Pubdate: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Copyright: 2003 Ledger-Enquirer Contact: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237 Author: Kaffie Sledge Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Rush+Limbaugh Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) CAN'T RUSH DRUG REHAB If Rush Limbaugh thinks he can predict the successful completion of rehab, he's in trouble. "Immediately following this broadcast, I'm checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me," he told his listeners. That may sound good to some people. But to others, it just sounds like politically correct talk. And remember, Limbaugh talks for a living. But Limbaugh fans need to understand that he is oversimplifying addiction. It is not like a bad haircut. Limbaugh is not going to be able to hide out until it grows out. At this point it sounds like he is in denial about his addiction and what it will take to work at putting his drug abuse on the back burner. It will never be completely behind him. It will always be lurking in the background, waiting to be rekindled. Limbaugh is probably well aware that checking into a rehab facility and actually working the program are separate things. In fact, he told listeners: "Over the past several years, I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so." Three times might even be the charm, if Limbaugh is sincere about recovery. Like so many other rich/celebrity addicts, he doesn't appear to have "hit rock bottom." When addiction counselors talk about hitting rock bottom, they are often referring to people who have sold their jewelry, emptied their bank accounts, liquidated their assets, sold their furniture, and borrowed and stolen from friends and family members. Sooner or later the person turns to criminal activities to get the money to buy drugs. The next step for them is incarceration. For some, the road to recovery begins there. But money is an addict's worst enemy, and Limbaugh still has plenty. He has a highly rated syndicated radio program and lucrative endorsements. So if he's not serious about rehab, he can afford to continue to purchase OxyContin without a prescription. "On the street it costs $50 to $160 per pill. If you are addicted, you are going to be taking more than one pill a day -- at least two or three," says Milton Abram, director of Rediscovery, an alcohol and substance abuse treatment center with offices in Columbus and LaGrange. "Rush doesn't know what he is up against," Abram says. "OxyContin is a dangerous drug. It has been called heroin in a bottle. It's a pharmaceutical, so every time a person gets it, it is always pure. And every time a person takes it, they are lowering their tolerance. Because it's time-released, some people overdose because they misjudge the amount of OxyContin still in his or her system when they take more. It is an opiate; so when a person overdoses, that person stops breathing." Rich addicts can literally afford to kill themselves. The media seem to focus on celebrities checking into and out of rehab and overdosing. We rarely hear that anyone has kicked the habit. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin