Addiction

UK pop star, Robbie Williams has been admitted into a rehab clinic in the US on his 33rd birthday, to be treated for a dependency on prescription drugs. It is not the first time he has entered rebab, after leaving Take That in 1995 he became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Pop stars, actors and those with money can afford to spend time in world renown clinics but what about those who find themselves addicted to prescription medication,other and are not so lucky? I also find this subject quite close to my heart because being a person who needs to take serious doses of serious medication, I find family members fear for me and worry for my 'addiction' which of course does not exist. There is a fine line between addiction and dependence and mine is dependence. The difference was described to me once:
Those who are addicted need to take medications either presciption or illigal, to make them feel normal or need to get that 'high' they crave; dependence is a bit like a person who takes Insulin for diabetes, you would not stop them taking Insulin would you? No. I for instance need to take pain relieving meds to relieve some unrelenting pain. It never goes completelybut that's what blogs like these are for because they help to take one's mind off!!!!!

Here's a few statistics for you;

Estimated number of regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs worldwide 50m

Annual value of the global illegal drugs trade $400bn

Percentage of the 28 musicians behind the top 10 best-selling albums of all time who have
admitted regular illegal drug use 89%

Number of children under 14 who have taken illegal drugs 14m

Percentage of banknotes in circulation in London that have traces of cocaine 99%

Annual cost to society of drug abuse in England and Wales Up to £18.8bn

Number of people in Britain who are dependent on alcohol 1 in 13

Percentage of young men and young women who binge-drink regularly 37, 23%

Number of people who have witnessed a fight after people have been drinking 7 in 10

Percentage of people in the 16-24 age group who are unable to remember if they had sex the night before 10%

Number of beds in male hospital wards occupied by someone with an alcohol-related illness
1 in 4

Number of people killed per week because of drink-driving 10

Percentage of GPs and Practice Nurses who do not know how to treat dependent drinkers 71%

Annual cost to the NHS of alcohol abuse £3bn

Anna Nicole Smith, the model who was famous for being famous, died last week from what the preliminary autopsy report stated 'No natural causes'; however there is speculation because she had several prescription drugs; Methadone, Provigil, Xanax and fentanyl found in her hotel room. Reports were that Anna Niole Smith had been drinking heavily the night before and the toxic combination could well be that the alcohol and medications could had caused her death. Methadone stays in your body a long time and Smith had been prescribed this a couple of days before because a fall in which she injured her back. It is a very strong pain medication though but who am I to judge? Anyway, if Smith was not aware of how dangerous this drug was she may had unintentionally taken more than she needed but I find that hard to believe because her own son dies of a drugs overdose?
(Methadone and Fentanyl are strong painkillers, Xanaxi s a benzodiazepine and Porvigil is a stimulant).

Addiction.............I could go on forever........