Category Archives: Heroin

Two years ago, The New York Times released a mini-doc about how a surge in heroin use had contributed to fatal overdoses in Maine. This is a crisis that has been spreading across New England — including to New Hampshire, where Saturday night’s Democratic debate took place — as well as nationwide. As a result, the Democratic candidates were asked to address the national heroin crisis, which is remarkable considering that it is rarely discussed while marijuana legalization remains the mainstream topic of choice. But the fact that this question was posed indicates just how drastic the situation is, and just how much is left to be done. As one of the debate moderators pointed out, a recent poll indicated that 48 percent of New Hampshire’s residents say they know someone affected by the heroin crisis.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was the first to respond to the question, and he mentioned that his own state was significantly affected by the crisis as well. Sanders has been advocating for the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana use for some time, and has demonstrated an understanding of the way in which the War on Drugs perpetuates systemic racism. But Sanders has also evidently given a great deal of thought to the heroin crisis, and in his response, he called for dramatic health care reform.

Well, for a start, this may seem like a radical idea, but I think we have got to tell the medical profession and doctors who are prescribing opiates and the pharmaceutical industry that they have got to start getting their act together, we cannot have this huge number of opiates out there throughout this country, where young people are taking them, getting hooked, and then going to heroin.

Sanders also slammed the health care system for forcing people to wait months at a time to get treatment for addiction, rather than having a variety of treatment options readily available for anyone who might need them. He explained that the root of the problem lies in how addiction is perceived.

We need to understand that addiction is a disease, not a criminal activity. And that means — and that means radically changing the way we deal with mental health and addiction issues.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, described her own engagement with the issue. She delivered a brief anecdote about a campaign trail visit to Keene, New Hampshire, where she was asked the very same question. Clinton was not as specific as Sanders in explaining the nature of the crisis, but she did talk about the need for more facilities to treat addiction, as well as for law enforcement to carry Naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose.

Clinton went on to say that she has held town halls on this issue, and has laid out a five-point plan that would involve putting in $10 billion over 10 years to work with states on this crisis. While she evidently does have some concrete policy plans surrounding this issue, Clinton also used this as an opportunity to celebrate Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s willingness to publicly grapple with his alcoholism.

And I was proud to get the endorsement of Mayor Walsh of Boston, who has made his struggle with alcoholism a real clarion call for action in this arena.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was the last to respond to the question, and he had a personal experience to share.

I actually know a great deal about this issue. And I have a dear friend, played music with him for years, remember when his — when he came home with his baby girl, and now she’s no longer with us, because of addiction and overdose. The last time in New Hampshire, I had to take a break shortly after landing and call home and comfort a friend whose mother had died of an overdose.

O’Malley described the heroin crisis as a public health challenge, and he said that during his term, he expanded drug treatment funding in Maryland — something he said he would do nationwide as president. His plan calls for a $12 billion federal investment in local partnerships that could intervene to prevent deaths from overdose. To make the point crystal clear, O’Malley posed a critical question:

What would we do if this were Ebola? How would we act?

Sanders was the only candidate of the three that did not propose a specific federal investment during the debate, but his approach also differs from those of the other two. While O’Malley and Clinton called for more facilities, programs, and funding, Sanders went one step further — at least in rhetoric — to slam the criminalization of addiction and call for easier access to mental health resources. O’Malley talked about intervention, while Sanders talked about the system itself; this is an important distinction to make between the two.

In New England and nationally, the heroin crisis has been rapidly getting worse. As the election season continues, it will be vital for the candidatesfrom both parties to not only think about this issue, but also to meet with those who are affected by heroin addiction and determine how they might best help meet their needs. To learn more about the heroin crisis in New England specifically, watch the video from The New York Times below.

Brain and Ability to Think

It’s not well-known that heroin abuse damages the brains of users. A 2007 study noted that “brain disintegration becomes apparent very soon after an onset of chronic heroin abuse.” Brain damage also results from non-fatal overdoses and head injuries that are more likely to occur in an impaired person (especially polydrug abusers). Remnants of injuries that trace back to a lack of oxygen to the brain, either from these overdoses or injuries, are commonly found in long-term heroin addicts.

A study from the University of Edinburgh autopsied the brains of 34 opiate abusers (they were using heroin or methadone). None of them had a history of head injuries. But the brains showed brain damage similar to the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The average age of the drug users was 26.

There are many other studies that show brain damage and deterioration from injected or smoked heroin abuse, including the deterioration of the brain into a spongy state, resulting in overall weakness, spastic attacks and permanent hand tremor.

Short oxygen deprivation from opiate overdoses that are survived can still cause cognitive decline. Research shows that even when a person injects heroin in quantities too low to cause overdose, they tend to cause a brief (five to thirty minute) drop in blood oxygen levels that are sufficient to cause brain and organ damage after repetitive occurrences.

The sleep apnea (breathing that repeatedly starts and stops during sleep) that is suffered by some heroin addicts can further contribute to a lack of oxygen reaching the brain.

Kidneys

This is another type of injury that is not well known. Heroin abuse has been associated with high levels of protein in the urine, a condition that can lead to kidney failure. Causes are thought to be bacteria or viral contaminants in heroin, or toxins in the substances used to dilute the drug. The presence of hepatitis C or HIV in some drug-abusing patients was also considered to be a possible factor.

When a person becomes comatose after a non-fatal overdose of heroin, the muscles that experienced the unmoving weight of the body may begin to break down. This is called rhabdomyolysis. The chemicals released by this breakdown are destructive to the kidneys. Recovery usually requires dialysis and may require a kidney transplant.

Intestines

Heroin and other opiates reduce the action of muscles in the intestines, making constipation a constant problem. This can result in hemorrhoids, anal fissures or damage to the rectum that may require surgery to repair.

Heroin addicts are intimately familiar with this problem and the rupturing that can occur when bowel movements stop. Some of them let themselves go into the early stages of withdrawal every few days, just so their bodies will trigger the diarrhea that is typical during withdrawal. In that way, they avoid the impactions that build up over the ten days to two weeks between bowel movements.

Heroin also threatens one’s life by spreading deadly diseases, by setting up the right conditions for gangrene, through triggering an impulse toward suicide, and other effects. Those effects will be covered in the last section of this report.

I Am The Mother Of An Addict

I am the mother of an addict who is currently incarcerated.  He is a 22 year old young man that I know for a fact is sweet, kind and intelligent, musical and sensitive. Yet he is now a convicted felon who will spend the next 4 years in prison on a felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

Beginning when he was 19, my son has been in long-term rehab on four different occasions, for a total of almost a full year of days. He has embraced sobriety, only to lose it again several months later. He has done this multiple times. He has been rushed by ambulance to the hospital more than once. He almost bled to death and he has had overdoses and seizures. He spent a few days in a psychiatric hospital when he became suicidal. He has been saved by Jesus and lost his faith, joined a church, attended AA, NA, MA, and CA and seen psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors in an effort to understand his behaviors. He has been arrested multiple times. He has fallen down, and gotten up, over and over and over again.

As a single parent who left an alcoholic and drug addict husband when my two children were young, I vowed to myself that I would make a better life for them, and I didn’t drink at all as they grew up. I tried so hard to be a good parent, making their well being my number one concern. My daughter has matured into adulthood and is happily married with a child on the way. She seldom drinks at all, doesn’t use drugs at all, and has a stable and healthy lifestyle.

My Son’s Addiction

My son’s addiction started in high school, with what at the time I considered to be “normal” experimentation with alcohol and marijuana.  I never expected then that his alcohol and drug use would escalate into full blown addiction and that it would progress over the years all the way to intravenous heroin and meth use.

As my son’s descent into serious addiction took over and his life became a roller coast ride, I jumped on the ride too, and have been through all the ups and downs right alongside him. I have cried, yelled, talked, prayed, pleaded and begged. I have had more sleepless nights than I can count, and I have put myself in perilous circumstances more than once on his behalf. I have spent countless hours, almost all my money and all my energy into trying to save him from himself. I have attended Al-Anon and rehab family sessions galore. I have spent my weekends driving to visitations and embraced new thinking along with him. I have read and read and read every book and article on the subject I could get my hands on. I have considered at length every approach to recovery, from AA to Rational Recovery, from faith-based to non-secular, to medically-assisted to pure self will and determination, in an effort to find the key to my son’s condition and to his recovery.

Parents, Trust Your Instincts

I would advise any parent of teens, if you are beginning to suspect a problem, trust your instincts. Pay attention to what your child does more than what they say. Trust is important between a child and parent, but don’t let your love for your child dissuade you from ignoring the facts. If a problem becomes evident and your child is still a minor or under your roof, address it immediately. This is the time to be the parent your child needs with rules, expectations and consequences. If they are a young adult and out on their own, your approach will be different, but be upfront with your concerns. As much as you want your young adult children to consider you a friend, it is more important that they are made aware that their addictive behavior has become noticeable to others.

10 Truths For The Parent Of An Addict Child

You may find yourself reading here today because you are just at the start of that roller coaster ride, or maybe you are already deep into it, looking for answers. I don’t have the answers. But after all of it, I have learned a few hard lessons. From these lessons, I have compiled a list of truths. I wish I had read this list a few years back and taken it to heart. Maybe things could have turned out differently.

1. 1. Your actions and parenting are not what caused your child to become an addict. Perhaps there are things that you would do differently if you had it to do over. But keep in mind, at the time you made what you thought were the right decisions. Don’t waste your energy and affect your own morale by going over and over the past and endlessly second-guessing yourself.
   2. You can’t fix your child’s addiction. Only your child can find the answers to their sobriety. You may provide your child with self-help books, spend every dime you have sending them to rehab, find support groups for them within your community or much more. But none of that will get them clean and sober and on the path to recovery, until they have hit their own personal rock bottom and are ready to recover.
   3. What you believe your child’s rock bottom to be and what they believe their rock bottom to be can be very different. For you, their dropping out of school or college may seem a tragedy. For them, especially when they are actively using, it may be but a blip on the radar. For you, one trip to the hospital due to an OD may seem a nightmare that you never want to endure again. For them, it may take even more severe consequences for them to reach bottom.
   4. Telling a child that “if they loved you” they would get clean and sober “for you” will never, ever work. It’s not that they don’t love you, it’s that they are an addict.
   5. And along those lines, don’t for a moment believe that your child, who surely does love you, is not capable of lying to you, stealing from you and more when in the grips of their addiction.
   6. Bailing your child out of trouble caused by their addiction is not protecting them. It is enabling them to continue their addiction without consequences. Facing consequences for their addictive behavior early in their addictive behavior, for example, the loss of a job, an eviction, or a bad credit score, could be an effective lesson for them, and help them face that they have a problem.  Yes, they eventually will have a mess to clean up. Let them learn that.
   7. Bailing your child out of jail if they should be arrested is not always the right thing to do, even if every fiber of your being is in torment at the thought of them being incarcerated. Chances are very strong they will survive the experience, even if you leave them there for quite a long time, and the reality of spending days or even weeks in jail may be just the hard slap they need. Likewise, hiring expensive lawyers may or may not minimize the impact of criminal charges but it will not increase your child’s likelihood of recovering from their addiction.
   8. Telling your child you love them unconditionally is always right. Telling them you don’t like and won’t condone or support their behavior when they are actively using is also right. Addicts can be more manipulative and cunning in their drug seeking behavior than you would like to believe your child capable of. It’s OK and appropriate to tell your child that they cannot use your car, take your money, or jeopardize your home, health, or well being in any way. You may even reach a point when you need to tell your addict child they are not allowed or welcome in your home any longer. Protect yourself, your health, your finances, and your assets.
   9. Loving your child isn’t always enough.  Your addict child will hurt themselves, harm themselves, and cause themselves more pain that you can imagine, and all the love you have for them can’t prevent it or stop it. They may lose friendships and relationships with other family members and with you and alienate everybody. They may lose everything they have and cause irreparable havoc from their drug use. You will still love them, even when they are at their worst. In their own guilt and shame they may have a hard time believing that you love them and they may push you away. Always let them know you believe they have the ability to recover.
   10. There is always hope. In your child’s darkest hour, they may find what they need. Never give up on your child.

1. When Dorothy collapses in the field of poppies in the Wizard of Oz, she has fallen under the influence of an opium. Treatment with a few chemicals can isolate morphine, the active ingredient in opium. Morphine can further be refined into diacetylmorphine, which is commonly known as heroin.^b
2. The word “heroine” is derived from the German word heroisch, or “heroic.”^b
3. Heroin is also known as “tar,” “train,” “junk,” “smack,” “H,” “boy,” “white horse,” “brown,” “black,” and “chiva,” among others.^c
4. Two of the most common long-term effects of heroin addiction are liver failure andheart disease.^c
5. According to the Department of Justice, the top destination in the United States for heroin shipments is the Chicago metro area.^a
6. A 1998–2008 study found that heroin-related deaths in the Chicago area went up 40% among white women.^e

Afghanistan is the leading producer of illicit opium in the world

1. According to a 2013 study, Afghanistan is the leading producer and cultivator of opium worldwide and manufactures 74% of illicit opiates. However, Mexico is the leading supplier to the U.S.^e
2. Quentin Tarantino’s violent movie Pulp Fictionwas accused of glamorizing and misrepresenting heroin use. The movie shows an overdose victim being revived by a dose of adrenaline injected directly into the heart. However, this is almost never done to treat a heroine overdose. And if it were done, CPR and defibrillation would also be necessary.^b
3. Heroin has claimed the lives of many beloved artists, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cory Monteith, Janis Joplin, River Phoenix, and Chris Farley. Other celebrities have struggled with heroin, including Russell Brand, Robert Downy Jr., Corey Feldman, Courtney Love, Tatum O’Neal, and Keith Richards.^c
4. Approximately 13.5 million people worldwide take opium-like substances (opioids), including 9.2 million who use heroin.^a
5. C. R. Alder Wright discovered how to process heroin from morphine in 1874. It was initially believed to be nonaddictive and was used to help morphine addicts break their addiction.^b
6. Heroin can be injected, snorted/sniffed, or smoked. All three methods can lead to addiction and other severe health problems.^a
7. A person can become more tolerant to heroin so, after a short time, more and more heroin is needed to produce the same level of intensity.^a
8. Heroin withdrawal occurs within just a few hours since the last use. Symptoms include diarrhea, insomnia, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and bone and muscle pain. Withdrawal is often severe.^c
9. The ancient Sumerians referred to the poppy (from which heroin is derived) as hul gil, or the “joy plant.” Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Minoan, and Sanskrit texts also refer to the use of poppy-derived medicines.^c

The Latin botanical name for the opium poppy is Papaver somniferum and means “sleep-bringing poppy”

1. The poppy plant, from which heroin is derived, grows in mild climates around the world, including Afghanistan, Mexico, Columbia, Turkey, Pakistan, India Burma, Thailand, Australia, andChina.^c
2. Heroin is made by collecting sap from the flower of opium poppies. The sap is then bought by a merchant or broker who takes the opium to a morphine refinery, were it is refined into a morphine base. This base is then reacted with acetic anhydride, a chemical that is also used in the production of aspirin.^c
3. In its purest form (diamorphine), heroin powder is white. However, the most commonly used type of heroin is brown. Heroin can also be yellow or even gray. “Mexican Mud’ or “Black Tar” from Mexico is becoming increasingly popular and profitable as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East. Previously, most heroin was imported from Afghanistan.^d
4. After time, a heroin user’s sense of smell and taste become numb and may disappear. Sexual function and the ability to orgasm are also diminished. When the addiction is over, the numbness fades, which causes an overwhelming flood of stimulation.^c
5. Heroin doesn’t dissolve easily, so users need to dissolve it, usually in a spoon with water before they inject. Users will often use heat to help the heroin dissolve.^c
6. Heroin cravings can linger for years after a person stops using. It can be triggered by exposure to stress or things associated with previous drug use.^a
7. Heroin can be injected intravenously or intramuscularly. Some users inject heroin into the tissue just under the skin, which is called “skin popping.” Injecting heroin into a vein results in an almost immediate effect as the drug enters the bloodstream and then rapidly arrives at the brain. Injecting heroin into a muscle produces a slower reaction.^c
8. Heroin can be smoked using a method called “chasing the dragon.” A user will heat the powder on some foil and then inhale the fumes through a small tube. The effects are felt quickly, usually within 2–5 minutes after smoking.^c
9. Users who snort heroin can sniff the powder up their nose, like cocaine users do. Some users will add water to an empty eye drop (e.g., Visine) bottle, then drop a $20 hit or two into the bottle. They shake up the bottle to dissolve the drug and then squirt the liquid up their nose.^c
10. Some heroin users describe the drug as “blissful apathy” because it reduces emotional reactions to pain.^c

A heroin addiction can cost over $250 a day

1. A heroin addiction is expensive to maintain. At the height of someone’s addiction, they may spend around $250 a day.^c
2. Approximately 3% of high school seniors say they have tried heroin at least once in the past year. Many of them will try the drug for the first time on school grounds.^e
3. Heroin creates both a physical and psychological dependence. If an addict does not address the psychological effects of the drugs as well as the physical, there is a 90% chance they will relapse.^b
4. It takes about 14 years of using heroin before someone will admit they are an addict and seek treatment. However, just 20% of people seek out some form of help.^c
5. Most people who take heroin will become addicted within 12 weeks of consistent use. After 12 weeks, withdrawal symptoms can begin in as little as 2 hours after taking a hit. It generally takes about 72 hours for withdrawal symptoms from heroin to reach their peak.^c
6. Most people try heroin for the first time in their late teens or early 20s. Anyone can become addicted—all races, genders, and ethnicities.^b
7. In 2014, the street price of a standard bag of heroin in Chicago was $10 for 7%–10% purity. Ten years ago, it was $50–$150 for 2%–3% purity. Purer versions allow a user to smoke or snort the drug which, because it’s easier, widens the audience. The more heroin is cut with filler, the more likely it has to be injected directly into thebody to achieve a high.^a
8. Heroin use has been increasing since 2007. Heroin overdose deaths have also spiked, increasing 45% from 2006 to 2010, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.^e
9. Heroin is a “downer,” which means it’s a depressant that slows messages traveling between the brain and body. When it enters the body, users feel a rush of euphoria.^c
10. The most significant indicator that someone will use heroin is if someone abused prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin and oxycodone (Oxycontin, etc.).^a
11. Signs that someone is using heroin include shortness of breath, dry mouth, a droopy appearance, cycles of ultra-alertness followed by sudden drowsiness. Additionally, their pupils will appear small.^c

Heroin was initially marketed as a cough medicine for children

1. In 1898, Bayer marketed heroin as a nonaddictive cough medicine. It is now considered to have no medical benefit with a high potential for abuse.^b
2. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2007 there were a reported 373,000 heroin users in the U.S. That number doubled to 660,000 users in 2012.^e
3. According to the National Institute of Health, in 2007, the United States consumed about 80% of the world’s opiate supplies. The U.S. consists of only 4.6% of the world’s population.^e
4. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, from 2006 to 2010, deaths from drug poisoning involving heroin increased by 45%.^e
5. In 1999, 4,414 teens sought treatment for heroin abuse. In 2009, over 21,000 teens sought treatment.^e
6. A 2009 study found that 90% of heroin addicts were white.^e
7. More than most other drugs, heroin increases the risk of serious health problems not directly associated with the drug itself. Users who inject heroin are more likely than other types of drug users to contract HIV/AIDS or hepatitis.^c

If someone you love is addicted to drugs or alcohol, then you’re no stranger to heartache and worry. In addition to those feelings, bitterness and disappointment are probably unfortunate staples of your home. Life kind of becomes a pressure cooker; things are always on the verge of blowing up.

It’s hard to understand substance abuse if you’ve never been in its clutches and it can be more than frustrating to stand idly by while a loved one slowly destroys his life. You want to help, but you’re not sure how. You don’t understand why he refuses to listen; you may even believe that – if he really loved you– he’d stop taking drugs.

Whether your loved one is an active addict, in early recovery, or in the middle of a treatment program, you have to re-learn communication skills. And part of that process includes learning what not to say. Every situation is unique, but certain words are universally more harmful than helpful when dealing with addiction.

With that in mind, let’s look at three things you should never say to a loved one who is struggling with substance abuse and addiction.

You’re so selfish. Why don’t you just stop doing drugs?

It’d be wonderful if all addicts could instantly stop feeding their addictions, but most need help. You can’t just will away a condition that has literally reprogrammed your loved one’s brain chemistry. On top of his physical issues, there’s a ton ofemotional trauma lying just underneath the surface.

Please understand that nobody wants to live this way. Addiction creates a dark and lonely existence. You must know that, if he could, he’d gladly choose to walk away from drugs or alcohol. Since that’s not generally an option, show your love and concern by providing support, consistency, and courage.

I give up. You’ll never beat this addiction!

The constant fighting and deceit that accompanies addiction surely weighs heavy on your heart. This becomes even more frustrating when you’re a witness to multiple episodes of relapse. But if you give up on him, it can feel like a death sentence for both of you.

No one can predict the future; you can’t determine his fate by looking solely to the past. Loving an addict can be exhausting, but nothing good comes from verbally beating him up. That’s not to say you can’t cut ties; sometimes that’s what it takes. But there are thousands of recovering addicts out there right now leading happy, healthy lives. Never give up hope.

You’re doing it all wrong. Recovery has to be done this way!

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have helped usher thousands of people into recovery, but they aren’t right for everybody. You have to understand that the the map to sobriety isn’t set in stone. People might take different routes to get there, but when it’s all said and done, the destination is the only thing that matters.

Instead of trying to dictate the recovery plan, offer to help find a program that feels right for him. Modern addiction treatment comes in all shapes and sizes. Individual counseling, group therapy, resident rehabilitation centers, medically assisted detox/maintenance programs, and holistic therapies are just a few of the many routes you can explore…together.

Growing up, my understanding of heroin was limited to “If you use it once, you’re screwed” and “Don’t let the girl from She’s All That borrow your cast iron pan.” Well, I was hooked on one of the most addictive drugs in the world for over a year before I was arrested and forced to get clean in jail, and along the way I learned that this kind of habit is nothing like what we’ve been told.

5
Addiction Isn’t Instant (And That Makes It Worse)

By far the biggest rumor surrounding heroin is that it’s an instant addiction — you take one hit, and you’re hooked. Just check out this scene from Breaking Bad:

Jesse asks what it’ll feel like, telling us that it’s his first journey into the wonderful world of opioids. To be blunt, I have literally never met anyone who was introduced to heroin with a needle. That’s roughly the equivalent of taking your first drink of alcohol by butt-chugging moonshine out of a gas can. The reality is a lot less abrupt, and a lot scarier: Most people start by popping and smoking pills. In that stage, it never seems like a problem, because you can use daily for weeks with no withdrawal effects whatsoever. I got totally wasted with my girlfriend Sally* every night and woke up every morning clear as a bell, so it was super easy to think “Hey, why not use again?” I never had cravings, so it didn’t feel like a real problem — but somewhere in that process, a switch got flipped.

*Not her real name, obviously. What is this, Leave It to Beaver?

One day I woke up with what felt like a flu, and it wasn’t until I got some more dope to “help my flu” that I realized I was “junk sick” — the term users have for the early stages of withdrawal. It was after that — after I was addicted — that I turned to the needle. Once you’re at the stage where you’re even considering the needle, you long ago forgot about “squeamishness” right along with “work” and “everything else you ever wanted to accomplish in your life.”

You have no trouble remembering where your spoons are, though.

The really bad part of heroin isn’t the physical dependency — it’s the addiction, and there’s a difference. Telling people heroin will get them “instantly addicted” is a fine scare tactic, but it disguises the real danger. I was using heroin daily not because I had jumped off the swings and accidentally touched a needle discarded on a playground, thus allowing the addiction-gremlins inside my brain, but because my firsthand experience with the drug told me that it was a risk-free way to escape from my problems. So when I realized I needed to kick, that meant facing not only the physical agony of withdrawal, but all the demons I had been running from in the first place. And I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one run in the wild, but demons are fast.

4
Movies Get the Scary Parts Wrong

Remember that scene in Requiem for a Dream when Jared Leto’s arm gets infected and his friend acts like it’s the craziest thing he’s ever seen? That scene is ridiculous not because it’s overhyped and chock-full of Leto-bangs, but because that shit happens all the time. When Sally got an abscess, we drained it with a hot compress and a disinfected razor blade, and that was it — no hospital, no surgery, no nothing. It’s so commonplace, it’s practically boring.

In lieu of any pictures of rotting abscesses, have these kittens.

A piddling little bit of blackened limb rot would be downright pleasant next to the looming threat of an accidental overdose. In a perfect world where no one ever makes mistakes, the difference between a good shot and a lethal dose would be about $10 — but we don’t live in a perfect world, so we have to deal with purity issues. Since there’s not exactly an FDA for hard drugs, heroin purity is less closely monitored than, say, orange juice pulp levels. One person can have dope that is 80 percent pure, while his roommate can be getting high on stuff closer 10 percent, and there’s virtually no way of visually distinguishing between the two. What happens over and over again is someone used to the lower-end stuff gets some “fire” dope from his dealer. Even if he’s careful and does a tiny shot to test it out, it could still end up being like four of his normal shots. That’s like picking up your latte at Starbucks, only when you go to take a sip, it turns out your coffee is made of shotgun blast and your head gets splattered all over the ceiling. Then Llarold, the hipster barista, is all “Psh, casuals.”

Llarold’s a damned enigma, but he makes the third best latte in town.

This is why heroin in particular is responsible for such a large portion of all drug overdoses. In the short time I was using, I knew four people who overdosed that exact way. Some users have clarified that you don’t die of an overdose of heroin — you die “from heroin.” Again, in an effort to make the drug seem scarier, we’ve distracted from the far worse reality: Heroin isn’t dangerous because you might get an infection. Heroin is dangerous because at best you’re not just at Death’s door — you’re in Death’s living room having a Mario Kart tournament at 2 a.m. and hoping he doesn’t wake up, but you’re not paying very close attention to the volume, because you’re high on heroin.

I got clean from almost sheer luck, and that process is where things got even weirder.

3
On the Subjects of Heroin, Getting Clean, and My Penis

As I mentioned, my addiction finally came to an end when I was arrested. Sally and I had been couch surfing as hidden homeless for months and shoplifting electronics to pay for food and drugs. We were finally busted while stealing dinner: lamb chops with a side of organic sweet potato and asparagus (hey, a heroin addiction is no excuse for barbarism, plus it’s amazing what you can afford when you’re stealing it). So I went to jail, and I discovered that a big part of heroin withdrawal involved my penis.

To explain that, let me back up a bit …

One of the key effects of heroin is a dulling of the senses: Smell is just gone, sounds get muffled, and since your body is numb, you can lose the ability to orgasm. Rather than a downside, this ended up becoming a bonus, because if you can’t come, you can just fuck for hours. That was one of our favorite things to do, actually: We’d get high and bone for as long as we felt like. And since both our bodies were mostly numb, things got … pretty weird. Comic book weird. Japanese comic book weird.

Then, in withdrawal, the exact opposite happened. I was sitting there in my jail cell in the throes of all the worst parts of heroin withdrawal (sweats, chills, vomiting, being in friggin’ jail) when all my senses came flooding back like a hyperactive toddler waking up from a forced nap. And they even brought a friend: the supernatural ability to orgasm at the slightest stimulation.

Wake up? Orgasm!

Accidentally brush it with a scratchy jailhouse blanket? What a lovely orgasm!

Shake it off after you pee into an industrial toilet? Bam, orgasm!

This stopped being pleasurable pretty much instantly — sharing living space with a guy named “Tito the Butcher” isn’t the most erotic of all possible atmospheres — but that didn’t matter. I could shoot off three in 30 seconds whether I wanted to or not, and this sensitivity stayed with me for weeks.

2
Methadone Can Be Worse Than Heroin

BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images

For the uninitiated, methadone is a cheap, legal alternative to heroin that can be prescribed to help wean users off the drug. But trading a heroin addiction for a methadone addiction isn’t exactly the Black Friday deal people make it out to be, because methadone is actually the more addictive substance. While heroin withdrawal by itself can’t kill you and has physical withdrawal symptoms lasting anywhere from three days to a few weeks, withdrawing from methadone absolutely can kill you, and has symptoms that can last several months. I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst enemy. Not even you, Llarold the hipster barista.

Another problem is that methadone clinics aren’t what you’d call “strict.” They let you choose how to “taper off” yourself, and they’re happy to keep selling you the drug as long as you want (there’s a reason recovering junkies refer to methadone users as “lifers”). Then there are studies that have found that, in terms of cost to society and overall life-span of patients, a more effective strategy for getting clean is to just slowly taper off heroin use. It’s probably worth noting at this point that, like methadone, heroin itself was first introduced as a safe, non-addictive cure for morphine addiction — at least until they started marketing it to children as a cough medication.

Bayer
Good for what ails you, if what ails you is not having a childhood addiction to heroin.

I’m not saying that companies intentionally give drugs to addicts to keep them addicted, or even that methadone is a bad thing — it allows a lot of people to manage their addiction and lead something like a normal life, and I wouldn’t take that away from anyone who wants it. But I am saying that trading one opioid for another shouldn’t be your only choice, because it can easily end up being just another addiction. You know the stories about how some little island in the Pacific had a rat problem, so they flew in snakes — then they had a snake problem? Same deal. Except this time the snakes are inside your veins.

Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images

I told you that heroin withdrawal lasts around three weeks at the most, and that’s true, but this shit doesn’t end at withdrawal: You can still end up with PAWS.

Peter Ginter/Photodisc/Getty ImagesDo heroin and bears will murder you.

PAWS is a deceptively adorable acronym for post-acute withdrawal syndrome, and the symptoms are similar to PTSD: depression, insomnia, restlessness, feelings of guilt and shame, inability to think clearly, and, in my case, very vivid nightmares. In one, I have a bag of dope in my hand and I am looking for a place to shoot up, but every time I find one, I get interrupted. The dream always ends when I have a needle in my arm: I’m about to push off, and right before I can feel the effects, I wake up. PAWS is like my addiction taunting me, every night, and it can last anywhere from a year, to several decades, to forever. But even without PAWS, I know I’m never going back to the way I was before — I’m “hooked” forever. Even if I don’t use for 20 years, one slip-up means I’ll get withdrawal symptoms almost immediately. This is why you will see recovering heroin addicts refuse pain medication at the hospital: They’d rather go through surgery without morphine than have to go back to that very first day they tried to kick.

Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty ImagesNo thanks. Appendicitis doesn’t actually sound too bad.

These days, Sally and I are broken up (I dumped her when she rolled over on me in jail, and not in the fun way. Now she’s in prison for something unrelated), and I’ve been clean for 11 months. But my problems aren’t over, because the drug itself isn’t the problem — the addiction is. Remember, I was using heroin every day for weeks before I developed a physical dependency, so heroin was just my attempt to fix problems that were already in place. If you know someone who’s using or has used, you should know that this isn’t as simple as them making bad decisions. They’re running from something that, to them, seems a whole lot scarier than a needle.

Here is some of the data that firefighters and police officers are seeing in Concord when it comes to opioid issues.

The numbers have been staggering and both local and state officials are in crisis mode when it comes to the heroin epidemic in New Hampshire.

The jump started a couple of years ago when officials began noticing in 2013 that the opioid issue in the Granite State had become an urgent public health problem. Deaths in 2013 doubled in the state – from 37 specifically designated to be overdoses in 2012 – to 63 connected to heroin and another 30 to 40 to a mix of drugs and other issues.

At the same time, Concord Police were seeing a major uptick in heroin related arrests as well as deaths.

The next year, the number in Concord tripled to 13 deaths.

Earlier this month, NHPR pegged the number of deaths due to drugs, so far in 2015, at 342, according to state officials, with 260 of those being heroin and fentanyl.

In Concord, there’s both good news and bad news.

First, the good news. According to Lt. Timothy O’Malley, the commander of the criminal investigations unit for the Concord Police Department, fatal overdose have dropped by about 43 percent.

O’Malley noted that Detective Wade Brown has been keeping track of the data for the department and found that, so far, there have been eight overdoses connected to opiates, down from 14 in 2014 (the numbers for 2014, first reported as 13 by Patch earlier this year, were revised up, according to O’Malley, after Brown started compiling the data).

Police recorded 67 non-fatal overdose reports that resulted in a charge or arrest so far this year. More data will be available later this year.

Now, for the bad news. Fire Chief Dan Andrus met with Concord’s Public Safety Committee earlier this month and reported calls for service ending in September of this year is up significantly in every category during the past few years.

Overdose/intentional misuse of medication rose a staggering 470 percent from the same period in 2012. Alcohol abuse and Narcan administrations are also up.

Andrus noted that the department was working with police and other government and community organizations in order to take “a collaborative approach to the complex issue of drug addiction.”

Could megadoses of energy-giving NAD—which allegedly relieves withdrawal symptoms, flushes out stored drugs in the body and replenishes balance in the brain—really be the cure-all for addiction as well as many other diseases and mental health disorders?

When Paul decided again it was time to do something about his drug addiction, he knew the usual routes wouldn’t work. While using a variety of substances for at least two-thirds of his life – injecting heroin in the last 20 years of it – he also became a veteran of just about every traditional rehab/detox program in the book. Twelve to be exact; with no permanent results or positive outcomes to speak of.

Hearing the remarkable claims from a Brain Restoration Therapy outpatient clinic immediately sent him into skeptic mode: This is too good to be true. How can I kick drugs with just an infusion of some concoction?  What about withdrawal?  Side effects?  And, if it really works, will it last? Sounded far too simple for this jaded, somewhat cynical, pushing-60 drug addict.

Figuring he had nothing to lose, he called and arranged a free consultation. After listening to details of their success rate and impressed with assertions of little or no withdrawal symptoms, he signed up for the treatment – albeit with some reluctance. His wife’s divorce threat had something to do with enrolling, but it was more about life hitting bottom one more time.

Groggily arriving at the crack of 9 am the next day, a warmly friendly nurse in navy blue scrubs hooked him up to an IV. Told that all he needed to do was relax, he settled into the oversize leather lounge chair. If nothing else he’d be able to listen to music, watch a few videos, and read a bit, he thought. Observing the slow drip of clear liquid entering his veins, he listlessly wondered what he would do next if this latest treatment failed.

At the end of the first eight-hour treatment, Paul says he already felt different. He couldn’t quite explain it, he recalls, but his mind was clearer. He felt energized. More alive. And definitely more present.

Returning daily for nine more treatments, he noticed a growing list of undeniable and rather dramatic changes. His outlook was more positive and he was optimistically able to imagine a future for himself, one he’d stopped envisioning years ago. His mind was as sharp as it had been prior to years of drug use.   

The best part, he says, true to the claims, there were few or no withdrawal symptoms, therefore no need for a replacement drug to get him through yet another grueling detox. He also realized he had no cravings, the primary cause of his continued bouts of relapse. His disbelief completely gone, he recalls, he concluded he was drug free.

But would it last?

Ann Rodgers, the Director of Brain Restoration Therapy, meets me at the door of the Center for Health and Wellbeing in San Diego, CA., where the clinic operates under medical supervision. It’s difficult to not get caught up in her animated explanation of the benefits of this program. “The treatment utilizes a megadose of NAD [Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide is a co-enzyme of niacin that is the key fuel for energy production in every cell of the body] in an IV form, and it’s clinically proven with a 90% no-craving statistic,” she excitedly offers.

Listening quietly as she rapidly fires glowing statistics in my direction, my skeptical mind revs into full gear. “With literally no reported side-effects,” she says, “the protocol reduces withdrawal symptoms by 70-80% without using replacement drugs, and restores the patient’s clarity and well-being to pre-use levels. Six to ten days of treatment is like a seven or eight month jump-start to recovery.” All this expounded with the tone of a bragging parent.

Rodgers tells me that although relatively new to America, NAD treatment has been successfully used in South Africa since 1961, with centers there reporting more than 22,000 people treated. [Rodgers could not provide any research report from South Africa to confirm this, only a report from individual clinicians who treated patients with NAD. Separately, I could not confirm the 22,000 figure.]

The first NAD clinic to open in the States was in Springfield, Louisiana, founded by psychotherapist Paula Mestayer, M.Ed, LPC, FAPA, along with her psychiatrist husband Richard. The couple discovered the treatment when their 16-year-old adopted daughter became addicted to alcohol and found her way into NAD treatment. Thrilled to see her positive results, they conducted their own research and in 2001, putting aside their cumulative years of treating addicts with therapy, they opened the Springfield Wellness Center on a private 500-acre estate. They claim to have treated more than 1,000 patients since then with NAD.

Springfield Wellness Center’s ten day addiction detox, Mestayer asserts when I contact her, has been used successfully on people hooked on prescription drugs, alcohol, opiates, benzos, stimulants, cocaine, marijuana, suboxone, and methadone.

Mestayer noted in our interview that “like a thumb print, all brains are unique, so this protocol is more like an art than a science.” Each patient, she pointed out, responds differently to NAD, with one factor being their type of addiction. She therefore adjusts the dosage and prescribes booster NAD treatments when necessary, especially when a patient feels vulnerable or if any cravings return. “I always emphasize that there may be a period of time where they need maintenance, either by an occasional booster or other means of support. Some patients have gone nine years without needing a booster, but many do.” Mestayer generally prescribes oral NAD as a supplement to the IVs, on the grounds that the more NAD that builds up in an addict’s system, the less prone he or she is to succumbing to cravings.

Mestayer emphasizes that the treatment is “not a cure, but rather maintenance,” and notes that it remains a mystery as to why NAD works more successfully on some addictions than others. “The highest success rate is on alcohol and opiate users,” she says. “The only failures are people who were using during the treatment or not committed to their maintenance.” Even so, she like Rodgers encourages all patients to seek therapy and support groups to address underlying psychological issues.

In California, I asked Rodgers if the treatment is just a substitute “high.” Rodgers countered with “it’s a state of well-being that allows the client to feel content with their life, so many don’t even consider going back to being an addict, no desire for that miserable life anymore. It’s as if they become themselves again, back to their natural state, seeing themselves as a different person, separate from being an addicted person. It’s not just a detox; it’s a total state of sobriety.”

With only a handful of other U.S. clinics in existence, the technology has yet to become familiar to most of the recovery community. Even so, Ann Rodgers says she is certain that once knowledge of NAD spreads, it will be seen as a revolution in addiction treatment. “[Members of] the AA community have been resistant to it at first, but once they read the evidence and witness the results, they embrace it,” she claims.

Her San Diego clinic is modern, serenely comfortable and well-appointed. Located on the first floor of the larger health center, it’s been open for over three years and has treated nearly 40 patients. Rodgers recently opened another facility in Los Angeles, CA, at the Center for Optimum Health.

HOW THE TREATMENT WORKS

Dr. Janette Gray, a California licensed internist and a pioneer in combining allopathic and holistic medical approaches, is the center’s medical director. Board certified in Holistic Integrative Medicine, she worked for years in the prison system helping inmates get off drugs and has extensive experience with the agonies of drug withdrawal. “Seizures, nausea and vomiting, intense sweating and physical pain are standard, but that is greatly minimized with this program,” she tells me. “The most common withdrawal symptom is feeling a little bit flu-ish…[which] passes quickly.”

Gray rattles off to me a scientific explanation behind the BR treatment. The protocol, she says, employs a proprietary NAD formula administered by IV. NAD is an element that reacts with oxygen in the cell’s mitochondria in order to create energy for movement, breathing, heartbeat, blood pumping, digesting food, brain functions, and generally living life. It is available in low doses over the counter.

Studies have found that those with extremely low NAD levels (which can be present even at birth) are far more vulnerable to addiction as well as other diseases and to chronic physical conditions. There is a preponderance of low levels of NAD present in Western society as it is mostly lost in cooking and food processing. What little remains is broken down by stomach acid, degraded before it’s absorbed from the digestive tract.

When the clinic’s all-natural NAD is received directly through an IV, the nutrients bypass the stomach and go directly to the receptors in the brain, Gray tells me. According to Gray, this immediately produces palpable positive results as the nutrients bathe the brain in a continuous pool of natural and highly therapeutic co-enzymes.

Since NAD is a detoxifier, it takes days (rather than weeks or months), to flush out stored drugs from the body and its organs, replenish balance in the brain, and reverse damage. Results can be mental clarity, cognitive function increase, focus and concentration returns, more energy, better mood, positive outlook. And this happens cold turkey.

“We find that one of the big reasons this treatment works is because it’s so rapid,” Gray says. The majority of drug addicted individuals, she claims, need about ten days of infusions, sometimes less. “It keeps people inspired when they see fast results,” she adds, “especially when they feel better than they did before, or perhaps ever in their life.”

Based on each individual, Gray like Mestayer sometimes recommends a periodic “booster” which can be one or two days of IV to support the results achieved in the initial treatment. She also prescribes a co-enzyme that, she says, helps maintain higher levels of NAD in the body. If a client relapses, she claims, one or two treatments can quickly get them sober and craving-free again.

The clinic also offers a four day “Tune Up” treatment for those suffering from stress, anxiety, irritability, low energy, PTSD and depression. The clinics also address other non-substance related addictions such as gambling.

NAD was first discovered in 1936, but World War II stopped the research. It was patented for treatment of drug addiction and schizophrenia in 1961 based on an 11,000 patient study. Sloughed aside with the discovery of methadone – a far more lucrative choice at the time for drug companies – NAD went “underground.”

Research has shown that NAD increases the synthesis of certain neurotransmitters in the brain known to be effective in correcting specific chemical imbalances. Some of these chemical imbalances underpin addiction, mental illness, anxiety, aggression, depression, despair and hopelessness. Fatigue is often the first signal of NAD deprivation; other clues may include depression and anxiety in children. Almost any chronic disease, including Parkinson’s, can also be indicative of deficiency.

There is some research and other reports indicating that NAD might be effective treatment for a host of other ailments including schizophrenia, PTSD, chronic fatigue, weak immune system, memory disturbance, sleep problems, concentration defects, blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels, sugar metabolism and diabetes, muscle pain and weakness, joint pain and stiffness, headaches, fevers, sore throats and swollen lymph glands. Clinical research has shown it is a potent biological antioxidant which can aid in preventing cell damage and a variety of diseases, cancer included.

There is also some evidence that NAD therapy can help with aging. Dr. David Sinclair, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, in a paper published in the journal Cell, describes a compound naturally made by young cells that is able to revive older cells, allowing them to be energetic and youthful again. With adequate amounts of NAD, aging can theoretically be reversed, he asserts. “When we give the molecule, the cells think oxygen levels are normal and everything revs back up again,” Sinclair wrote.

Pondering these claims raises the un-researched theory of whether NAD deficiency might be an unrecognized epidemic disease of our time.

THE BIOCHEMICAL PATH TO PERSONAL DEFICIENCY

Before I interviewed patients of the two clinics to determine whether they validated the positive assertions of Rodgers, Gray and Mestayer (they do, as you will read below), I decided to research more carefully the biology of the NAD process to determine whether there is a basis in science for their claims even in the absence of double-blind long-term studies. What I learned is relevant to the health, mental vitality and even possibly, as Sinclair asserts, to the aging of each of us, not only to addicts.

I learned that a range of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats from our diet provide the building blocks to create what medicine refers to as the “Citric Acid Cycle,” which names the energy it takes to produce NAD and link it with hydrogen (NADH). NADH enters the electron transport chain in the mitochondria and is sparked with oxygen – and the outcome is energy. This in turn fuels the 86,000 daily beats of the heart, enabling muscles to contract, and provides the cellular energy requirements of the 100 trillion cells of the body. The brain consumes about one-third of all the energy produced, so if the NADH is low, brain functions suffer. If any of the nutritional factors that produce NAD are low, energy production is weakened.

Often NAD deficiency is first evident in brain-related symptoms of poor concentration, difficulty focusing, and attention deficit disorders. If the energy shortage lasts long enough, brain neurons cannot synthesize neurotransmitters. When this occurs, the molecules of consciousness (such as serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline) are affected. Anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and other mood changes can then arise.

Also important to know is that the crucial enzymes that catalyze the Citric Acid Cycle are inhibited or destroyed by chemical toxins that create oxidative, or free radical damage. Sources of the damage include cigarette smoke, drugs, chronic stress, sedentary living, as well as the accumulation of the myriad toxins found in daily life such as in pesticides.

Along with acquired NAD deficiency, there may also be a genetic disorder that is present at birth. Symptoms can appear in young children as difficulty sleeping, behavioral problems, hyperactivity, impaired concentration, academic stress and underachievement.

Moreover, NAD deficiency that induces fatigue and depression increases a propensity to use drugs and alcohol in order to improve energy and mood – simply to feel better. The self-medicating cycle is a common story reported by many addicts, and leads to even lower NAD. A vicious cycle ensues.

There is some history to using megavitamins as potential cures for addiction, including dating back to Bill Wilson’s (aka “Bill W.” the revered co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous) ideas and experience. In 1960 Wilson underwent a major shift in his beliefs about the value of nutrition in achieving sobriety when he met Dr. Humphry Osmond, who introduced him to the concept of megavitamin therapy. Curious, Wilson became a guinea pig, taking 3,000 mg of niacin daily. Within a few weeks, fatigue and depression (symptoms of low NAD) which had plagued him for years, were gone.

Seeking to share this exciting discovery, Wilson gave the same doses to 30 of his close friends in AA, hoping it could be replicated. Of the 30, 20 he later reported became free of anxiety, tension and depression in one or two months. This dramatically reduced their alcohol consumption.

Wilson wrote a detailed report called “The Vitamin B 3 Therapy” and distributed thousands of copies as a pamphlet. Because the information was controversial, way ahead of its time and ran counter to the precepts of the 12-Step Program, Wilson became unpopular with the board of directors of AA International and the information was squelched

THE PATIENTS HAVE THEIR SAY

Unfortunately, newer in-depth scientific studies in the U.S. on the long-term benefit of NAD treatment on addiction and alcoholism have never been financed. That leaves largely the claims of clinic operators and their patients to bear out the assumption that, by virtue of its catalytic role in the body, NAD might in fact be an effective agent in addiction and alcohol treatment.

Rodger’s California centers are too new to have meaningful data on the long-term effects of NAD treatment based on follow-up interviews with patients, though Rodgers says she intends to set up a formal study of her patients in the near future. Mestayer’s Louisiana clinic did collect data for some years which was lost when their clinic was hit hard during hurricane Katrina. She has been collecting more recent statistics on the long-term effects of the NAD formula her clinic uses which, she claims, show an even higher success rate than the earlier formula.

In fact, the statistics if true are astounding, with some earlier participants in the Louisiana clinic achieving, according to Mestayer, nine years of sobriety.

“Statistically,” Rodgers claims, “70% of patients are craving-free by day five; 90% by day ten.” She adds that some reported having no physical memory of how drugs even felt, clearing their desire for them.

As testimonials, Rodgers provided me several video-taped former patients, each boasting tremendous success. One was from a man who claimed he had been taking 30 Oxycontins a day for 12 years. Another was from a woman who had been suicidal, shot speed for 20 years. Another woman reported a personal trauma that threw her into deep depression. Each claimed to have maintained a drug free life since their treatment.

I inquire about Paul who went through treatment three years ago: Is he still clean and sober?  

“Not only is he clean and sober, he paid for two of his friends to do the treatment,” Rodgers tells me, with tears in her eyes. “He no longer defines himself as an addict since his thought patterns have shifted and he sees life so differently.”

Separately, I interviewed four people who have gone through treatment at either the San Diego or Springfield, Louisiana centers. Their stories:

 • Doug, a health-conscious personal fitness trainer who experienced CTS (Chronic Traumatic Encylopathy) from several football injuries, would drink copious amounts of vodka at night to allow his amped-up body and mind to relax and shut down. He tried exercise and nutrition to get past anxiety-based insomnia; nothing worked. He knew that a 12-step program or therapy that dealt with past history wouldn’t work for him given that his issue was clearly a chemical imbalance. After just 20 minutes with his first NAD IV, he experienced a state of well-being he hadn’t felt in his entire adult life. His angst was gone, and the neuro-transmitters that lay dormant in his brain felt alive again.  After the first day of treatment he was able to sleep soundly, and he told me he’d been craving-free for more than four months. He takes an NAD supplement and goes back monthly for a booster.

 • After several tours of duty in Iraq, Patrick, a Marine, became a heavy heroin user after trying many other ways to self-medicate his PTSD and resulting insomnia. He admitted himself to two traditional inpatient treatments, one lasting 57 days. The first day out of each, he relapsed. After day four of the NAD treatment, during which he experienced no withdrawal symptoms, he felt completely clear and now sleeps without nightmares. He gets boosters once a month and has been drug free for several years.

 • Steve, also an Iraq veteran, had nine neck surgeries in five years. He used pain pills and opiate drugs to deal with constant physical pain as well as intense PTSD. He entered the NAD program out of a desperate desire to be free of his addictions in that he has children and perceived a good life ahead of him. Starting the NAD program with a pain scale of eight, within ten days the pain eased down to a one. On bad days, he says, it now goes up to a two, but is easily managed with a couple of Aleve. With only slight withdrawal symptoms, he told me he is now 100% craving free and his PTSD is also gone. He continues to take the oral NAD supplement but has not needed any booster treatments. He did the program in November, 2013.

 • Sandy is a young woman whose addiction to pain killers and amphetamines spiraled from recreational use to a full-on necessity. For three years she was not able to get out of bed without drugs, the lowest point of her life. She researched various other programs and told me she was baffled by the concept of replacing one drug addiction with another as a “cure.” After eight days of NAD treatment, she no longer thinks about using at all. Her mood is good, her energy is up, and she’s happy, she reported. Clean for a year and a half, she believes it was the combination of the in-home IV treatment she received and the warm caring from the clinic staff that made the difference. She has had two boosters and believes she won’t need any more to remain addiction free.

I ask Ann Rodgers if the treatment works for everyone and if not, is there a typical profile of the person for whom it doesn’t work?  “No, it doesn’t work 100% of the time,” she replies. “Interestingly, sometimes it doesn’t work for young heroin addicts. It could be because they aren’t emotionally mature enough to deal with their issues, or perhaps they don’t have a good support system in place yet.”

One young man, Rodgers notes, went through the program a year ago and did extremely well until he entered an intimate relationship. “That triggered emotional issues,” Rodgers says, and he returned to the arms of heroin. The Center then refused to treat him again as he refused to enter rehab, an essential aftercare resource in which clinic patients are encouraged to participate.

“Patients often feel like a fish-out-of-water when out of the drug culture they are accustomed to, and they need to find a structure to help them live drug free,” Rodgers explained. Accordingly, patients are informed of the importance of addressing any long-standing psychological issues and of re-learning how to live life as a non-addicted person, and they are encouraged to enter after-care programs that provide such support. “Rehab programs work so much better after doing NAD therapy since the person is so clear, more willing to make it work in their lives,” Rodgers says. “Their confidence allows them to make significant shifts in other areas of life so they are far less likely to relapse when they re-enter society.

“We really see ourselves reversing the customary order of mind/body to body/mind… by addressing the bio-chemical issues first it makes it so much easier to shift other areas of an addict’s life.”

The staff advocates other follow-up support groups that can include 12-step programs and/or conjunctive therapies such as outside psychological and spiritual counseling. As part of one of the largest integrative medicine centers in California, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, its own related therapeutic center offers intensive psychotherapy along with a recovery coach. Patient options include an IOP, sober living, or simply going home. The center also offers a full menu of complementary programs including massage therapy, cranial sacral therapy, naturopathic, nutritional counseling, acupuncture, marriage and family therapy and chiropractic, all of which Dr. Gray prescribes on an individual basis.

Separate from after-care, could NAD itself turn out to be something of a miracle cure or at least pre-cure for addicts? As more people go through the programs, there will be more statistics on permanency of results but no fully authenticated research until some serious independent and double-blind studies are undertaken by scientists, medical professionals or companies who can attract the funds to finance research. Meanwhile, NAD figures to remain something of a blip on the treatment scene attracting people like Paul who said simply: “There is just nothing to lose.”