AHS Views

According to Police Chief Alan Watson of Talladega, Alabama, about 90% of the crimes in the area are drug-related. From thefts and burglaries to domestic violence or homicides, Chief Watson can pretty much count on some connection to drugs. He says it’s a nationwide problem - and the number of people in jail for drug related crimes can attest to that - and that we need more prisons and more addiction help.

In fact, if we had adequate addiction help services available, we could do away with some of the prisons - every crime has a motive, and drugs provide some of the strongest motivation around. One that motive is removed, a crime-free life usually follows.

How does drug addiction cause crime? First of all, someone on drugs really isn’t themselves. Otherwise wonderful people can get very nasty and irrational, and sometimes violent, when they’re drinking - and the same is true of drugs. However, drugs add some other elements that are often not present with alcohol: Alcohol is cheap, there aren’t too many people trying to figure out how to get $600 a day to support an alcohol problem. Also, unless you’re a died in the wool alcoholic craving another drink with every fiber of your being, you also don’t feel like you’re going to snap unless you get more. Drug addicts get desperate, very desperate and, as is well known, many drug addicts will do anything they have to to get their next hit.

That is not to say that alcohol isn’t dangerous - it is. And there’s a lot of alcohol-related crime as well.

Whatever the addiction, drugs or alcohol, and no matter how serious the crime, if the guy’s going back out onto the street, you’d better make sure he’s also gotten the addiction help services he needs.  Otherwise, there’s a good chance he’ll be right back into drugs and right back into a life of crime to support his habit. And, yes, then we’ll need more prisons.

The YMCA in Coppell, Texas is planning to offer drug education for recreational drug users and support for families whose lives have been adversely affected by drugs and alcohol. Ralph Strangis, a former drug addict and alcoholic who is now an upstanding member of the community, will be speaking at the first event. According to Strangis, members of the local community tend to not talk about drug and alcohol problems. He’s hoping this program will enable them to do so. It also may help ensure people who need addiction help get it.

Not talking about alcohol and drug problems is not unusual. But for the 15 million or so people with alcohol problems in the U.S. who need treatment but don’t get it, talking about it - whether you’re the person with the problem or you are a friend or relative - could be the first step to getting the addiction help needed.

Unfortunately, too many people ignore problems with drugs or alcohol. Sometimes people see drugs, or alcohol, as just a phase that will blow over. Sometimes they think there’s nothing wrong with a little drugs or a few drinks. And sometimes the friends and family members don’t think they’d ever be able to convince the person to get help.

However, there is help available through an interventionist. If you need one, you should call Addiction Help Services - they’ll give you all the help you need.

Ignoring alcohol or drug problems is never a good solution. Eventually, it will ruin someone’s life. And some may even lose their lives altogether or be instrumental in someone else losing theirs. What’s better? Continuing to live with the problem or doing something about? Hopefully, other communities will follow in Coppell’s footsteps and make sure community members get the addiction help services they need.

Plano is not theonly

Abilify, a drug usually used to treat psychosis, is being touted as a possible solution to alcohol addiction. Alcohol is dangerous, it’s true. But check out the side effects of Abilify before you make any decisions about whether you’re going to choose to be drugged rather than finding some addiction help that will really get you alcohol - and drug - free.

Just what we need, more people taking prescription drugs. Take one epidemic, alcoholism, and switch it for another. To make matters worse, you have to put up with possible suicide risk,  convulsions, seizures, cognitive and motor impairment, nausea, vomiting, constipation, headaches, dizziness, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, hypertension. Why is that appealing? Wouldn’t getting addiction help be better than that?

And it doesn’t get down to the bottom of why the person is drinking - which is how you handle addiction.

Don’t go for another drug - there’s a good chance you’ll just eventually end up in rehab anyway, for the drug instead of the alcohol, so why not just do it right in the first place. Get the addiction help services you need.

The European Union has called on the alcohol industry to stop targeting liquor sales to the youth of those nations. Over 100 colleges have written to the NCAA to have them stop taking TV ads for beer commercials during college events. While this isn’t going to end college drinking or the need for addiction help, it can’t hurt.

We know that Purdue Pharma was less then honest about the addictive nature of OxyContin. We also know that Merck wasn’t honest about the dangers of Vioxx. So can we trust Anheuser Bush, Bacardi, or Heineken to do something to curb college drinking like they have publicly pledged? Probably not is the true answer. Really, those companies are dancing every time they read statistics that 40% or more of our college kids binge drink. Do they cringe when they read the stats about the 15 million people in the U.S. who need addiction help?
 
There are at least two things they could do. One would be to withdraw from advertising in college newspapers. The other would be to withdraw from advertising during college sporting events.

One of these giants of industry could lead the way and perhaps the rest would follow suit. I am sure that the TV stations, newspapers and magazines could sell the ad space without a problem.

We shouldn’t have to tell Mr. Busch, Mr. Bacardi, Mr. Coors, or Mr. van Boxmeer (from Heineken) that they should be proactive in helping to stop alcohol abuse in college students. Neither a congressional hearing nor laws should be needed; Young kids getting addiction help services because of alcohol abuse is not a pretty picture. Maybe these gentlemen could look past their profits and do something to help.

Amy Winehouse is apparently going back into rehab. She was admitted to a facility in January where she stayed for only two weeks, and she now admits that she may need more help. She’s right - and this move was predictable. The number of people who could be helped with a drug or alcohol problem in two weeks could probably be counted on one hand - especially in the kind of severe situation Amy was in. It’s simply not enough time to get the drug addiction help you need. Staying off drugs for two weeks may help the person dry out, but the chances of them staying that way are virtually nil.

When a person stops drinking or taking drugs for a couple of weeks it’s a big change for them, they might feel invincible or like that’s all they need. But that’s not the case. They’re going to leave the facility and go right back into the problems that caused their alcohol or drug abuse in the first place.

With everything that’s known about drug rehab and what it really takes to get addiction help these days, it surprises me that anyone - doctor, rehab counselor, or drug addict - could possibly think two weeks is going to be enough.

If you know someone with an alcohol or drug addiction problem, do them, and yourself, a favor: don’t even bother with short-term rehab like that. Get them the alcohol or addiction help services they really need in the first place.  

Living in Missouri and wondering where your children are is no different than anywhere else: If you have a child in high school, there is a good chance they are out drinking. Half of those kids will need addiction help because of alcohol abuse during their lifetime.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration half of your children will have had alcohol by age 15 and 90% will be drinking by age 21.
Addiction help being required for a third of the population in the next 15 years is not out of the question.

And that doesn’t even take the drug problem into account – including those that are prescribed.

Its really amazing when you  think about the ages that kids are drinking or doing drugs - . fourteen or fifteen-year-olds binge drinking or a college student needing addiction help because he drinks at school three or four  times a week. It’s estimated that 20% of college students need addiction help.

It seems to me that parents are sometimes very naïve about where their kids go when they go out on a Friday night, or when they go off to college. They will drink and, possibly, they will drink a lot.

If you are a parent and you drink you should assume your kids will follow in your footsteps. If you need addiction help services because of alcohol you should get it for the sake of your kids and your family.

According to a 2006 survey from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, 71% of all treatment admissions were related to alcohol. It’s not surprising that alcohol is the leading reason why people seek addiction help in Nebraska.
The Midwest has had lots of alcohol problems. Even high school students commonly binge drink.

Addiction to methamphetamines was also on the list at 13% of admissions, as is cocaine and marijuana. What’s missing is addiction to prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin or Adderall. It would be almost impossible that no one entered treatment for any prescription drugs. The survey is from 2006 but addiction to prescription drugs was already on its way to being an epidemic.

Nebraska and the rest of the Midwest needs to do something about underage drinking, that’s for sure. But it seems impossible that not many people went to treatment for prescription drug addiction, heroin or methadone. Find the addiction help services you or your family needs.

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.

A report was just released about the increase of substance abuse among the young people of Montana. However, the problem is largely with alcohol, rather than drugs, and binge drinking specifically is far beyond the national average. It’s something parents have to watch out for, and ensure they get their kids addiction help as soon as possible.

According to the report, 38 percent of kids in Montana indulge in binge drinking – defined as five more drinks at a time. The national average is 28 percent, although American Indian kids are at 45 percent.

Montana’s received a $10 million grant for an education program to warn people about the dangers of binge drinking, but more money is needed for addiction help for those already hooked. Binge drinking is not only more dangerous than having the occasional drink, it can be deadly. If someone you know is binge drinking, contact an addiction help services group that can guide you to the right treatment.