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Am I doing your homework? Just kidding. Here is what I found:

According to a UN report, One million heroin addicts are registered in India, and unofficially there are as many as five million. What started off as casual use among a minuscule population of high-income group youth in the metro has permeated to all sections of society. Inhalation of heroin alone has given way to intravenous drug use, that too in combination with other sedatives and painkillers. This has increased the intensity of the effect, hastened the process of addiction and complicated the process of recovery. Cannabis, heroin, and Indian-produced pharmaceutical drugs are the most frequently abused drugs in India. Cannabis products, often called charas, bhang, or ganja, are abused throughout the country because it has attained some amount of religious sanctity because of its association with some Hindu deities. The International Narcotics Control Board in its 2002 report released in Vienna pointed out that in India persons addicted to opiates are shifting their drug of choice from opium to heroin. The pharmaceutical products containing narcotic drugs are also increasingly being abused. The intravenous injections of analgesics like dextropropoxphene etc are also reported from many states, as it is easily available at 1/10th the cost of heroin. The codeine-based cough syrups continue to be diverted from the domestic market for abuse

With most drug users being in the productive age group of 18-35 years, the loss in terms of human potential is incalculable. The damage to the physical, psychological, moral and intellectual growth of the youth is very high. Adolescent drug abuse is one of the major areas of concern in adolescent and young people’s behavior. It is estimated that, in India, by the time most boys reach the ninth grade, about 50 percent of them have tried at least one of the gateway drugs. However, there is a wide regional variation across states in term of the incidence of the substance abuse. For example, a larger proportion of teens in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh use gateway drugs (about 60 percent in both the states) than Uttar Pradesh or Haryana (around 35 percent). Increase in incidences of HIV, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis due to addiction adds the reservoir of infection in the community burdening the health care system further. Women in India face greater problems from drug abuse. The consequences include domestic violence and infection with HIV, as well as the financial burden. Eighty seven per cent of addicts being treated in a de-addiction center run by the Delhi police acknowledged being violent with family members. Most of the domestic violence is directed against women and occurs in the context of demands for money to buy drugs. At the national level, drug abuse is intrinsically linked with racketeering, conspiracy, corruption, illegal money transfers, terrorism and violence threatening the very stability of governments

Reference:
http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/Drug-Abuse-in-India.html

Relapse Prevention Tools

There are some relapse prevention tools that can come in very handy. Everyone is different, but in the general there are certain steps and skills that are needed to progress from a state of abstinence and move on into a life of recovery.

Here are some sobriety tips and sobriety tools that have proven successful in maintaining sobriety.

1. They acknowledge that they had a problem.

2. They looked for help and support from reliable sources outside of themselves.

3. With that assistance, they took whatever steps were necessary in becoming abstinent, that is, to stop using alcohol and all mood altering drugs.

4. Through the guidance of others, they discovered proven, workable plans, to lead them toward recovery and growth.

5. They then integrated the details of those plans into their daily lives and kept the process alive through consistent attention and effort.

6. They continue to find and utilize resources that the deepen the recovery experience by encouraging physical, mental, and spiritual growth and change.

Tools Needed To Stay Sober

1. We must learn to identify own and express our feelings.

2. We learn to slow down and not let our emotions become overwhelming.

3. Avoid people places and things that can lead to temptation or undermine our recovery.

4. Learn to increase and practice new found problem solving skills

5. Learn how to take care of yourself by developing positive coping strategies.

6. Create a plan of action for crisis.

Answering questions about marijuana is difficult because supporters of its use are almost militant in their stance and arguments.

Our stance is that it should not be legal. Why? Rather than getting all emotional, look to the published, replicated scientific studies.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has reported that marijuana can be harmful both from immediate effects and damage to health over time.

Specifically, studies have shown that marijuana can hinder the users’ short term memory and ability to handle difficult tasks (Schwartz et al. 1989). Students may find it difficult to study and learn. While many of the long-term effects of marijuana use are not yet known, studies have shown that daily marijuana smokers who did not use tobacco had more sick days and doctor visits for respiratory problems than a similar group who did not smoke either substance. A person who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have (Tashkin et al. 1987). Other studies have shown that the regular use of marijuana may play a role in cancer and problems of the respiratory, immune and reproductive systems. Heavy marijuana use can affect hormones in both males and females. Both animal and human studies have shown that marijuana impairs the ability of T-cells in the lungs’ immune defense system to fight off some infections.

Because of the drug’s effects on perceptions and reaction time, users could be involved in automobile accidents (NIDA 1995). According to the 1996 NHSDA, nearly one million 16-18 year olds (11 percent) reported driving at least once within two hours of using an illicit drug in the past year (most often marijuana) (SAMHSA 1998). Although it is not yet known how the use of marijuana relates to mental illness, some scientists maintain that regular marijuana use can lead to chronic anxiety, personality disturbances, and depression (NIDA 1995). Some frequent long-term marijuana users show signs of lack of motivation and tend to perform poorly in school (Pope 1996).

A recent study demonstrated similarities between marijuana’s effect on the brain and those produced by such [tag-self]addictive drugs[/tag-self] as cocaine, heroin, alcohol, and nicotine (Volkow 1996). There is substantial interest in the co-occurrence in the general population of illicit drug use with other kinds of behavioral patterns, mental syndromes, and psychiatric disorders (Bourden et al. 1992, Kandel et al. 1997, Kessler et al. 1996, SAMHSA 1996). A number of descriptive studies have demonstrated that people who use drugs are more likely to have mental disorders, physical health problems, and family problems (NIDA 1991). In addition, a recent study (Crowley 1998) was conducted with 165 boys and 64 girls between the ages of 13 and 19 who had been referred by social service or criminal justice agencies to a university-based treatment program for delinquent substance-involved adolescents.

Based on interviews, medical examinations, social history, and psychological evaluations, the study showed that marijuana use by teenagers who have prior serious antisocial problems can quickly lead to dependence on the drug. Most of the youths reported that their behavioral problems predated, and were not initially caused by, their drug use. The 1994, 1995, and 1996 NHSDA incorporated the widely used Youth Self-Report (YSR) Checklist which ranks adolescents on a variety of clinically validated scales of behavioral and emotional problem behaviors (Achenbach 1991). In this paper, the relationship between marijuana use among those age 12-17 and various problem measures, as reported on the YSR, is shown.

Dear Patricia,

The reality is that no, I cannot tell you where you went wrong. I would suggest that if you are still using to go see a counselor or professional right away.

All is not lost, after all you just proved after 4 years clean it is not a matter of ability. You did it. You can and will do it again if you choose.

Something went wrong, and I urge you to work with someone to find a plan that will address what ever it is that went astray.

You do not go back to the beginning and have to start where someone new to recovery does. ewhat I mean by that is that you have already answered the questions that trip up newcomers.

1. Do you have a problem? Yes, you know that.
2. Do you want to do something about it? Yes, you do.

That is a huge headstart. Now your task is to develop a long term plan to maximize your chances for success.

In my experience the 2 things that trip people up most oftem is:

1. Complacency – they took it easy and did not pay attention to relapse prevention and personal growth. And,

2. Giving Up on Recovery.
At some point you wanted to use more than stay sober and you actively chose to pick up again. No one ‘made you do it’. Now, you can actively choose to start not using again, if you so desire.

The 2 key things I teach to others and use in my own recovery is:

1. I will not use “NO MATTER WHAT”, and I mean no matter what. There is nothing that happens in the world that cannot be gotten through without drinking or drugging. Othres have done it, so can you and I.

2. I apply the idea of “overwhelming force” to my recovery. Take the amount of treatment or meetings you think you need and then triple it. Recovery is and always be the number one priority in my life. Without it every thing else falls apart.

Not allowing time for recovery or growth activities is silently allowing drugs and alcohol back into ones life to rule it.

M

Check Out:
http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/2008/11/16/hormonal-shifts-in-womens-health-and-addiction-recovery/

http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/2008/05/22/womens-addiction-treatment-and-recovery-issues-podcast/

http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/2008/05/16/quick-facts-on-drug-and-alcohol-use-for-women/

I am truly sorry for your pain. To answer your question, it is not like what they say about hyonotism, that you cannot be ‘made’ to do something you wouldn’t normally do. The blackout itself is about memory not decision making. No one can determine when a blackout will occur, the type or duration. En bloc blackouts prevent memories from even being imprinted on the brain, so there is nothing to recall, no matter how hard one tries. Here is a synopsis of a couple studies I found on the 2 types of blackouts:

(Goodwin et al. 1969a,b). Based on interviews with 100 hospitalized alcoholics, 64 of whom had a history of blackouts, the authors posited the existence of two qualitatively different types of blackouts: en bloc and fragmentary blackouts. People experiencing en bloc blackouts are unable to recall any details whatsoever from events that occurred while they were intoxicated, despite all efforts by the drinkers or others to cue recall. Referring back to our general model of memory formation, it is as if the process of transferring information from short–term to long–term storage has been completely blocked. En bloc memory impairments tend to have a distinct onset. It is usually less clear when these blackouts end because people typically fall asleep before they are over. Interestingly, people appear able to keep information active in short–term memory for at least a few seconds. As a result, they can often carry on conversations, drive automobiles, and engage in other complicated behaviors. Information pertaining to these events is simply not transferred into long–term storage. Ryback (1970) wrote that intoxicated subjects in one of his studies “could carry on conversations during the amnesic state, but could not remember what they said or did 5 minutes earlier. Their immediate and remote memory were intact” (p. 1003). Similarly, in their study of memory impairments in intoxicated alcoholics, Goodwin and colleagues (1970) reported that subjects who experienced blackouts for testing sessions showed intact memory for up to 2 minutes while the sessions were taking place.