Stevie Still Angry at Spying Medicine Man

[michelej1]

[This was a strange article, since Stevie has nothing to do with Earl Hall and her drug use is way in the past]

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed...g-the-same-foe

Earl Campbell and Stevie Nicks fighting the same foe -- drug addiction

Los Angeles : CA : USA | Oct 29, 2013 at 7:28 PM PDT

By Mike Sarzo

At first glance, you wouldnʼt think Earl Campbell and Stevie Nicks had much in common.

After all, Campbell is a former Heisman Trophy winner who was a bruising running back for the Houston Oilers during his heyday in the National Football League. He played from 1978-84 and for the New Orleans Saints from 1984-85. He, Paul Hornung and O.J. Simpson are the only three players to have a Heisman who were drafted No. 1 overall and are in both the NFL and college football halls of fame.

Nicks is a singer-songwriter who is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac and has sold millions of records both with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. Her musical career began in earnest in 1973 when she and singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham released their debut album Buckingham Nicks. From 1974 to 1990, then later from 1997 until now, Nicks has performed with Fleetwood Mac. Her solo career spans from 1981 until now.

Rather than the aggressiveness with which Campbell played football, Nicks is better known for mystical lyrics and a sensitive approach to songwriting, according to her episode of VH-1’s Behind The Music.

One thing the two do have in common is the fact that both have struggled with addictions to prescription drugs. Campbell wrote a column for thepostgame.com in which he opened up about his struggles. He said in his column he would wash down his prescriptions of Vicodin and Oxycontin with Budweiser and pointed to “the euphoric feeling of mixing alcohol and the prescribed medication,” which he said “led [him] to down more pills and drink more beer.”

Campbell said his using the pills in combination with alcohol “reached the point that I began slurring my speech, pushing my family away, struggling to remember things and allowing important business opportunities to slip away.”

When he was sent to a rehab facility, he was in denial that he was facing a problem, saying that even after he was admitted to the facility, “I didn’t fully believe I belonged there. In my eyes, I was simply washing down a few pills with a beer – nothing close to the stories I was hearing from other addicts who were hooked on ʻhardʼ drugs like heroin or cocaine.”

Campbell eventually saw himself and the other addicts as being part of the same struggle, saying “as the days and weeks went on, I began to see myself in the stories I heard in counseling, and soon realized that even though we relied on different drugs, we were all fighting an uphill battle against addiction, struggling to get and stay clean.”

As for Nicks, her addiction to cocaine is well documented. She reported that she snorted enough cocaine to burn a hole in her nose and eventually decided to check into the Betty Ford Center shortly after a plastic surgeon warned her, “I think the next time you do a hit of cocaine, you could drop dead.”

She has also been very open about agreeing to a psychiatrist’s decision to prescribe klonopin to keep her from going back to cocaine.

According to Behind The Music, klonopin is only supposed to be used for a matter of weeks. The psychiatrist had her on the drug for eight years. Nicks has said the prescription medication robbed her of her creativity and led her to lose eight years of her life.

Nicks eventually rebounded, touring with Fleetwood Mac in 1997 to support their 1997 live CD “The Dance,” which came during the 20th anniversary of the band’s legendary album Rumours. The next year, she released and toured for a boxed set Enchanted. She has since released two studio albums and a two-CD greatest hits package.

Campbell, who wrote that he will have four years of sobriety as of Nov. 16, is now seeking to raise awareness of prescription drug addiction. He has good reason. Campbell writes, “according to the CDC, 2.2 million people abuse opioids such as prescription painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodone.

“Between 1999 and 2008, the rate of prescription opioid overdose-related deaths in the U.S. more than quadrupled to the point that the CDC now estimates opioid drugs contribute to three out of four overdose-related deaths.”

The examples Campbell and Nicks have set prove that drug addiction isn’t just a choice people make that leads to ruin. They show that addiction is a disease that needs to be treated. Campbell also writes of potential new treatments for drug addiction that include an implant under the skin of a patient’s arm that delivers a six-month dose of medication. Campbell writes that the active ingredient, buprenorphine, is the same ingredient that’s given orally. Unfortunately, the FDA decided to postpone making the new treatment option available. He encouraged readers to contact the FDA here.

Campbell and Nicks may not have much in common in terms of their respective hall of fame careers. But their respective struggles against a common enemy of drug addiction show how important the fight is, and show us that more support for addicts not only saves lives, but it also increases the quality of life for former addicts and their families and friends.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Campbell also writes of potential new treatments for drug addiction that include an implant under the skin of a patient’s arm that delivers a six-month dose of medication.

Wouldn't that 6 months dose of medication keep them hooked, Michele?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Wouldn't that 6 months dose of medication keep them hooked, Michele?

I don't know what buprenorphine is. Maybe you can't get hooked on it. I mean, like maybe a six month dose of methadone under your skin might keep you away from heroin.

Michele