms can last long-term, he said.

    “It can ‘concretize’ existing mental conditions,” he explained. “In my 30 years of practice in San Francisco, there is no question that my least favorite drug is methamphetamine.”

    Many people addicted to meth, like “Roche,” a woman in her twenties, said they feel the hopelessness of their situation. 

    “Kick meth? Are you kidding?” she said. “When it’s got you, it’s got you. I have about 10 friends who are dead from smoking this—and not just from fentanyl being in it—and someday that will probably be me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • SAMHSA Under Fire For "Meth Monster" PSA

    SAMHSA Under Fire For "Meth Monster" PSA

    While spreading awareness is key, people in the health industry say that the video’s approach is all wrong.

    With methamphetamine addiction and overdose on the rise, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is trying to raise awareness about the risks of meth use, but is coming under fire for a new PSA the agency released this week. 

    Stereotypes & Stigma

    As reported by Filter magazine, in the PSA, a man is shown in a boxing ring battling a hideous “meth monster.” In the first round, the man is knocked down, but springs back up. Next, the monster uses pliers to pull out his teeth, a reference to the “meth mouth” stereotype.

    “There goes the teeth,” a sports commentator narrating the video says. “That’s gotta hurt.”

    In the third round, the man is captured by the monster. “He doesn’t seem to be able to get away. He’s trapped. Meth is stealing his soul,” the commentator exclaims. 

    The commercial ends by urging people to get more information or seek help by visiting samhsa.gov/meth or calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357). While awareness is key, people in the health industry say that the approach in the video is all wrong.

    Dr. Sarah Wakeman, an addiction medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, took to Twitter to express her concern. 

    “Is this a joke?” she wrote. “This makes the old fried egg commercials look mild. ‘Meth will steal your soul’- really @samhsagov ?? How about some fact based, non stigmatizing public health approaches instead of this…”

    Bill Kinkle, co-host of the Health Professionals in Recovery podcast, wrote on Twitter that PSAs show the policy mistakes that can prevent people from getting help. 

    “Everything you need to know about how War on Drugs propaganda operates is in this video. Personifying a drug as an evil monster, filling you with intense fear, portraying drug use always as a boxing match, tons of misinformation and lies, then finishing with ‘get the facts,’” he wrote. He followed up with a simple tweet: “Not helpful.”

    SAMHSA’s web page dedicated to meth information does relay helpful and concerning facts. For example, the agency reports that meth use among adults 26 and older increased 43% between 2017 and 2018. 

    Still, Samatha Arsenault of the advocacy group Shatterproof said PSAs like this one waste resources that could be better spent on getting people with meth addiction real help.  

    “I was appalled by this video,” she wrote. “Sad to see that after knowing for so long that scare tactics not only don’t work but are damaging to ppl impacted by SUD that resources were used to put this together.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Couple’s Meth Recovery Before-And-After Photos Go Viral

    Couple’s Meth Recovery Before-And-After Photos Go Viral

    The Tennessee couple have been sober for over two years. 

    When Brent Walker of Cleveland, Tennessee made a Facebook post on July 26 with the hashtag #CleanChallenge, he wanted to showcase the transformation that he and his wife, Ashley, had made since they quit using methamphetamine more then two-and-a-half years ago. 

    He never expected that the Facebook post would go viral, but when it did he was glad to share the couple’s story of addiction and recovery in hopes of helping others. 

    “Don’t give up, it gets easier. It’s really hard. We had a really hard time, just because we didn’t have nobody to talk to,” Walker told Knox News. “But if you don’t give up… the grass is greener on the other side. It’s been a blessing. It really has.”

    In the post, Walker shared two photos of himself and Ashley: one when they were actively using, and a more recent photo from when they were well-established in recovery.

    Celebrating Sobriety 

    “This is my wife and I in active meth addiction the first photo was taken around December 2016 the second one was taken in July of 2019,” Walker wrote. “This December 31st will be 3 years we have been clean and sober and living for God. I hope that my transformation can encourage a addict somewhere! It is possible to recover!!”

    Walker said that just before the first photo, he had been in jail for two years on meth-related charges. At first he continued to get high once he was out, but he realized that a positive drug test while on probation could send him back to jail. He decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Then, he asked Ashley, who was his girlfriend at the time, if she was willing to get sober with him. 

    “I asked her if she’d quit with me and she said ‘yes, I go wherever you go,’” he recalled. 

    Early Recovery & Nuptials

    One month into sobriety, the pair got married. After two months they were able to get their own place, and after four months they bought a car. Along the way they changed their phone numbers and cut ties with anyone who they used to do meth with. 

    Today, Walker has obtained his GED and works two jobs, one in steelwork and one in HVAC. Ashley is a patient care technician. Walker said that he never expected to be one of the success stories of sobriety. 

    “I’ve done drugs my entire life,” he said. “I remember telling people all the time that I could literally never be sober. It would be a boring lifestyle.”

    Today, however, he is happy that he and Ashley made the change together. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • LA’s Homeless Population Is Being Devastated By Meth

    LA’s Homeless Population Is Being Devastated By Meth

    “Meth puts you in one of the deepest holes to climb out of,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.

    Mark Casanova estimates that 70% of the clients that he works with at Homeless Health Care Los Angeles are addicted to meth, a drug that wrecks their physical and mental health and makes it more difficult to connect them with services. 

    “It’s way cheaper, it lasts longer, you can smoke it or inject it, it’s easy to get,” Casanova told The Los Angeles Times, speaking about why homeless Californians are turning to meth much more than opioids. 

    In LA’s infamous Skid Row, meth addiction is a plague that contributes to crime and disruption, and pulls people further away from the social fabric that could help them get housing. 

    The LAPD Weighs In

    “Meth puts you in one of the deepest holes to climb out of,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore. “It rots people from the inside out and absolutely owns their lives, and they will do anything in order to exist on it and pursue it.”

    Moore is fighting meth addiction through attacking the supply chain while others, including Dr. Susan Partovi, are taking a harm-reduction approach, working with needle exchanges and other public health programs. 

    Meth’s Dark Toll

    “Crystal meth is the plague of our society,” said Partovi, who once worked at county jails and now works at a needle exchange. “I was seeing 20- and 30-year-olds who had heart attacks and heart failure, and people with pulmonary hypertension who will need lung transplants. There were people who’d had strokes in their 30s.”

    Brian Hurley, head of addiction medicine for LA County’s Department of Health Services, said that meth use causes similar symptoms to mental illness, so it can be difficult to tell whether someone needs mental health treatment or addiction treatment. 

    “Meth is a huge driver of mental health issues because when you use meth, you can become psychotic and anxious and feel depressed,” he explained. 

    Despite the immense challenges, some people in LA’s homeless population do manage to get sober. Sean Romin works as an addiction specialist and has been sober for 15 years. Given his personal experience, he feels empathy for the people still using. 

    “No matter how down or how vulnerable or depressed you feel, meth has the tendency to just get rid of all that in a way that drinking or crack can’t do,” he said. “For eight, 10, 12 hours, you can feel like a normal human being. You can feel like there’s hope.”

    Some people, like Tommy Lee, 53, are able to tap into that hope long term. Lee, who is in recovery, is no longer using and was able to get into temporary housing. 

    “I got to where I was tired, my body was hurting, I couldn’t sleep and my heart was getting weak,” he said. “I’m still young and I want to get my life back. I’m trying my best.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Meth And Opioids: Exploring The Dual Addiction

    Meth And Opioids: Exploring The Dual Addiction

    Researchers speculate that meth has become a more viable option as the price of heroin has risen and opioid painkillers are harder to get.

    The number of people who are addicted to both opioids and methamphetamine is rising, particularly in the West of the country, complicating recovery efforts and leaving users even more at risk. 

    “You’re like a chemist with your own body,” said Kim, a former meth and heroin user who spoke to NPR. “You’re balancing, trying to figure out your own prescription to how to make you feel good.”

    Kim has been in recovery for a year, and her experience of trying to get off both heroin and meth is becoming more common. In San Francisco, 22% of people who use heroin starting rehab said they also had a problem with meth; that’s up from 14% in 2014. 

    University of California professor Dr. Dan Ciccarone, who teaches family community medicine, said that is a very high rate. 

    “That’s alarming and new and intriguing and needs to be explored,” he said. 

    While heroin and cocaine — a speedball — is traditionally a more common drug combination, using meth and opioids is an odd choice, he said. 

    “Methamphetamine and heroin are an unusual combination” that makes people feel “a little bit silly and a little bit blissful,” he said. 

    For Amelia, who has also been in recovery from heroin and meth addiction for a year, using both drugs was a matter of survival. She started using heroin to keep up with work. When that became too expensive, she turned to meth. 

    “The heroin was the most expensive part. That was $200 a day at one point. And the meth was $150 a week,” she said. 

    A study published in December 2018 found that 34% of heroin users said they also use meth. In 2011, only 19% of heroin users took meth as well. Researchers speculated that as opioids became harder to come by and heroin more expensive, drug users turned to meth, which is cheaper and more readily available, especially in the west. Meth — an upper — can also help people feel and function more normally despite using opioids. 

    “Methamphetamine served as an opioid substitute, provided a synergistic high, and balanced out the effects of opioids so one could function ‘normally,’” study authors wrote. 

    However, for Kim, the progression went from meth to heroin, not the other way. 

    “I thought, ‘Oh, heroin’s great. I don’t do speed anymore.’ To me, it saved me from the tweaker-ness,” she said. 

    No matter which drug comes first, the San Francisco Department of Public Healths’ Director of Substance Use Research, Dr. Phillip Coffin, said there is certainly a connection between opioid and methamphetamine use. 

    “There is absolutely an association,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • A Meth Crisis Is Growing In The Shadow Of The Opioid Epidemic

    A Meth Crisis Is Growing In The Shadow Of The Opioid Epidemic

    Meth-related deaths quadrupled from 2011 to 2017.

    Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine have more than quadrupled from 2011 to 2017 and authorities are struggling to keep up with the increases in addiction and erratic behavior caused by the drug.

    However, these alarming statistics have been overshadowed by the opioid epidemic and funding to address the problem has been sorely lacking.

    Drug trends tend to go back and forth from stimulants to depressants, and the public’s focus and efforts to combat addiction and overdose shift with time.

    As signs that the opioid epidemic may be leveling out have appeared and information campaigns have successfully warned people away from dangerous amounts of these depressants, meth use has become almost socially acceptable in some areas.

    According to “Kim,” a woman interviewed by NPR who has struggled with meth addiction for many years, the taboo against taking this intense stimulant has lessened over the years.

    “Now what I see, in any neighborhood, you can find it,” she said. “It’s not the same as it used to be where it was kind of taboo. It’s more socially accepted now.”

    Part of the reason the growing meth problem across the Midwest and West Coast has been overshadowed is likely because meth overdose is significantly less likely to end in death compared to opioid overdose.

    Opioids depress the central nervous system, and too much physical depression can cause an individual to stop breathing. With stimulants like meth, death is usually caused by a heart attack or brain hemorrhage or as a result of mixing the drug with depressants, including opioids.

    Reports of deaths from batches of meth contaminated with fentanyl have been increasing over the past year. Authorities believe that illicit drug manufacturers are handling meth on the same surfaces touched by the highly potent opioid, as tiny amounts of fentanyl can be enough to cause an overdose. Stimulants can also hide the signs of opioid overdose, so mixing the two can be especially dangerous.

    “Folks that are doing hardcore illicit drugs can be pretty fussy, too,” says University of California’s Dr. Daniel Ciccarone. “And most meth users really, really, really, really don’t want an unbeknownst fentanyl put into their methamphetamine.”

    At the same time, a higher number of older adults appear to be experimenting with meth. According to the program manager of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Positive Reinforcement Opportunity Project, Rick Andrews, this may be due to the fact that older gay men were too nervous about HIV to engage in much drug use in their youth and are looking to make up for it.

    Older tissue can’t stand up to the high blood pressure and heart rates associated with stimulants in the way that young tissue can, resulting in more strokes and heart attacks.

    “They feel like they’ve missed out and they want to have a little fun and make up for lost time maybe,” Andrews said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Former Lawyer Dedicates Life To Helping Others Into Recovery

    Former Lawyer Dedicates Life To Helping Others Into Recovery

    The man was inspired to help others after a sober mentor helped him into recovery for his addiction to meth and opioids. 

    Lewis Blanche’s rock bottom wasn’t the day in 2009 when he almost blew himself up cooking meth. That time, he ended up in the hospital being treated with opioids, but quickly returned to using street drugs. It wasn’t until a year later, on March 4, 2010, that Blanche vowed to get serious about sobriety. 

    “I was living out of my car. I was riding around making meth. It was midnight, and I had to pull over at a McDonald’s because I hadn’t slept for a month,” Blanche told The Advocate. “A Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputy saw me, and he realized what was going on, so he made me get out of my car and take my clothes off. They were scrubbing me with a brush from a fire engine because they were worried about contamination from the meth lab. All this was happening while people were coming in and getting their coffee … it was absolutely horrible … but it was also the date I got sober.”

    At that point, Blanche’s addiction to meth and opioids had taken everything he had. Despite using drugs since his teen years, Blanche went to law school and ran a successful practice for a time. 

    “I decided to open my own firm. Things went well at first, and it was easy to get clients with my dad being a lawyer,” he said. “But the pressure to be right, to run a law practice … that made me start dabbling with opioids again. This time it was Oxycontin. I was buying prescriptions from people who were selling them.”

    In 2005 he had to give up his law license when his addiction got out of control. That, he said, sent him “off to the races.”

    However, after being scrubbed down in the McDonald’s parking lot, Blanche connected with a sober mentor who was able to help him get into recovery. 

    “He picked me up and said, ‘I need two things from you: wake up every day and find someone to do something for, without expecting anything in return, and when anyone asks you to do anything here for the first year, your response needs to be OK.’ The idea of me saying OK put an end to the most corrosive element in my life: me trying to control everything.”

    After maintaining his sobriety, Blanche didn’t start practicing law again, but decided to help others get into recovery. Today he runs three sober homes and is a partner in a detox center. He says that learning to give up control and focus on recovery has changed his life. 

    “I started floating down the stream of life instead of swimming upstream – and it’s changed everything,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • People With Meth Addiction Are Finding Help Online

    People With Meth Addiction Are Finding Help Online

    “We stay connected online, and we don’t judge anybody on what path they’re on,” says the founder of a Facebook support group for meth addiction.

    Fellowship has always been an important part of recovery. Today, online communities help bring people together, including current and former drug users. 

    “My online support network is huge. I know many people from all over the U.S. and also in other countries,” Jameil White, who has been sober for about three years, told U.S. News and World Reports.

    Today, White runs both a Facebook page and a Facebook group for people who are currently struggling or who have struggled with meth addiction. The private group, called Sobriety 101, has nearly 9,000 members who support each other in recovery.

    “Some of them are members of (Alcoholics Anonymous), (Narcotics Anonymous). You also have members like myself who no longer go to meetings, but they still need that community and that network, and they reach out through online groups,” White said. 

    The online groups can supplement local support systems, she added. 

    “We stay connected online, and we don’t judge anybody on what path they’re on. Whether they’re still in active addiction and they’re struggling, or whether they’re seeking help, we all take the time and volunteer and answer messages and talk to people. We’re their friends—we allow them to call us if they need to. We go so far as trying to find them local meetings or rehab treatment centers, or anything we can to get them the help they need.”

    It’s not just people in recovery who are turning to Facebook and other online platforms for support. Loved ones of people with substance use disorder are also connecting online.

    Six years ago, Julie Richards started the Mothers Against Meth Alliance. She uses her Facebook page—which has more than 5,000 Likes—to educate people about the signs of meth addiction, especially among Native Americans living on North Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. 

    “Nobody wanted to believe meth was here, but I just kept doing these walks, I kept going everywhere I can to bring this awareness, I just kept it up,” she said. “Now, people are like, ‘What can we do to help you?’—whether it be gas money, or coming out on patrol with us.”

    Richards’ daughter is in jail for charges related to her meth addiction. Richards tells other young people that her daughter is one of the lucky ones. 

    “I tell these kids, ‘There’s only two roads that this meth is going to take you to: one is prison, and the other one is death. It’s up to you. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up in prison.’”

    Suzette Schoenfeld, whose son struggled with meth addiction, also runs a group for people with meth addiction and their loved ones. 

    “There’s a big problem with meth in this country, a big white wave,” she said. “People need help, and they’re not getting the help they need. A lot of people reach out for love and understanding, and we’re all learning about this together. I’m hoping that we’re helping each other through this.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Inside North Korea’s Meth Epidemic

    Inside North Korea’s Meth Epidemic

    “Ice has become a best-selling holiday gift item. Drug dealers don’t have enough supply for their buyers,” said one North Korean source.

    One might assume that one of the harshest dictatorships on earth would have a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, but reports suggest that North Korea has a thriving methamphetamine market, and that the drug is even a popular gift for the Lunar New Year. 

    “Ice has become a best-selling holiday gift item,” a North Korean source told Radio Free Asia. “Drug dealers don’t have enough supply for their buyers.”

    According to the New York Times, methamphetamine has long been associated with North Korea. A 2014 report found that the state began manufacturing and exporting methamphetamine in the 1990s as a way to access currency despite trade restrictions.

    Most of the meth was exported through China or given at sea to criminal organizations from Japan and China. The production was “clearly sponsored and controlled” by the government, the report found, but it began to decline in the mid-2000s. 

    With no government-sanctioned channels to export the drug, many manufacturers began selling to locals. Over time, meth became a popular gift used at celebrations, including New Year’s. 

    “Since the mid-2000s, drugs have become commonplace and the people now think that the holidays are not a joyful time if there are no drugs for them to enjoy,” the source told Radio Free Asia. “Social stigmas surrounding drug use [have disappeared], so people now feel that something big is missing if they don’t have ice or opium prepared as a holiday gift.”

    It’s become so mainstream that people no longer try to hide their use, the source said. 

    “In the past, ice users would try to be discreet, not wanting others to know that they were buying, but these days nobody seems to care.”

    Political scientist Justin Hastings, who studies North Korean drug trafficking, said that so many officials take bribes that the country’s economy benefits from looking the other way when it comes to meth use. 

    “Over time, this has resulted in a culture where people are willing to take risks to make money, and official state prohibition has little meaning,” he said. 

    In addition, the culture doesn’t view meth as a powerful and harmful addictive drug, but rather sees it as a small indulgence. North Korea expert Andrei Lankov says that there is a “significant underestimation” about the risks of drug use in North Korea. 

    “Meth, until recently, has been largely seen inside North Korea as a kind of very powerful energy drug—something like Red Bull, amplified,” he said.

    Despite this attitude, more North Koreans are becoming addicted to the drug, according to a second source who spoke with Radio Free Asia. 

    “An increasing number of people are becoming addicted, and ice is sold even in rural and remote areas,” they said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com