Actor Charlie Sheen Arrested in Colorado....Sheen is the son of actor Martin Sheen. His screen credits include ''Platoon,'' ''Wall Street'' and the ''Hot Shots!'' movies. He nearly died of a drug overdose in 1998 but received court-ordered rehabilitation.4You mean AND received court-ordered rehabilitation, asshat.
Addiction on 2 Fronts: Work and HomeBy Sarah KershawWASHINGTON — His son had been dead from an overdose only three months when A. Thomas McLellan, among the nation’s leading researchers on addiction, got a call from the office of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Would he accept the nomination to be the government’s No. 2 drug-control official?
Dr. McLellan, 61, makes no secret of his cynicism about government — “I hate Washington,” as he put it in an interview — and he had no intention of leaving his job as a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and scientific director of the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia. ....
Drug Dependence, a Chronic Medical Illness Implications for Treatment, Insurance, and Outcomes Evaluation A. Thomas Mclellan, David C. Lewis, Charles P. O’Brien, Herbert D. Kleber
JAMA, October 4, 2000—Vol 284, No. 13The effects of drug dependence on social systems has helped shape the generally held view that drug dependence is primarily a social problem, not a health problem. In turn, medical approaches to prevention and treatment are lacking. We examined evidence that drug (including alcohol) dependence is a chronic medical illness. A literature review compared the diagnoses, heritability, etiology (genetic and environmental factors), pathophysiology, and response to treatments (adherence and relapse) of drug dependence vs type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and asthma. Genetic heritability, personal choice, and environmental factors are comparably involved in the etiology and course of all of these disorders. Drug dependence produces significant and lasting changes in brain chemistry and function. Effective medications are available for treating nicotine, alcohol, and opiate dependence but not stimulant or marijuana dependence. Medication adherence and relapse rates are similar across these illnesses. Drug dependence generally has been treated as if it were an acute illness. Review results suggest that long-term care strategies of medication management and continued monitoring produce lasting benefits. Drug dependence should be insured, treated, and evaluated like other chronic illnesses. JAMA
