Burlington Working on Prescription Drugs Abuse

As prescription drug abuse continues to grow in North Carolina and across the country, one local police department is opening permanent drop boxes to help people get rid of unwanted medicine.

Jennifer Kaffenberger has made it her mission to educate people about the dangers of taking other peoples’ medicine.

In 2011, her son, Harry Cohen, was the star quarterback at Burlington’s Williams High School. Cohen accidentally overdosed and died after taking his grandmother’s methadone pain medication.

“When people think of overdose, they think ‘Oh, he took the whole bottle’ or ‘He took it because he wanted to get high,'” Kaffenberger said. “He took it because he was in pain, and he only took one.”

“I think people sometimes don’t recognize the seriousness of having prescription medications in their home,” Burlington Police Chief Jeffrey Smythe said.

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Chapel Hill Bars Working to Improve Alcohol Law Compliance

The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, a branch of the State Bureau of Investigation, will hold a Be A Responsible Seller, or BARS, training event for local Alcoholic Beverage Control-licensed businesses August 28th, 2014.   The event will be hosted by the Chapel Hill Police Department.

The program is free for ABC-licensed businesses.  Law enforcement officers will educate bar staff on alcohol regulations.  The Chapel Hill class typically focuses on dealing with fake identifications, selling to already intoxicated customers, general laws and regulations and the sale of alcohol to underage bargoers.

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DEA Placement of Tramadol Into Schedule IV

Tramadol is an opioid analgesic and is most commonly abused by those addicted to narcotics, chronic pain patients, and health professionals.  Tramadol was approved for marketing in the United States as a noncontrolled analgesic in 1995 under the trade name of Ultram®.  Until recently, it had remained an uncontrolled substance.  Starting August 18, 2014, tramadol is now a schedule IV controlled substance, and will be regulated as such moving forward.

Supporters of this ruling have been concerned about the abuse potential and have referred to tramadol as a ” ‘loop hole’ drug which is addictive, abused and diverted, but which is not yet realized as such by many patients and prescribers due to its current non-controlled status.”  The hope is by scheduling this drug, tramadol will be subject to the same controls  as other addictive controlled substances.

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CADCA Launches Prevent Rx Abuse Online Toolkit

CADCA’s Online Rx Abuse Prevention Toolkit contains facts, strategies and tools to prevent and reduce teen Rx medicine abuse in your community.  This newly revised toolkit is based on CADCA’s Seven Strategies for Effective Community Change.  Incorporating these strategies will help you formulate, modify and implement your prevention and intervention strategies.

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Percentage of Drinkers Receiving Treatment

Alcohol problems can impact a person’s life in many ways: economically, physically, and psychologically.  When facing these kinds of problems, an individual may choose to pursue alcohol treatment. Research shows, however, that of all the people with an alcohol use disorder, only about 15 percent ever receive treatment.

Why do so few people receive treatment?  We know that the majority of those with alcohol dependence do not perceive a need for treatment.  It’s important that researchers and health care professionals recognize this disparity in perceived need in order to help those who would benefit from treatment.  A recent study sheds some light on why individuals may not choose to seek treatment.  Researchers found that the biggest obstacle to seeking treatment is pessimism about treatment’s effectiveness.

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