AHS Views

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.

I read an article today about Superior Court Commissioner Brian Rees and his determination to get addiction help for kids no matter what he has to do.

He uses the several options at his disposal – probation, detention, a week or two in juvenile prison, residential drug rehab and, finally, drug court, to give a kid every opportunity to straighten out. If they don’t, they eventually go to jail. Rees says the hardest to help are the ones who deny they need it.

Where are the parents while all this is going on? I can only think that the majority of them have given up. Perhaps they feel they’ve done everything they can and are relying on the courts to handle the problem.

Sometimes the best thing parents can do when their kid has an alcohol or drug addiction problem is to contact an interventionist. Someone who will talk to their son or daughter, and convince them to get the help they need. Believe me, if they do wind up in prison, they’re more likely to come out of there a hardened criminal, and more prone to addiction than they were when they went in.

If you need addiction help for your kid and can’t convince them to get it, contact an interventionist as soon as possible. Many are former drug addicts themselves, they know what your kid is going through and can get them the addiction help services they need.

Getting someone who needs help with alcohol or drug addiction can be difficult. In fact, 95% of alcohol and drug treatment candidates think they don’t have a problem. But, they do. They have a problem with alcohol or drugs, and they have the problems that got them into alcohol or drugs in the first place. And the only way to resolve those problems is through a successful alcohol and drug rehab program.

But how do you convince them of that fact? Sometimes the addict is afraid the person will think less of them if they discuss it, sometimes they think the person couldn’t possibly understand what they’re going through, and sometimes the relationship between the addict and the person trying to convince them to get help is not that great.

That’s when you need outside help – someone who understands what the addict is going through, has worked with hundreds or thousands of alcoholics or drug addicts in the past, and can convince them to get into alcohol or drug rehab.

If you need help getting someone into treatment, call a drug rehab program counselor. They’ll help you determine if an interventionist is needed, and will also help you find the right treatment program.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month is one of the country’s largest initiatives to address the problems of alcohol and drug addiction. Even those at the top of the political ladder take part in the recovery message. In fact, a proclamation was issued by the President on the devastation caused by drug addiction and the dedication of the current administration to get addicts into drug rehab.

Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, many private and public organizations participate in drug rehab promotion as well as education and other prevention services. Citizens are also encouraged to help establish drug and alcohol rehab programs across the country.
 
Let’s hope this month’s efforts result in more addicts being admitted to a drug rehab program that can help them get off drugs.

I understand Linsday Lohan is back in rehab. And she’s busted again, suspected of driving while intoxicated and possession of cocaine. Here’s the problem with ankle bracelets – they don’t actually stop the person from wanting or needing to drink any more than wearing a watch would stop a heroin addict from wanting or needing a fix. For that you need a successful alcohol and drug rehab program that finds out why the person started on the road to addiction and gets them turned in another direction.

Guidelines, rules, laws, prisons, police sitting in patrol cars on street corners waiting for someone to speed or run a red light, officers patrolling the streets, and even high tech ankle bracelets, do not get rid of alcohol or drug addiction. They act as a deterrent, no doubt about that, but for the true addict, it’s only marginally more effective than putting a chain on an angry dog. The dog is still angry. He still wants to attack you. And he will at the first opportunity. He has to. It isn’t even because he’s a bad dog, he just has to.

Until you find out what’s behind a person’s alcohol or drug addiction problem and get those things squared away, the chances of things changing are very, very slim. And that can only be accomplished by successful alcohol and drug rehab.

Here’s an upbeat bit of news that brightened my day: a new nightclub in Oklahoma City called “Club Soda” offers an alternative to people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. The name tells you everything – no alcohol, just sodas, milkshakes, and specialty coffee drinks. Sounds like a great idea, for everyone from those who just want a break from the usual substance-centered clubs to people who may have completed alcohol or drug rehab and want to avoid the type of environment that got them into trouble.

Donna Woods-Bauer, executive director of the Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Recovery and Treatment Association, asked local club veteran Rick Richards to open a club for recovering addicts. Richards, who had worked for years in adult entertainment clubs, was tired of the alcohol and drug atmosphere common in such clubs, and agreed to open the new night spot.

“It doesn’t matter how nice a place is, when you put alcohol in the mix there’s eventually going to be trouble,” Richards told the Associated Press. “I’ve seen my share of it.”

With a dance floor, karaoke, pool tables and a small café, the club is both family-oriented (kids are welcome – there’s even a playroom) and a budding location for singles to meet.

“It’s a family atmosphere,” Richards said, “a place where people can get out and don’t have to worry about finding a baby sitter.”

One customer said she’s made lots of new friends, and appreciates not having to deal with pickup lines from drunks.
 
I think this is a really great idea. Oklahoma, like every other state, has its drug problems. Offering recovering addicts a safe environment where they can have fun without drugs or alcohol helps them stay clean and sober after a successful drug rehab program.

A recent article in the Novus Medical Detox newsletter addressed the issue of being able to afford the cost of getting yourself or someone you love through drug detox and a successful drug rehab program.

With so many lives in ruin because of alcohol or drug addiction and dependency, the obvious question is ‘can I afford not to?’ Nevertheless, cost is a consideration.

The article specifically addresses prescription drug abuse, which is right on the heels of heroin, methamphetamine and other street drugs and, in some areas, has actually become the bigger problem. As the author points out, when someone starts taking prescription drugs, the cost is often covered by insurance. But dependency and addiction change all that and, when their doctor can no longer justify continuing the prescription for its original purpose, the person starts looking for the drug elsewhere. And that can cost big money.

OxyContin, for example, costs 11 to 16 cents per milligram at the drugstore, but the price goes up to 50 cents or a dollar on the street. With 160 milligrams/day being a low average of daily consumption for an addicted person, what was costing them $18 to $26 dollars a day when obtained legitimately suddenly turns into $80 to $160/day, and it’s no longer covered by insurance. Where does somebody get $160 a day – that’s about $58,000 a year - to spend on drugs? Now you know why drug abuse often leads to a life of crime.

If someone you love is addicted to drugs, find a successful drug rehab program fast. No matter what the cost, it’s not going to be $58,000 a year for years and years on end, and it may save their life.