ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu has broken his silence about his son’s devastating drug addiction

ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu has broken his silence about his son’s devastating drug addiction – and has called on all of South Africa to unite to cut the drug supply to the nation’s young people.

Mthembu spoke out yesterday on Primedia’s Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk, and told the Cape Argus later: “We used to speak about a ‘lost generation’ ”– a reference to the country’s youth in the wake of the youth’s involvement in the Struggle against apartheid.

“My son is a total wreck, a lost person. If we don’t address this crisis, then what will become of the next generation? What will happen to this country once we are gone?” he asked.

Mthembu said his son had been treated at least six times at addiction centres, and through counselling they had learned that his son had become an addict while in Grade 7, some years after his parents’ divorce. But this had been unknown to Mthembu for at least the next five years.

“The divorce may have been a trigger,” he said.

Over the next few years, household items like television sets and sound systems had begun “disappearing” from his home in Witbank and Mthembu had believed it had been theft.

On once occasion, thousands of rands saved for another of his children’s school fees had been stolen.

“I never suspected my son for a minute,” he said. “I thought it was thieves.”

Similarly, in later years, even items such as blankets and groceries had disappeared from his ex-wife’s home – all, it later transpired, to be sold for drugs.

Mthembu said alarm bells had first rung loudly when his son had failed matric, “despite his being a bright kid”. His son had repeated his final year, but had again “failed dismally”.

In the years since, his son had been admitted to various centres and institutions half a dozen times, but had consistently relapsed.

“He has told me: ‘There is no drug I have not touched.’ ” Mthembu said.

There had been times when he had picked his son up off the city’s streets – “as filthy as a dog”. His son had even arrived in this state of disrepair at ANC headquarters at Luthuli House, seeking his father’s help.

Speaking about solutions to the scourge affecting so many across the country, Mthembu said: “We have to break the supply chain, and to do that we have to stop the drug suppliers.”

He said this effort had to be a collaboration between police, the government and society.

He said parents also needed to ask themselves whether they were “absent”, or “part-time” parents – and needed to ensure they knew what was going on in their children’s lives.

“I am speaking out because we as parents also need help,” he said.

“Maybe there are others who have been through what I have gone through, others who can help.

“This affects all of us, black and white. My son has turned into a vagabond and (his addiction) has threatened to drag us into his terrible world.

“Our young people need our support to tackle this – and so do we, as parents,” he urged.

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million people in the UK are estimated to be addicted to prescription drugs known as benzodiazepines.

More than a million people in the UK are estimated to be addicted to prescription drugs known as benzodiazepines. But with withdrawal symptoms similar to those experienced by heroin addicts, those who find themselves addicted are calling for more help and a change in the way the drugs are prescribed.


Josh says he gets sweats and a sense of going mad if he stops taking his prescription drugs
"Being addicted is hellish. When I get up in the morning I need to take my meds so I can function, so I can be a whole person."

Josh, 50, was first prescribed a benzodiazepine, a tranquiliser, as a hyperactive eight-year-old and has been addicted ever since.

He is among the 1.5m people across the UK the All Party Parliamentary Group on Involuntary Tranquilliser Addiction (APPGITA) estimates are addicted to this group of drugs, which are also known as 'benzos'.

Benzos include diazepam and temazepam, and are commonly prescribed by GPs for a range of conditions such as anxiety and insomnia.

They act by enhancing the effect of a brain chemical transmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which depresses or calms the central nervous system, slowing down mental activity to cause relaxation and sedation.

But some experts say that coming off benzos can be harder than stopping taking heroin.

"I estimate about 20-30% (of people) who are on benzos have problems coming off, and about a third have very distressing symptoms," says Professor Malcolm Lader of the Institute of Psychiatry.

"The anxiety comes back or sleeplessness comes back and they feel physically ill.

"Then they get bizarre symptoms.

"Essentially, the brain wakes up and then over-wakes, sounds appear louder, lights appear brighter, and they feel unsteady. It's then they're in a bad withdrawal state."

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It's an issue that's fallen through the cracks, it's a silent addiction”

Anne Milton
Public health minister for England
Josh has tried to stop taking the drug many times.

"You sweat, hot and cold sweats, you get diarrhoea and a sense of going mad," he says.

"It's horrendous. I've never found a cut-off point where I've said, 'It's better', because the symptoms persist.

"The longest time I've been off benzos was eight weeks.

"I know that sounds like a short time but I can assure you that eight weeks is a really long time to be experiencing those symptoms every day, and they don't get better.

"And without the support, in the end my body said, enough, I must take a tablet, I can bear this no longer."

Lack of services
The support Josh longs for is the kind that is already provided in drug addiction centres for users of heroin and cocaine.

"We didn't wake up and say, 'Lets get addicted'," says Josh.

"We got addicted involuntarily and those who have been brave enough to try and address our addiction and have failed, we're still as stuck in that cycle.

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We're volunteers in all this. Where are the services to help these people?”

Barry Haslam
Tranx addiction support group
"Please help us. Give us some support. Don't abandon us now."

Tranx, a support group based in Oldham, Manchester, run by ex and partially-withdrawn addicts, is unique in bringing together two charities - one with NHS funding - to provide two nurses.

"In Oldham I've seen six suicides and 50 attempted suicides," says Barry Haslam, who runs the support group, and is himself a former benzo addict.

"One weekend there were people wanting to commit suicide on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. It's just so sad there's nothing out there.

"We're volunteers in all this. Where are the services to help these people?" he says.

But as Professor Malcolm Lader, of the Institute of Psychiatry says: "The facilities are simply not available."

He adds: "The great scandal is addicts are referred to illegal drug addiction centres, and they're sat next to an illegal drug user who's been injecting heroin, and of course a housewife who's been prescribed by her doctor will be very upset by this."

Anne Milton, England's public health minister, admitted to BBC Radio 4's Face the Facts that there there had been some denial of the problem, but added the Department of Health is trying to "get a grip" of it and provide help for those who want to withdraw.

"I'm taking this very seriously, it's an issue that's fallen through the cracks, it's a silent addiction. Not many people know about it.

"We want to make sure training and awareness is raised so GPs can prescribe well, and then we've got to make sure we've got the right services in place to help them enjoy lives as they should be able to."

Rise in prescriptions
The potential dangers of withdrawing from benzos have long been known.


The number of benzo prescriptions rose by 8% last year
The recommended maximum time benzos should be prescribed is four weeks, according to government guidance.

Yet in England, the number of prescriptions issued last year rose by 8% to almost 11.5 million.

A recent report by the National Addiction Centre, Kings College London, which looked at prescribing in England for the 19 years up to 2009, found over a third of prescriptions during this period were for more than eight weeks.

But the Royal College of General Practitioners defends the prescription of these drugs, saying the way GPs have been dealing with patients in recent years is a "prescribing success" story.

Dr Clare Gerada, the organisation's chair, says that benzodiazepines are effective drugs, adding that most patients can withdraw easily, but that for others, staying on the drug may be a better option.

"Patients that I see, on the whole, do not have problems coming off. Some patients may be on them for life.

"It's not a good thing, but if you balance the risks and benefits then sometimes the benefits of staying on them far outweigh the risks."

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survey has suggested that nearly 80% of GPs are prescribing drugs when they think the patients could be addicted to them.




The study, by the Family Doctor Association, said prescriptions for antidepressants, sleeping tablets and pain medication were all increasing.

Over half the 197 doctors who took part in the study said they were concerned about the issue and said more studies into the problem were needed.

The study showed 52.7% were "quite or very worried" about prescription drug abuse in their area.

Half of GPs said they knew that prescription drugs may be being sold for money to other addicts.

More than 40% said their practice had "minimal/no support" from addiction services. 

Dr Peter Swinyard, chairman of the FDA, said: "Our simple main concern is the patient - nothing else matters. But sometimes, somewhat misguidedly, we don't do the right thing.

"We need the research to back up and to prove to GPs as well that there's a problem here we need to address."

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It’s a common question among online junkies – where did the time go?



Ever find yourself logging on to a favourite web site before you realize hours have passed? You’re not alone.

And it’s not easy to quit.

A new study from U.S. group Interspierience finds it is as hard to give up the internet as it is to quit drinking or smoking.

The study found when online users are deprived of the internet, 53 per cent felt upset and 40 per cent felt lonely, even if they were denied access for only a short time.

Internet rehab programs have sprung up to help those who feel anxious when disconnected cope with online withdrawal.

Next year’s manual for the American Psychiatric Association will even include “internet addiction” as a diagnosis.

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Denise Richards Talks to Daughters About Charlie Sheen's Addiction

This was not a great year to be the mother of any of Charlie Sheen's children.

Sheen's most recent ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, will get a few years to plan her "talk" with Bob and Max -- you know, the one where she explains what their friends mean when they ask if dad still "pounds seven gram rocks."

But Denise Richards' little girls are 7 and 6, and they probably wanted to know why their dad was on TV all day every day in March, if they have Adonis DNA and tiger's blood and what a "warlock" is.

Not easy questions for any mother to answer.

Richards found herself conflicted about what to do, and initially handled it differently.

She told the "Today" show, "I was just lying to them about so much, and covering up things and totally lying. It was just getting too confusing that I had to sit down with them."

Eventually, she had to concede.

"[I decided to] have a conversation with them about addiction," she continued. "It's too early (for them to understand). I told them enough for them to make sense of things that were going on."

She says she also found a book written to explain addiction to children and read it to them.

Interestingly, Richards released a memoir on Tuesday, "The Real Girl Next Door," which speaks rather nicely of her ex. At least, it maintains that the beginning of their relationship was magical and she still cares about him.

 

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THOUSANDS of heroin addicts in South Wales are being weaned off the killer substance with substitute drug programmes costing millions.



Across the region, 2,512 people are on prescriptions for methadone and other drugs designed to help people beat opiate dependency.

The estimated annual cost of supplying the drugs and running the treatment plans – which often have lengthy waiting lists – runs to nearly £4m.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health board, covering Bridgend, has the highest number of patients on opiate replacements in Wales, with 903.


In Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, where there is understood to be a four-week waiting list for treatment, 818 people are being treated at a potential annual cost of more than £2m, including all associated expenses.

Steve Lyons, project coordinator at Inroads Street Drugs Project in Cardiff, said methadone treatment was cost-effective and overall led to huge savings in spending by cutting crime.

He said: “Heroin use is widespread and it’s not just Cardiff. It’s the same sort of scenario in most communities in the UK today.”

Mr Lyons said methadone was “just a small part” of the treatment of heroin addicts.

He told the Echo: “I’ve worked in the field for 25 years and methadone is potentially a life-saving treatment for a lot of people.

“It does away with general issues about offending behaviour and means people can use something that is not street drugs but something which is a treatment, designed for the individual, with individual needs at the core.”

There are 221 registered methadone users in the Aneurin Bevan health board area, which covers Caerphilly, and a further 570 in the Cwm Taf catchment, including Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Janet Roberts, manager of the Wales Drug and Alcohol Network, said: “Based on the people we speak to, there is quite a high demand to get on these programmes, especially in some of the highly-populated areas where there is probably a waiting list.

“This is probably difficult for [heroin users] if they have reached the stage where they are ready to make some changes.”

An Abertawe Bro Morgannwg spokeswoman said there was currently a 32-week waiting list for drug dependence treatment in Bridgend.

She said: “For the past 20 years, the majority of the referrals received by specialised prescribing services were for heroin or other drug addictions.

“However, in the past four years, the trend has changed and now 75% of the referrals are for alcohol-related dependencies.

“Once a referral is received, a patient is usually seen within 10 days for assessment and a basic care plan is put together.

“Substitute prescribing in the treatment of opiate dependencies is often necessary for prolonged periods.”

Cardiff and Vale deputy chief executive Paul Hollard said: “The board prescribes methadone against very strict clinical guidelines which determine which clients will benefit from this medication and under what circumstances it should be dispensed.

“Research has demonstrated that the prescription of methadone and other substitute medication has a significant positive effect on improved health and well-being, reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour, and supports clients to continue to play an important role within the family and sustain their contribution within education and employment.”

Latest research from the Home Office suggests an estimated £2.50 was saved elsewhere for every £1 spent in replacement drug treatment, and it was cost-beneficial in 80% of cases.

The figures on methadone users were released under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Amy Winehouse Foundation to help addicts is planned by singer's father

Amy Winehouse's father, Mitch, has spoken out about his plans to set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation, in order to help people with problems with addiction.

Speaking at his daughter's funeral in London yesterday (July 26), Mitch explained that access to NHS affiliated rehab takes two years.

"If you cannot afford a private rehabilitation clinic, there is a two-year waiting list for help," he said.

MP Keith Vaz followed up the comment by offering his support to the foundation, as Mitch helped a home affairs select committee with information about cocaine and addiction in 2009, during a drugs inquiry. He said: "I am very happy to help Mitch in any way I can with his important campaign to help rehabilitate those most vulnerable in our society," reports BBC News.

Despite Mitch's comments, he said that the singer had overcome her addition to drugs and was "trying hard" to conquer her problems with alcohol, saying that she had "just completed three weeks of abstinence" and that she was keen to get sober, telling him: "Dad I've had enough, I can't stand the look on your and the family's faces any more."

Mitch talked about when he was told his daughter had died on Saturday (July 23):
I was in New York with my cousin Michael when I heard and straight away I said I wanted an Amy Winehouse Foundation, something to help the things she loved – children, horses, but also to help those struggling with substance abuse.
The inquest into Winehouse's death has been adjourned until October 26. No cause of death has been given and results of toxicology tests could take anything from two to four weeks.

 

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Can a parent save their child from addiction

The death of Amy Winehouse has once again highlighted the danger of drink and drug addiction. Mitch and Janis Winehouse's battles to cure their daughter of her addiction are shared by thousands of parents up and down the country.

Many parents reading of the death at the weekend of singer Amy Winehouse will have thought to themselves: "What would I do if my son or daughter was an addict?"

Some people, like Tom Methven, know only too well what they would do and whether it would work.

His son, Jason, 29, is an alcoholic.

Mr Methven, from Surrey, said: "When I heard about Amy Winehouse I thought, 'It's finally got her'.

'Slave to the addiction'
"Drugs and alcohol damage a receptor in the brain. You become a slave. Why else would she have kept taking it? She was a very similar age to my son."

Hannah Meredith was 17 when she died of a heroin overdose in October 2009.


Teenager Hannah Meredith wrote a "letter to heroin" a month before her death in 2009
A month before she died, she wrote a "letter to heroin". Her aunt, Lisa Moore, read out excerpts from the letter on BBC Radio Five Live last year.

Ms Moore told the BBC: "It takes years to recover but it only takes seconds to relapse."

She said: "We heard about Amy Winehouse's death on Saturday and it brought back feelings of what happened to Hannah. It was two years ago, but it's still raw."

Ms Moore said: "I've read stuff on Facebook about Amy like 'one less junkie', and it is so ignorant and insensitive. Families feel helpless, they feel like failures, they think, 'How can we fix it when that person is choosing to do it'?"

"What people don't realise is that no matter how badly someone is on drugs nothing ever prepares you for the knock on the door or the phone call, nothing prepares you for their death."

She said Hannah had been given an ecstasy tablet on her 14th birthday, "liked the feeling" and by the age of 15 was on heroin.

Two years later she was "clean" but then had her fatal relapse.

"She had been in recovery for four months and was sure she was in control of heroin. She might have thought she would try it one more time," said Ms Moore.

Both Ms Moore and Mr Methven said there was a lot of ignorance about substance abuse.

Tough love
They said many people thought they could just lock their son or daughter in a room and make them go "cold turkey" - completely denying them drink or drugs - to exorcise their demons.

The cold turkey scene has cropped up in films like Trainspotting and soap operas like EastEnders, where a parent uses so-called "tough love".

But Mr Methven says the reality is that it very rarely works.

He has tried almost everything to rescue his son from his alcoholism:

Rehab - two sessions in a £500-a-day private clinic.
Medication - Antabuse, or disulfiram, a tablet which makes the taker sick if he or she drinks alcohol.
Sectioning - a week in a mental health unit.
Psychiatry - several sessions with a top specialist.

Mitch and Janis Winehouse had to deal with their daughter's addiction amid the public's gaze
At his worst point Jason, who weighs 19 stone (120kg), was drinking huge quantities of vodka and would become violent and aggressive.

"One time he smashed a piece of glass at his girlfriend's house and cut an artery. I had to follow the trail of blood to find him. They broke up about a month later. She couldn't cope with it," said Mr Methven.

He said: "Another time he was self-harming. He burned himself with an iron and was then banging his head against a table.

"He tried to cut his wrists once with a knife. The police were called and he was taken to hospital.

"He was so drunk he was fighting with the security guards and he got one of them, a big guy, on the floor. Eventually he was given a very strong tranquilliser."

Mr Methven said his son, who is an only child, had a normal childhood and was very intelligent.

He went to university and got a first with honours before embarking on a PhD.

Out of control
But his drinking, which had started as a teenager, got out of control and he never completed it.

Jason is now unemployed and gets £20 a week in Disability Living Allowance.

"That is supposed to be given to his mum for laundry and shopping but it is in many respects money for alcohol," said his father.

Mr Methven said: "He was about 24 when we realised he had a real problem. We went to the doctor and got a referral.

"We wanted to get him into rehab but it took so long on the NHS that we panicked and went private."

Jason has been into rehab twice.



There is no alcohol in the house now. I used to have some good quality wine. It was very well hid. I was going to give it to a friend as a present but it was gone. He had drunk it”

John Methven
Father of an alcoholic
On one occasion Mr Methven spent £18,000 and he said: "Before the cheque was even dry he was back on the drink."

He said: "There is no alcohol in the house now. I used to have some good-quality wine. It was very well hid. I was going to give it to a friend as a present but it was gone. He had drunk it."

Mr Methven said his son had stolen money from him and his wife and had also taken DVDs and other property and sold it at cash converter shops to provide drinking money.

'Secretive' drinking
"It's always secretive drinking. He doesn't go to the pub. He just drinks in his room. He hid it in rucksacks or under the hedge in the garden," he said.

Jason has now joined Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and has a sponsor, but he is still drinking.

"He is trying to take it down. Yesterday he had six cans (of beer) and today it's four. He is still drinking but it's far less," said Mr Methven.

But he said the crucial thing was that Jason has now said he wants to stop.


Nicholas Mills hanged himself after a drug-fuelled argument but his twin brother survived and is now clean
"If they are going to get well they have got to go to AA or NA (Narcotics Anonymous). The individual is powerless, but collectively they can do it. It's a spiritual thing. AA is about giving it up altogether.

"Once you are an alcoholic or an addict one is too many and 100 is not enough."

Asked how he feels about his son now, he said: "It's not so much shame as disappointment about what he could have done with his life."

While Mr Methven can understand the addiction, Elizabeth Burton-Phillips knows the heartbreak of what she calls the "double whammy" of addiction and death.

Her twin sons, Nicholas and Simon, both became heroin addicts.

Nicholas died in 2004 but Simon survived and has kicked the habit.

Mrs Burton-Phillips, from Buckinghamshire, has since set up a charity, DrugFam, and she told the BBC: "We are trying to help families who are struggling to cope with the addiction of their loved ones, like Amy and my son."

She said she met Amy's mother in 2008 and added: "I have been in text contact with her since Amy passed and they are obviously going to be terribly badly affected."

Mrs Burton-Phillips travelled to Llanelli on Monday to give her moral support to the Hannah Meredith Foundation, which launched a support group for the families of those in the Carmarthenshire area coping with substance abuse.

Anyone wanting to contact the foundation should do so through their Facebook page.



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final hours of a troubled star: Amy Winehouse had 'bought ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine' on the night before tragic death

The details of Amy Winehouse's final hours emerged today, with claims that she bought a cocktail of narcotics including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.

Although the exact cause of death has not yet been released by police, Sunday tabloids have claimed she was seen buying drugs from a dealer in Camden just after 10:30pm on Friday.

A source told The People that she was seen buying substances, believed to be cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and ketamine leading up to the hours before her death.

She is also thought to have been drinking heavily, which may have been the trigger of a lethal concoction of drugs and alcohol.

 

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Amy Winehouse’s appetites for music and self-destruction often came in equal measure.



Her father Mitch once said that he was so concerned about his daughter he wrote a eulogy he expected to deliver at her funeral.

With her huge signature beehive hairdo, smoky eye make-up and extraordinary voice, Winehouse stood out from the crowd.

Her vocal style as well as her vulnerability led to comparisons with greats such as Billie Holiday.

Winehouse’s distinctive style led to the tattooed singer being hailed a style icon, becoming the muse for Karl Lagerfeld and once being voted the “ultimate heroine” among UK youngsters.

In February 2008, Winehouse was on a career high when she won five prizes at the Grammy awards, despite being absent from the ceremony.

The clutch of awards made her the first British female artist to win five Grammys in one night.

But with the highs came the lows and trouble was never far away from Winehouse, who had a talent for pouring her raw emotions into her work.

She cancelled a tour this year after a disastrous appearance in Serbia when she was booed by the angry crowd.

Despite her wild girl image Amy Jade Winehouse was from a stage school background.

Born on September 14, 1983, she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, where classmates included Billie Piper.

Brought up with a love for jazz, she grew up in a Jewish household in North Finchley, north London, with father Mitch and mother Janis, who were later divorced.

Winehouse claimed she was asked to leave the Sylvia Young Theatre School and from there she went to a private school in Mill Hill.

Intent on a music career after leaving school, she performed in pubs while working as a fledgling journalist for a showbiz news agency.

She was discovered while performing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and signed to a division of 19 Management, the media empire of Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller.

Frank was a jazz-tinged debut which showcased her powerful voice.

The double-platinum selling album was nominated for two Brits and the Mercury Music Prize, and won her an Ivor Novello songwriting award.

But it was the soulful and honest Back To Black which propelled Winehouse into superstardom.

It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number seven, making Winehouse the highest-debuting British female artist in the history of the US album chart.

With Back To Black, Winehouse moved away from jazz and took inspiration from 60s girl groups such as The Supremes.

She was crowned Queen of the Brits after picking up the coveted gong for best solo female.

Winehouse may have been a huge hit with the listeners – but she hasn’t always seemed to be her own greatest fan.

Winehouse should have been enjoying the fruits of her success following her second album.

But instead the singer, whose tiny frame looked increasingly skeletal, spoke about her problems with self-harm, bulimia and alcohol abuse.

Rehab, the first single from Back To Black, is about her refusal to seek help at a clinic for people with alcohol problems.

After winning a Vodafone Live Music Award, Winehouse sent the landlord of her local pub in her beloved Camden, the Hawley Arms, to collect the gong.

And the outspoken star guaranteed herself acres of publicity by criticising her rivals, from Madonna (“an old lady”) to Dido (“bland”) and Katie Melua (“s***”).

Married life for Winehouse did not get off to a great start, with husband Blake Fielder-Civil – whom she married in 2007 – spending time in jail.

Fielder-Civil had pleaded guilty in 2008 to inflicting grievous bodily harm on pub landlord James King, 36, and also to perverting the course of justice.

Throughout the court proceedings, Winehouse showed her loyalty to her husband by attending hearings and mouthing words of support.

Paparazzi pictures of Winehouse’s increasingly bizarre nocturnal activities shocked the nation and provided regular tabloid fodder.

The star has been pictured walking through central London in blood-soaked shoes, with a bruised neck and bandaged arms. Fielder-Civil was seen with blood streaming out of cuts on his face.

Winehouse claimed later she attacked Fielder-Civil after he caught her self-harming before attempting to take drugs with a prostitute.

In August 2007, Winehouse was admitted to a London hospital following an overdose. The star was said to have come close to death after taking cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and marijuana.

The singer pulled out of a string of tour dates, then quit rehab yet again, to the dismay of her parents. In June 2008 Winehouse was taken to hospital after a fainting episode.

There were hopes that she could be returning to full health after she spent eight months on the Caribbean island of St Lucia. Her mother Janis said in 2009 that her daughter had “done so well getting healthy again”.

She had been granted a quickie divorce from Fielder-Civil on the grounds of her adultery the same year. Mrs Winehouse expressed her fears at the time that the pair could be reconciled, saying: “We all hope it’s not true they’re back in touch, but Amy is like a child.

“She says, ’I love Blake, I love him’, and it’s hard to talk her out of it.”

Fielder-Civil is currently in jail, having been sentenced to 32 months in prison in June for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm.

As well as critical plaudits, Winehouse’s lyrics even merited academic study.

In 2008, students at Cambridge University were asked to analyse her lyrics in a final-year English exam.

Undergraduates were invited to compare Winehouse’s songwriting to ballads by Bob Dylan and Holiday, as well as the more scholarly Sir Walter Raleigh in an examination question.

One critic said her song Love Is A Losing Game evoked “images of fag smoke, empty vodka bottles and smudged mascara” and was “perhaps the most heartbreaking thing she’s ever recorded”.

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more gambling, more problem gamblers and more of the calamitous social ills that follow.

Gambling has proliferated in America in recent years, and it's not about to stop. The Illinois Legislature has approved a bill authorizing more casinos as well as slot machines at racetracks. Ohio has four new casinos in the pipeline. Maine voters approved a new one last year. Massachusetts lawmakers plan to consider a gambling expansion this fall.

To critics, this spells trouble: more gambling, more problem gamblers and more of the calamitous social ills that follow. But the fear stems from the assumption that demand inexorably rises to match supply — that each new gambling site increases the number of people who gamble and the amount of money they bet. That, we have learned, is not quite how human beings respond.




The latest news comes from Howard Shaffer, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His recent article, co-written by Harvard colleague Ryan Martin in the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, offers reassuring evidence.

"The current available evidence," they found, "suggests that the rate of PG (pathological gambling) has remained relatively stable during the past 35 years despite an unprecedented increase in opportunities and access to gambling."

I called Shaffer, one of the country's leading experts on this and other addictions, to ask what citizens should expect when gambling expands in their states. He does not sound alarmed.

"When gambling becomes newly available in an area, you'll see some increase in gambling," he says. "Some people who would not have gambled become willing to try." That's especially true in places that (unlike Illinois) had no legal gambling before. But the effect, contrary to myth, soon subsides.

"I was so wrong about this when I started this work," Shaffer admits. He expected it would take generations for people to adjust their behavior in response to greater availability. In fact, "people gambling on the Internet change from gambling more to less in weeks. We never would have predicted that."

Online access is a good test of the alleged hazards of allowing people to wager on games of chance. It is said to be particularly dangerous because it is anonymous, immune to supervision and accessible anytime, anywhere. "With virtual casinos entering the homes of millions every day, the chances for addiction are only going to increase," warns CRC Health Group, which offers treatment for problem gambling.

"We expected it to be the Wild West of gambling," Shaffer recalls.

"People could sit in front of a computer with a credit card and just go."

Online gambling is illegal in the United States. But in the countries where it's allowed, most people take a pass. "People discover it isn't that much fun to gamble alone," he notes, except for those with social problems. "The extent of Internet gambling for most is astoundingly moderate."

Another surprise for Shaffer was that in most cases, problem gambling is not "a relentless progressive disorder." If you smoke a few cigarettes, you'll probably soon be smoking every day. If you shoot heroin a couple of times, pretty soon you won't be able to live without it. But for the vast majority of those who gamble, control comes easy.

"It's a problem people react to," Shaffer reports. In fact, he says, "Problem gamblers are more likely to get better than worse."

Some problem gamblers, of course, do get worse, with harmful and even disastrous consequences for themselves and those around them. But Shaffer suggests that excessive gambling is not a highly contagious malady that can infect anyone who enters a casino. It's usually a symptom of some underlying disorder.

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Addicted in Hollywood: Fame, Fortune and the Dark Realities of Sexual Addiction

In a case of life imitating art, actor David Duchovny, who plays a sex-addicted writer on the hit Showtime series “Californication,” entered rehab for real-life sex addiction three years ago.

“I have voluntarily entered a facility for the treatment of sex addiction,” Duchovny said in a statement released at the time. “I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family.” 

Although wife Tea Leoni stood by his side then, earlier this month the couple announced they were separating for the second time in their 14-year marriage.


But Duchovny is not alone.

Russell Brand’s obsession with sex was once so raging that he hired “a team of experts” to seek out women to fulfill his insatiable need for random sex, before heading to rehab. 

In his recent memoir “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” teen heartthrob Rob Lowe, who entered rehab in 1998 for drug and sex addiction, recalled the scandal that erupted after a videotape of him having sex with two girls (one of them underage) leaked, and admitted at one point he couldn’t go without sex for more than 30 hours. 

“AKA” director/writer Duncan Roy turned to Dr. Drew’s “Celebrity Rehab” to treat his obsession with straight men and addiction to Internet porn.

Addicted in Hollywood: Scary Lengths Stars Go to Stay Scary Skinny.

And not all sex addicts are guys.

Former beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche, who became a household name after appearing in a sex tape with Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart, entered Dr. Drew’s reality television treatment program to quash her addiction to love and sex. Model Amber Smith sought help for "stalking" men like her father. And author Kerry Cohan even divulged details of her litany of hookups and carnal cravings in the 2008 book “Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity.”

So what makes someone a a sex addict?

A sex addict has an intense drive and preoccupation with sex, is unable to sustain healthy personal relationships, attempts to justify or blame others for their behavior, and engages in risk-taking – despite the dangerous and negative consequences, they just can’t stop. Sex addiction can also evolve to involve illegal activities, including picking up prostitutes, exhibitionism, peeping and sexual assault. 

And experts say Hollywood is a sex addict magnet.

“The Hollywood and celebrity circuit is filled with narcissism. Most people are very self-indulgent and once the thrill of public accolades gets dull, they need to stay in the spotlight,” explained addiction specialist and author of “Younger (Sexier) You,” Dr. Eric Braverman. “Drama kings and queens tend to need attention, which dries up in their brain. By having sex with many people the thrill of still being in the spotlight is met. However, this is not a meaningful thrill; it is very phony and only lasts temporarily, so they need the next partner.”

What’s the difference between an addict and someone who just has a lot of sex?

“Not every man or woman who cheats on their partner is a sex addict, but there is both behavioral evidence and neurochemistry to support the idea that compulsive sexual behavior can be a form of addiction,” CEO of the star-studded Malibu Rehab Facility Promises, Dr. David Sack, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. “Compulsive sexual behaviors seem to be regulated by the brain chemical dopamine which also governs our reward experience. People that we would call sexual addicts exhibit the same kind of craving, compulsion and withdrawal that we see with addicting drugs.”

The clinical diagnosis of a sex addict is still a controversial one, however. The term is not recognized in the Psychiatric Diagnosis Manual, and last year the American Psychiatric Association announced that their upcoming 2013 manual will include a "behavioral addictions" category that includes gambling, but not sex. So is it possible that copping to so-called sex addiction is simply an excuse for one to justify their philandering?

"Sex addiction is one of those pop psychology diagnoses that has scant scientific support," Scott Lilienfeld, Associate Professor of Psychology at Emory University and co-author of "50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology," told LiveScience. “It's not at all clear whether the term explains, rather than merely describes, people's sexual behaviors. When we hear that someone has a 'diagnosis' of sex addiction, we haven't really learned anything new. We've merely applied a label summarizing what we already knew—basically that the person has serious trouble containing his or her sexual impulses."

Whether it is defined as a clinical addiction or an inability to contain sexual impulses, its consequences can be dire.

“Recently I spoke with a wife who found out her husband was bisexual because of highly promiscuous activities with men. She was coping with it through individual and couples therapy until she found out that her husband was having unprotected sex with gay men,” Sacks said. “He subsequently became HIV positive and she was about to be tested. The betrayal she felt first because he lied to her, then because his behavior became more extreme and finally because he put her health and life in jeopardy was heartbreaking.” 

Furthermore, Jaffe said he has treated sex addicts who literally masturbate until they bleed, have had multiple extramarital partners, and despite losing several marriages over it, still find themselves compulsively drawn to online porn and anonymous sex and dating websites.

“Some of the most difficult stories I’ve heard involve individuals who were abused at an early age and have learned to associate that abuse with love/intimacy especially in young children,” Angeles-based addiction specialist Dr. Adi Jaffe said. “That sort of early learning can lead to pretty distorted behavior later in life, and that can then get people locked away for life.”

So how does one spot a sex addict?

“The signs are often difficult for someone from the outside to perceive, especially because of just how taboo sex issues are in society. You’re not going to know if someone is spending eight hours a day masturbating to porn unless you live with them, and addicts are good at hiding it,” Jaffe explained. “Signs start to become obvious when the addiction goes into full-swing, at this point people are losing sleep, missing out on important commitments, and if their sexual acting out involves illegal activities, then they might start getting into legal trouble.”

The Internet, phone technology, and social networking have made sexual compulsion a whole lot easier to act out. According to Sacks, people are now exposed to graphic sexual imagery at a much younger age, and pornography is available at the touch of a keystroke.

“Websites that encourage hookups and cheating have proliferated," Sacks said. "And now geolocator apps that run off of your cell phone GPS signal allow you to find people to hook up near where you are, any time, day or night.”

 

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Hillsborough jails see increasing number of pain pill addicts

The inmates shiver at the medical screening station, sweat coating clammy skin. Then the dizziness and nausea hits.

That's when nurse Jessica McCray knows the person just booked into Orient Road Jail is in the early stages of withdrawal from prescription painkillers.

"Usually, they've taken it in the last eight hours," McCray said. "A lot of them are concerned about withdrawal. They're going to be hurting."

Jail cells are no barriers against the prescription pill problem plaguing society.

Thirty-one percent of inmates in Hillsborough County jails said they took pills within a week of their latest arrest. Fifty-three percent of inmates said oxycodone, Oxycontin or Roxicodone was their drug of choice.

The data is based on an informal survey of 438 inmates conducted last month at the behest of Sheriff David Gee, who wanted to know how prevalent the problem is, said Col. Jim Previtera, the director of county jails.

The jail population is about 3,000.

"The jail is a microcosm of the community," Previtera said. "Until it's controlled in the community, we have to deal with the aftermath."

The number of inmates addicted to opiate-based medication such as oxycodone or hydrocodone has risen over the last five years, said Beth Weaver, medical adviser for the sheriff's office.

The rise mirrors what's happening in the outside world, with Florida gaining a reputation as the epicenter of prescription pill abuse, Previtera said.

About 36 percent of inmates are arrested for the possession or abuse of painkillers, according to the survey. Fifty-one percent have gone through withdrawal during their current sentence or their previous one.

"This is starting to have a serious impact on the jail and the inmate population," Previtera said.

Taxpayers are also affected. Detoxification and treatment programs for inmates adds to medical costs, Previtera said, and detention deputies have to get additional training to learn how to recognize and handle pill addicts.

Prescription pill abuse has caught the attention of state lawmakers who say Tampa and parts of South Florida are hubs for so-called "pill mills," illicit pain management clinics that dole out massive prescriptions. Gov. Rick Scott said that 98 of the nation's top 100 oxycodone-purchasing physicians are in Florida.

Visitors from other states were known to travel here to buy pills because of lax regulations then return to their home states to sell them at higher prices.

Tougher laws regarding the ownership and operation of pain management clinics were approved by the Legislature earlier this year.

The new laws establish standards of care for doctors who prescribe narcotic-grade pills, requiring them to register with the state Department of Health and bans doctors from dispensing the most abused narcotics. Penalties against doctors who overprescribe pills have been toughened, with a minimum $10,000 fine and six-month suspensions.

The legislation, signed by Scott on June 3, also establishes the creation of a prescription-drug monitoring database. The system, expected to go online by Oct. 1, will track where and how often opiate-based medication is prescribed.

Previtera said it's too early to tell if these measures will curb the jails' prescription pill problem. Another survey of inmates will be conducted in the fall to see if the new laws have had any effect.

"The jail can't bear the weight of this problem on our own," he said. "It wasn't designed to handle this epidemic. The best we can do is manage it."

The first step usually involves inmates going through a detoxification program. Weaver, the sheriff's medical adviser, said withdrawal symptoms can arise between eight to 72 hours, depending on the type of prescription medication.

McCray, the nurse, said it can be difficult seeing people go through the pain.

"It's my job, but sometimes it kind of pulls out your heartstrings," she said.

Symptoms include profuse sweating, nausea, vomiting, tremors and a decrease in appetite.

"It makes you feel you're going to die," said John Maslanka, a drug abuse counselor for the county's jails. "You can't think of anything except using that drug again."

Inmates are given medical kits that target the symptoms of withdrawal to ease the pain and discomfort, Weaver said.

There is only one long-term treatment option in jail, an eight-week counseling program primarily for addicts ordered by the court to get their substance abuse under control. There are few spots available for inmates who want to voluntarily sign up for the program, Previtera said.

About a dozen inmates participate in each eight-week session. Not all can be helped.

"Some people are just so broken," drug counselor Gretchen Sanchez said. "It takes a lot to put them together."

At least one person in each group is a success story, the counselors said.

Shannon Collins is one of them. She completed the jail's counseling program in January, after she violated probation for possession of a controlled substance. Collins, 39, said she became hooked on painkillers after she injured her back in a car crash about eight years ago.

The addiction caused her to lose her job and her family. Collins said she was high when she signed documents allowing her ex-husband to have custody of their son.

"I allowed it to ruin my life," she said. "The addiction to pills led to heroin. You get to the point when 200 pills a month aren't enough."

Counseling from Sanchez has helped Collins learn how to keep temptation in check. She's out of jail and enrolled in a long-term treatment program. She's interviewing for jobs and trying to get her life on track.

"I want to stay sober," Collins said. "I want a different life."

 

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KOB Eyewitness news 4 reported about a spike in abuse of a drug used to treat heroin addiction.


Bernalillo County Sheriff's detectives said it is a new trend, but many viewers responded with skepticism. KOB decided to take a closer look at this drug called Suboxone.

One addiction expert claims that while Suboxone, like any other drug, can be abused, it is not the prescription drug of choice for those addicted to heroin.

Dr. John Vigil practices addiction medicine. He said Suboxone is not the same euphoria or high as heroin.

Vigil explained that if it is being sold on the streets or in jail it may be used as a way to stem withdrawal until a user can get their next heroin fix or get into a recovery program.

Vigil also points out that these treatments have heavy oversight.

"It is a federal regulation that any doctor that prescribes Suboxone or Suboxone treatment must either provide counseling therapy or make referrals for those patients to go for appropriate treatment," Vigil explained.

Methadone came about in the 1960's and Suboxone in the 2000's.

Vigil claims the use of Methadone or Suboxone combined with a program of therapy can have a 90 percent chance of success for heroin addicts.

Vigil said heroin addiction is neurobiological disease and treating it with opiate replacement therapy is the best chance of getting addicts help.

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Actor Charlie Sheen's estranged wife, Broke Mueller, has decided to go to a rehabilitation centre in Mexico to get rid of her drug addiction.



Mueller is heading to a treatment facility in Cancun for an intensive seven-day stint in a bid to finally overcome her addiction, reports TMZ.

The 33-year-old, who has endured a long drug and alcohol abuse battle, finished her 45-day treatment program at a rehab centre in May this year.

Mueller and Sheen married in 2008, but split in April 2010 after the couple's drugs and lifestyle problems got in their way.

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Bai Ling: Why I’m on ‘Celebrity Rehab

Actress Bai Ling said she is confronting a dark chapter from her past: sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of Chinese army officers.

Bai, 44, who was a soldier in a People’s Liberation Army performance troupe from age 14 to 17, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that she was “opening a wound that was very secret to myself, that even my parents don’t know.”

Therapy she received during Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew helped her understand what she endured.

The actress ( The Crow, Red Corner, TV’s Entourage) said she was pressed to have sex with her superiors, with one encounter leading to pregnancy and an abortion under an assumed name.

Bai, who is writing a book, Naked in Tibet, stressed that she blames individual officers and not the Chinese government. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman in Beijing said the government had “not heard of this report. This is not within our scope to comment.”

The actress’ career and life have suffered because of the unaddressed torment of her army experience, she said. She has become a paparazzi target for eyebrow-raising remarks (she claims she is from the moon), a 2008 shoplifting allegation and wild, alcohol-fueled behavior, including flashes of nudity.

Anyone who has a drug or alcohol problem “was abused in some way and trying to hide,” said Bai, who doesn’t consider herself an alcoholic but is allergic to even small amounts of alcohol.

“The media bring me out as this crazy slut showing her nipples everywhere,” Bai said. “I become this character the pop culture Hollywood machine created. Somehow, I become a victim to that image.”

Others featured in the latest edition of Rehab include former baseball player Dwight Gooden and actress Sean Young.

Within a three-month period this year, onetime participants Grease star Jeff Conaway and ex-Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr died, putting the show under a cloud.

 

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers was hospitalized in London this week after a possible suicide attempt involving pills

Jonathan Rhys Meyers was hospitalized in London this week after a possible suicide attempt involving pills, according to a report.

The star of The Tudors, 33, who has battled alcohol addiction over the years, was found slumped on the floor of his home Tuesday night by paramedics answering an emergency call, the Sun reports.

He reputedly refused treatment, so the paramedics called the police, and Meyers was taken to hospital.

"He did relapse but he did not try to commit suicide," says a source. "He was taken to the hospital and then released." His rep has no comment.

A Scotland Yard spokesman tells PEOPLE: "We can confirm we were called by the London Ambulance Service to an address in NW8 to report to a man refusing treatment. Police attended, and the man was taken by ambulance to a central London hospital. That was the end of our involvement."

The actor was reportedly discharged from hospital early Wednesday.

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