Charlie Sheen. Lindsay Lohan. Whitney Houston.

These celebrities have achieved great success. But what do we picture when we see their names? Is it talent, triumphs and passion, or chronic substance abuse, outlandish quotes and senseless antics?

Celebrities often seem to be afforded multiple opportunities at recovery and rehabilitation. But the typical New Jerseyan struggling with substance abuse tends to become trapped in a cycle of addiction, unemployment and incarceration.
Members of the New Jersey State Legislature are attempting to provide incarcerated individuals dealing with addiction the opportunity they are often denied.

The “Earn Your Way Out of Prison Into Supervision, Treatment, and Recovery Program,” in bills pending before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee (S-2614 and A-3703), offers people a path to recovery and rehabilitation.

The legislation proposes to reduce the penal sentence of a person imprisoned on drug-related charges by two years, provided he or she actively seeks to conquer their addiction during the first six months of incarceration.

During this time, the individual would be provided access to telephone and Internet services to receive the care and support of community programs and drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.

After six months, those deemed eligible would be accepted into a community-based rehabilitation program. Under the guidance of a parole officer, they would be moved through a series of treatment centers along a path to renewed health, recovery and inclusion in society.

The “Earn Your Way Out” bill takes public safety into account and is structured to ensure people convicted of certain violent offenses would not be eligible for the program. Only other individuals whose criminal behavior is deemed to be caused by their addiction would be admitted to the program.

If enacted, this law would not only make the streets more secure by helping to treat drug-related addictions, it could also save taxpayer money and decrease state spending by reducing prison terms.

Certainly, drug-related crimes are punishable by law, but all individuals are entitled to support and rehabilitative services, especially if such assistance could help break the downward spiral associated with substance abuse.

I urge our lawmakers to ensure quick passage of this bill and its enactment into law.
Every person struggling to overcome addiction deserves the chance to rebuild his or her life and break the cycle of destruction once and for all.

Everywhere we turn, there seems to be yet another unregulated drug getting people high in New Jersey.

First, we heard about the skyrocketing use of “K-2,” a synthetic marijuana that is marketed at local smoke shops as incense and sold to anyone with a few bucks. Then, there was Four Loko, a $3 can of booze with the equivalent potency of three beers, an energy drink and a shot of espresso.

Now, I am concerned to see the rise of yet another unregulated hallucinogen that has been gaining popularity among recreational drug users, including several clients now in treatment at Sunrise Detox in Stirling.

The substance, known as salvia, or by the street names Ska Pastora, Magic Mint, Shepherdess’s Herb and Sally-D, has been known to carry some of the most negative effects of another hallucinogen, LSD.

Salvia is derived from a plant native to Mexico and contains an extremely powerful psychoactive component that was used centuries ago by shamans in religious ceremonies. It is known to cause loss of self, uncontrollable laughter and calm. Clients at Sunrise have also described a darker side to the substance that includes paranoia, uncontrollable movements and bizarre and frightening hallucinations.

Those who have studied salvia for both its psychoactive properties and use in spiritual ritual claim there is a real and significant risk of physical danger with its use. They also claim the drug’s effects are less predictable and more difficult to manage than other psychoactive drugs used for religious ceremony. As such, the use of salvia among our youth as a legal alternative to illegal psychoactive substances is particularly disturbing.

Ira Levy knows from personal experience that holiday parties and this time of year can pose a challenge for the people he works with everyday.

A former addict, Levy said one of the toughest challenges he went through was adapting to these sorts of social settings. The will power needed to stay sober at these events is enormous, but with the right thinking and support it can be done, he said.

Levy is a detoxification expert at Sunrise Detox, a center specializing in medically monitored detoxification, located in Stirling.

In addition to the detoxification program, the company finds a proper after-care facility for its patients.

Sunrise Detox has a total of 52 beds between two facilities in Florida and New Jersey. There are plans to open up two additional facilities in those states in 2011, he said.

Levy spoke to The Star-Ledger about the detoxification business.
Q. What made you enter this field of work?

A. My own addiction led me to do what I do today. I have been a recovering heroin addict for the past 30 years. While volunteering in the addiction services field about 20 years ago, someone told me that I might be good at this. So I worked my way throughout this industry, starting as a mental-health technician and slowly moving up to my present position as national marketing director for Sunrise Detox.

There is a new concern for parents of New Jersey teens: imitation marijuana that is being legally sold in the state to anyone of any age.

More alarming is the fact that this synthetic drug — marketed as incense — comes with some dangerous side effects. At Sunrise Detox in Stirling, we have tracked nearly a dozen states that are considering a ban on this alleged incense, commonly referred to as “K2,” a concoction of chemicals that turn herbs into synthetic marijuana.

K2, also known as “Spice,” “Mr. Smiley,” “Genie,” and “Zohai,” is widely available in New Jersey “head shops,” convenience stores and online. Most of it is shipped to the Garden State from Korea and China, where workers spray herbs and spices with a synthetic compound similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Teenagers in New Jersey– or anyone else, for that matter — just need to roll it up in joints or inhale it from pipes. It even comes in fruit flavors for those who don’t like the taste of pot or maybe don’t know the difference. Either way, chemicals trick the brain into thinking the body is ingesting authentic cannabis.

Poison centers nationwide have reported 352 cases of people sickened by the substance in 35 states, according USA Today. Patients who have smoked the faux dope have complained of hallucinations, paranoia, severe agitation, elevated heart rates, vomiting, seizures and dangerously high blood pressure.

Dr. Anthony Scalzo, a toxicologist at Saint Louis University, explained that these symptoms are not typical for those who smoke real pot. “They think they’re going to mellow, and that’s not what’s happening,” he told The Associated Press.