One of the most serious issues pertaining to medical treatment in the United States concerns doctors who have developed a drug addiction, yet continue to provide care to their patients without receiving proper treatment themselves.  For years, this problem went unchecked in the medical community, as doctors were allowed to the patients’ lives at risk - while falling deeper and deeper into the cycle of addiction.

Hope came in the form of a new treatment approach to drug addicted doctors - one that focused on long-term care and high levels of accountability should the problem persist.

As a result of this unique approach (not quite punishment, not quite drug rehab), the percentage of doctors who are addicted to drugs has begun to decrease for the first time in many years.

According to a recent survey published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, over three-quarters of all doctors who entered this long-term treatment program have remained drug-free for over five years.   That speaks volumes for a non-traditional treatment style that combines counseling with a zero-tolerance approach to drug use on the job (physicians can lose their licesnse if testing positive during the program).

One of the more positive aspects of the survey was that the numbers held true across a wide variety of addictions - including crystal meth, cocaine, prescription painkillers and alcohol.

If you, or someone you know has developed a drug addiction, it is important to contact a drug rehab program immediately.  Through detox and counseling, drug rehab helps treat drug addiction at the core - and helps individuals discover the strategies needed to live a sober life.

Some Hollywood directors, such as Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) go to great lengths to portray drug addiction and substance abuse in as realistic manner as possible in their films.  They capture every grueling aspect of addiction – from the euphoric rush of the drug to the terrifying crashes that inevitably follow.

But not every moviemaker is as concerned with realism.  Take for example the following movies, each of which portrays drug use about as realistically as Heather Locklear playing a nuclear physicist.

5.   Midnight Cowboy.

Yes, the movie is the only X-Rated film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, but there’s something about Dustin Hoffman’s fatal tangle with drug addiction that is less “I’m a methadone addict” and more “I’m a method actor.”   Now Jon Voight as a gay hustler cowboy?  That we believe.

4. Traffic.

OK, some people are going to tell you that this epic Academy Award winner is one of the most realistic portrayals of drug use ever put on celluloid, but let’s stop and think about this for a minute.  An upper-class housewife sees her husband go to jail for trafficking and three days later she just takes a nice drive down to Mexico and sets up her own drug deal with a ruthless cartel?  The kid from That 70’s Show buys his drugs in inner-city Baltimore’s worst housing project?  Michael Douglas is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones?  What?  That last one is real?  Oh.

3.  Scarface.

Al Pacino’s so-called Cuban accent wasn’t the only thing played over the top in this Brian De Palma epic tale of money, violence and powder.  The cocaine scenes inside Tony Montana’s house are played to the hilt, as the kingpin snorts from giant mountains of what must have been the most expensive baby powder ever ordered to the set of a Hollywood production.

2.  Basketball Diaries.

Nobody has ever accused Leonardo Di Caprio of coming off as too rough around the edges.  But what he does with the seriously gritty source material of Jim Carroll’s memoir about heroin addiction in the early 1970’s is just plain wrong.   It’s so hard to believe that Leo ever struggles with anything that it takes away the power of what should have been a great film.  Don’t believe it?  Check out the wind blowing through the A-lister’s hair in the opening of the trailer.  Gritty indeed.

1. Reefer Madness.

The unintentionally hilarious drug movie by which all others are judged.  Reefer Madness may have been released over half-a-century ago, but after all these years it…still adds nothing to the cannon of legitimate drug awareness.    Marijuana addiction is serious business.  Reefer Madness?  Not so much.

Many individuals who have a drinking problem fail to ask themselves the tough questions.  They think they are fooling everyone into believing that their drinking is under control, when in actuality, the only person they are misleading is themselves.

The following represent the essential questions that every individual who is struggling with alcohol needs to ask about their own behavior.   If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, there is a strong chance that you need alcohol rehab - and should contact a facility in your area.

10 Important Signs That You May Need Alcohol Rehab

1. You drink at socially unacceptable times of the day - including in the morning when you first wake up, or at lunch during the work day.

2. You drinking has caused you to become isolated from friends and family.

3. You drink alone, without the need for social interaction

4. You have gotten into trouble with the law as a result of your drinking problem.

5. You have seen your performance at work or school suffer as a result of drinking

6. You engage in more than two binge drinking episodes each week

7. You have missed meetings, dates or appointments because you were hungover or drunk

8. You personal relationships have suffered as a result of your drinking problem

9. You have begun to forgo activities and hobbies you once enjoyed in order to spend more time drinking.

10. Your friends and family have held an alcohol intervention to show you the impact of your drinking problem.

If you see yourself in one or more of the signs above it is time to reach out to an addiction treatment professional. For help with an alcohol addiction, contact an alcohol rehab facility in your area.

It was announced this month that multi-platinum rappers 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes will lend their names to the marketing efforts of Leyrat Cognac and Sparkling Vodka — two high end alcohol brands that are marketing predominantly to the African-American community.

While nobody begrudges an entertainers right to build their brand and generate as much income as possible while they are in the spotlight, one has to wonder if this does represent irresponsible behavior on the part of “Fiddy” and Busta.

These stars have a huge following among young people in communities throughout the United States.  By putting their brand behind potent types of alcohol, they are encouraging underage individuals to drink.  In addiction, alcohol has long been the scourge of many poor African-American neighborhoods around the country.  Promoting hard liquor in these areas is a slap in the face to the community activists and social workers who are trying to uplift those who live there.

These rappers are by no means the first musicians to market to young black people.  In 2007, rapper-producer Dr. Dre announced the release of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Cognac.  Ironically, the cognac was set to release around the same time as his latest album, entitled Detox.

If you, or someone you know has a drinking problem, contact an alcohol rehab facility.  Alcohol rehab facilities help individuals overcome the physical and psychological addiction to alcohol.

During his life, Swedish psychiatrist and addiction specialist Nils Bejerot riled many individuals in the research community with his unique views on the origins and risk factors for addiction.

While most research stated (and continues to state) that addiction is the result of a combination of personal issues and socio-economic conditions, Bejerot contended that there were five external factors that represented the most significant risk factors to drug addiction and alcoholism.

Bejerot’s Five Risk Factors:

• Availability of the substance
• The money to acquire the substance
• The time needed to use the substance
• Models of the substance being used in the immediate environment
• A “permissive ideology” regarding using the substance

What was so revolutionary (and controversial) about this theory was that Bejerot believed that entire communities could be impacted by these factors, thus creating epidemics of addiction within a given society.

Bejerot believed that it is up to a society to punish drug addiction, not through the legal system but through social means.  This, he believed, was the only way to reduce the spread of addiction.

Individuals who are suffering from drug addiction or alcohol addiction, no matter what the circumstances or root causes, need to seek help from an addiction treatment facility immediately.  Through detox, counseling and aftercare, these facilities can help the individual develop the required skills to conquer addiction.

For decades, individuals who have tried to overcome alcohol addiction have aided their cause by smoking.  Cigarette smoking represented an alternative behavior to fill the void left when that person stopped smoking.  While the dangers of smoking are well documented, it was always seen as “the lesser of two evils” when compared to alcohol abuse.

But a recent study by the American Society of Addiction Medicine has found that individuals who stopped smoking during their alcohol rehab were more likely to recover vital brain functions than those who continued to smoke during this same period.

Michael Miller, president of the ASAM is seeing some encouraging news in the way rehab facilities are handling the situation.  “I would say that over half of chemical dependency treatment agencies now talk about nicotine, encourage patients to stop smoking and provide them assistance to stop, such as with nicotine-replacement therapy or prescriptions for Zyban or Champix,” the well-respected addiction professional says. “So that’s a tremendous advance.”

If you have drinking problem, or love someone who does, contact an alcohol rehab facility immediately and get life-saving treatment from addiction specialists who know how to save lives.

Already serving time in prison for driving while under the influence of heroin, Garret Reid, the son of Philadelphia Eagles’ coach Andy Reid, was recently sentenced to two years probation recently for trying to smuggle drugs in the Montgomery County jail where he was incarcerated.

The verdict is yet another dark moment for the Reid clan.  Last year, Garret’s younger brother Britt Reid served a prison sentence for a road rage/DUI incident in which he pointed a gun at another individual involved in the dispute.  Britt Reid is currently enrolled in a drug rehab program.

While many feel for Reid Sr. and everything his family has been through, the coach also has his detractors, many of whom wonder how the man can continue to work an 80-plus hour a week job while his sons were busy destroying their lives.  And although family matters such as this are really nobody’s concern but the family, it does raise some questions about where Reid’s priorities truly lie.

When a young person is involved with drugs or alcohol, it affects the entire family.  That’s why alcohol and drug rehab facilities often include family counseling as part of their treatment program.  These counseling sessions work to rebuild trust among family members and rebuild the relationships that drugs and alcohol helped to diminish.