Question by Sarah: How does Crack Cocaine use affect Diabetes, specifically?
Hi – I’m a Type 1 – insulin dependant – diabetic (have had it for 23 years, since I was 5 yrs old), and I am / have been in drug treatment / “rehabilitation” for crack cocaine and heroin addiction for the past 10 years. Every 3 months, when it is mandatory to see an actual Doctor, rather than just a key-worker, for a so-called “medical review”, when I tell the ‘Doctor-Of-The-Day’, (dubbed so because my treatment centre is SOOO good and consistent that I get to see a new and totally unfamiliar Doctor each and every time!), that I am diabetic, I am ALWAYS, without fail, met with the cliche, car-mechanic style sharp intake of breath, followed by, “Oooo! Well then you REALLY need to be careful of what you’re doing then, in that case!”…. But NEVER an explanation as to WHY, EXACTLY, I, especially, i.e., more than other, NON-diabetic clients need to be SO careful! I have asked, more than once, why diabetics in particular need to be so much more especially careful when using drugs, as a result of the condition, but the Doctors (don’t know why I insist on using a capital D for Doctor, like they’re all God-like or something?!?! but that’s besides the point here isn’t it?, SO…), The ALL the doctors I’ve so far put this question to just fob me off with, “Well, you’re key-worker can/will answer that for you if you ask them another time; I’m simply here to review your prescription and unfortunately don’t have the time to discuss other, non-drug-related matters, at this time.” I.e., I don’t really know, so I’ll use my apparent/imagined importance to avoid the question altogether.”!!!!!!! I think it’s obviously needless for me to say here that my key-workers are just as baffled / ignorant on the subject as I and all the so-called ‘professional’ doctors are, so I still don’t have an answer! I understand diabetes, and I studied Biomedical Science at degree level for one year, so I’m not STUPID and I DO understand how the human body works better than most, so I tried to find the answer for myself using information that is available online – However – Trying to find info’ that explains or describes how crack and/or heroin use / addiction affects a diabetic user, specifically, with regard to their diabetes only, I’ve found is near enough impossible! Everywhere you go, for info’ on “effects of crack cocaine and heroin on diabetes/diabetics” supplies only generic info’ on the drugs’ common (side) effects with NOTHING specific pertaining to how exactly diabetes does, or potentially could, affect or complicate the drugs’/body’s usual interaction / metabolism of the drugs in question. Can someone with REAL knowledge on this subject please tell me why a diabetic addict/user is so much more at risk than a non-diabetic addict/user?!?! I would really appreciate REAL, solid, scientific info’ on this subject rather than simple conjecture, theory and suggestion/personal opinion! Many thanks, Sairra x X x

Best answer:

Answer by Mr. Peachy®
You’ll never catch me capitalizing doctor unless it’s a salutation like “Dr.”, for example. There are a few doctors worthy of respect, but I suspect they won’t be found in a treatment center. At any rate, I have learned (the hard way) that drugs… all drugs, tend to interfere with the metabolism in one way or another. Many of them can either increase insulin resistance or cause excess release of cortisol which causes the liver to release stored glycogen as glucose into the blood. As a type one, the last thing you want is insulin resistance (my particular situation as a type two). It would, in effect, make you “double diabetic” meaning you would have to increase your insulin dose for the same amount of carb intake. Trust me, you don’t want to go there. As to specifically which drugs cause what, I don’t really know as I have investigated myself (a former meth and alcohol user) and found very little specific information on the subject. What I can tell you is this. Since getting off of all drugs (that includes the diabetes drug, Metformin), and learning a lot on nutrition, my life has improved significantly. I would never consider going back. Sorry I couldn’t have been more help, but there just isn’t a lot of stuff available out there. Perhaps this might be an opportunity for you to continue your Biomedical Science education and become an educator on the subject. The more I learn about what drugs do to me, the less I want them in my body. And that includes legal, and especially prescription, drugs

Add your own answer in the comments!

Best Drug Rehabilitation's New Video Highlights How Music Therapy Is Used to …
Best Drug Rehabilitation, a leading treatment facility that implements structured and planned regiment of care that is geared to the personalized needs of each client, has launched a new video that highlights how music therapy is used at the facility …
Read more on Midland Daily News

Funding cuts to drug treatment centers mean addicts get turned away
The new state budget sliced funding to three state-run alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers by about $ 4.9 million each year for the next two years – a 12 percent reduction per year to each facility's budget. The three – Walter B. Jones Alcohol and …
Read more on Charlotte Observer

Battle brewing between Malibu residents and pricey drug rehab centers
"If you're really concerned about this, deal with the offending facility, but where I get upset is when I'm doing such good work," said Richard Taite, founder and CEO of the Cliffside Malibu treatment facility. "We're so well-respected in the community …
Read more on 89.3 KPCC

Central America Welcomes a New Luxury Holistic Drug Rehab Center
Announcing its recent drug rehab expansion into the Central American market, the Boquete, Panama drug & alcohol treatment center marks the region's first high-end, luxury and holistically based professional residential recovery residence for men and …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

Drug Rehab For Women Destination Hope Expands Eating Disorders Program
In light of new information, Destination Hope: The Women's Program, a nationally recognized gender specific mental health treatment and drug rehab for women facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is expanding their eating disorders program to …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

WV Drug Court graduation in Kanawha County
The graduates passed the intense drug rehab program that is an alternative to a revolving system of drug addiction and incarceration. Some of … Continuing interdisciplinary education promotes effective drug court planning, implementation, and operations.
Read more on WOWK

Save America's Most Dangerous City: Decriminalize Drugs and Provide …
… July 15 at Park West Apartments. A troubled 18-year-old with a history of home robberies is charged with their shootings, plus one more. There was a warrant out for his arrest because he had left the drug treatment program he had been sentenced to …
Read more on Huffington Post

Question by drokk: How can I get something exponged from my criminal record?
I haven’t been conviction free since then but I have been through a “drug treatment” court which has proven I have been clean and the main thing I would like exponged is a misdemeanor possesion of a controlled substance conviction that is 6 years old.No new chrages in 3 years.

Best answer:

Answer by jonnyshoehorn
get yourself a good lawyer

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

PPACA may steer 40 million to drug, alcohol programs
The other day it was 37 million — the number of people a Stanford Medical School study suggested might bolt their employer health plan for exchange coverage. Now, we hearing that 40 million folks may enter drug and/or alcohol rehab programs once the …
Read more on BenefitsPro

Bangor conference sheds light on drug, alcohol addiction treatment differences …
BANGOR, Maine — When it comes to drug and alcohol addiction, there are differences between men and women, and that means treatment programs need to be different, local substance abuse providers learned Friday at a conference about addiction and …
Read more on Bangor Daily News

Intensive Substance-Abuse Treatment Fails to Deliver Better Results: Study
17 (HealthDay News) — Treating drug and alcohol addiction with a concentrated approach called chronic care management may be no more effective than a single medical appointment and addiction referral, according to a new study. Results of the year-long …
Read more on WebMD

Millions more to get coverage for addiction, alcoholism treatment, but can the …
In the coming years, treatment programs and medical colleges will face pressure to ramp up to create a larger system. But until then, addiction treatment may represent an extreme example of one of the Affordable Care Act's challenges: actually …
Read more on Washington Post (blog)

Question by Evan: I NEED TO KNOW THE MONEY SPENT ON ALCOHOL REHABS YEARLY. RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.?
RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
The most recent I could find for the US has the figures for 1997:

“A study shows that the U.S. spent a combined $ 11.9 billion on alcohol and drug abuse treatment, while the total social costs were more than $ 294 billion. The results were part of the National Estimates of Expenditures for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1997, which was released at the end of April by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

The report, prepared by the MEDSTAT Group for SAMHSA, examines how much is spent in the U.S. to treat alcohol and drug abuse, how that spending has changed between 1987 and 1997, how much of the spending is done by the private and public sectors, and how substance abuse expenditures compare to spending for mental health and other health conditions in the U.S.”
http://www.usmedicine.com/newsDetails.cfm?dailyID=54

In NY:
“States report spending $ 2.5 billion a year on treatment. States did not distinguish whether the treatment was for alcohol, illicit drug abuse or nicotine addiction. Of the $ 2.5 billion total, $ 695 million is spent through the departments of health and $ 633 million through the state substance abuse agencies. We believe that virtually all of these funds are spent on alcohol and illegal drug treatment.”
Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

States Waste Billions Dealing with Consequences of Addiction, CASA Study Says
May 28, 2009

The vast majority of the estimated $ 467.7 billion in substance-abuse related spending by governments on substance-abuse problems went to deal with the consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, not treatment and prevention, according to a new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

The report, titled, “Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets,” found that 95 percent of the $ 373.9 billion spent by the federal government and states went to paying for the societal and personal damage caused by alcohol and other drug use; the calculation included crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction.

Just 1.9 percent went to treatment and prevention, while 0.4 percent was spent on research, 1.4 percent went towards taxation and regulation, and 0.7 percent went to interdiction.

“Such upside-down-cake public policy is unconscionable,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s founder and chairman. “It’s past time for this fiscal and human waste to end.”

CASA estimated that the federal government spent $ 238.2 billion on substance-abuse related issues in 2005, while states spent $ 135.8 billion and local governments spent $ 93.8 billion. The report said that 58 percent of spending was for health care and 13.1 percent on justice systems.

Researchers estimated that 11.2 percent of all federal and state government spending went towards alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addictions and its consequences. The report said that Connecticut spent the most proportionately on prevention, treatment and research — $ 10.39 of every $ 100 spent on addiction issues — while New Hampshire spent the least — 22 cents.
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/states-waste-billions-dealing.html

Key Findings

Of the $ 3.3 trillion total federal and state government spending, $ 373.9 billion –11.2 percent, more than one of every ten dollars– was spent on tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction and its consequences.

The federal government spent $ 238.2 billion (9.6 percent of its budget) on substance abuse and addiction. If substance abuse and addiction were its own budget category at the federal level, it would rank sixth, behind social security, national defense, income security, Medicare and other health programs including the federal share of Medicaid.

State governments spent $ 135.8 billion (15.7 percent of their budgets) to deal with substance abuse and addiction, up from 13.3 percent in 1998. If substance abuse and addiction were its own state budget category, it would rank second behind spending on elementary and secondary education.

Local governments spent $ 93.8 billion on substance abuse and addiction (9 percent of their budgets), outstripping local spending for transportation and public welfare.¹

For every $ 100 spent by state governments on substance abuse and addiction, the average spent on prevention, treatment and research was $ 2.38; Connecticut spent the most, $ 10.39; New Hampshire spent the least, $ 0.22.

For every dollar the federal and state governments spent on prevention and treatment, they spent $ 59.83 shoveling up the consequences, despite a growing

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!