Alta Mira News

At a reunion commemorating the 20^th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, retired Brigadier General Stanley Cherrie showed he was in the fight of his life and it didn’t involve tanks, machine guns or military strategy. After overcoming losing his leg to a landmine in Vietnam, a tragedy during that time that caused many to accept an honorable discharge, Cherrie went on to command troops during wars in both Kuwait and Bosnia. The last thing the 69-year-old officer expected was for his functional alcoholism to show itself in a public display after keeping the secret hidden for decades.

Cherrie’s battle with the bottle came to the forefront after he walked into the reunion unsteady on his feet and eventually collapsed due to a seizure. Luckily, the Surgeon General, Eric Schoomaker, was in attendance and quickly rushed to Cherrie’s aid while the ambulance that had been called was en route. At the hospital it was Cherrie’s daughter who stepped forward to reveal she believed years of heavy drinking were the source of her father’s medical issue. At first Cherrie denied the claim, but eventually came around and agreed to enter an eight-week alcohol treatment program.

Cherrie’s Alcoholism Began During Tours in Vietnam as a Coping Mechanism

Cherrie’s dependency on alcohol started during his tours in Vietnam. He was a helicopter pilot and endured enemy fire on nearly every mission. To relieve the unbelievable amount of fear and stress combat put on the soldiers, facing their mortality on a daily basis, they would return to their huts in the jungle at night and drink as their only outlet to manage their feelings. After his final tour in Vietnam ended due to the loss of his leg, Cherrie’s wife noticed he continued to drink to cope with difficult memories, daily stresses, and as part of the military culture of the time.

Military Making Strides to Reduce Troops’ Tendency Towards Alcohol Abuse

After facing some difficult feelings of his own and learning of the hardships his drinking caused his family, Cherrie has now been sober for over a year. Due to stories such as Cherrie’s, higher-ups are trying to do their part to change the culture of the armed services. There is concern for the mental and emotional health of troops returning from multiple tours in the Middle East. In response, the Army has now developed an outpatient treatment program at six bases that permits troops to receive rehabilitation without the knowledge of their commanding officers. If the program is successful, they will look to expand it in the future.

If you know someone in the military who is in need of alcohol or drug treatment, we can help. Call us now and we can answer any questions you may have about treatment.

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Oprah’s newest series on her network OWN entitled “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” debuted with a two-hour episode exclusively featuring Steven Tyler – front man of the rock band Aerosmith. The entire episode was filmed in and around Tyler’s childhood lake home in Sunapee, New Hampshire. Ironically, this same small, quiet, idyllic country town is where Tyler met his partner-in-crime Joe Perry, Aerosmith’s lead guitarist. The interview went into detail about all aspects of Tyler’s life and placed extra focus on his battle with addiction.

Many of Oprah’s questions focused on expanding upon the information Tyler had divulged involving his long history of drug abuse in his tell-all memoir Does The Noise In My Head Bother You? that was released last year. Oprah opened up the conversation candidly stating, “May I just say…I am surprised you are still alive.” Tyler responded by saying, “It used to be cool to hear that, now it kinda hurts.”

Tyler’s History With Abuse and Addiction Cost Him Dearly

Tyler has guesstimated he spent approximately $20 million on illicit substances from weed to heroin. He equates heroin to putting on a warm fur coat in the midst of being “hen-pecked” by fans when performing Madison Square Garden. He actually used to hide a paper cup filled with cocaine and a straw in a drumhead on stage so he could takes hits while performing. And the band would always have a six-foot full-length mirror on their rider to be kept backstage so everyone could get high together.

Tyler’s recollection of drug use may, at times, seem almost inviting, but he pulls no punches in a recent interview with Matt Lauer when discussing the ramifications of his drug abuse by saying, “It took my children away, it took my band away, it took my marriages away, and I was on my knees.”

After a Long Period of Sobriety, Tyler Relapsed on Prescription Meds

After Aerosmith as a group made a commitment to staying clean and kept it for many years, Tyler fell prey once again following a few rough years emotionally and a painful medical condition that caused his doctor to prescribe painkillers and sleeping pills. After falling off stage during a concert and sustaining injuries that caused them to cancel tour dates, Tyler’s band mates publicly questioned if he was using again. Tyler entered rehab and soon after finishing treatment was offered a job as judge on American Idol. Tyler credits the natural “high” he gets from being in front of millions of people each night on Idol as helpful in staying away from drugs.

If you know someone who is struggling with drug addiction, we can help. Contact us today for information on evidence-based treatment programs with the potential to turn your life around.

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For years it has become obvious that an operational definition of what constitutes “recovery” was needed in order to develop and provide mental health and addiction services to those individuals who need it most. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) collaborated with legislators, former addicts, their families and treatment centers as part of the Recovery Support Strategic Initiative to develop a definition that would represent a universal picture that would apply to all those working to overcome a substance abuse or mental health issue.

The definition has been a work in progress for over a year and has gone through several drafts and revisions. The final revision evolved with the help of technology through a blog post that invited public feedback. The posting received over 1,200 comments that all contributed to the following new SAMHSA definition for recovery:

“A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life and strive to reach their full potential.”

Collaborative Effort Defines Factors That Underlie Successful Recovery

The SAHMSA Recovery Support Strategic Initiative after much debate settled upon four aspects that must need attention for successful long-term recovery to take place. These dimensions include an individual’s:

• Health
• Home
• Purpose
• Community

When a person takes care of their physical, emotional and spiritual health, has a safe, stable home, and a sense of purpose in the world with a community to support them, then recovery becomes a greater possibility. There are no guarantees, but these are the factors that when in place provide the greatest potential for success. Therefore these are the areas quality treatment centers target to help patients as part of the treatment process.

SAHMSA Provides Guiding Principles to Further Support the Recovery Process

Those collaborating with SAHMSA further extrapolated the four main factors into the following guiding principles that should be taken into account when facilitating or undergoing recovery. They state recovery:

• Emerges from hope
• Is person-driven
• Occurs via many pathways
• Is holistic
• Is supported by peers and allies
• Is supported through relationship and social networks
• Is culturally based and influenced
• Is supported by addressing trauma
• Involves individual, family, and community strengths and responsibility
• Is based on respect

If you or someone you care about is seeking the help of addiction or mental health treatment, keeping these guiding principles in mind can help to make sure your recovery stays on track. Contact us at Alta Mira today and let us match you with one of our treatment programs that follow the guidelines listed above. Our treatment programs provide evidence-based therapies with the highest probability for long-term recovery. Call us now.

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Take a good look at how far you’ve come since the day you entered rehab. If you are still clean and sober – even if you relapsed over the holidays – you are far better off than you were. Congratulations! You’ve already gained so much. In the new year, resolve to do what you can to gain even more ground in your recovery and avoid backsliding through relapse.

Attend More 12-Step Meetings

Or find a personal therapist, if you don’t already have one. Or attend non-secular group therapy meetings. Enroll in an outpatient treatment program if you feel like you’ve been losing sight of your recovery goals recently or if relapse was an issue for you over the holidays. In fact, anything you can do to bolster your personalized treatment plan is a good resolution for the new year – the more dedicated you are to your recovery, the more you will get out of it and the less likely you will be to relapse.

Set Goals

When you got clean and sober, what motivated you? Was it the need to take care of your family? Losing a job you’d worked hard for? A health problem? If you need a boost to your recovery in the new year, take a moment to look at your original goals. Is your family taken care of? Are you employed in the industry that most interests you? Are you taking care of yourself physically and emotionally? If not, pick one of your biggest priorities and make a list of everything you need to do to make it happen then set about doing the first thing on the list.

If you’ve got a handle on all your original goals, consider setting some new ones. Move forward in your job or head back to school to increase your skills. Make family time a larger priority. Re-evaluate your diet and exercise regimen to make sure your health is a priority as well. Anything to improve your life will improve your mental state, which will in turn put you in a better position to avoid relapse and stay focused on your recovery.

Focus on Others

Taking care of family can help you stay on track in your recovery, but giving back to the community is another way to bolster your commitment to avoiding drugs and alcohol. Seeing what life has dealt to others and being of service to those people in a meaningful way can help you to better appreciate the positive things in your own life and realize that your problems are not at the center of the universe.

What are your recovery resolutions for 2012? Leave us a comment below and let us know.

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Public universities and colleges aren’t the only places struggling to head off the effects of drug abuse and addiction among students; even the Coast Guard Academy is having its share of issues on this front and not with the common drugs of abuse like alcohol and heroin. The drug that is the focus of a recent investigation is still legal in most states, a synthetic version of marijuana called spice.

David M. Santos is the Academy’s communications director and he recently confirmed that the Coast Guard Investigative Service are looking into the allegations that as many as 20 cadets engaged in spice abuse this school year.

The use of mind-altering substances is against the rules at most academic organizations but the abuse of such drugs by military personnel is a slightly more serious matter – and despite their youth, attendees of the Coast Guard Academy are considered military personnel and not just students. Students at both the US Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy were summarily dismissed when it was found that they abused spice. In fact, the abuse of this and other synthetic drugs is becoming a larger and larger concern in military communities just like everywhere else in the country.

Santos said it was too soon to discuss details of spice abuse among cadets at the Academy since this was the first instance of its abuse and the investigation is ongoing. Not since 2009 has there been a drug incidence of any kind and the drugs in question at that time were marijuana and cocaine.

An emergency ban has been issued by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for a year, a ban that expires in March of 2012. This could be extended for another six months if the results of conclusive studies are not yet available. Because the chemicals in these synthetic drugs are not approved for human consumptions by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and therefore there is no regulation of the production of these drugs, they are well within their rights to ban the substance pending further study.

Extending the ban against the drug was recently addressed in the House of Representatives but it’s not currently an issue before the Senate.

What do you think? Should synthetic drugs be banned pending scientific study? Is anecdotal evidence of effects of abuse enough? Should the Coast Guard Academy students be expelled for abusing a drug that has yet to be researched fully? Leave us a comment below and tell us what you think.

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The reputation of social programs has taken a hit over the past four years in the mind of Americans. Many now consider government assistance programs a drain on our tax dollars and those who receive them often are regarded as lazy or “trying to work the system.” What people fail to investigate is that many government assistance opportunities, such as MOM’s Case Management in Seattle Washington, offer help to those in need while saving taxpayers a huge sum of money over the long haul.

MOM’s Case Management is a small part of the Department of Social and Health Services and due to recent budget cuts its days may be numbered. The program offers pregnant women with a drug or alcohol addiction the opportunity to attend rehabilitation and assistance during the recovery process.

Why Should Society Pay the Bill for a Drug Addict’s Mistakes?

Let’s look at this problem from a purely financial standpoint without taking into account the humanitarian drive to help an innocent baby suffering the least amount of long-term effects of their mother’s drug addiction. Statistics show the average baby born early, due to drug addiction, accrues approximately $150,000 in medical costs. This bill oftentimes comes to the taxpayers in the form of Medicaid. The cost to taxpayers to run MOM’s Case Management each year is $255,000. So if the program helps just two potential pre-term babies reach full-term a year, it has already paid for itself and saved taxpayers money before those children even leave the hospital.

Savings to Taxpayers Over Time Is Immeasurable

Now if we look at the possible savings over the mother and child’s life together if the mom gets sober, the money saved grows exponentially. Often while pregnant moms are living in the cycle of addiction they are also in and out of the criminal justice system for engaging in crime and prostitution to feed their habit. That’s another bill to taxpayers.

As for the child, they may have lifelong medical issues if they are born to an addicted mother, which will be 18 or more years of a draw on the Medicaid system. Not to mention, if they grow up with addiction and criminal activity as their model, they may either end up repeating the same mistakes as their mother or in the foster care system. Either scenario is, you guessed it, more money out of taxpayers’ pockets.

As we as a nation are trying to cut spending and reduce costs we need to take each program individually and make sure we are not just saving money in the short run just to be overwhelmed over the long haul with huge costs as a result.

What do you think about programs like MOM’s Case Management? Do you think programs like it are worth saving around the country? All opinions are encouraged below.

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Cops working in the anti-drug arena are trained to identify quickly a wide variety of illegal substances when they encounter and seize them on scene. However, in the case of prescription medications, such a vast array of pills from a variety of drug manufacturers makes identification an overwhelming task for law enforcement. Centice Corporation has been working on a solution to this problem and trying to provide police and investigators in the field with the knowledge they need to efficiently perform their jobs.

The MFL-3000 Gives Police Mobile Forensic Capability

Centice Corp has developed the MFL-3000 to hopefully give police rapid information about the chemical composition of any prescription pills that come into question while on duty. Centice has broken new ground in the arena of chemical identification with a technology known as “Raman spectroscopy” in addition to an advanced sensor system. The company took advantage of Windows-based software to assist in the collection and organization of the controlled substances. The MFL-3000 is capable of analyzing pills and matching them with over 3,500 prescription medications in the machine’s database. This ability may soon make the technology indispensable to police and forensic investigators.

MFL-3000 Will Help to Streamline Legal Process, Saving Taxpayers Money

Cops have understood for a long time the crisis with illegal prescription drug activity and addiction we have in this country, but such difficulty in the identification of a vast amount of pills has made combating the issue problematic. Since Florida has one of the largest prescription medication epidemics in the country, law enforcement in the state were chosen as one of the first groups to test the technology on the frontlines.

Some anti-drug divisions now have the MFL-3000 as standard equipment they bring out into the field. Collecting and analyzing evidence can now be done on site in many cases, saving time and money in the legal process. Many law enforcement officials are enamored with the new machine’s ease of mobility, design and operation.

Florida officials have been impressed with the novel technology and believe it not only benefits them by making their time on scene more informative, but also will have obvious advantages for the taxpayers’ pocketbooks. The information the MFL-3000 provides investigators will lead to swift legal decisions in cases involving prescription medications. In the legal system, time is money so the taxpayers will see the results of the new technology with lower tax bills.

As law enforcement improves their investigative methods with devices such as the MFL-3000, prescription drug abuse will be prosecuted rapidly. Don’t get caught in the legal system if you or someone you love has developed a prescription pill problem. Call us and get connected to successful rehabilitation programs around the US. Don’t wait. Contact us today.

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Prescription painkiller addiction has gone through the roof in the US in recent years and with higher demand, as all good economists understand, comes an increase in price. The same laws of supply and demand that apply to legal trade also pertain to the black market. This causes prescription drug addicts to problem-solve different ways to get high for a cheaper price. Perc-30s have become the answer for many people in and around the normally tranquil vacation destination of Cape Cod. The seaside resort has seen a sizeable increase in crime due to the drug, according to local law enforcement.

What Are Perc-30s?

Perc-30s, despite the seemingly obvious reference, are not the well-known drug Percocet, which is a combination of the painkiller oxycodone and acetaminophen, the chief component in Tylenol. Instead, Perc-30s are a generic pill made by a number of drug companies that consists of 30 milligrams of quick-release oxycodone. Perc-30s, also known as “roxys” or “blueberries” after the first drug company to manufacture them and their color respectively, destroy lives and cause fatal overdoses just like OxyContin and heroin. Authorities believe there is such an increased demand for Perc-30s for a variety of reasons including:

• They are less expensive than other prescription pills.
• They do not carry the social stigma of heroin.
• Unlike time-release oxycodone like OxyContin, people do not have to crush or snort them.

Towns Along Cape Cod Bay Experience Drug-Fueled Rise in Theft

In Dennis, MA, on the shores of Cape Cod Bay, there has been a steep rise in property crimes, of which, the police believe about 75 percent are associated with drug addiction. Often intruders are looking for cash or expensive electronics and jewelry that they can pawn for quick money. Last year, the small town of 17,000 had a series of home break-ins where 300 flat screen TVs went missing. That may sound like a lot of cash to buy more pills for the thief, but one flat screen will only get you in trade about 30 pills, according to officials.

The Old Colony Police Anti-Crime Task Force in Cape Cod confiscated over 15,000 perc-30 pills over the past year, which is a five-fold increase from the preceding calendar year.

Do you have a perc-30 problem in the town where you live? Do you know of someone in need of help with a perc-30 addiction? As demonstrated here, the results of perc-30 abuse don’t just affect the individual, but society at large. Give those you care about and your local community a boost and call us today. We can discuss all your rehabilitation options for prescription pill abuse here at Alta Mira. Don’t wait another minute to change your life.

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Alta Mira is pleased to announce that Barbara Gale has joined its business development team as the new Clinical Outreach Representative for the Northeast United States. In this role, she is responsible for establishing and maintaining professional relationships on behalf of Alta Mira with referring therapists, psychiatrists, physicians, substance dependence providers and employee assistance programs.

Ms. Gale was most recently with the Hanley Center as their Professional Outreach Manager for the Northeast states. She began her chemical dependency marketing career at the Caron Foundation, where she was Outreach Service Representative from 2001 to 2007; she also has 25 years of experience in the medical field. She was a research associate in neurosurgery at Yale–New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, where she authored two research papers. Her medical positions included department head of cardiology and neurology laboratories in New York and Connecticut hospitals.

“In addition to her marketing skills and experience in the medical field, Barbara has been in recovery for 34 years and brings a strong personal commitment to her work,” said Alta Mira CEO William Morrison. “Barbara is respected throughout the addiction treatment industry for her integrity and dedication to this field. We are honored and extremely grateful to have her joining Alta Mira. She will focus initially on developing our presence in the New York City metropolitan area but will provide a strong presence for us up and down the east coast.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Alta Mira team and one of the leading dual diagnosis facilities in the country. I am particularly excited to represent a program that is 12-step based but committed to incorporating cutting edge neurobiological research and addiction medicine best practices” said Ms. Gale.

Ms. Gale resides in Wilton, CT. She will be representing Alta Mira in the Northeast states of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Alta Mira is an addiction and dual diagnosis treatment center that blends proven clinical therapies with customized treatment planning, an innovative curriculum, and a broad menu of holistic services. Located in a magnificent and serene setting above the beautiful San Francisco Bay, Alta Mira offers the highest level of residential care with a “brain healthy” treatment model endorsed by The American Society of Addiction Medicine which addresses the neurobiological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of addiction.

For more information about Alta Mira and its programs visit www.altamirarecovery.com or call 866.922.1350.

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SAUSALITO, CA – November 14, 2011

Alta Mira is pleased to announce that William J. Hanna, Psy.D. has joined the clinical team as their new director. As Clinical Director, Dr. Hanna will be responsible for managing Alta Mira’s treatment programs, clinical staff and program curriculum. In addition, he will serve as a member of Alta Mira’s executive leadership team.

Dr. Hanna was most recently the Assistant Clinical Director at the Bayside Marin Residential Substance Abuse Program in San Rafael, CA, where he also worked as a Primary Therapist and was honored as Employee of the Year in 2009. Prior to Bayside, he worked at the UCSF Aids Health Project – Outpatient Community Clinic in San Francisco where he completed a Post-Doctoral Clinical Internship.

“Dr. Hanna brings over two decades of professional experience in addiction treatment to Alta Mira. He will be an integral part of our clinical program as well as our enhanced curriculum that focuses on the neurobiological elements of addiction,” said Alta Mira CEO William Morrison.

“I’m thrilled to be joining such a distinguished team of professionals and to be working at one of the leading dual diagnosis facilities in the country,” said Dr. Hanna.

Dr. Hanna received his Psy.D. and Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University, Point Richmond, CA (formerly the American School of Professional Psychology). He also holds a Master of Professional Studies in Creative Art Therapy from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and is certified as both a Clinical Psychologist and Relapse Prevention Specialist in California.

Alta Mira is an addiction and dual diagnosis treatment center that blends proven clinical therapies with extensive neuropsychological testing, customized treatment planning, an innovative curriculum, and a broad menu of holistic services. Located in a magnificent and serene setting overlooking the beautiful San Francisco Bay, Alta Mira offers the highest level of care with a “brain healthy” treatment model endorsed by The American Society of Addiction Medicine which addresses the neurobiological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of addiction.

For more information about Alta Mira and its programs visit www.altamirarecovery.com or call 866.922.1350.

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