Heroin is a drug in the opioid family. Its short-acting nature means it has a significant impact following usage but leaves the bloodstream relatively quickly. The way it rapidly leaves the bloodstream means withdrawal periods for heroin are shorter than for other drugs. While this implies withdrawal symptoms will emerge within less than a day…
New research confirms what many people already know about marijuana. In spite of its increasing popularity, weed is not the benign, all-purpose nutrient that the industry promotes. Damage to the brain from cannabis use includes a person’s response time, executive functioning and residual verbal memory. In laymen’s terms this means that the cannabis user’s decision-making,…
According to a current assessment published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “Opioids are the most effective and widely used drugs in the treatment of severe pain.”[1] Given they’re so commonly used, what is problematic is how addictive these powerful pharmaceutical drugs are. The Mayo Clinic states, “Opioids are highly addictive, in large…
While much of the U.S. media’s attention has recently been on the opioid epidemic, the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s most recent statistics on cocaine use indicate 8.4% of adults report having used cocaine in the past year.[1] (That is one out of every 12 adults in America.) Cocaine is a stimulant and controlled substance…
If you or someone you know has a substance use disorder—aka chemical dependency—and seek treatment for an addiction to alcohol or drugs, the first recommendation a rehab center poses may be to do a medically assisted detox. “What’s that?” you ask. Medical detox is a process for getting rid of toxic (including addictive) substances, carried…
Have you ever looked in the mirror and the reflection back has said something like, “Alright, already! You’ve GOT to quit drinking!” If you’re like me, you’d certainly prefer to have a switch somewhere nearby you could flick and voila! All our alcohol problems would magically disappear and we’d be able to live our lives…
For those seeking recovery from an alcohol dependency, detoxing from alcohol is typically an extremely challenging experience. Throughout the detox process—which, according to Medical News Today, initially takes about a week[1]—there is a high likelihood of experiencing negative, even dangerous symptoms of withdrawal. Even milder symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be too uncomfortable to tolerate.…
When it comes to party drugs, few of them are more well-known than cocaine. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people abuse cocaine every year. Because of its addictive nature and strong withdrawal symptoms, many of them are afraid to seek treatment. However, what cocaine withdrawal symptoms can they expect in detox? At BoardPrep Recovery…
The amount of media attention being devoted to the current COVID-19 pandemic may obscure the longevity and potential danger of another national problem: the opioid epidemic. Indeed, addiction to opioid drugs—including fentanyl, an extremely potent opioid—has continued to rise in recent years. According to the latest figures reported by the National Center for Drug Abuse…
When I first came to the doorstep of recovery, I’d convinced myself I was never going to have fun again. I had spent years and years, day after day, chasing after “the next high,” having left far behind as a distant memory the time when a game of dodgeball at the playground or looking at…