AHS Views

Although the holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, those who have lost a family member have a hard time feeling festive. The family gatherings serve as a reminder that someone very important is missing. Unfortunately, it’s not easy even when the person was elderly or had been ill for a long time. But for those who lose someone unexpectedly, as is the case when people lose their son or daugher to drug addiction, it’s devastatating.

Getting a person taking drugs to agree to get treatment can be a real challenge. Often family members give up. They may still mention it, but they stop putting the effort into it they once did.

Then, suddenly, the person is gone. And the parents spend the rest of their lives regretting they didn’t do more or trying to convince themselves that they’re was nothing more they could have done.

But does the guilt ever really go away? Does the feeling of loss ever really fully heal? Probably not. 

This new year, as soon as possible, make sure the people you love get addiction help. If you can’t convince them, find an interventionist. Even if your loved one doesn’t admit they have a problem, an interventionist can help. They’re very experienced and there’s no way a person who has a drug problem can get away with denying it.

We’d be overjoyed if 2009 could start with no one addicted to drugs, but it’s not going to happen. Contact us at Addiction Help Services to find an interventionist who can help you, or a good addiction treatment center.

Merry Christmas!!! Time to visit friends and family, have some good meals, wrap and unwrap presents - overall a great time. But many people’s Christmas is marred by family members who drink or take drugs. If they’re drinkers, they’ll probably drink even more during Christmas because whatever pressures they feel that drive them to drinking in the first place are intensified by the holiday season. And the fact that others around them are usually also drinking doesn’t help.

For those who have a problem with drugs, whether or not they’ll take them on Christmas depends on how serious that problem is. As with alcohol, someone who really needs addiction help probably won’t be able to stop themselves for Christmas any more than they can during the rest of the year. So, if you’re expecting your son or daughter to show up drug-free, realize that the problem may be out of their control and don’t expect too much.

Am I bringing you down? Had you hoped to have a wonderful Christmas where you didn’t have to think about those problems? Sorry about that. But I’m not the one bringing you down - what’s weighing on you is not my words, it’s the fact that your son, daughter, husband, wife, other relative or friend, has an alcohol or drug problem that’s not being taken care of.

It’s not going to go away, even if I don’t talk about it.

However, you will feel better if you resolve to do something about it and actually take steps in that direction.

If you don’t want another Christmas like this one, like those you’ve had in the past, get that person addiction help services they need. Call us over Christmas and we’ll arrange something. Think what it would be like to not have this problem and be able to get back to living normally without that constant worry and frustration.

There are lots of things you can do to help you quit drinking - or, at least, cut down. Some experts suggest that you change your habits. For example, if you hang out with people who drink whenever you see them, spend less time with them. Get to know people who don’t drink. Or, if you habitually stop into the pub on the way home from work, try taking a different route. Or you can decide to only drink on weekends. For other suggestions, check out Do I Drink Too Much Alcohol?

But if these things aren’t working, chances are you’re past the point of being able to handle the problem by yourself and could use some addiction help. And chances are you’d be best off in a residential treatment facility where they can get down to the bottom of why you can’t stop drinking.

New Year’s is coming. Time for resolutions. Quitting or cutting down on drinking is probably close to the top of the list for many people. But just like people who resolve to stop eating sugar or junk, get to the gym everyday, lose weight, etc., the vast majority of those resolutions will be in the toilet within a week or two of the new year.

But the consequences of drinking are usually far worse than being a little overweight, so you have to take it seriously. With addiction help services, you’ll get the help you need to do that. 

Tonight I attended my second early Christmas gathering - lots of beer, wine, and I don’t know what else. I’m not much of a drinker, an entire year or two can go by easily without any alcohol whatsoever. Occasionally I like a little sip of something that tastes delicious - but it would be just as good without alcohol. Last night I had nothing, and had also designated myself as a driver. So, no alcohol for sure. I think there was also some ginger ale there, but I’m not much of a soda fan either.

Although the dinner was one of the most delicious I’ve ever had, there was virtually nothing for me to drink. I had a bottle or two of water.

But there are lots of delicious, non-alcoholic drinks you can prepare for those who prefer it - and it feels good to know your family and friends aren’t heading out into the winter night under the influence, like so many of the other drivers on the road that should probably be in detox or getting some other form of addiction help instead of endangering the lives of everyone around them.

Check out snazzy holiday drinks - alcohol free for some delicious alternatives. They’re so good, your guests probably won’t even notice they’re not ‘drinking.’

I’m in Ontario, Canada visiting family and friends for the holidays. Boy, they really take drinking and driving seriously here. They have a program called Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere - R.I.D.E. Teams of police are assigned to spot check drivers and if the driver says they’ve been drinking, AT ALL, or if the police can smell alcohol, you do a breathalizer. If you blow above the legal limit (recently reduced so it’s the same as the U.S.), you’re taken away - I’m not sure to where since I don’t know if Canada has drug courts where someone can get addiction help or if they just go to jail, etc.

What’s different about this program? First - it’s a spot check. You don’t have to have done anything suspicious to be stopped. Second - if you’ve been drinking AT ALL, even though you’re within the legal limit, they can still take your keys and your car for 24 hours.

I think the actual R.I.D.E. program is officially over, but the actions taken to prevent drunk driving continue - and the DUI laws are getting even tougher, especially on those who are ‘nearly’ at the legal limit.

Sound steep? I’m sure the hundreds of thousands of people and their families who were injured or killed in DUI-related accidents would say ‘absolutely not.’ I would tend to agree. Better safe than sorry. And I’m sure this must lead to a lot of people availing themselves of addiction help services instead of drinking and driving and getting a stint in the slammer. Nothing works like zero tolerance.

And if it wasn’t meant to be, why did God invent taxis and designated drivers?

To many people, the holiday season is little more than another reason to justify getting drunk. Especially New Year’s. The drinking and driving statistics make you want to stay home. And there will be plenty of people in detox. But many of those people had a drinking problem well before the holidays, and will continue to have one afterwards.

How many of them will get the alcohol addiction help they need? How many friends and relatives will think that since the person has gone to detox, they won’t need help after that?

Some people don’t realize that drinking is an addiction. They think that if the person can just sober up, they’ll be fine. That they’ll be able to handle their drinking problem from there.

That’s just not the case. Quitting drinking isn’t easy. Alcohol is being used to cope with some problem in the person’s life and, until that problem is resolved, they’re still going to crave it and will probably drink it.

Detox isn’t enough. They need addiction help services to get down to the bottom of the problem and do something about it. So, do yourself, and them, a favor. After they’re out of detox, get them the addiction help they need so that trip to detox will be their last.

The City Council in Brewer, Maine, was supposed to make a decision on opening more methadone clinics. There are already nine of them, three of them in Bangor, just a mile from Brewer. They’ve put the decision off until January, largely because they’re concerned with social issues. They say the residents don’t want more drug addicts around and they think it promotes crime.

What they don’t seem to be really confronting is the number of people in the area who are addicted to heroin or other opiates and are consequently looking for methadone. Nor do they seem to be aware that getting people off heroin is much easier than getting them off methadone. They acknowledge that people need help, but this is the wrong way to go about it. Get them off heroin, not onto methadone.

There are some addiction help facilities that won’t even accept someone on methadone because getting off it is so difficult and takes so long.

If they want to curb the drug problem, they should be putting their efforts, and their money, into getting people off heroin - not getting them onto an alternative drug that’s even more of a problem.

And, by the way, if you or someone you care about is taking methadone and wants to get off it, there are some facilities that will take you and are successful. Contact Addiction Help Services for more info.

Are we making progress in colleges? Several studies have verified that more college kids are using prescription drugs than ever before. And they’re very easy to get. In a recent interview, a college student estimated that anyone in school would know at least 20 people who are either prescribed Adderall or other stimulants or can easily get their hands on them. They are especially popular around exam time - the kids think they can give them an edge. That’s why these types of drugs are now being called ’study drugs’.

What the kids don’t realize is that, on top of all the other side effects and problems these drugs can create, they also might wind up needing professional addiction help to stop taking them once exams are over.

So, what’s going to happen when your college kid is worried about his exams and knows 20 people who have access to, and use, stimulants and say they’ll help. Will your kid know to say no?

If you’ve never discussed the subject with your kid, there’s a good chance he’ll say yes. Or already has.

Talk to your kids, find out how they’re doing with their school work, their exams, etc. And check into whether or not they’re using ’study aids.’ If so, they might need addiction help services. Call us to help you figure out whether or not there’s a problem.

In a desperate attempt to find something good about the last eight years, George W. is holding a series of meetings that highlight his legacy. One of his claims is a 25% reduction in drug use by young people. I don’t know what statistics he’s referring to - I have certainly never seen anything that would add up to 25% in the standard SAMHSA or NIDA statistics - but I sure would like to know the details. Whatever statistics that was based on, they’ve got to be skewed.

Nevertheless, it may be true that there are fewer young people using some street drugs - they don’t need them now that they’ve discovered their parents’ medicine cabinets. Kids now try prescription drugs as their first drug experiment more than they do marijuana. And they’re more likely to need addiction help for those drugs than for street drugs.

Bush also listed his record in the Middle East and his ‘doctrine of pre-emptive military action’ among his accomplishments. Not all Americans see those as accomplishments. I don’t want to get political here, but I’d be interested to find out how many of our readers see pre-emptive military action as a good thing.

In any case, don’t let yourself be lulled into a false sense of security with info like this. Your kids are not 25% less likely to take drugs. No way. Keep an eye on them - especially when it comes to prescription drugs. And if they need help, call Addiction Help Services.  

The new National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) monitoring the future survey was released yesterday. It’s a survey of kids in grades 8, 10 & 12 about their drug use. I don’t know how many kids who were asked if they take drugs denied it, but over 15% said they’ve abused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. One out of six - scary.

An article on JoinTogether.com made the point that authorities think the prescription drug abuse trend is going to be a hard trend to fight since most kids get them from their family and friends. 40% said they take their parents’ old prescription drugs that are still in the medicine cabinet. It’s not the usual place police would look for illegal activity.

While this is no surprise to us - it will probably shock parents. I would hope it will be enough of a shock to get rid of those drugs one way or another.

But prescriptions are expensive. There’s a tendency to hang onto them in case you need them again.  In that case, the best thing to do is lock them up.

Parents should realize that if one in six kids is doing this - their own kids are going to come in contact with them. There’s no guarantee they’ll refuse the drugs when offered.

Many a good family, with good kids who are apparently happy and doing well in life, find themselves needing addiction help for their son or daughter. These days, more kids are likely to experiment with prescription drugs than marijuana or any illegal drug.

Keep an eye on your kids, and talk to them about the dangers of prescription drug addiction and all the horrible side effects - including overdose and death - and if they need help, contact Addiction Help Services to find a program that works for your situation.