Michael Jackson's Death Caused by Prescription Drugs

Officials investigating the death of Michael Jackson will be looking into his prescription drug abuse as a possible cause of death as an accidental drug overdose . The pop icon admitted to prescription drug addiction in the 90’s and it is likely that his battles continued. Some rumors speculate that Jackson was injected with the heavy narcotic Demerol prior to suffering from cardiac arrest. Autopsy findings will be released in the near future.
Prescription drug abuse is growing rapidly in this country, with prescription drug use eclipsing marijuana use among teens. Teens are increasingly abusing stimulants like Adderall, sedatives like Xanax and Valium, and opiates like Oxycontin, that they acquire from parents’ drug cabinets, friends, and online purchasing. Most parents do not suspect that their teen is abusing prescription medication, however, over the past decade-and-a-half, teen prescription drug abuse has increased five-fold.
It makes sense. When I was using, pills seemed like a harmless thing. I ate Xanax (we called them “zanies”) and Oxycontin (“oxy”) like candy. Pills have less of a stigma attached. While my friends and I would have considered heroin or cocaine a horrible and dangerous drug to try, pills seemed easy and normal- something the girls from Sex and the City might to do relax. I had no idea I was gambling with my life the same way a junkie on the streets gambles with theirs.
Adolescent Drug Treatment helped me see teen addiction as the problem- not the particular substance I abused. I know that the prevailing attitude among teens is that pills are harmless and not nearly as dangerous as street drugs. I hope that with the insane amount of press coverage surrounding Michael Jackson’s death, more attention will be given to the seriousness of prescription drug abuse in our country. I’d rather have a better name for my generation than “Generation Rx”. We can be more than pill-popping zombies I hope. I know I can. If your teen is struggling with prescription drug abuse, help is right here.

If your teen is struggling with teen prescription drug abuse, help is right here.

Eminem Heavily Addicted to Prescription Drugs

Eminem recently opened up to Vice Magazine, admitting that he used to be heavily addicted to prescription painkillers and sleeping pills. He reported that at times he was taking 10-20 Vicodin a day and so many Valium and Ambien that he couldn’t count them. Again we are reminded of the growing problem of prescription drug addiction. After a nasty relapse following a knee injury, Eminem got clean and stayed clean. In the article, he shares about his initial struggle to write raps sober. He says, “I almost feel like a little kid again with rap. I wanna play around with different flows. If I don’t feel like it’s what I’m fully capable of, if there’s one weak line, I wanna change it. Rap was my drug. It used to get me high and then it stopped getting me high. Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that… Now rap’s getting me high again.”

Most of the people I know in recovery are highly creative in one form or another. Many addicts in early recovery struggle with the fear that they will not be able to do the creative things that they used to do when they were using. Art therapy is an extremely useful tool in exploring emotions and recovery. I associated painting and drawing with using, and I thought that I wouldn’t be creative anymore without drugs, which is a lie. I felt like art was a best friend that I could never go back to again, and it broke my heart. Recently, I heard a speaker share that as an artist, in order to overcome her challenges with creativity, she had to remember that she was a creative and clean person before she started using, and that she was a creative and clean person now. Art therapy at Visions helped me readjust my perspective regarding art. I began to see it as a useful tool in my recovery. Painting and drawing are now forms of meditation for me, and a way to work out challenging issues. I don’t know what role art will play in my future, but I know that I don’t want to be without my creative outlets.

Addicted to prescription drugs

Adolescent Prescription drug abuse

Adolescent Prescription drug abuse

There are many different ways that adolescents are using to get high these days. Marijuana and alcohol are among the most common. However, more and more adolescents are turning to prescription medication abuse. 48 million or 20% of the United States population have used prescription medications for reasons other than medical in their lifetime. Since 1995 emergency room visits resulting from prescription medication abuse have gone up 163% and so are visits to adolescent drug rehabs Prescription medications are easier to obtain now more than ever. Some teens are simply stealing their parent’s prescriptions out of the medicine cabinet. More often teens are visiting online pharmacies, where they sell very addictive medications to anyone who will pay. Teens also will trade their prescriptions at school, either for other drugs or for money. Prescription medication can be classified in one of three categories that are the most commonly abused: stimulants, opioids and central nervous system depressants.

Opioids include Morphine, Vicodin and Oxycontin, to name a few. Opioids are used to treat pain. When abused these medications can be life threatening. If opioids are mixed with any substance that depressed the central nervous system, such as alcohol, Xanax, or Valium, they can cause respiratory malfunction and death. These drugs are occasionally snorted or injected, in order to amplify the high.

Central nervous system depressants, such as Xanax or Valium, are used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders. Barbiturates are also considered central nervous system depressants. These medications work by slowing down brain activity, which when abused or used with alcohol they can slow the activity down so much that it results in heart or respiratory malfunction and death.

Stimulants speed up the body causing increased attentiveness, alertness and energy. Stimulants were primarily used to treat asthma and obesity. Currently they are used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, Depression and narcolepsy. Abusing these medications or mixing them with decongestants may result in irregular heart activity and high body temperatures.