Alcohol and Regret: CO Woman Arrested 3 Times in 1 Week for DUI

We all know that alcohol lowers inhibitions. Young adults and college students are often warned of this when they become of legal drinking age. They are urged to drink responsibly so they don’t engage in irresponsible behaviors. 

Despite warnings, many have experiences where their inhibitions were lowered and they are filled with regret and/or shame. A regrettable night of drinking doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with alcohol. However several regrettable experiences may point to a problem.

This is often referred to as the “built in forgetter” - when someone is faced with the decision to drink or have another drink they forget their previous regrettable experiences that resulted from drinking, With the problem drinker, this happens over and over. This was certainly the case with a Colorado woman who was arrested three times last week for drunk driving.

The 40-year-old mother, Kimberly Micheloni, was arrested on May 13th, 14th and 20th for drunk driving and is currently being held at the Douglass County Detention Center on 225K bail. She remorsefully stated “I am so sorry and if I hurt anyone it was wrong, it was just wrong.”

However, she also blamed it on medication, saying her reckless decision making may have been because she was on prescription medication at the time of her arrests. In addition to the DUI charges, she is being charged for child abuse because a child was in her car at the time of her first arrest. Why she wasn’t put in jail during the first or second arrest is still in question.

For those that have negative experiences as a result of drinking, there is usually one major experience that pushes them to seek addiction treatment. This is often referred to as their “bottom.” Thankfully Micheloni didn’t hurt anyone while driving under the influence, and hopefully the three arrests will be her bottom.

Here is an interview with her at the Douglass County Detention Center ....

Fox News Anchor Greg Jarrett's Public Arrest

When public figures get arrested in public, it becomes very, well, publicly known.

By now, most have heard that Greg Jarrett the Fox News anchor was arrested yesterday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. He was reportedly intoxicated and disturbing the peace at the Northern Lights Grill - an airport bar inside the main terminal. Minneapolis police responded to a complaint that Jarrett was drunk, belligerent and refusing to follow orders. Police detained him at the Hennepin County Jail that night, charging him with obstructing the legal process and interfering with a peace officer. This occurred just a week after he took a leave of absence from Fox News, for “personal reasons.”

Jarrett has been the weekend co-anchor for Fox News since 2002, but this role may be on shaky ground, as a Fox News spokesperson released a statement saying “We were made aware late last night that Gregg Jarrett was arrested in Minneapolis yesterday and charged with a misdemeanor,” and that, “He is dealing with serious personal issues at this time. A date at which Gregg might return to air has yet to be determined."

The shame and guilt from acting out of character while intoxicated impacts many, this is likely compounded when it is in the public eye and impacts one’s professional and public reputation.

At Harmony Foundation a component of our alcoholism and drug addiction treatment is helping people through the guilt and shame they have from regretful actions while under the influence. We also treat professionals who are able to return to work after working on themselves and the root causes of their addiction.

College Students Abusing ADHD Drugs

Several studies have shown that ADHD drugs can result in brain injury after long term use. The powerful ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Adderall have a similar composition and short-term side effects as cocaine - including anxiety, agitation, increased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of appetite, insomnia and even heart attack or stroke.

Although drugs like Ritalin are short acting, they can cause long term changes in brain cell functioning - particularly in the frontal lobe or reward system of the brain. The frontal lobe system is responsible for controlling impulses and long-term use of ADHD drugs may inhibit impulse control and contribute to clinical depression as the reward system of the brain has been over stimulated and essentially worn out.

Considering the fact that over 3 million children take ADHD drugs, it is disconcerting g to know that their brains are still developing and more vulnerable to these long-term effects of ADHD drugs than adults are.

However, it is not just children who are impacted, the growing subset of the population abusing these drugs long term are young adults - particularly college students. A recent article published by Collegian Central says that up to 6% of Colorado State University students abuse ADHD drugs. Students start taking them to pull “all nighters” and to study for exams. They think because they are prescribed (albeit often to someone else) they are safe, but they can have the same effects as harsher drugs like cocaine and meth while being just as addictive as these controlled substances.

In the article, some CSU students describe their regrettable experiences with ADHD drugs, as one freshman who used it to study said “I only do it when I screw up big time and I have to and there is no way around it...When I took it for midterms, I was at the library and I was just shaking and I didn’t feel good, like I had too much caffeine and my heart was beating really fast. It was weird, I didn’t like it.” 

Her circumstance echos the negative side effects listed above and many young adults that we end up treating here at Harmony Foundation's addiction rehab. Many students continue to abuse these drugs despite the side effects and and eventually need addiction treatment after they begin to experience the long term impacts described above - including impulse control and clinical depression. Fortunately our young adult addiction treatment recovery track cater's to their specific needs as college students and we help them overcome their addictions and return to student life drug free.

How Dangerous is Vaping?

While most drugs are considered dangerous if abused, there are some that become more dangerous when they are masked as being “safe” because they are considered legal and less toxic than similar drugs.

This is the case for the abuse of prescription pills, which is now a national epidemic. Many adults, young adults and teens fell prey to prescription addiction by believing the drugs were safe because they were prescribed by a physician or FDA approved. People perceived that illegal drugs like cocaine or crystal meth were unsafe and prescription drugs were safe despite the comparable addictive qualities of both drug types.

This was also the case for synthetic drugs like bath salts and spice, especially among young adults who could easily purchase them at convenience stores. Many were under the false guise that these drugs were ok because after all, they didn’t even register on drug tests. Soon enough emergency personnel were reporting that these drugs were even more dangerous than commonly abused illegal drugs and their exact health consequences are still unknown.

Most recently the same debate has come up against vaping or e-cigarettes. Because e-cigarettes don’t contain the 60 plus carcinogens that regular tobacco smoke does, they have grown in popularity and perceived as the safer alternative with limited health consequences. Most vapor cigarettes are made with propylene glycol that the FDA has determined are generally safe. However, few know that these chemicals have been deemed safe for personal care products - not for inhaling. Also, few are aware that five minutes of vaping impairs lung function as much as smoking a regular cigarette.

A recent New York Times article outlined the dangers of the liquid nicotine in e-cigarettes, stating, “the key ingredients in e-cigarettes, are powerful neurotoxins. Tiny amounts, whether ingested or absorbed through the skin, can cause vomiting and seizures and even be lethal. A teaspoon of even highly diluted e-liquid can kill a small child.”

Because the e-liquids are not regulated by the FDA and legal to purchase, people don’t tend to consider their health liability and toxicologists fear that children are particularly at risk of being poisoned. In fact, there have already been several accidental poisonings reported with 1351 cases in 2013, many involving small children who innocently drink the chocolate or bubble gum flavored liquid sitting around the house. The e-liquid is considered more dangerous than tobacco because it is immediately absorbed. Children are not the only group at risk, as many adults have been admitted into hospitals for accidental ingestion. Recently a woman from KY was admitted to the hospital after e-cigarettes broke in her bed and was absorbed through her skin.

Often when addictive substances hit the market unregulated, it takes several poison control center or emergency room incidents to alert the FDA and public that health consequences exist. When addiction is in the driver’s seat, it is impossible for health to remain untethered despite substances being deemed or marketed as “safe” initially. We have observed this through treating all addictions at our Colorado rehab center and know that when it comes to addiction, there are always mental and or physical health consequences for the addict and loved ones.