1. THIS WEEK'S SHOW: SATURDAY, September 23, 2006

September is National Recovery Month

National Recovery Month is an initiative of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. The intent is to encourage a nationwide reflection and inventory-taking about how we collectively approach our nation's #1 Public Health Problem: the disease of addiction. It is also a national celebration of the great strides that have been made in recent decades to bring the hope of recovery to those who need it.

Great strides have been made in the last century in addressing the disease of addiction, yet it remains highly stigmatized and shame-based. With its arrival in the 1930's, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) showed doubters for the first time that recovery from alcoholism and addiction is indeed possible for the masses and for the "average person". Prior to AA's arrival hard-core chronic alcoholism was thought to be incurable. Repeatedly relapsing alcoholics were treated as if they were insane, and were relegated to mental asylums and long-term "sanitariums". Here they lived for the rest of their lives, marginalized and isolated from the rest of society.

Addiction is a disease. It is not a moral lapse nor lifestyle choice. As a medical disorder, it is no different from diabetes, breast cancer, or heart disease. Why then, do many people still think that about addicts and alcoholics- even those in solid recovery- as somehow being being "different", and above all, responsible for our own illness? In other words, that it's entirely our own fault. 

People often turn away and whisper when they speak of family members afflicted with addiction or alcoholism. They are visibly uneasy when in our midst. The reality is that many people consider alcoholism and drug addiction as a moral or character issue, and as a "lifestyle choice". Viewing it as such makes absolutely no sense.

Recent medical advances in understanding and treating the medical/physiologic aspects of addiction have put a whole new twist- and emphasis- on the realization that addiction is indeed a disease. Family profiling (genetic studies) and functional brain imaging studies (PET Scans) are two areas of science that provide compelling proof that addiction is a physiologic disorder.

Brain restoration treatments (NeuroTransmission Restoration Treatment System (NTR™) and PROMETA™ are now available to addicts. Both treatment protocols directly address the brain disorder aspect of addiction by markedly speeding up the healing and "normalization" of drug-altered neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors. The practical end results of both protocols are elimination of drug craving, markedly hastening the return of normal brain function (cognition), and easing the pain of the withdrawal phase ("detox").

In sum, there is much to be excited about in the 21st Century when it comes to the subject of Addiction. National Recovery Month is a wonderful opportunity to place public attention on the disease of addiction. Those of us in recovery must speak out loudly and clearly that:

• Addiction is a Disease.
• Addiction is Treatable.
• Addicts are loveable- when we are well and in Recovery.

This Saturday night we will celebrate National Recovery Month with our listeners. We will appeal to those who are in recovery to call in and give their testimonies to the power of recovery. We will highlight the key things that YOU can do right now to get either yourself- or someone you love- into recovery. Remember: RECOVERY WORKS!!

Don't miss this exciting and highly informative show! Live!! This Saturday night, September 23rd, 6 - 8P Pacific Time on 99.5 FM KKLA Los Angeles, in Phoenix, AZ 1100AM KFNX…and…streaming on the web. Our show call-in number is 888/995-5552 for your questions and comments. Remember….. RECOVERY WORKS!!

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Suboxone is a wonderful new addition to the tool bag of addictionologists- those physicians who have an interest in the disease of addiction, and in treating addicts for their addiction.

Suboxone was approved by the FDA in 2003 specifically for use in detoxing opiate addicts completely off their opiate drug- heroin, vicodin, percocet, oxycontin, and a host of others. Suboxone opiate detox is likened to “coming down by parachute instead of a thud”. This description is a great one, and provides a good analogy to how it makes coming off of opiate addiction much less unpleasant than by either “cold turkey” or by medically-assisted detox (the latter usually either using replacement methadone, or, a combination of catapres, valium, and antidiarrheals).

Normally, the suboxone detox is done in an outpatient office setting over a period of 3-5 days. Before starting actual suboxone administration, the addict MUST be in early withdrawal. If the addict is not yet in withdrawal, there is a small but significant risk of putting the addict into sudden and abrupt withdrawal, or, “precipitated withdrawal”. This is because suboxone has mixed agonist and antagonist properties at the opiate receptor. But I digress.

In recent years, suboxone has found additional utility in being used as a so-called “maintenance” role, much like methadone is used as a replacement for heroin or prescription opiates in methadone clinics. In maintenance situations, one is essentially replacing a drug of abuse with another “safer” one. The goal is primarily to “maintain” the addict with a safer drug that, in theory, will not get them “high”, but will allow them to function more or less normally, and to avoid the criminal and health-risky behaviors associated with procurement of the abused drug. Maintenance programs are controversial, and in addition treatment professionals are divided in their opinion as to whether this is in sum positive, or is simply keeping the addiction going, albeit in a “safer” manner to the rest of society.

Regardless how one feels philosophically about the concept of maintenance drug programs, suboxone clearly is a much better choice for maintenance than methadone. In contrast to methadone, it is virtually impossible to get “high” on suboxone. Also, it is extremely difficult to detox off of methadone, and at minimum, it must be done over a prolonged period of time- usually 6 – 12 months. Even then, many methadone maintenance patients never get off methadone because of the unpleasant symptoms experienced during the weaning process.

Suboxone is thought by many addiction experts to be a very good opiate cravings suppressor. In other words, it prevents cravings for use of heroin, oxycontin, vicodin, and so on. Plus, it will block any attempts to get high on other opiates like heroin, due to its opiate receptor blocking properties. The only significant side-effects of maintenance suboxone that have been noted to date are constipation and sexual side-effects at higher doses. An additional application for ongoing suboxone treatment is for those addicts who have a dual diagnosis of chronic pain, and who need some type of mild-to-moderate pain medication for an underlying pain disorder. Suboxone may be an excellent option for this latter group.

In conclusion, suboxone maintenance treatment is a good option for some chronic, relapsing opiate addicts, especially those with concurrent chronic pain syndromes. Many opiate addicts have been maintained for several years now, and have been able to attain stable sobriety only via this approach.

This is Dr Steve, giving it to you straight!!

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Recovery Radio Show welcomes TRIAD Treatment Center as our new anchor sponsor!! TRIAD, located in a convenient office location near John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA provides addicts with the exclusive and proprietary NeuroTransmitter Restoration System (NTR™).  NTR™ is an office-based outpatient medical treatment process that gives the newly-recovering addict a jump-start into Recovery.

In coming weeks TRIAD will sponsor the hourly “TRIAD Corner” on the Recovery Radio Show. During this informative segment, Bob and Dr Steve will provide fascinating updates and cutting-edge tips about medical approaches to the treatment of addiction. We will interview doctors, addictionologists, patients, drug counselors, scientists, and lots of other knowledgeable and entertaining guests- all to help YOU and your family to better understand recovery from addictions.

NTR™ is a 10 day series of specially-developed and naturally-occurring intravenous amino acid infusions which helps the drug-damaged brain to heal much more quickly than normal upon cessation of drug use, including alcohol.

NTR™ does the following:

• markedly reduces or even eliminates drug cravings
• speeds up the return of normal brain function (‘clears the brain”; lucid thought processes)
• significantly eases the discomfort of the “detox” phase of drug and alcohol treatment

All three benefits of NTR™ are HUGE and cannot be overstated. In a word, NTR™ is revolutionary and will change the very approach to treatment of addiction from here forward. It is not fluff. It is real.

Prior to NTR™, there were no truly effective medical approaches to the treatment of drug addiction. NTR™ heals the addict’s brain at the cellular and molecular level. The best we had for addiction treatment prior to NTR™was AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and other 12-Step groups, which addressed only the emotional and spiritual components of addiction.

There is no cure for drug addiction. There is only lasting remission, and only IF the addict addresses all three components of the disease of addiction. Adding the NTR™ treatment process at the "front end" and including it in a blended three-prong approach (medical, emotional, spiritual) greatly improves the likelihood of ongoing recovery. This blended approach may include formal rehab treatment as well, and should always include ongoing participation in a 12-Step group and getting a sponsor and using him/her. NTR™ is best viewed as a powerful medical tool that provides the addict with a “jump start into recovery”.

We know that addiction is a disease, not a moral lapse or lifestyle choice. It is a three-part disease which includes Medical, Emotional, and Spiritual components. All three elements of the disease MUST be addressed concomitantly in order to expect durable, lasting remission in Recovery.

NTR™ is the missing link in the recovery puzzle. For once, the addict can now address all three elements of the disease of addiction. NTR™ is step one. Rehab and 12-Step participation closely follows; the latter (12-Steps and sponsor) should continue for life.

The NTR™ experience at TRIAD Treatment Center is tailored to the individual addict. It is administered by specially trained clinicians in a comfortable outpatient clinic setting, under the supervision of Medical Director Dr. Neil Neimark. Dr. Neimark is a board-certified family practitioner with a strong background and understanding of both addiction disease, as well as medical approaches to treating it.

Interested parties may visit the TRIAD website (under construction) for more information, or may call the TRIAD office to schedule a consultation appointment at the numbers listed below.

TRIAD is located at:

Triad Treatment Center
19742 MacArthur Blvd., Ste. 110
Irvine CA 92612.
Phone:  877.664.3550 (Toll Free) or 949.747.1978.
Website: www.tendaydetox.com
Email: info@tendaydetox.com 

Note: Dr Steve has an interest in TTC and assists them in providing this valuable service to its clients.

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5.  MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES WITH RECOVERY RADIO
Recovery Radio Seeks Show Sponsors

The Recovery Radio Show is more that just a radio show. We are a comprehensive set of resources for addicts and their families. Our uniqueness is that each week we reach hundreds of thousands of addicts and their families who are still suffering…over 500,000 people each week. We do this in many ways, the most obvious of which is over the airwaves every Saturday night in Los Angeles and 10 other cities, coast-to-coast.

In addition, we will soon be publishing “California Together”, a monthly newspaper targeted at the recovery community throughout Southern California. We will be publishing this in partnership with Bill and Barbara Brown, publishers of “Arizona Together”, which periodical has been meeting the needs of the Arizona recovery community for over 15 years. The two will be sister publications.

We maintain one of the most popular “recovery radio” websites in the world! Both Google and Yahoo have rated ours to be #4, and this after only 6 months of existence! That is phenomenal, and testimony to the fact that we are “doing something right!” Our weekly e-newsletter, the FLASH! reaches many people each week as well, with timely updates on what is happening with Recovery Radio and the recovery world in general.

Future projects include an “800 HELPLINE”, the HOW Program USA “recovery scholarships”, Fourth Step Workshops with Bob and Dr Steve, and “The Art of Recovery- Southern California” recovery community annual convention.

What does this all mean? It means that those organizations whose business is related to recovery and/or recovery products have a unique opportunity to engage- at the ground-floor level- in an extremely effective marketing alliance with The Recovery Radio Show.

Ours is a highly-targeted audience. We reach over 500,000 people each week (conservative estimate). Approximately 60% of our callers are family members or loved ones of an alcoholic or addict who NEEDS RECOVERY. They are looking for solutions to get their loved on into recovery. About 30% of our callers are from addicts or alcoholics who are IN RECOVERY, and want and need recovery-oriented products.

More so, ALL of our listeners are learning more about a societal problem that in reality affects essentially every single person in this nation. Addiction is by far the #1 public health problem in the nation today, costing our society over $4 Billion/year. It is long overdue that our nation accepts addiction for the medical disease that it is. We are doing our part to effect that change.

If you are with a business or organization that might benefit from a marketing relationship with Recovery Radio, please contact us. We will be happy to discuss the many ways that you can benefit from joining our team…and at the same time help AND benefit from our growing fan and listener base.

CONTACT US if you would like to explore sponsorship or marketing opportunities with Recovery Radio Show. Office Phone: 949.273.8490

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HAVE A QUESTION?
Bob and Dr Steve are always available to take your questions- or accept your comments and suggestions. We're not only available on-air on Saturday nights, but you can contact us ANYTIME, either by calling us at the office, or by contacting us via e-mail.  Office Phone: 949.273.8490  Email:  info@recoveryradioshow.com

LISTEN TO PAST SHOWS!
Miss one of our shows? No problem!! All shows are archived for easy listening in the comfort and convenience of you home or office. All you need is your computer and a browser; that's all there's to it. Also, you may download any or all of our shows to your iPod or other mp3 device for even more flexible listening. We at Recovery Radio want to make it E-Z for you to get the tools, tips and solutions that YOU need. 24/7. Our shows may also be heard "LIVE" every Saturday night by going to our website HOME page and clicking the "LISTEN HERE" button.
Audio Archive Here

RECOVERY RADIO A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
The Recovery Radio Show is organized as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit public benefit corporation under the IRS tax code: Our Mission is to provide education about addiction to our fellow human beings, and to do what we can to allow those still suffering to get into recovery. If you, or your company, would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the RRS, you may do so with our profound thanks and appreciation by clicking on the link above, or by going to the "DONATE" button on our website on the HOME page. Or, you may call our office at 949.273.8490 M-F between the hours of 8A - 5P.

That's it for this week....Join us this Saturday Night, won't you?????.....6-8 Pacific Time...on-air, or on the web.

Yours very truly, and in sobriety,
Dr Steve, Bob, and the Recovery Radio Crew

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