Claire Pinelli has been a teacher and counselor for over 45 years. Claire has always been interested in helping others, even while working on her degree in mathematics. Eventually, Claire took a year off to follow her passion, then returned to finish her degree graduating Cum Laude for Brooklyn College, CUNY.
Throughout the 1970s Claire continued to counsel others, moving to Los Angeles before eventually settling in New York City where she married. While in New York Claire began a new chapter in her life by teaching in the New York City School System, where she helped establish the first computer science curriculum for the New York City School System. Despite her busy schedule, Claire found the time to earn her Master of Science Degree, Cum Laude, in Computer Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York (now New York University).
In 1985 she left New York with her husband and moved to Los Angeles finding herself managing a multi-specialty medical clinic in Los Angeles. As time went on, Claire’s family grew to 3 children and with her husband, they made the decision to move to Northern California for her children to have a quality education. It was here that Claire began one of the most fulfilling chapters in her life when a local Narconon drug and alcohol rehab center asked for her help. She agreed, and it was there she realized her passion and ability to use her counseling skills to help those addicted to drugs and alcohol as well as their families. While there, she was able to put in a standard withdrawal protocol and double the program enrollment.
In 2004 she moved on to work at a larger Narconon facility in Oklahoma. Here she was met with a new challenge. Over the course of her 2-year tenure, Claire saw the enrollment double as she supervised treatment for over 200 clients at a time. Her skills as an administrator as well as a counselor were put to good use as she helped thousands of addicts discover how to live life free from drugs and alcohol. After ensuring a smooth transition, in 2007 she decided to move to Houston, Texas, where she and her family live today. In Houston, she and her husband founded Q.U.A.D. Consultants of Texas, Inc. A Texas corporation whose goal is to help people Quit Using Alcohol and Drugs by treating and educating not only the addict, but the counselors, the family and the facility as well.
Over the years, she never stopped learning and advancing her knowledge and certification to increase her expertise and skill to help others. She became an LADC with Clinical Supervision Certification from the Oklahoma Board of Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors; an Internationally Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ICAADC) and a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium; a Registered Addiction Specialist (RAS) from the Breining Institute in California; and a Master’s Level Certified Addiction Professional and Certified Addiction Professional (MCAP) from the state of Florida.
Claire has been doing talks and lectures on drug addiction and treatment as well as classes for professionals since 2005.
She currently is living in Houston with her family and consulting for several facilities and creating and delivering Board Approved Continuing Education training for professional and lay people alike.
Because kratom is legal in many U.S. states, some people could get the impression that it is a harmless drug. But since the drug has effects like respiratory depression, seizures and death, this is an erroneous impression.
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A heroin user normally tries to conceal their drug use from loved ones. Therefore, family and friends often have to observe the many mental, physical and behavioral signs and symptoms of heroin use to realize the cause of their loved one’s problems.
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Many common household chemicals can be concentrated and abused so it's no wonder that younger Americans who might not have easy access to illicit drugs are likely to try inhalents.
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California’s huge population gives it a similarly huge problem with drugs and a soaring need for drug rehabilitation. Too many people fail to get any help at all and those who find rehab programs may only receive medications that prevent rehab but do not provide recovery from addiction.
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In just 20 years, the rate of Colorado's drug overdose deaths has more than tripled, illustrating Colorado's desperate need for more drug rehab facilities to save these lives.
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Historically, Florida has experienced rates of drug abuse and the need for treatment slightly below or approximately equal to the national average. Based on the most recent statistics available from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 136,000 young adults need help for drug addiction and 150,000 need drug rehab for alcohol addiction.
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Among Louisianans, 7% struggle with drug addiction each year, and among those aged 18 to 24, the percentage goes up to 15%. Effective drug rehabilitation solutions for Louisiana are direly needed.
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The consumption of alcohol is so ingrained in many cultures that it is accepted without question. What may go unnoticed is the millions of deaths it causes every year around the world. The deadly character of alcohol should be understood by everyone.
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Most Americans don’t see any harm in binge drinking occasionally, maybe just a couple of weekends a year. However, this behavior is quite harmful. A new study shows that people who binge drink at all, even if just once every few months or on holidays, are at several times more risk of developing alcohol addiction than those who do not binge drink at all.
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A common narrative heard circulating amongst the proponents of cannabis legalization is that cannabis is not dangerous and therefore should be legal. This narrative is not just misleading; it’s largely untrue. As cannabis research continues, scientists and researchers are finding many dangerous health complications intimately connected to cannabis.
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Nitazenes are a new type of opioid drug said to be 800 times more potent than morphine and 40 times more potent than fentanyl. This drug has not yet been approved for human consumption in the U.S., and it is not FDA approved. But could nitazenes become the next “super opioid” to hit the streets?
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A recent study seems to dispel the age-old belief that just a little bit of alcohol has heart health benefits. Contrary to that belief, rather than being beneficial, any alleged “benefits” once observed in people who drank alcohol in moderation were likely caused by other factors, like an active lifestyle. Alcohol consumption, even when done in moderation, poses a severe risk of harming one’s health, not benefiting it.
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Speedballing is not a new trend, but it is a trend that is changing and becoming more dangerous. Unfortunately, as more people seek to mix stimulant drugs with opioids or “speedball,” more people will die from overdoses caused by such lethal cocktails. And with the ever-expanding addition of fentanyl into the drug supply, addicts are at even greater risk.
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Tianeptine is a relatively new pharmaceutical drug that is being misused for its mind-altering properties, leading to overdoses and harsh consequences. Given the harmful nature of drug abuse and the growing addiction crisis across America, it’s important to stay on top of emerging drug trends like tianeptine abuse and addiction.
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It’s important to monitor new drug trends as they arise, as every trend brings new risks to addicts. While the usage of “poppers” is not new, this drug trend is making a bold comeback, posing risks to a new generation of drug users.
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In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a set of prescribing guidelines, written in a way to encourage doctors to curb excessive opioid prescribing. The guidelines were somewhat effective, and overall prescribing trends did recede. However, recent data shows that another small but critical change to the prescribing guidelines could significantly reduce opioid addiction and overdose in the United States.
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A number of research papers seem to reinforce the view that alcohol consumption is never a healthy choice, regardless of age or how much alcohol one consumes.
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It’s been understood for some time that individuals newly in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction should not re-enter the same environments they were in when they were abusing substances. While this has always been a common sense view, there is new scientific research to provide evidence-based confirmation for why recovering addicts must seek new environments.
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A 2022 study revealed that there is measurable success in assisting recovering alcohol addicts to look at recovery from the perspective that it is a lifetime activity. Conversely, addicts who seek to get better lose out to some degree when they view recovery as a sudden change in their behavior that requires one intervention and can then be mostly forgotten about afterward.
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Boredom is a dangerous condition for a person determined to stay sober. It's smart for anyone in recovery to know the best ways to prevent themselves from feeling bored. The payoff is not only sobriety but often includes achievement of personal goals, attainment of greater skills, and the chance to help others.
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New and dangerous trends manifesting in the illicit drug use community reflect a dire need for addicts to seek treatment now.
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Addiction is such a pervasive problem in America that one in eight Americans suffer from this problem. Grasping the extent of the problem is a vital first step to resolving it successfully.
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A European study found that at least one in ten patients receiving ICU treatment for heart complications were active drug users, showing the stark connection between cardiovascular health conditions and drug abuse.
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In the late 20th century, tobacco and alcohol companies were caught using marketing techniques to advertise their products to young people. Today, it would appear that cannabis companies are attempting similar strategies to widen their customer base to include a younger demographic.
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Not all mind-altering substances receive equal attention from the media, policymakers, and public health officials. But any drug has the potential to harm the user, hence the importance of understanding usage trends and statistics for all drugs. This article briefly highlights relevant trends and statistics regarding club drug usage.
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MDMA usage trends and statistics have shifted over time, presenting public health officials and family members with new challenges in combatting the problem.
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New research shows that adolescent Americans, who had been experiencing a drop in drug use for part of the 21st century, saw their overdose death rate double in just one year, 2020. Experts believe that the recent spike in teen overdose deaths have been driven almost entirely by fentanyl overdoses.
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If a drug has the potential to create mind-altering effects in those who use it, then that drug has the potential to cause harm. And while hallucinogenic drugs do not cause the high overdose rates or critical public health crises associated with other narcotics, such substances are still physically and mentally debilitating and overall quite harmful. This article aims to cover basic trends in usage and the statistics surrounding hallucinogen abuse in the United States.
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Inhalants refer to a broad range of household and industrial chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases cause a mind-altering effect when breathed through the nose or mouth. Such vapors produce intoxication in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. In fact, many of these substances are actually poisonous to inhale, and they carry warning labels that specifically caution people not to inhale them.
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New information shows that young people are increasingly overdosing on prescription drugs, namely psychotropic medications such as benzodiazepines and prescription stimulants.
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A recent study of 274 people found that adolescent cannabis users were three times more likely to develop severe cannabis addiction than other age groups. While cannabis poses an addiction risk for all people who experiment with it, younger users may be at significantly higher risk.
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Though it is not often mentioned by the media, there is a broader economic cost to the national public health emergency of drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction is expensive, not just for addicts, but for all Americans. Conversely, solving America’s addiction epidemic and returning millions of recovering addicts to the workforce would benefit the economy.
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Alarm bells are ringing across public health and research sectors from the east coast to the west and everywhere in between. Drug-related fatalities continue to rise, with no apparent end in sight. Yet drug overdoses are preventable, and there are effective tools for combating drug addiction.
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Decades of scientific efforts have sought to understand why some people become addicted to drugs and others do not. One research paper suggests the issue is far simpler than what many believed. According to the data, anyone and everyone are at risk for drug and alcohol addiction, hence the importance of educating the public about this critical health risk.
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Because of the ample supply of drugs in Baton Rouge, it is essential for any family with an addicted loved one to get them started on drug recovery at the first moment possible. But how can you do this?
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In Denham Springs, families seeking drug rehab for a loved one may have to look carefully at the characteristics of the programs that are available to choose the best one. It's possible that some programs are not intent on delivering the result they would prefer.
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The sprawling Los Angeles area with its nearly 19 million people is also home to a serious drug addiction problem. With 700,000 drug users in the region, LA needs far more workable solutions to get these people off drugs and living sober lives at last.
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The reputation of New Orleans as a major "anything goes" party town does not help those who are already struggling with addiction. There must be enough effective drug rehab facilities in New Orleans to save lives and return its citizens to sobriety.
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To help a person struggling with addiction, family and friends must be able to identify the signs of their problem. Once these signs are identified, an effective rehab is the next step to save the person from further harm or even death.
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Fentanyl and its analogs are deadly, powerful synthetic opioids that are not only found in supplies of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Fatal doses are also being pressed into several types of counterfeit pills. It's never been more dangerous to be addicted to any drug.
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Alcohol is readily available and widely advertised across America but it causes as many deaths as drug overdoses. This may not be obvious because many of the deaths occur over a period of years. It’s vital to be able to identify when a person is chronically abusing alcohol.
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People who decide to misuse their prescription for an amphetamine drug don't realize the risk they are taking. That risk includes problems like convulsions, comas, addiction and death.
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Some people misuse barbiturates to alleviate the side effects of stimulant abuse or to self-medicate their own anxiety. They may not realize that they are playing with fire. The difference between a dose that creates the sedating effect they are seeking and a dose that triggers a coma or even death is very small.
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Some people may think that it's safe to misuse benzodiazepines but it is anything but safe. Not only is addiction possible, but death by overdose from these drugs may also occur. Withdrawal from these drugs offers its own life-threatening dangers.
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People consuming club drugs say they are just looking for a good time, but that good time can turn into mental or physical damage, addiction or even death.
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Because a cocaine user will often try to conceal their drug use, it's important for friends and family to be able to identify the signs of use. When cocaine use develops into long-term use and addiction, the signs usually become unmistakable. At that point, finding an effective rehab program is essential.
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Codeine may be seen as harmless because it has so often been prescribed for children. Actually, it is an addictive opioid, similar to oxycodone. It can also cause overdoses if enough is consumed. In recent years, government agencies have begun to restrict its use among youth to prevent children from suffering harm.
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Cough medicine sounds like a pretty innocent and harmless thing to have around the house. But many formulas contain dextromethorphan, an abusable and addictive drug that can put a person in the hospital if too much is consumed.
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Despite having completely unpredictable and lasting effects that can include psychosis requiring hospitalization, hallucinogen use continues to be popular among some groups.
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Hydrocodone is often sold as Vicodin or Lortab and is the prescription drug most frequently abused by those who have chosen opioids as their drugs of choice. While it eases pain for some injured or sick people, hydrocodone also contributes greatly to the addiction problems of millions of Americans.
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Despite its ability to make a person think they are going insane, LSD remains a popular drug among some groups of Americans.
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Marijuana addiction results in profound changes to a person’s mental, physical and emotional health, meaning that a chronic user of this drug needs help as soon as their dependence is detected.
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While this drug has an undeserved reputation for “safety,” its use is associated with mental effects like depression, cognitive loss and even increased rates of suicide.
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Methadone is used in both the treatment of pain and the treatment of addiction. But many people misuse this long-lasting drug and wind up addicted to it, with a threat of overdose hanging over their heads every day.
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Methamphetamine can have such immediate and profound effects on a person’s physical and mental health that it’s essential to get them help as soon as the signs of meth use show up.
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Methylphenidate must be carefully prescribed by doctors, or it can become an addictive drug that can cause psychotic episodes, serious organ damage or thoughts of suicide.
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Morphine has been around for hundreds of years but it is just as much of an abused and addictive drug as any other opioid. It comes with the same dangers of overdose and the same severe symptoms of withdrawal.
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The signs and symptoms of opioid addiction are vital to identify because opioid addiction can turn deadly at any moment.
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While it's a valuable pain reliever for those suffering post-surgical or end-of-life pain, oxycodone must be carefully administered. Already, this drug has contributed to the ruin of millions of lives, starting with the overprescribing of the pain reliever OxyContin.
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Oxymorphone is one of the drugs on a long list of medical opioids abused by those in the throes of addiction. While it is not one of the most powerful ones, it is still capable of ruining a person's life and causing a fatal overdose.
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There are several kinds of central nervous system depressants, and many people choose to mix these drugs. But because each one depresses the function of the brain which controls breathing and other vital functions, anyone doing so puts their life at risk.
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Prescription drugs can help people overcome medical conditions, manage pain, and are essential for people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes. When they are abused by a person wishing to get high, they no longer help the user. In fact, they may cause unconsciousness, amnesia and death.
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Despite widespread abuse, prescription stimulants are still being prescribed by doctors across America. They seem unconcerned that symptoms of addiction to these drugs include hallucinations, psychosis and sudden death.
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Some people may start medicating their sleep problems and end up addicted, and others will use sleep aids to alleviate unpleasant symptoms caused by other drugs. Either way, they are becoming trapped in the use of a drug with potentially dangerous effects.
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Some people start using Spice or K2 because they thought the drugs wouldn’t show up on a drug test. But these drugs are so toxic and addictive that they may have wound up ruining their own lives, instead.
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Synthetic drugs are among the most dangerous drugs in the world, but some of their worst effects are on the minds of the users. This makes them no less deadly, however.
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Xanax is a very popular drug among doctors writing prescriptions for anxiety and among those abusing illicit drugs. But it is highly addictive and can be a difficult drug to withdraw from because of the potential for seizures, coma or even death.
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