Lillo Brancato Jr., a promising young actor who played roles in HBO’s hit The Sopranos as well as opposite Robert DeNiro is his film A Bronx Tale is living a nightmare that could have come straight out of the scripts of one of his movies.

In 2005, Brancato was involved in the death of the New York City police officer during a robbery where he and an accomplice were attempting to steal drugs from their dealer.

During the robbery, the drug dealer who owned the house fired at the men breaking into his house, but also killed his neighbor, police officer Daniel Enchautegui who heard the commotion and had come over to investigate.

That leaves Brancato accused of burglary and murder and could face life in prison as a result.  His trial in New York City began this past week.

The story of Lillo Brancato Jr., is extreme, but is also indicative of a lifestyle where easy access to drugs and alcohol can lead to addiction and criminal behavior.  Heroin addiction and cocaine addiction were constant issues with this obviously troubled young man, but because of his fame - and ironically, the types of tough guy roles he portrayed - few were there to say NO and reach out with help.

Famous or not, if someone you know is struggling with drug addiction, help them find a drug rehab facility that can provide the life-saving treatment they desperately need.

Look, if someone you know has become addicted to heroin, they’re probably NOT going to come right out and tell you themselves.   But the problem is that, they need help!   So that means you are going to have to figure it out for yourself and that means knowing the signs and symptoms of heroin use.

The top ten signs of heroin use are:

1. Constricted pupils

2. Euphoria

3. Shallow breathing

4. Abscesses or scars on the arms (or other areas where heroin might be injected)

5. Often seems confused or disoriented

6. Has contracted Hepatitis B/C or HIV/AIDS

7. Poor performance at work or school

8. Has withdrawn from friends and family (and begun hanging out with a new, “sketchier” set of friends)

9. Has asked to borrow from you (and has been secretive about the reasons why they need it) or has stolen from you.

10. Has had run-ins with law enforcement - after never having encountered any before.

If a friend or family member is exhibiting one or more of the signs and symptoms above, they may be using heroin - and if so, need your help! Contact a drug addiction treatment facility in your area to learn how you can get that special person the professional assistance they need to get well.

A recent report in the British newspaper The Daily Mail has found that drug deaths related to cocaine and ecstasy are up a whopping 1200% since 1993.

The study detailed several interesting pieces of information that shed light into the demographic trends of drug abuse in England - many of which can be extrapolated to drug addiction in the United States.

• Cocaine and ecstasy use is up among individuals in the 40’s or older.   The health of these individuals puts them in a higher-risk group for overdose.
• Mixing cocaine with alcohol use has become more popular in the United Kingdom.  This can create a deadly mixture called cocaine-ethynyl which has claimed the life of hundreds of individuals over the past several years.
• 293 people died in England from cocaine use last year, a shocking figure when you consider that only 23 people died from those drugs just a few short years ago.
• Heroin and morphine-related deaths are also up in England, rising to 829 in 2007 from 713 in 2006.
• Drug addiction and drug-related deaths among young people, while not decreasing has leveled off over the past few years.   The real rise in drug use is among older men and women.

As in America, celebrities in England have had their struggles with drugs and alcohol.  The tabloid industry in the United Kingdom is in many ways, even more intrusive than it is in the United States, allowing the public to see these lifestyles first-hand.  

Whether or not this is impacting drug use among older Brits remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain, you can expect demand at quality drug rehab facilities to rise in the coming years across the pond.

More and more young people are using prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin as a recreational drug.  They use these painkillers for their euphoric effects and obtain them by any all means necessary.  

The problem is that buying prescription medications online, or from a drug dealer can get expensive.  Obtaining medication on the black market can cost several dollars a pill, which adds up fast when the individual develops a tolerance to the drug and must begin to take more and more of them in order to obtain the desired effect.

What’s most frightening about this trend is that when young people run out of money and pills, they turn to a similar drug, priced well within their budget - heroin.

Many people do not realize that heroin provides an effect very similar to Vicodin and other doctor-prescribed painkillers.  Once addicts learn about the similarities, they will begin taking heroin in order to get their “fix.”

This is dangerous for several reasons:

• Heroin can come to the user in stronger-than-expected or contaminated doses which may lead to overdose and even death.
• Heroin, when taken using a needle can expose the individual to a variety of deadly diseases such as HIV, AIDS or Hepatitis.
• Heroin carries with it a social stigma that carries many young people away from their family and friends and into a downward spiral that can destroy what should be the happiest years of their life.

For all these reasons, plus myriad more, contact a drug rehab facility in your area if you are taking prescription painkillers and cannot stop.

Many people believe that the United States is home to worst drug problem in the world.  And while images from the evening news all over America would certainly lead one to that assumption, there are actually much more severe addiction and trafficking situation found elsewhere around the planet.  Here are seven countries that have it bad when it comes to drugs.

Russia

Intravenous drug use has become a huge problem in Russia - especially among teenagers and young adults.  In addition to the drug problem itself, this situation has led to one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics on the planet.  Rates of these diseases (caused by sharing dirty needles) have risen faster than anywhere outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

Iran

Heroin addiction has hit Iran hard, and the fundamental Islamic presence in the country has kept many of the addicted from receiving proper treatment.  Recently, health officials and community groups had to fight just to open a methadone treatment clinic in the country.  HIV/AIDS are also a growing problem in Iran.

Afghanistan

The number one produced of the opium that fuels heroin is a country torn to shreds by drugs.  World surveys have concluded that an unbelievable 90% of all heroin used in Europe can be traced back to this tiny mountainous country.  In addition to trafficking, the country also has a serious heroin addiction problem, with a large percentage of the adult population struggling with a dependence on the drug - and lacking in the proper drug rehab programs to treat it.

The United States

The U.S. is not a big producer or trafficker of drugs, but it is among the world’s top users of illicit substances.  Americans are at the greatest risk for drug related deaths and currently have the most serious cocaine and crystal meth problems in the world.

Great Britain

England has a high accidental overdose rate and is one of the number one users of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin in Europe.  Social mores in the United Kingdom find teenagers and even pre-teens experimenting with highly dangerous drugs at an early age.

It has been almost fifteen years since New York police detectives had to deal with China Cat - a powerful heroin blend that ravaged the world’s largest city in the late summer of 1994.

The 13 accidental overdose deaths that China Cat caused in a single weekend in New York City that year was a tragic occurrence, but also provided a fascinating window into heroin use, and the wide swath of people that make up its user-base.

The New York Times article that broke the story listed a variety of different people who had died that weekend, including a piano tuner, a father of a young boy, older men, young women and others.  They came from both the richest and poorest section of New York, but all were unable to handle the power of the dosage found in China Cat - which like many heroin mixtures contains a much more potent percentage of the drug than in years past.

Now it is 2008, and despite knowing more about the dangers of potent heroin mixtures such as China Cat, groups of lifelong addicts and first time users alike are overdosing because they cannot handle the dosage of the heroin they buy on the streets.  The problem is even more dangerous today, and more and more drug dealers add dangerous synthetic compounds to their drugs in order to deliver a more powerful high.

The only way to avoid accidental heroin overdose is to stop using.  And the best way to conquer heroin addiction is through a top drug rehab program that provides the detox solution and counseling to help individuals get clean and stay that way.

Five ways that heroin use can kill you

Of all the drugs in the world, heroin remains one of the most dangerous.  And while taking any drug to excess open the doors for a variety of serious health problems, heroin features several particularly devastating effects that can snuff out the lives of even the healthiest individuals.

5 ways that heroin can kill

1. Overdose. Heroin use is an inexact science to say the say the least.  Different strengths of the drug are out on the street all the time, and the wrong one can lead to overdose in the individual who is unable to handle it.

2. Heart failure.  Heroin puts a tremendous strain on the heart, and many individuals who are addicted to the drug see their heart eventually just give out.

3. Suicide. One of the symptoms of heroin addiction is depression, which can lead to suicidal thoughts.  Many addicts feel hopeless and isolated enough to kill themselves.

4. Hepatitis B & C. Those who take the drug intervenously and share needles are at a high risk for these deadly diseases.

5. HIV/AIDS. Like Hepatitis, HIV and AIDS are contracted through the sharing of dirty needles.  In fact more heroin users have died from AIDS than overdose over the past 10 years.

For help conquering heroin addiction, contact Michael’s House today.  The resdiential rehab program at Michael’s House has helped thousands of people defeat addiction and go on to live happy, productive lives.

Irish youth using heroin at a shockingly young age

The Irish Examiner is reporting that there is a growing heroin addiction problem among children as young as 12 years old. The shocking report is based on the findings of Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, that surveyed 86 teenagers in Dublin who were drug users and discovered that many had started using heroin at the age of 14 and many were addicted by the age of 16.

Mental illness played a significant role in the findings as well, with 52% of those surveyed having visited a psychiatrist at some point during their lives.

Families in the United States and around the world would be well-served to pay attention to these findings, as many of the drug addicted teens came from stable, two-parent family homes and did not exhibit any kinds of criminal behavior outside of the drug use.

Visit Michael’s House today and find out about their results-oriented resdiential drug rehab program.

Heroin claims the life of star baseball player

Michael Hutts was not a young man prone to trouble.  On the contrary, he was a Dean’s List student at Georgia Tech and a star pitcher on the university’s varsity baseball team.  So when his roommate opened the door to their dorm room and found Hutts dead of a heroin overdose, the pure shock of the incident reverberated across the entire campus community.

In an Atlanta Journal Constitution article last month, Hutts’ coach Danny Hall said, “Never was there even a moment where you thought, ‘Something is going on here. We need to check on this guy. We need to watch him closely.’ That’s what has made this even more shocking.’”.   Hall’s reaction typifies the insidious nature of heroin use in this country.  In the mind of the public, heroin addiction only strikes those from urban areas and the lower-rungs of the socio-economic scale.  But the truth of the matter is anyone – from the schoolteacher down the street to the meg-watt Hollywood A-lister – can be taken down HARD by heroin use.

So how could this happen to a kid who seemingly had everything going for him?  Swap heroin for cocaine and the answer may be found in what has come to be known as the Len Bias Effect - the deadly combination of heroin’s lethal power and the hubris of a young male in the prime of his life who feels that nothing can bring him down.   (Bias was the over first pick in the NBA draft in 1986 who died of a cocaine overdose hours after his selection.)

We hope Michael Hutts did not die in vain, and that the parents of great kids will find the time and talk to them about drugs, even if they’re on the Dean’s List and can throw a 95-mile per hour fastball

For resident drug rehab programs that change the lives of individuals with addiction and their families, visit www.michaelshouse.com.