Doctors At Risk In Emergency Rooms

Doctor shopping is a major concern for officials trying to stop the prescription drug abuse epidemic crippling this country. Florida emergency rooms have become a frequent stop for addicts looking for pain killers. Doctor shopping typically involves a patient going to a number of different doctors to get prescriptions for the same drugs. Before the advent of databases such practices were considered easy, now it has become more difficult and patients have begun going to the emergency rooms looking for their “fix”. Some doctors are afraid to go to work due to a number of patients becoming violent.

Addicts go to hospital emergency rooms to get prescriptions for their habits, usually during off hours or on a Friday when it's more difficult to check with the patient's primary care physician. County leaders and doctors from Florida Hospital and Orlando Health announced a new plan last Wednesday to cut off people addicted to pain pills, WFTV learned. The announcement was made at the Orange County Administration building, where doctors claim the problem is so bad they're being threatened by the addicts.

Guidelines for doctors to consider before treating a patient have been formed for all Orlando Health and Florida Hospitals, officials said. Hospitals will start tapping into a regional health care database to keep track of repeat visitors, said officials.

"Have your doctors ever been threatened by people who they refuse to give the drugs to?" WFTV reporter Daralene Jones asked.

"Yes. At many different hospitals there have been threats to doctors, nursing staff, and we want to maintain the hospital as a safe place for people to come," said Josef Thundiyil of Orlando Health.

Doctors told WFTV they want lawmakers to stiffen penalties for people who assault the doctors who treat them.

"Addiction is best treated and pain is best treated if there is a single person treating it," said Thundiyil.

Officials with the Center for Drug Free Living said their centers are at capacity and the state wants to cut nearly $1 million next year, unfortunately, more money will be needed if this problem is to be combated.

"We have to turn people away every day," said Dr. Stacy Seikel of the Center for Drug Free Living.

Federal Medical Marijuana Crack Down

In the past few months the federal government has begun cracking down on medical marijuana programs across the board. Dispensaries, people who lease office space to dispensary owners, and even patient growers are at risk of prosecution despite state law that gives such people permission to take part in the medical marijuana program. There are a number of individuals who have not taken the warnings from the federal government seriously who may find themselves in trouble if they do not heed the call.

In the last year, U.S. attorneys sent warning letters to several states regarding medical marijuana laws: Stating that people involved in the growing, dispensing, and regulating of medical marijuana have the potential to be prosecuted, despite following state laws. The letters were sent to officials in:

• Colorado
• Washington
• California
• Montana
• Rhode Island

Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh, says that the 23 marijuana dispensaries located near schools in Colorado that received warning letters last week telling them they must shut down should take the warning seriously.

He told the Associated Press the letters informed the dispensaries owners and their landlords that they have until February 27 to shut down, move, or else face federal penalties. Owners of the dispensaries and the property on which they are located could lose their assets and property, and they may also be facing criminal prosecution.

“We haven’t been sitting by. We’ve been taking marijuana enforcement action,” disputing the claim that the federal government has backed Colorado’s marijuana industry by not increasing enforcement, Walsh told the AP.

Walsh claims that some surveys show that medical marijuana has increased drug use among teenagers.

What Drives People to Drink?

Most people have a hard time understanding what drives people to drink or drug excessively. While we have a better understanding now than ever before in history, there are still many unanswered questions. New research is being conducted every day, shedding new light on this age old problem.

A new study provides clues about what is happening in the brain that drives people to abuse alcohol. The study found a link between how good people feel after they drink, and the amount of endorphins, proteins with opiate-like effects, released in their brain.

Findings like these have been seen in animal studies, but this is the first time they have been observed in humans, according to a news release by UCSF. The research was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the best medical schools in the country. “This is something that we’ve speculated about for 30 years, based on animal studies, but haven’t observed in humans until now,” said lead author Jennifer Mitchell, PhD. “It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good.”

Researchers studied 25 volunteers; 13 were heavy social drinkers and 12 were not. Women were considered heavy social drinkers if they consumed 10 to 16 drinks a week, while men in that category had 14 to 20 drinks weekly, CNN reports. Women who were not heavy social drinkers had fewer than five drinks a week, while the men had fewer than seven drinks.

Brains were scanned using positron emission tomography (PET) to examine the distribution of chemicals produced in response to drinking. One drink led to the release of more endorphins in two brain regions that play a role in pleasure and reward for heavy drinkers. They perceived drinking as more pleasurable than the non-heavy drinkers. That feeling leads them to crave alcohol, the researchers said.

The findings appear in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

200 Million People World Wide Use Illegal Drugs

Drug and alcohol abuse is a worldwide problem with far reaching effects on society. A new report conducted recently came back with some figures that are quite startling. The study found that there are an estimated 200 million people worldwide use illegal drugs, reports the LA Times.

Here are the numbers:

• 125 to 203 million people use marijuana
• 14 million to 56 million use amphetamines
• 12 million to 21 million use opioids
• 14 million to 21 million use cocaine

On top of that:

• 11 million to 21 million inject drugs
• An estimated 15 million to 39 million are considered problem drug users

Researchers found that illegal drug use is the worst in developed countries, with a number of people using more than one substance.

The figures on loss of life are not to pleasing, according to the World Health Organization, in 2004:

• Drugs caused 2.1 million years of life lost
• Alcohol caused a loss of 1.5 million years

Overall, illegal drugs led to 250,000 deaths in 2004, compared with 5.1 million deaths due to tobacco, and 2.25 million due to alcohol.

Military Using Synthetic Marijuana

In the last year we have seen a rise in synthetic drugs sending people to the emergency room. Synthetic marijuana like Spice and bath salts like Ivory Wave contain chemicals that mimic other illegal drugs causing hallucinations that can go on for several days. Typically you hear of teenagers and college students abusing these substances; however, since it is difficult to drug test for synthetic drugs there has been a rise in use with the military.

Just two years ago there were only 29 Marines and sailors who were suspected of using such drugs, but this year the number jumped to over 700. This exponential jump has officials alarmed and concerned due to the fact that jobs in the military require that individuals be on point because lives are often at risk. An investigation has been launched on more than 1,100 suspected users.

Synthetic drugs are relatively easy to come by; the Internet is perhaps the most popular place to purchase them. You can also find them in smoke-shops and in some places even gas stations.

"You can just imagine the work that we do in a military environment," said Mark Ridley, deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, adding, "You need to be in your right mind when you do a job. That's why the Navy has always taken a zero tolerance policy toward drugs."

Those found guilty of using Spice are kicked out, although the Navy does not track the overall number of dismissals. Fortunately, tests are being developed and chemicals used to make these drugs are fast becoming illegal to purchase.

The Midnight Mission

“Giving support is just as therapeutic as getting it” - NBC’s Jane Pauley

Recovery finds addicts the same way addicts find recovery, as is the case for most people working a program of recovery. The process of getting back in touch with oneself is often a long hard road, there is no time limit on how long one will be in the grips of addiction, although, the longer one dances with fate the greater the chance that addiction will take one’s life or everything worth living for.

Recovery involves surrender, coming to terms with the fact that you cannot control everything, let alone addiction. Surrendering to oneself and to others is perhaps the most important aspect of recovery, which is something that Orlando Ward had to figure out the same way every other addict who has hit rock bottom did.

At the age of 51, after ten years at the Midnight Mission, a homeless center in Los Angeles, Ward has achieved the executive position. Alcohol took everything from Orlando, but, with the help of the Midnight Mission and a higher power Ward has managed to work a successful program of recovery for 12 years.

He is a sign of hope for all those who have are homeless and have hit rock bottom as a result of their battle with addiction. We encourage everyone to watch the short video clip below as we hope that everyone has happy holidays.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Smoking May Cause Skin Cancer

Cigarettes are perhaps the hardest drug to quit and users have a high potential for relapse. While tobacco may not be the worst drug one could consume it still happens to be extremely harmful to one’s health and very addictive. Every year, thousands of people lose their life to health conditions that are a result of prolonged tobacco usage. Every case is different, but in most cases cancer is the cause of death, typically lung cancer or mouth and throat cancer.

A new study was conducted and the results may tie smoking with a particular type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma in women. Women with squamous cell carcinoma were almost four times more likely than women without the cancer to have smoked for 20 or more years, according to a news release from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, where the study was conducted.

The study included 383 patients with skin cancer and 315 people without the disease. They were asked:

• How much they smoked
• When they started
• How many years in total they smoked

Smoking did not appear to significantly increase men’s risk of skin cancer. Lead author Dana Rollison said she did not know why they found a gender difference in smoking risk. The female hormone estrogen may affect the breakdown of nicotine in the body, and the body’s ability to repair damage to lung DNA that is caused by smoking.

The authors pointed out that while the study found a link between smoking and skin cancer risk, it did not prove smoking causes skin cancer.

The study appears in the journal Cancer Causes & Control.