AHS Views

Clark County in Washington state raised their taxes by .1 percent and invested the money in getting citizens of the county the addiction help they need.

Although the numbers don’t seem very impressive when you look at the magnitude of the drug problem – juvenile court will be able to give addiction help to 97 teens a year instead of 12, family therapy court will be able to handle 35 cases instead of 25, domestic violence court will be able to treat 57 people within the second year, drug detox beds will expand from 730 to 1460, long term inpatient addiction help will go from treating 40 people/month to 60, and outpatient facilities will be able to handle another 100 people on top of the thousands they already serve - this program will apparently enable the state to help 42 percent of addicts instead of 28 percent.

While this is admirable, very, I personally find it hard to believe that the number of people needing alcohol or drug addiction help is so small. The only figure that seems to be possibly close to correct is the thousands of detox beds that are apparently already full. But how many of those thousands are actually going to be able to stay off drugs or alcohol when they haven’t gone through long term treatment in a facility that gets down to the bottom of why they are addicted?

Nevertheless, any county in the U.S. that is taking action that will allow them to get addiction help for 42% of addicts the people who need it is far and away above what most areas are doing, whether the estimates of how many people need addiction help services are correct or not.  If other counties followed their lead, we would surely have a much better handle on the drug scene.

In Australia it was reported that 25% of the MDMA (Ecstasy) seized contained no active drug. The question is: Do people taking placebos still need addiction help? I’m guessing that if you aren’t taking the drug you purchased, you may not need to get addiction treatment.

Recreational Ecstasy users have suspected that the drugs they were buying were of low quality but, lucky for them, the drugs were not drugs at all. If you tried selling non-drugs to U.S. consumers you might get sued – or worse – but you more than likely wouldn’t need any addiction help.

I am not sure anyone would find this particularly funny but perhaps the large drug companies could start shipping non-drugs to the Internet pharmacies selling them to drug dealers. The government could flood the market with non-drugs and prices would go down because of the unlimited supply. People would then be forced to get the addiction help services they needed because they didn’t have a supply of real drugs, only non-drugs. Just a thought …

Missouri accounted for 1205 meth lab busts in 2007. Tennessee accounted for 500. The meths labs in those two states alone accounted for about a third of the meth labs found in the U.S. last year. The recent busts in Mexico of super labs and the recent border seizures have put pressure on producing more meth in the U.S. And the need for addiction help continues to climb.

The winning formula to help end meth addiction seems to be to cut off the raw materials in both the U.S. and in Mexico. “It has put a lot of pressure back on domestic producers in the United States.” said Tommy Farmer, director of the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force. Farmer said demand is higher then ever in Tennessee. In Missouri the same is true; the demand for meth is still high.

Both states should enact the monitoring system suggested by Sen. Norma Champion, R-Springfield, which would require pharmacies to keep an electronic log instead of a paper record of people who buy pseudoephedrine. This legislation is similar to legislation adopted recently in Oklahoma. Oklahoma only had 89 meth lab busts during the same period. That is the type of thing that can end the need for addiction help services for methamphetamines.

Marketing flavored crystal methamphetamines to our youth is one of the gimmicks Mexican drug trafficking organizations have come up with. The newest flavor, ‘Strawberry Quick’, is attracting a younger and younger crowd – many of whom will eventually be looking for addiction help.

“Meth is the most serious addictive drug I have ever seen, and I have worked with heroin and other street drugs,” said Darlene Duncan, a social worker on the board of Arizona’s Gila County Meth Coalition (GCMC), at a recent workshop on children and meth.

Strawberry meth first turned up in Nevada in 2007, and has also been found in Utah and Colorado. They haven’t found it in Arizona yet, but the odds are they will – it’s coming from super labs in Mexico and some of it will definitely pass through Arizona.

Methamphetamine addiction can happen very quickly but it’s one of the hardest drugs to quit. And the toll it takes on the body is severe. Most people addicted to meth take far longer in addiction treatment than people who are addicted to other drugs, and it can take years to recover from the physical damage. In fact, some people never recover fully.

One woman was so fried from methamphetamine abuse she didn’t know how to feed her new born baby, said Ramona Cameron of the GCMC.

If you or someone you know is abusing meth, get the addiction help services you need before it’s to late.

The author of a recent editorial in HometownSource.com referenced the alcohol-related death of another young person in Minnesota and a recent survey on alcohol abuse when he implored the state government to stiffen the penalties for underaged drinking. The current penalty is a fine – often paid by the parents – and the editorial calls for suspension of driving privileges.  In many other states, the penalty doesn’t stop there – the offender also has to get addiction help.

I couldn’t agree more with this viewpoint. The consequences of our actions have to have impact. And for a young driver, any driver really, not being able to drive is a big deal. However, there has to be some addiction help of some sort along with the penalty. Simply penalizng a person for wrong actions doesn’t get down to the bottom of why they did it in the first place. Without doing that, the chances of them doing it again are pretty high.

If you have child under 21 who is drinking, whether they’re involved in a motor vehicle accident or not – whether they drive or not – get them the addiction help services they need. Alcohol has ruined millions of lives and ended many as well. If parents don’t care enough to do something about it, who does? Your kid’s life may depend on it.

The state of Idaho had a $21 million federal treatment grant for Access to Recovery that expired last year. Now the state has 800 people on the waiting list for addiction help.

Analysts said it will cost $27 million to keep the state program operating at the 2007 level.

We have about 20 million people in the U.S. in need of addiction help. And we can’t come up with the money to help 800 people.

I’d say it’s time our country started prioritizing spending a little better. This might be the greatest country in the world, but it’s not going to stay that way if we can’t get addiction help for those who need it.

If you need help with alcohol or drug addiction, take matters into your own hands. Contact an addiction help services counselor and find out what’s available in your area.

The drugs taken in Maine are the same drugs you see everywhere  in the U.S. - the list starts with heroin, then goes on to include OxyContin, methadone, prescription stimulants (Ritalin and Adderall) and, of course, methamphetamines. In Maine, also like everywhere else in the U.S., more addiction help is needed.

“Families are the first line defense in keeping Maine’s youth away from drugs, but public institutions such as schools must play a part,” says a Bangor Daily News editorial. And they’re right: more drug education is needed and more help from the parents is needed. According to the statistics, kids whose parents talk to them about drugs are 50% less likely to take them. Same with alcohol.

We could also use a lot more help from the drug companies who are selling the prescription drugs that are being abused: One in five high school seniors are abusing prescription drugs.

20% of college students may also need addiction help. Drug and alcohol companies could pay over some of their profits to educate young people about the dangers of the products they are selling.

If you know someone in Maine who needs addiction help services, email us or give us a call.

Mothers, brothers, friends or neighbors need addiction help because of meth abuse.
You can’t put meth users into categories, there is no typical methamphetamine user - they come in all size, shapes, backgrounds and ages.

In Idaho children as young as 10 have used meth. And by age 18, 15% of the population has tried it. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration the average age of first use is 22, but in Idaho it is younger. I would guess the same is true in Nevada, Arizona and many other places. People are being introduced to drugs at a younger and younger age because of dangerous prescription drugs, and then moving on to street drugs, it’s unlikely that the majority of kids first try meth at 22.

There are at least 12 million methamphetamine users in the U.S. – that 5% of the population, and they all need addiction help. Methamphetamine is difficult to withdraw from and the addiction treatment can take a long time.

If you or someone you know has a problem with methamphetamine, get them the addiction help services they need.

In Arizona Tina Tolbert was a supermom. How did she keep going? By taking meth. It gave her the energy she needed to play with her kids. She took them on night hikes in the mountains, climbed trees, and took them swimming at 3 in the morning. And she was on meth all the time. She was also on meth when pregnant with her son. He’s now in his second drug rehab program trying to get addiction help for his meth addiction, and he’s only 17 years old.

Tina lost her career as a respiratory therapist because of her meth addiction. “It will take all your hope” she said. And she feels her son’s addiction stems from her taking meth when she was pregnant.

Methamphetamines are used by 12 million people in America and it takes a toll on communities and households all over the country. It’s marketed in the Northeast, the Midwest – Iowa, Nevada, Idaho and Arizona all have big methamphetamine problems. And Tina is not the only supermom taking them. There are even Moms off Meth programs in many cities.

Addiction help services are going to be needed all over the country for the people with a methamphetamine addiction. Call us if you’re one of them, or know someone who is.

Being born to drug addicted parents may be the worst turn of luck for any individual. Having drugs in your system at birth is a barrier that few people ever overcome. “Mylissa has been battling drug addiction since she was born,” said a recent news story. Because her parents were addicted and their lives were unstable, it affected Mylissa and how she grew up. And that didn’t change until she got some addiction help.

Mylissa began using drugs and alcohol when she was 14 and became addicted to drugs when she was 15. She was using methadone, heroin, OxyContin, Ritalin, crack, amphetamines and cocaine. Not an easy life for a 15-year-old, and not a situation that can turn positive without some addiction help and intervention.

Mylissa made that turn when her kids were taken away. She changed her life, gave up her old friends, and started fresh.  Mylissa must be a tough young woman, with the deck stacked so heavily against her at a young age. I hope she gets all the chances she needs to have a new drug-free life.

Addiction help services should be available for everyone; Mylissa’s story could have ended badly.