Pubdate: Fri, 02 Dec 2005
Source: Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Oroville Mercury Register
Contact:  http://www.orovillemr.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2277
Author: Paula M. Felipe

EXPERT TALKS ABOUT METH ADDICTION AND TREATMENT AT SOUTHSIDE
COMMUNITY  CENTER

More than 300 people registered in advance and attended the
"Successful Treatment for Methamphetamine Addiction Conference"
Thursday at the Southside Community Center in Oroville.

This conference focused on how Butte County can better treat people
with substance abuse issues, especially meth addiction.

Attendees included physicians, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers,
emergency medical personnel, law enforcement, attorneys, medical
office staff, among others.

"With meth abuse reaching epidemic levels across the nation, local and
national media have dubbed meth as America's most dangerous drug. Here
in Butte County, meth is responsible for a majority of violent crimes
including sexual assaults, child abuse, and even murder. This
conference is a positive step toward improving meth treatment in Butte
County and ultimately helping meth addicts win their battle against
this devastating drug," reads a statement from the Sheriff's Office.

Dr. S. Alex Stalcup, a nationally renowned expert on chemical
dependency and treatment, spoke about how to recognize a person with
toxic psychosis caused by meth and provided safety advice for
approaching meth addicts. He also discussed in extensive detail the
causes of craving the drug, the nature of addiction, and recommended
special treatments, therapies, and medications that promote recovery.

Some highlights of his informative and lengthy talk
include:

Treatment is effective and recovery is possible. "This is a take-home
message for everyone here. Expert treatment yields sobriety," Stalcup
said.

Treatment needs to be at least one year or more. "Meth addicts don't
respond well to shorter treatments, and retention in treatment is the
most important factor that influences the outcome," Stalcup explained.

Intervention is key. "Don't wait for the addicts to want help. The
ones who refuse treatment are the ones who need treatment the most.
You shouldn't wait until they commit another felony in order to get
treated. It's more effective to treat the addiction in the early stages."

Understand the biology of the disease of addiction. "Addiction is a
disease of the pleasure-producing chemistry of the brain.
Neuroadaptation is the mechanism of the disease and once this occurs,
cessation of drug use leads to inversion of the high' and sobriety
becomes pleasureless."

Dr. Stalcup said, "Once the pleasure system of the brain is damaged,
you lose the ability to feel pleasure and joy. The drugs provide the
pleasure initially, but the continued use over-stimulates and damages
your pleasure chemistry in your brain you become insensitive to
pleasure and stop doing things you used to enjoy like playing ball,
hiking, fishing, playing guitar, singing."

Toxic Psychosis in meth addicts include delusions, hallucinations, and
disorganization of speech and behavior.

Causes of craving the drug include: Environmental cues (triggers),
which are cravings stimulated by people, places, and things associated
with prior drug use; drug withdrawal; and mental illness symptoms.
Also, any kind of stress, including emotions such as anger, can
trigger cravings. Craving can be likened to hunger for food or desire
for sex. When an addict is craving meth, they become irritable, edgy,
frustrated, unstable, and can become dangerous and lose touch with a
sense of values, morals, and ethics.

Law enforcement has an important role in helping drug addicts. "The
medical community realizes we can't treat our way out of the problem
because many do not seek help. Police officers realize we can't arrest
our way out, so we need to arrest and send addicts into treatment
programs," Stalcup said.

"Law enforcement can identify people in the early stages when
treatment has a greater impact and there is less damage done to the
user and can recover faster ... I pray someone will arrest them and
get them help before they hurt someone."

Going from snorting to smoking meth is a critical and dangerous
turning point. "Snorting enters the drug into your system in 10 to 20
minutes, but when smoking meth, it enters your system in 10 to 30
seconds, and "the rush" is intense. When someone smokes meth for the
first time, they are almost immediately addicted. And it is always
toxic and will always hurt you."

Successful treatment for meth addicts include drug court
participation; certain medications; sleep, food, exercise routine
developed; meticulous control of environmental exposure to meth;
treatment of paranoia with antipsychotic medication, and
antidepressant treatment of prolonged anhedonia and anergia.

The classic binge cycle of meth users include "crashing" after the
user hasn't slept in days. "The addict repeats the same cycle and the
high gets lower and the low gets lower. They keep taking a hit not to
come down. Crashing is a deep sleep almost comatose-like. Stalcup
remarked, "A meth addict cannot parent when they are bingeing and
crashing and become paranoid and delusional."

"One person can make a huge difference, and Sue Webber Brown is the
toughest, thorough, clear thinking person in the field. She developed
protocols for helping drug endangered children. All over the United
States, thousands of children are alive and well today because of Sue
Webber-Brown, a great leader in the field," Stalcup said.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey introduced Brown, who he said has "a
huge amount of passion and compassion in saving children from the
monster (meth)."

Webber-Brown presented many hazards that a "drug-home" poses to
children and showed a slide presentation of neglected and endangered
children who lived in homes of filth, rotten food, poor hygiene and
garbage, which includes risks of fire, malnutrition, explosions,
electrocution (exposed wiring), chemical poisonings, burns, illness,
and death.

Emotional impact can also be severe. "I've seen children who don't
even cry or express any emotion when they are separated from their
parents, who went to jail. They've been through so much and seen so
many other providers that they have attachment disorder," she said.

Don Fultz was another speaker, who received a standing ovation after
his talk. Fultz has been free from addiction to methamphetamine,
alcohol, pot, and tobacco for eight years now and serves as a
counselor who helps others.

"I went to two 12-step meetings a day for a year, before tapering off,
and for several years after that they would point me out to newcomers
saying, If you think you're in bad shape, you should have seen him
when he got here.' I still go to one meeting a week," Fultz said.

"I like the fellowship because it is the only place I can go to be
just another human being getting through one clean day at a time ...
Check your negative attitude about addiction at the door. Most of us
have been hurt in one way or another by an addict, and it is easy to
project that onto the addict who is counting on us to not reinforce
his or her self-loathing."

Fultz shared an earnest, emotional, and insightful perspective with
the audience. His voice broke with emotion when he said, "We can all
benefit from some reframing. Addict, Alcoholic, Junkie, Crankster,
Parasite, Demon, Orvillain, Criminal, Deviant, Sinner, Spinner,
Tweeker, Methamphibian, and Buttant are some of the dehumanizing names
we attach to people who are addicted. Why don't we start telling it
like it is? I am your brother, sister, mother, father, grandmother,
grandfather, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, and cousin. If
you can't see the human under my disease, what chance have I got of
finding the spirit inside the human?"

"I am a human being with a spiritual essence; someday it will be the
other way around," Fultz ended. 
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)