What Are the Most Commonly Abused Drugs?

The Detox Center Coronavirus Policy Update

As we closely monitor the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, we are taking every precaution to ensure our top priority remains the health, safety, and well-being of our clients and staff. This guides each and every decision we make.

We have and will continue to follow the guidelines of our local health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC} the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Broward and Palm Beach County Health Departments. As a result, we stay current on this evolving situation, we want to assure you that we are taking the appropriate and precautionary measures, such as:

• Ensuring proper and rigorous cleaning and sanitation of common surfaces

• Requiring hourly sanitization of all staff and clients

• Provision of additional sanitizing products to our clients and staff

• Ongoing staff training to enhance cleaning and disinfecting procedures to maintain a healthy environment

• All employees are required to remain home in the event:

o They display any signs or symptoms of being ill. Employees who report to work ill will be sent home in accordance with these health guidelines.
oIf the employee has traveled outside of the state of Florida by any means or if an employee has traveled via cruise or airplane to any destination, that employee must report to management and Human Resources and self-isolate at that time.

Regarding current and admitted patient's change of schedule, the following has been implemented:

• Some programs and therapies have been temporarily postponed due to COVID-19

• Grocery shopping will be completed by the facility staff

• Clients are urged to keep a safe distance from other persons

• Hourly mandatory hand washing breaks are in effect

• Clients have been instructed to report to medical staff any symptoms

• Additional Health screenings will be conducted at that time of admission

• Clients will not be admitted to the facility if any of the following symptoms are present:

o Fever above 100 degrees
o Consistent Dry Coughing
o Shortness of Breath
o Severer body aches, that surpass PAWS range and/or
o Sore Throat

If a client does contract coronavirus, they will be isolated and quarantined on location. The client will only be handled by designated staff with the proper PPE. The local Department of Health (or equivalent agency) will be informed so that they may come out and provide further guidance on how to best handle the individual. All suspected cases are reported to the Department of Health (or local agency) who will be handling it accordingly. A deep cleaning will occur at the identified location.

Additional information regarding the virus can be found on the Broward Health Department's website or the Centers for Disease Control website.

We will continue to work together to ensure the safety of our patients and team members and adhere to any new regulatory changes as they come.

When it comes to drug addiction, there are many different things that fall into this category. Sometimes, people pass it off as not that big a deal, or have no problem telling you about “how they can stop anytime they want” and “aren’t addicted”.

The truth is, there are tons of different types of drugs that get abused regularly and end up being very harmful to people for a very long time.

Opioids

Opioids are considerably easier to get than some of the other drugs found on the list. While intended for good use, they are prescribed by doctors to help ease pain and their effects can make it easy to go overboard from their intended use. They are highly addictive and can lead to a harsh dependency quickly if you are not careful.

CNS Depressants/Muscle Relaxers

Similar to the opioids, these are another class of well-intended drugs that can help many different symptoms from anxiety to sleep disorders. Primarily consisting of benzodiazepines like Xanax or Valium, these drugs are very powerful and end up being very addictive when used incorrectly. Accompanying the benzodiazepines are other muscle relaxers, tranquilizers, and sleep medications such as Ambien and Lunesta.

Over the Counter

Have you ever wondered why there is an age limit on your cough meds? Dextromethorphan (DXM), a cough suppressant, and loperamide, an antidiarrheal are commonly used by younger generations to mix with other substances to induce a similar feeling to that of taking an opioid. These are commonly found in many over the counter remedies and are very often abused by people to get a cheap, dangerous high.

While these are some of the most abused drugs, by no means is this the entire list. Be careful what you take and be very cautious what you leave around the house, especially with children.