A Generation Addicted to Drugs

In August the FDA approved the use of OxyContin for children as young as 11 years old. This was surprising and a scary decision. OxyContin is a brand name for the powerful pain medication oxycodone, a narcotic that is in the same ‘family’ as heroine. Heroine use has skyrocketed in our community and oxycodone and other medications in this class have been linked to this increase. Reports have been issued showing that 80% of all the worlds pain medications are used in the United States and half of all heroine users started by first taking pain pills, like OxyContin. What could this do to our 11-year-olds?!

Local FBI Agent Addicted To Pain Meds

The users of these legal and illegal drugs have changed. They are not who you typically picture or think of. The new profile includes doctors, lawyers, police officers, housewives, possibly your family member or friend. Matt Lowry’s story is just one example of how these drugs are destroying lives. Matt is a local resident from Davidsonville, Maryland. He was an FBI agent on the drug task force, husband and father. He was prescribed powerful pain medications to help with his chronic intestinal pain and inflammation, something we routinely help people overcome naturally. He eventually became addicted to these medications and when his doctor left the practice and he could no longer get his medications, the withdrawals were torture. Since the pain medication prescriptions were getting more difficult to get, Matt turned to the heroin that he recovered from his drug busts to feed his addiction. After a year of using heroine he was found incoherent in his FBI vehicle which led to his arrest. His actions led to a three year sentence in federal prison as well as 28 of the cases he was involved with, 25 of these plead guilty, were all dismissed. All of which started due to a chronic painful intestinal condition and that first prescription for pain medication.

We see the affect that this has on our adult population, decreased production, increased crime and lives ruined; can you image what these drugs will do to our children and future generations? These are children that are still growing and developing. How will it affect their developing brains? Will they become addicted more quickly? These are questions that need to be answered, but have not been answered. We have seen what these drugs can do and how they can ruin lives. Are we ruining our next generation?

The Solution: Natural, Drug Free Alternatives

We need to help those that become addicted with programs to get them on the right track. But this is a reactive measure and we need to be proactive. We can be proactive by educating the community on the potential consequences of these medications and offering natural solutions first, that are many times just as, if not more effective as these powerful narcotics and with no side effects. We see patients come to us everyday for solutions to their pain. One of our goals here at Living Health Integrative Medicine is to offer the community a natural, drug-free solution for these painful conditions. We help patients with chronic intestinal pain like the type that Matt suffered with.

We help with autoimmune remission, arthritis pain, headaches, back pain and many other conditions. Our focus is to help the patient by finding and treating the underlying cause of the pain. Not just masking the problem with medication. The prescription that Matt was given was not treating the cause of his intestinal pain, it was only masking the pain. Therefore the problem continues to exist and many times get worse over time. This leads to the need for more of the originally prescribed drugs and eventually an addicted patient.

Some of you reading this are probably thinking, “This could never happen to me”. This is probably what Matt thought. Matt was a responsible, upstanding adult citizen, unlike our growing youth that haven’t even found their way in the world yet. If Matt would have known about the possible consequences of these medications and known that there was a natural alternative he may still be a FBI agent today, instead of serving three years in federal prison. We are here to help our community and provide a natural solution to painful acute and chronic conditions. If you, a friend or family member needs help resolving your pain give us a call to see if we can help.