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Talking to Teens About Fentanyl

Talking to Teens About Fentanyl
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Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid drug that can be 50-100 times more powerful than other opioids. It is the most common substance found in opioid overdose deaths in Arizona and teens as young as 14 years old have overdosed and died after taking it. One Pill Can Be Fatal 1 out of 4 counterfeit [...]
Reduce the Risk of Overdose with MAT

Reduce the Risk of Overdose with MAT
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The CDC reports that more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses from May 2020 to April 2021 -- up almost 30 percent from the year before. Drug overdoses now surpass deaths from car crashes, guns, flu and pneumonia. The total is close to that for diabetes, the nation's No. 7 cause of death. The rise [...]
Dopamine and Addiction

Dopamine and Addiction
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Understanding how drug and alcohol addiction affects the brain is a big step forward in helping to end the stigma of this complex disease and encouraging people to choose treatment. The Role of Dopamine in Addiction The balancing act of a neurotransmitter called dopamine plays an important role in both the cause of addiction and [...]
Stages of Change in Recovery

Stages of Change in Recovery
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Physical dependence often accompanies substance use disorders. Physical dependence can happen with the chronic use of many drugs—including many prescription drugs, even if taken as instructed. If you are addicted to alcohol or opioids, Medication-Assisted Treatment can reduce problems of withdrawal and craving. These changes can give you the chance you need to focus on [...]
Words Matter

Words Matter
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Compassionate conversations and choice of words help those with substance or alcohol use disorders feel more comfortable seeking treatment and starting their recovery journey. What words can we use to talk about alcohol and opioid misuse that convey compassion? Talking about addiction as a medical condition helps to humanize it and remove negative connotations from [...]
The Brain and Addiction

The Brain and Addiction
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Substance use changes the brain, creating long-lasting impairments to key regions and functions. These changes contribute to the “brain disorder” that makes drugs and alcohol so painfully hard to kick. Social stresses like loneliness, poverty, violence, and other psychological and environmental factors also play an important role in addiction. The structure and function of the [...]
Pain and Addiction

Pain and Addiction
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"I often say to people, “Whatever your addictive focus, what did it offer you? What did you like about it? What, in the short term, did it give you that you craved or liked so much?” And universally, the answers are: “It helped me escape emotional pain… helped me deal with stress… gave me peace [...]
Impacts of Addiction on the Family

Impacts of Addiction on the Family
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Addiction can affect all parts of a person's life: their physical health, brain function, emotional well-being, finances, work life and social relationships. Families and friends are also impacted by loved ones’ substance use problems in various ways: grief and depression about the loved ones' deterioration preoccupation with the person using substances loss of trust in [...]
The Risks of Hepatitis C

The Risks of Hepatitis C
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The most common way HCV is transmitted today is through needle sharing for drug use. When people become addicted to prescription opiates and then lose access to those drugs, they may turn to heroin, and sharing needles for heroin use is linked to HCV infection. If you have a history of drug use, that could [...]
Substance Use and Isolation

Substance Use and Isolation
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A recent report from the CDC cited a “concerning acceleration” of opioid-related overdoses.  Synthetic opioids (primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl) appear to be the primary driver. Over 81,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in May 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period. [...]