Carol Saltzer has been working for Lebanon County Crisis Intervention for 25 years.

During that time, she said, she has never witnessed a drug as scary and whose use is as fast-growing as the synthetic drug known as bath salts. The use of bath salts has become an epidemic, she said.

“This is a really nasty, nasty drug with terrible side effects,” said Saltzer, currently the director of Crisis Intervention. “People end up with seizures and racing hearts and end up in the hospital because they take this stuff.

“It’s not like alcohol, where eight hours later it’s out of your system,” she added. “We’re seeing people who are 24, 48 and 72 hours out, and they’re still seeing hallucinations. Something bad is going to happen.”

“There are a number of side effects: paranoia, delusions, as well as aches and pains,” Mulligan said. “One of the primary things we’ve noticed from an ill-effect standpoint, they have extreme disorientation. They’re not really sure where they’re at and cannot think clearly. The extent of that disorientation seems to be both extreme and long-lasting.”

After patients have been in the emergency room for a period of time – in some cases up to 10 hours – if that disorientation has not gone away, they have to be referred to a mental-health institution, Mulligan said.

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Bath salts produce bizarre incidents

As more people die from prescription drug abuse, the White House drug czar on Tuesday unveiled a new strategy to cut misuse of powerful painkillers like oxycodone by 15 percent within five years and take particular aim at Florida-based “pill mills” that have fueled an explosion of the drugs along the East Coast and into Appalachia.

The new approach will depend on education, stepped-up law enforcement and pill-tracking databases.

Under one part of the plan, more than 1 million doctors would have to undergo training on proper prescription practices as a condition for their ability to prescribe the highly addictive drugs known as opioids.

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Narcotics agents across South Florida descended on more than a dozen pain clinics Wednesday, arresting at least 20 people — including five doctors — in the most dramatic effort yet to curb the region’s booming business of illegal prescription narcotics.

The raids from Miami to West Palm Beach were the culmination of a two-year investigation by a task force of federal, state and local investigators, an operation dubbed “Operation Pill Nation.” Undercover agents were dispatched to storefront pain clinics to buy potent painkillers such as oxycodone without any medical justification for the pills, investigators said.

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One year ago in 2006, my daughter was admitted to the hospital for 48 hours for detoxification of the drugs. She was evaluated and treated by a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist prescribed three medications for her. As a nurse, I did not feel comfortable replacing drugs with drugs. However, my nursing background was not in psychiatry or drug addiction, so I decided to leave it to the professionals. That was a mistake. As nurses, we are taught to go with our gut. My daughter was discharged and continued in partial inpatient therapy to learn how to cope without the drugs and without the drug addict boyfriend. The partial inpatient therapy was Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. When partial inpatient was finished, my daughter started outpatient therapy two nights per week for several weeks. I took a leave of absence from my job to care for my daughter and transport her to doctor’s appointments and therapy. Obviously, all of this was not enough, as my daughter relapsed four months later. I guess she just was not ready to quit using drugs. Unfortunately, I did not learn of her relapse until four months after it began. Believe it or not, she even managed to beat three drugs tests in several months. She was still working and appeared to be fulfilling her responsibilities. I now realize that she was a functioning addict.

It was only until she had stolen my credit card, that I knew she was in trouble again. Drug addicts are good at lying, manipulating and beating the system, so I have learned. They will do anything to support their drug habit, even if it means stealing and hurting their families and friends or worse. This time, I was looking for a different treatment option for my daughter. I learned of Rick Marvin at Intervention INK through a friend. My friend has a younger child with a drug addiction. Rick helped her locate an out of town facility for her daughter. I knew my friend’s daughter was doing well, working a part time job and thinking of attending college. I called Rick and asked for his help with my daughter. Rick showed up within 24 hours to talk with my daughter and I. He suggested a facility out of town. Rick’s advice was to move quickly while my daughter really wanted to get help. He also advised to get her far away from the influences of her hometown. Especially because, most people my daughter’s age are drinking.

Two days later, with Rick’s intervention, my daughter was admitted to an out of town Twelve Step facility. With Rick’s assistance, I was able to find something affordable. Finally, she was able to get the help she needed without replacing drugs with drugs. I was very impressed with Intervention INK and Rick Marvin’s support through this situation. My daughter is currently living in an out of town half way house with 11 other women her age. She is learning responsibility and living life without drugs. She is residing in a recovery environment where each girl helps one another to stay sober every day. She attends meetings daily and works a full time job. She even has a better relationship with God. I am so grateful to Rick and his resources. I am so proud of my daughter. I thank God every day for leading us to Intervention INK.

Written from a Parent of a Child with a drug addiction

I want to thank you for all you have done for me and my family during our search for help for my son and getting him on the road to recovery. I would like to tell my story so that others in a similar position will know that they are not alone and that there is help out there.

When the suspicions about my son using drugs surfaced, my immediate thought was, “not my son!” I had him drug tested on three occasions – once at home with an over the counter test and twice in laboratories. All three tests were negative and, of course, he denied any drug use. Once money started disappearing from my purse, his sister’s piggy bank, and my rainy day fund, I knew there was a serious problem he was hiding. I had no idea where to even turn. I didn’t know anyone personally who had gone through a situation like this and felt at a loss about what to do. My daughter, who had been a friend of Rusty’s, told me she had just seen a tribute to him on the Internet – and a light bulb when off. I knew then that I needed to contact Intervention INK. In my initial conversations with Rick, he confirmed my worst fear that my son could really be an addict. I talked my son into attending a meeting at Intervention INK and I took the opportunity to attend the parents’ meeting.

After that meeting, Rick and I talked several times so I could collect all the information I needed on our options to get him the help he needed. Through these conversations, it became apparent that the best place to get him help was in an in-patient detox and rehab center. Rick, my son’s dad, and I talked about different facilities and agreed on Treatment Solutions of South Florida. It was very difficult for me to make the decision to send my baby so far away, but I knew that he had to be far from the temptations and triggers he faced here. Once again, Rick met with us and we decided that an intervention would be the best way to get him the help he needed. Rick had my daughter, my son’s father and me prepare two letters; the first a letter of love in which we told him how we felt and asked him to enter treatment. The second letter was one of consequences. It outlined what would happen if he chose not to enter treatment. It was a very difficult letter to write and one that I hoped I would not have to share with him. Rick contacted some others that knew my son – two young men who were recovering addicts and one non-using friend. They too prepared letters for him.

We had airline tickets ready for Rick and my son to leave immediately if he accepted treatment. We decided that it would be best for Rick to take him down instead on one of the family. We had every confidence in Rick. If there were any problems along the way or if my son changed his mind, he would be the best person to handle it. Fortunately for all of us, my son decided to take our gift of life and enter the treatment facility. This was July 10, 2007. My son has now been clean for almost nine months.

I believe Rick, Amy and Intervention INK are a key part of my son being alive today. Sending him to a facility so far away was difficult and expensive; however the facility worked with us on payment because it was not covered by our insurance. I looked at the cost in comparison to what my son’s life was worth. Was his life worth the cost of treatment or did I want to gamble that he’d get clean and stay clean in Toledo? I knew there is only one answer.

Rick handled the entire process in a professional manner – tough when he needed to be; but sensitive to our concerns. Amy holds the weekly parent/family meetings. I feel a real sense of community and support at these meeting. It is comforting to meet parents whose children have been clean for months and even years. It’s important to me to get updates on those young people who are currently in treatment. Just as important as getting support, I feel I can give support to the parents who are at the point I was nine months ago.

I keep Rick and Amy in my prayers. They have channeled the grief of their tragedy into a great asset for our community. I would strongly recommend Intervention INK to any family who is concerned about their son or daughter’s involvement with drugs and/or alcohol. I thank the Lord for them and the other members of the Intervention INK Community.

Sincerely,
Vicki B.

Before I even started to use I had very addictive behaviors and thought that God had abandon me. I felt that God always made it so I would fail and always put someone better than me in my life to surpass me. When I was 14 years old I had my first drink. I got drunk and blacked out all in the same night. And that pretty much describes the beginning of my addiction. I just wanted more, more and more. I fell in love with how alcohol made me feel. From there I tried weed and pills. And when I was 15 going into my sophomore year of high school I started to hang out with a lot of older kids because I was on the varsity soccer team and was trying to fit in. I will never forget how I started to use oxycontin. One of the older kids on my team one day gave me this list of pills and told me when I go to my grandfathers house to look for them in the medicine cabinet. Low and behold the next time I went to my grandfathers house I searched and I found some small yellow 40 mg pills. They turned out to be oxycontin.

I took ten of them out of the bottle having no Idea what I was getting myself into. So I brought them back to my buddy and he got real excited. We went back to my house and he showed me how to take the coating off and crush them up and the whole works. And I immediately fell in love with everything about it the feeling, the taste and the process. From that point on it progressed. I said I would only do it once a week. I ended up doing a lot more then that. I started doing all the things I said I would never do. As time went on, I did them all. Including using a needle to get high which I swore I would never do. After that I started selling oxy’s. That only lasted for about four months because I quickly became my best customer. All throughout my junior year I used heavily and then the summer of my junior year my son Kaden was born and I some how stopped using. But I would still drink a couple times a week. I really just stopped because of my son and some of my friends got so bad they had to go to rehab. My last run started November 20, 2006 I was drinking with a couple of my buddies and I just was not satisfied with how I felt I wanted to feel better so my buddy and I went and got some oxycontin. I did not stop until July 9th, 2007. This is when my addiction got really bad. I could never get enough oxycontin. I always wanted more. I would do it all throughout the day so I would not have to deal with what was going on in my life. During this time is when I started stealing alot and using needles. I would leave my house for days and not talk to my family. I was not aloud to see my son anymore. I got a DWI. I lost many of my good friends. I got caught stealing and writing fake checks and I started to think about suicide a lot and even tried to overdose and kill myself. My life was out of control.

On July 10th 2007 I decided I wanted to stop. So I pretty much locked myself at home. It was hell. I had bad withdraws. I had diarrhea, vomiting, cold sweats. I could not sleep and the worst headache ever. I wanted to die. I had my mom kind of help me but I thought I could stop on my own. Like I had before. Which obviously didn’t work so well. So on July 11th 2007 was a day that would change the rest of my life forever. I woke up and came down stairs and there was my whole family, a few of my friends and Rick Marvin. It was an intervention for me and probably one of the most emotional hours I have ever had in my life. So I decided to go to treatment. Rick was an Interventionist from a program I attended briefly called Intervention INK. I hated Rick at that time. He flew with me to treatment facility called Treatment Solutions of South Florida in Ft. Lauderdale. On the plain ride down we started talking and I started to like him a little bit.

I did a medical detox for 5 days then 89 days in treatment and it was the best experience I have ever had. The first 20 to 30 days I still did not believe I was an addict and really planned on getting high when I got out of treatment. When I came to terms with the fact I was truly a drug addict, my life completely turned around. While I was there I got a lot of knowledge about myself and the drugs I was taking. I learned more about me and life in that short time than I had learned in my previous 17 years on this earth. There is no doubt treatment saved my life. I completed treatment and went to a halfway house and lived there from October 5th until November 29th. While I lived in the sober house I got a job and it really showed me how to incorporate my clean and sober program in my everyday life. I was ready to come home to Toledo. I came home for a few different reasons. I had court to deal with, my son lives here, and I missed it a lot. I moved home at the end of December and went to a meeting the first hour I was home. I found myself a sponsor the next day and ever since we have been working through the steps. My life today is better than I ever thought it could be. I was not planning on living this long and if I did not get the help when I did I know I would be dead. I owe a lot to Rick Marvin and Intervention INK. They have done so much for me in helping me to find this new way of life. I am now very involved with Intervention INK today and am trying to help the young people that are in the addiction I was in seven months ago. Giving back to them what was so freely given to me helps me to stay clean and sober one day at a time. I love my family, my son and my new life. God’s will, not mine.

Thank you, KH & Family

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) today released the Florida Medical Examiners Commission Report on Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons. The report contains information compiled from autopsies performed by medical examiners across the state in 2009. During that period, there were approximately 171,300 deaths in Florida. Of those, 8,653 individuals were found to have died with one or more of the drugs specified in this report in their bodies.

The report indicates the most frequently occurring drugs found in decedents were Ethyl Alcohol (4,046), all Benzodiazepines (3,379), Oxycodone (1,948), and Cocaine (1,462). The drugs that caused the most deaths were Oxycodone, all Benzodiazepines (with Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, accounting for the majority of the deaths), Methadone, Ethyl Alcohol, Cocaine, Morphine and Hydrocodone.

The four drugs that were the most lethal, meaning more than 50 percent of the deaths were caused by the drug when the drug was found, were Heroin (85.6 percent), Methadone (73.1 percent), and Oxycodone (60.8 percent), and Fentanyl (56.7 percent). Heroin continues to be the most lethal drug named in this report; however, occurrences of Heroin decreased by 15.9 percent and deaths caused by Heroin also decreased by 20 percent when compared to 2008.

Similar to last year, the 2009 report indicates that prescription drugs continued to be found more often than illicit drugs both as a causal factor and merely present in the decedent. Prescription drugs account for 79 percent of all drug occurrences in this report when Ethyl Alcohol is excluded. Oxycodone occurrences increased by 23.8 percent in 2009 and deaths caused by Oxycodone also rose by 25.9 percent when compared to the previous year.

“Prescription and over-the -counter abuse is growing faster than any other drug segment and law enforcement is responding with aggressive enforcement” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “FDLE and our partners are working daily to target traffickers, take out pill mills, and stop doctors who prescribe pain medicine without medical necessity.”

“The illegal diversion and abuse of prescription drugs continues to be our greatest public health threat. Prescription drugs killed 2,488 Floridians in 2009, equivalent to nearly 7 deaths per day. The vast majority of these tragic deaths are due to accidental overdose, the risk of which is greatly enhanced by the mixing of potent, pure, and potentially poisonous prescription painkillers and depressants,” said Bruce Grant, Director of the Office of Drug Control. “The crackdown on pill mills initiated by the Lieutenant Governor’s Prescription Drug Task Force’s unprecedented partnership of law enforcement and health officials, new anti-pill mill legislation, and the proliferation of local ordinances banning new pill mills all highlight our initial efforts in a comprehensive campaign to stem this unacceptable situation. The implementation of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in December of this year, coupled with community-based prevention strategies like drug take-back programs, physician education, and treatment are all part of the long-term strategy to reverse this deadly trend.”

Medical Examiners specifically collected information on the following drugs: Ethyl Alcohol, Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, MDMA (Ecstasy), MDA, MDEA, Alprazolam (Xanax), Diazepam (Valium), Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), other Benzodiazepines, Cannabinoids (Marijuana), Carisoprodol/Meprobamate, Cocaine, GHB, Inhalants, Phencyclidine (PCP), Ketamine, Zolpidem, Buprenorphine, Fentanyl, Heroin, Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone, Meperidine, Methadone, Morphine, Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Propoxyphene, and Tramadol.

The Florida Medical Examiners Commission 2009 Report of Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons is available on the FDLE Web site at www.fdle.state.fl.us.