Drug Addiction Archives - Page 2 of 2

Why It’s So Easy To Transition From “Recreational Use” To Addiction

Posted on December 26, 2017December 26, 2017 by JohnAdmin

It’s hard to draw the line between drug use, and drug addiction. There is no such thing as a one-hit addiction – addiction happens over repeated usage. And while using a drug can prime your brain for more of its usage, the cycle of addiction does not begin until a behavior has already been established, which takes time. However, that time may be over faster than you might think, and so called “recreational use” can quickly turn into addiction. It’s important to make a distinction between the two, and understand that no one is immune from addiction just because they feel like they’re in control over their usage. A drug is a drug, and it’s always dangerous.

The Difference Between Recreational Use And Addiction

Addiction and recreational use are differentiated by the ability to stop at any time. Someone who is addicted can’t stop without a great amount of effort and, often, some help. Someone who attempting to practice recreational use, on the other hand, could be asked to stop and probably would be able to without much of an issue.

There would be signs of withdrawal, but they would be minor, and the difficulty of stopping wouldn’t be that of addiction, which involves intense cravings and irritability.

Drug addiction and recreational use can also be differentiated by the effect they have on a person’s lifestyle and personality. For example: someone who uses a drug recreationally at first may not have a problem with incorporating it into their life. However, addiction often implies that the damage being caused by a person’s drug use is becoming increasingly unavoidable, and more troubling. Someone struggling with addiction might burn through their relationships, lose their job and even end up in the emergency room more than once because of their habit.

Someone practicing recreational use might have the ability to see when their usage is beginning to be a problem, and curb it to avoid getting caught, or to lessen the effect it has on their life, though that is never guaranteed to be the case.

The Key to Preventing Addiction

Substance addiction can only be prevented in one way: by not using drugs. Recreational use is only one step on the path to addiction, and the only way to keep that from happening is to stop using altogether. And if you find that you can’t, then you may already be on the path to a long and tough addiction.

We have all heard about how alcohol can be used “in moderation”. While alcohol is a drug, it is different from other more dangerous and potent substances, such as prescription medication, illicit substances like heroin, or even potentially deadly drugs like fentanyl.

Alcohol can be addictive, and thousands of Americans struggle with alcoholism every day. To them, the only answer towards long-term sobriety is to never have a drop, ever again. But for the millions of other Americans who do drink responsibly, the idea that addiction can only be prevented through abstinence seems contradictory.

Coffee is a drug. Caffeine is psychoactive, and going from heavy caffeine use to a caffeine intake of zero can lead to intense drowsiness, headaches and other withdrawal issues for several days. However, you can “recreationally” drink coffee.

The key is understanding the difference in addictiveness across the spectrum of psychoactive substances, so you know what to stay away from at all costs, and what to be aware of. Caffeine isn’t inherently dangerous in coffee and tea, but drinking copious amounts of coffee with milk and sugar can lead to unnecessary calories in your day, and interfere with your sleeping cycle. Processed caffeine sources, like energy drinks, can even affect your heart and worsen existing cardiac conditions – and in very rare cases, contribute to your death.

A drug like fentanyl requires little more than a few specks inhaled through the air to cause serious damage, and send you to the medical room. Crack cocaine and methamphetamine are incredibly addictive, and can cause brain damage. Also prescription drugs like anti-depressants can kill you. There is no such thing as “recreational use” when it comes to these kinds of substances.

Why Teens Use Drugs More Often

There is a reasonable explanation as to why teenagers are more susceptible to recreational use of drugs than adults, and why they tend to struggle with addiction for years. On one hand, teenagers are going through tough times. They’re learning to deal with their emotions, their bodies, their peers. It’s frustrating, and difficult.

While children generally seek approval, and nurturing from their parents, teenagers often revolt from their parents influence to gain independence. Sometimes, their behavior can be downright nonsensical, outside of the point of view of “rebellion”.

Beyond that, teenagers struggle to understand long-term risk. They are more likely to engage in risky behavior to impress their peers, often ignoring the potential dangers involved in that behavior. Sometimes, impressing your friends might mean taking something. Many teenagers aren’t secure enough to pass up on a challenge that might solidify their standing among peers.

Of course, teenagers are not the only people using drugs, or getting addicted. But they are more susceptible to it, for these factors and others.

Why Addiction Is So Hard To Break

The defining difference between addiction and recreational use is the inability to stop. But why is addiction so hard to break? That’s a question many people have, and it does not have an easy answer.

There are several reasons, some tied to a person’s brain, others tied to their emotions and psychological state. Sometimes, people have a tough time breaking from an addiction because of the protection afforded by being high. In other cases, their brain has rewired itself to crave the substance, and they must deal with thinking about it day and night.

Breaking an addiction always takes a lot of time. And it’s always up to you to ultimately dedicate yourself to your own recovery long enough to avoid a relapse. But it’s much easier to fight this fight with others helping you along the way, keeping you motivated during the worst of times, and encouraging you to keep improving and working on yourself during the best of times. Recovery can last a life time – but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend it well, enjoying yourself and making beautiful memories along the way.

What Are the Issues with Synthetic Drugs?

Posted on December 4, 2017 by JohnAdmin

Synthetic drugs can be frightening. They take lives, alter reality, ruin families. And many of them have no use other than to corrupt and hurt, for profit. It’s no wonder that when something like that enters society, it’s treated as a malicious entity, a problem we need to fight with all our might.

But drugs aren’t easy to fight. There is no way to go to war against them and win. Winning against drugs means creating a world where people never need them, and before we can do that, we have a lot work to do within our households, communities and governments.

So, for now, we all seek to do our best to help those affected by drugs, and help our families stay whole and survive. To help with that, drugs are made illegal, and we teach our children what they look like and how to avoid them.

But that’s becoming harder and harder. Synthetic drugs have been hitting the streets for years, and not just through clubs or street corners, but through gas stations, boutique stores, and dubiously-legal brand names.

With innocent-sounding names for products like bath salts, potpourri and spice, it’s easy to mistake what could be one of the most dangerous drugs in the world for nothing more than herbal incense. And it’s behind labels like these that the world of synthetic drugs flourishes, and grows.

What Are Synthetic Drugs?

Synthetic drugs are, for the most part, self-explanatory. They’re man-made chemical compounds that largely mimic the chemical composition of natural drugs (or, to be more precise, drugs that are extracted from plant material). Where pure cocaine is a product of the coca plant and heroin is a product of opium poppy, drugs like fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids are made in laboratories, designed and formulated to give a much more potent, much more powerful, and much more dangerous high.

Unlike drugs that require entire plantations to produce en masse, synthetic drugs can be made with a much smaller footprint, as part of a much smaller operation. They’re sold online as chemical components or research material, and sold under a semi-legal status because labs keep coming up with new chemical combinations, making it harder and harder for law enforcement to keep track and figure out what’s just hit the market.

Very prominent and unfortunately common examples include synthetic cannabinoids, synthetic opioids, and synthetic cathinones. These drugs are also commonly known as spice, K2, Mr. Smiley, bath salts, Joker, Black Mamba, and hundreds of other names. Synthetic cannabis is sold as plant material sprayed unevenly with a coating of cannabinoids. Synthetic opioids are commonly sold as prescription drugs, but are also coming out of laboratories in China and Mexico, as fentanyl and carfentanil, the latter of which has recently been described to be so deadly that it classifies as a chemical weapon.

Explaining the Explosion in Synthetic Drugs Today

Synthetic drugs have existed for decades, and are part and parcel of chemistry. The discovery of early synthetic psychedelics like LSD, and the popularity of MDMA (ecstasy) paved the way for other drugs to be created in labs rather than fields.

Fentanyl in the 80s, the re-emergence of meth in the 90s. While prescription drugs and methamphetamine are seen separate from the more recently troubling synthetic drugs, they’re the same basic thing.

Synthetic Drugs vs. Designer Drugs

Technically, synthetic drugs and designer drugs are two sides of the same coin – a distinction between the two wouldn’t be much more than pure semantics. But in common terms, synthetic drugs refer to the wave of drugs that in recent years have been causing accidental overdoses and poisoning. Designer drugs are analogous to controlled substances, or simply designed to get the user high, and they include all synthetic drugs including ecstasy, LSD and methamphetamine.

Nowadays, the materials for many designer drugs make it throughout the world under the guise of research material, freely sold and illegally used to manufacture drug analogues to existing controlled substances. Although laws exist to prohibit the sale of these drug analogues, it’s not illegal to sell research chemicals.

This isn’t just a problem with cannabinoids and cathinones. Stimulants, anabolic steroids, psychedelics, benzodiazepines and nootropics are all being synthetically manufactured and sold online, or through small stores locally. These drugs are often untested, incredibly potent, and potentially toxic or ridden with side-effects.

Measures have been taken in some countries to stem the issue, such as introducing new laws to regulate any psychoactive compounds or create a new class for unidentified or poorly studied controlled substances, to more quickly institute legal means with which to prohibit their sale and use.

Why Synthetic Drugs Are Even Worse

Fighting against these drugs isn’t just a tough job – it’s getting harder in a world that’s growing ever smaller with modern-day technology. That’s why it’s even more important, now than ever, to get clean and stay clean. Drug overdoses from heroin are growing in number not only because of an increased number of heroin addicts, but because what’s hitting the street is stronger and deadlier than before, and too often, someone takes a hit of something they couldn’t handle.

Synthetic cannabis, which is sold as a fake or legal weed, is several times more potent and far deadlier than the real thing, inducing vomiting, hallucinations and sometimes death. And bath salts have made headlines several times over the past few years for inducing psychosis.

Beyond their capacity to do much more damage to the human body than their counterparts, synthetic drugs are also troubling to fight on a legal basis since new drugs are hitting the streets at a rapid pace. Law enforcement has had trouble playing catch-up to the point that several dollar store businesses have tried suing over damages from synthetic drug raids, due to their dubious legal status.

The first step to getting ahead of the game is education and elucidation. Parents and kids need to understand what these drugs are, what they often look like, and how they’re marketed. They need to check ingredients and be informed of chemical analogues to dangerous drugs. And active drug users need to understand that these drugs can be life-ending, and extremely dangerous to them.

What Are Some of the Worst Addictions to Have?

Posted on November 21, 2017 by JohnAdmin

Addiction is bad, and there’s no way to talk around that. It’s a debilitating psychological and physical condition that takes many forms, and leaves lasting effects – sometimes for decades. Depending on the drug, an addiction can completely change your life, or even kill you. And far too often, it will. That said, some of the worst addictions will affect you far more than other.

However, the worst addictions are arguably more difficult than others. Some are harder to kick, more dangerous to the body, and more widespread. While all addictions are hard, and a person’s individual journey with any one drug is completely different from that of another, here are some of the worst addictions to get hooked on.

Anti-Anxiety Meds

Anxiety is one of the most pervasive mental health problems in the country. And just about anything can trigger it, or make it worse. Anxiety exists in the form of phobias, PTSD, social anxiety and more – and its effects on life range from causing flash sweats and hyperventilation at the thought of going to a public event, to mental breakdowns.

To combat anxiety, psychotherapists have spent decades refining therapeutic techniques like CBT and DBT – but ultimately, patients early on may need to be prescribed medication to stave off their condition. This is where anti-anxiety meds like Xanax and valium come into play.

These drugs affect the same parts of the brain as alcohol, and create the same calming, tipsy feeling. As sedatives, they act in the exact opposite to stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine – but they’re just as dangerous when abused and cna be counted among some of the worst addictions.

Much like someone in chronic pain struggling to get off opiates, if you’re struggling with anxiety like 40 million other people in the US, and find yourself hooked on your meds, then the prospect of stopping becomes even harder.

Heroin/Opiates

Heroin is one of the worst addictions to have, because:

It’s far too common for people on pain medication to fall into a cycle of opiate addiction
Heroin is a rising problem in the States, fueling the ongoing overdose epidemic
Opiate addiction can lead to accidental overdose through extremely potent drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil, which are sometimes used to cut heroin and are indistinguishable.

While there are more immediately dangerous drugs, they’re not as widespread. Of course, at the end of the day, the worst addictions to have is any at all. Whatever you end up struggling with the most, whatever vice it is that has you in its grips, that addiction will haunt you for decades and keep you on-guard well throughout your sober life.

But given the effect it has on the country, and the widespread damage it has caused over centuries, there are few drugs with the combined potency, availability and danger as heroin and assorted opiate derivatives.

Nicotine

Ultimately, smoking is known by some addicts to be the hardest habit to kick, making it rank among some of the worst addictions. This is typically based on ratings given by people with several drug addictions, when asked to describe and rate which addiction is toughest to get rid of. However, on the dependence rating scale, the nicotine in cigarettes sits just under heroin and crack cocaine, which is more potent than snorted powdered cocaine.

There are a few key differences that shed some light onto why smoking is one of the hardest habits to kick – and why people manage to kick it so often anyways.

Cigarettes are everywhere.
Cigarette smoking starts early.
Cigarettes take decades to kill.
Cigarettes are easy to use.
There is far less stigma attached to nicotine addiction (than other addictions).

Up until quite recently, cigarette smoking has been very popular, and even touted as healthy. Cigarette smoking also often began at an early age, and lung cancer takes years to develop, giving smokers ample time to work on quitting. Their ease of access and ease of use also meant there was no paraphernalia needed when smoking – unlike in the past, when smoking tobacco involved pulling out the pipe and preparing a pinch of herb.

This is what makes nicotine so insidious and one of the worst addictions. Due to being so common and so hard to quit, it can often lead to a life-long addiction and death.

While many state that nicotine is an incredibly hard drug to kick to the curb, many still quit anyway. According to the CDC, there are more former smokers than current smokers in the US today. A common way to quit has been by going cold turkey – others rely on a more gradual progress.

Worst Addictions From Other Drugs

We’ve all heard of monster drugs like krokodil and flakka, street concoctions abroad and sometimes found domestically, and each capable of ruining your life over the course of a few hits. These are synthetic drugs known for causing organ failure and tissue death, and permanent psychological damage.

Krokodil is the subject of many online horror stories, but it isn’t very widespread or dangerous to non-users – the wounds it causes aren’t contagious. Made of a mixture of industrial cleaning agents, lighter fluid and painkillers to create desomorphine, it’s extremely addictive and extremely cheap. Its major side-effect? It rots your flesh to the bone.

Synthetic cathinones (bath salts) and synthetic marijuana (spice) have also been in the news for the severity of their side effects – in addition to being addictive, they can cause strong hallucinations and end in a deadly overdose.

The reason these addictions might not necessarily rank among the worst addictions, is because of both their rarity, and their potency. Methamphetamines, opiates, and Xanax each can lead to months of declining health and an increasing risk of overdose.

New drugs are regularly being discovered – many of them far worse than most of what we’ve seen in the past. From drugs like carfentanil that possess the lethality of nerve gas, to homemade concoctions like krokodil and “DIY” synthetic drugs like spice, the world is full of dangerous substances. Struggling with an addiction is a challenge however and sometimes a Men’s Sober living program in Houston might be the solution to keeping yourself clean for good.

How Does Recreational Use Turn Into Addiction?

Posted on October 31, 2017 by JohnAdmin

Drugs are highly addictive. There is no sense in arguing against that. The science supports it, and there are countless cases and anecdotes of how continuous drug use led to the destruction (and, too often, end) of someone’s life, even in cases of recreational use.

However, there is a line between being addicted to drugs, and using drugs. Recreational use can turn into an addiction, but one is not the other. Knowing the difference, and understanding how some people get hooked after the first few tries while others can continue using a drug for months before eventually quitting without major consequences requires understanding just how addiction occurs, and why it’s never an easy thing to determine.

The Difference Between Recreational Use And Addiction

Some drugs are far more addictive than others. Coffee is one of the world’s most-consumed beverages, but caffeine overdose through coffee is nearly unheard of. Neither does coffee possess serious withdrawal symptoms and legitimate coffee addictions, while possible, are not very common. On the other hand, addictions to stimulants like cocaine are very much a real problem in America, and the US opioid crisis alone has claimed thousands of lives annually over the past few years.

That does not mean that everyone with an Adderall prescription, a bottle of OxyContin, or even a cocaine habit is an addict. The differences between recreational use, medical use, and addiction are vast.

Medical use obviously implies the need for a drug to combat a disease or disorder. Doctors are careful to prescribe drugs in such a way that they achieve the necessary effect to combat certain symptoms without ever reaching a lethal dose. A mark of addiction is increasing a drug’s dosage to dangerous levels to combat rising levels of drug tolerance.

Recreational use implies using the drug recreationally, without medical need – but without the symptoms of addiction. Someone who uses cocaine recreationally may not crave it nearly as much as someone struggling with an actual addiction. Additionally, they are still able to cut themselves off from the drug without emotional or physical pain.

Addiction implies an inability to stop. Someone facing addiction may not know until they try to cut themselves off and then find themselves in a loop of relapses and withdrawals. Unlike other types of usage, people with an addiction have a different brain response to the drugs they’re addicted to.

Someone who has a drug for recreational use will feel its effects, and may even develop a tolerance, but they can regulate their drug use or even stop if it becomes unfeasible. With addiction, all logic or reason goes out the window in the face of the insatiable craving to use.

The thing about addictive drugs, however, is that continuous use will either lead to addiction or abstinence regardless of if it starts as recreational use or not. And that is a big danger.

Are Recreational Drugs Safe?

Some drugs are inherently dangerous and pose major health risks. Illicit drugs from unregulated, unknown sources are often cut with many unidentified substances, to lower the cost of production. As a result, these drugs can be incredibly dangerous even for recreational use. Heroin with added fentanyl can easily cause an overdose, while additives used to cut cocaine can often cause major health problems and even death. It’s not uncommon to find cocaine mixed with laundry detergent, laxatives, anesthetics, corn starch, vitamin powder or baby formula.

Even the purest of illicit drugs can never be considered “safe”. Recreational use of any druh shouldn’t be encouraged, and any drug should be treated with extreme caution. While addiction does not occur instantaneously, every road to addiction begins with one hit.

Knowing When You’re Addicted

The transition from recreational use to addiction is one that most people miss. It is the kind of thing you typically don’t really notice it until it’s too late.

Addiction can be defined in several ways. While it always refers to an inability to stop, the reason is typically different from case to case. In most cases, physical dependency plays a significant role in the addiction of a person: this is when their drug use has developed into a physical habit for their body, to the point where their cravings and withdrawal symptoms make it incredibly difficult to stop.

Emotional dependency is another factor that affects just how addicted a person is. This is when a drug becomes a crutch for someone to deal with stress and other emotional issues in their life. Some people use drugs to medicate themselves and eliminate the pain of a traumatic experience – that can develop into an unwillingness or inability to let go of drugs, to avoid going through a world of psychological pain.

When these transitions happen, the relationship between the body and the drug transforms. While tolerance is inevitable over time, physical dependence develops in some people much faster than it does in others. When it does, the body has trouble performing basic neurochemical functions without the presence of a certain drug in its system. This is where the most severe withdrawal symptoms come from.

Combatting addiction at this level can’t be done without a significant amount of medical and emotional help. Struggling against your own mind and body is extremely difficult – but it isn’t impossible. Through rehab, Houston sober living and support groups, every addiction patient can make their way back towards a normal life.

Why Do Some Students Develop an Adderall Dependence?

Posted on October 17, 2017 by JohnAdmin

Adderall is a prescription drug designed to help patients dealing with the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). People struggling with this disorder go through cycles of hyperactivity and inattention – they have a marked inability to stop themselves from acting out, jumping from task to task, lacking persistence and having difficulty staying organized. While the applications of the medication are good for those suffering form ADHD, Adderall dependence is possible when abused.

ADHD is more severe in some cases than others, but can be considered a disorder if the symptoms become unmanageable through will alone and result in a diminished ability (or total disability) to adequately perform school work and other responsibilities.

ADHD is by reputation mostly a childhood disorder, but exists in many adults as well. An estimated 5% of children in the US is affected by it in one form or another.

Adderall (amphetamine) treats this disease by improving a person’s drive by increasing the amount of dopamine in the system, which is inherently tied to motivation. Other prescription drugs used to combat ADHD include Ritalin and Dexedrine. However, aside from being effective in diminishing the symptoms of a serious hindrance like ADHD, these prescription stimulants are also highly addictive and can lead to Adderall dependence.

Adderall has a notorious history of misuse as a recreational amphetamine, or as a study drug used in excess by students to increase their ability to focus on school work, or be motivated to finish their projects and make it through the night without sleep. It can be described as hit with “10 cups of coffee”.

Because of this, it is commonly misused and overused in universities and colleges. To understand why Adderall has become so popular, and why Adderall dependence have been on the rise, it is important to understand how the drug works and why many students are convinced to give it a try.

How Adderall Works

Amphetamines affect the brain’s neurotransmitters, specifically increasing the amount of dopamine in your nervous system. The result is a surge in motivation and a euphoric feeling. How exactly this affects your behavior largely depends upon your mental state.

Overuse of amphetamine can lead to heart problems – as a stimulant, one of the side effects of using amphetamines is an increased heart rate and a loss of appetite. Blurry vision, fatigue and dizziness are not uncommon. Aside from increasing the availability of dopamine in the brain, amphetamines also kickstart the body’s fight-or-flight system with the release of norepinephrine (noradrenaline).

In other words, amphetamines (or in this case Adderall) both excites your system, and vastly increases motivation. As a result, the reported benefits of Adderall include better reaction times and alertness. In schools where the pressure of examination can get very intense, using an Adderall to spend a few extra hours of sleep studying for the exam the next day or popping a pill before the exam itself can give some that second wind they need after weeks of preparation to get through their finals or pass that all-important project.

Performance and cognitive improvements are not guaranteed with Adderall. The drug does not actually improve your intelligence or make your thinking clearer – it simply motivates you and keeps you awake. However, that and its addictive qualities have made it a massive hit in campuses today. The dangers of developing an Adderall dependence for the study drug don’t just revolve around being caught with an amphetamine – Adderall dependence can be hard to beat, and migrating from a competitive school environment to a competitive workplace can mean more reasons to keep the habit up throughout an early career.

Why Adderall Dependence And Usage Is Rising

The main risk behind Adderall is that it isn’t marketed as an amphetamine with a high potential for misuse. Many college kids do not realize that they’re taking an addictive stimulant with the same chemical composition as Speed. They get a dosage from their friends, or their friend tells them about it and gets them hooked up with a supplier, they try it and after having a few productive nights, it becomes a habit that sometimes ends in Adderall dependence and addiction.

This is part of a series of issues with the nootropic movement. Nootropics are drugs used to improve cognitive function, typically taken not as medication but to enhance performance. Caffeine and L-theanine are common examples of nootropics, taken not only in natural form (coffee and tea) but as chemical extracts added to water or some other drink. Aside from more harmless stimulants, some people also use more dangerous stimulants such as Adderall, and numerous dietary supplements including ginseng and Ginkgo leaf.

On its own and at low dosages, Adderall does improve motivation and can be extremely helpful to people struggling with the inattentive symptoms of ADHD. However, overuse leads to drug tolerance and increases both the risk of overdose and Adderall dependence. Unless you are diagnosed with a legitimate mental disorder and require Adderall to function, it only poses a significant risk to you.

It’s important to frame Adderall as what it is – a prescription drug used for the treatment of legitimate cases of ADHD and narcolepsy, not a designer drug to be used for studying or self-improvement.

Adderall has its pros and cons, particularly for people struggling with mental disorders. But for the general population, amphetamines shouldn’t be part of someone’s morning routine. If you’re struggling with adderall in Houston, consider seeking help and advice from our Houston sober living programs.

15 Celebrities that Died of a Drug Overdose

Posted on October 6, 2016 by JohnAdmin

There is something about being in the limelight that takes its toll on people. Celebrities, in spite of all the flashing lights and stardom, have issues just like the rest of us. They battle with drug addiction just like everyone, because they are normal people. Just because they have fame, doesn’t mean that they aren’t suffering. The following people have all succumbed to addiction and died of a drug overdose.

Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz)- barbiturates

Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs)- Benzedrine and opiates

John Entwistle (Bassist of The Who)- Cocaine

Zoe Tamerlis Lund (Actress- Bad Lieutenant)- Heroin and Cocaine

Sonny Liston (Boxing Champion)- Heart Failure due to Heroin

Trevor Goddard (Actor- Mortal Kombat/JAG)- Heroin, Cocaine, Prescription pills

Peter Farndon (Bassist- The Pretenders)- Heroin

Glenn Quinn (Actor- Roseanne/Angel)- Heroin

Bam Bam Bigelow (Professional Wrestler)- Cocaine and Xanax

Domino Harvey (Model/Bounty Hunter)- Opiates

George Hickenlooper (Documentary Director)- Opiates and Alcohol

John Matuszak (NFL player/Actor- Sloth in The Goonies)- Opiates and Cocaine

Lani O’Grady (Actress-Eight is Enough)- Vicodin and Prozac

Dinah Washington (R&B Singer)- Barbiturates

Jimmy Wayne Jamison (Singer of Survivor)- Methamphetamines

So much talent on this list and yet they couldn’t get past their addictions and eventually died of a drug overdose. If you are struggling, seek the help you need, so you don’t end up on a list like this.

For more on these people and their lives visit The Fix HERE