Ryan Leaf’s Prescription Pill Addiction

Ryan Leaf, famously taken #2 overall after Peyton Manning in the 1998 NFL Draft, has had a rough go since his college days. Leaf was considered by many football minds to be a better quarterback than Peyton Manning, and the Indianapolis Colts actually took a lot of heat from the media by passing on Leaf and instead taking Manning #1 overall. Right from the start of their NFL careers Leaf was always compared to Manning and vise versa. Manning has played 15 NFL seasons, won the league MVP four times, won the Super Bowl in 2007, and is now a sure fire 1^st ballot Hall-of-Famer. Leaf’s career on the other hand crashed and burned after 3 unsuccessful years in the NFL and he’s been struggling in his personal life ever since.

Unfortunately Ryan Leaf is one of millions of Americans who has an addiction to prescription drugs. It’s become a very common crime for those addicted to prescription drugs to break into people’s homes to steal their pills, and Leaf has done just that. Leaf was arrested on Friday March 30^th after police found oxycodone pills which he stole from a home, and he posted $76,000 bail. Just three days later he was arrested again for burglarizing a home in Montana to steal prescription pills. Leaf’s chemical dependency is clearly out of control, and like many Americans today he obviously needs help recovering from a very powerful prescription pain medicine addiction.

There are dozens of stories every week about more people becoming addicted to pain medications and the violence and crime that come with it. It’s gotten to the point of a drug epidemic, and it has the attention of local governments and the legal system. Individuals who abuse or are addicted to prescription medications can be treated. Initially, they may need to undergo medically supervised detoxification in order to help reduce the withdrawal symptoms—however, that’s just the first step. Options for effectively treating addiction to prescription pills are drawn from research on treating heroin addiction. Behavioral treatments combined with medications have proven effective. Finding the right treatment center can make all the difference for a patient because certain standard programs may not work. At Seabrook, patients can take comfort in knowing that we structure individually inspired detox and rehab programs in order to fit the needs of each unique patient. All Seabrook programs are grounded in the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). The Seabrook Model® of treatment includes a multifaceted medical approach to alcohol and other drugs including opiate detoxification, gender-specific therapy with special emphasis on relapse prevention, and family intervention services. Seabrook has rehab facilities located in New Jersey (NJ) and Pennsylvania (PA) and also an outpatient office in New York (NY). If you or a loved one has a problem with prescription pills, contact Seabrook today to get answers you need.