AHS Views

I don’t usually watch reality shows, but I have to say that some of the legal/police type shows that take on social issues can be very insightful. Recently, when discussing the problem of drug addiction, someone on TV asked ‘Why don’t they just burn all the poppy fields?” The response – “Because there has to be a war on something or the people in Washington wouldn’t get elected.” That was probably an old show because the war on drugs certainly isn’t the only war in town right now, but it does make you wonder about the true intentions of the powers that be when there are, really, some pretty simple solutions to the war on drugs available. At least from the standpoint of getting people through drug treatment successfully.

The country spends millions, or billions, on various drug treatment methods and facilities -but a large portion of them don’t even work! They’re out-patient facilities, week or month-long residential programs that are barely enough to dry the person out, halfway houses (may be fine AFTER a real drug rehab program to help the person get their lives in order), and so on.

But, there are tons of facilities and drug treatment programs that have high success rates. Why not drop the programs that only rehabilitate 30% of their clients and throw more support behind those that see success for 70%?

A short-term or out-patient drug rehab program may work for some, but don’t make the mistake of trying one of those first – chances are they’ll be a waste of time and money.

More importantly, you and the person you’re trying to help can get very discouraged by attempting something that fails and it might be very difficult, if not impossible, to get the addict to try again.

Check with Addiction Help Services counselors to find out what’s best for your situation before you make any decisions. They know all the programs, all the treatment methods, and can assess your situation to find out what’s best.  
 

A recent news item featured a Sheriff in Erie County discussing the problem with overcrowding in jails. He’s not the only one – it’s a problem all over the country. To make matters worse, he’s been told to reduce expenses by 10% in the coming year. How’s he going to do it?

I would suggest getting addiction help for non-violent offenders. Many of the crimes committed these days involve drugs and it invariably costs less to get an offender through alcohol or drug rehab than to keep him in prison.

Expenses will be further cut by the fact that a person who’s been rehabiliated is less likely to come back to prison than others. A good percentage of the prison population are repeat offenders. And it really adds to the cost.

That would take care of the money but, best of all, it would take care of the person – something our prison system should be focusing on but, in fact, does very little of.

Many people, even parents, have tried to get people they care about to stop taking drugs or drinking.  It’s not easy, and some just give up. I’ve heard parents say that if their kids wind up in prison because of it that will be the wake-up call they need and they’ll straighten out.

Not so. They won’t get any help there. They’ll be in a dangerous, threatening environment and may well have access to drugs anyway. They’ll learn alright, but not the lessons you’re hoping for.

Take another crack at getting them help before they wind up in jail. Call Addiction Help Services to find out what you can do. 

I just read an article about banning happy hour in England. They’re trying to cut down on binge drinking. They started with not allowing pubs to be open 24 hours a day, now they’re cutting out the time when people can traditionally get their drinks two for one or a lot cheaper than at other times. There are also pubs in Scotland refusing to let people into bars if they’ve been taking any drugs, police are actually checking customers at the door, or have any on them.

It’s good to see this kind of action going on in pubs. Especially when the guys who own bars are there to make money. They’re obviously willing to make a little less for the public good. And there will be fewer people needing alcohol rehab and detox.

Too bad the alcohol industry and Big Pharma aren’t willing to do the same. Big Pharma won’t stop at anything.

If people took a cold, hard look at Big Pharma, and realized that it has turned into an industry whose primary goal is to get people hooked on drugs so they can make money, they’d be up in arms. It’s like having a drug pusher sitting in your living room working tirelessly night and day to convince you that you need their drugs. They’re on your television programs, in your magazines, and so on.

But it all looks so innocent. So benign. Like they’re really just trying to help.

Don’t be fooled. That’s not their intention. They’re trying to make money. And they don’t care who gets hurt in the process – they’ll just take a little, tiny fraction of their profits and pay you off. No big deal.

Get out from under their spell – contact Addiction Help Services for alcohol or drug rehab.

While no specific numbers have been reported, I would imagine there are several hundred thousand drug addicts out there who are parents. And parents, just like anyone else struggling with substance abuse, often end up needing some type of drug addiction help treatment to handle their addiction.

Unfortunately, when that times comes, many parents will chose to not get the addiction help they need because they know that once they are in a program it will be left up to their families or the state to decide who will take care of their children. Losing or being away from their children can be too much for any parent to bear, even when a parent knows that if they don’t get addiction help they could lose their children permanently.

But what if drug addiction treatment centers provided child care or allowed children of addicts to stay with their addicted parent while they were undergoing substance abuse treatment?

This is actually the plan at a drug addiction treatment center in Oregon. Facilities are being built to accommodate six mothers and their children.

The center is one of the first to offer this option and it may open the door for more addicts to get the addiction help services they need while also enabling mothers to learn to be responsible for their children again in a controlled, drug-free environment.

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.

Many people go in and out of drug rehab over and over again. They go through rehab, relapse, rehab, relapse, and on and on. Why? There are thousands of rehab centers available, they have different philosophies and treatment methods and the results, obviously, can vary. How are you supposed to know beforehand whether a drug rehab program will suit your situation and actually work?

For the layman, it’s hard to know. But a drug rehab specialist who has helped thousands of addicts and is familiar with the various types of rehab can assess the situation and determine which type of program would be best.

No matter which program is used, success is determined by the rehab program’s ability to get down to the bottom of the problem that caused the person to become addicted in the first place. It also has to give the person the tools they need to stay drug free once they leave.

Each person’s needs are different. If you want to stop the revolving door of rehab, get a drug rehab counselor to help you find the program that’s right for you.

I saw an article today entitled Rehab Centers Take Issue with Media’s Portrayal of Revolving Door Celebrities. While it’s true that relapse gets more attention that success, the fact is that many rehab facilities are a revolving door – which is why “relapse is part of recovery” is believed by so many. But, it doesn’t have to be like that. There is such a thing as a successful drug rehab program and, if you’re looking for a rehab that works, a drug rehab program counselor can help you find one.

Why do people relapse? Because all of the components needed to make rehab successful are not part of every drug rehab program. For example, many rehab programs last 30 days or less. Drug addicts have often been using drugs for years and, chances are, the reasons they began using drugs probably started years before that. How can you sort all that out in 28 days? It’s just not enough – especially when they first have to go through withdrawal.

If you’re looking for a good drug rehab program, choose one that will keep the person until they are really rehabilitated. They have to have a real desire to be off drugs. In fact, the desire to not take drugs has to be stronger than the desire that drove their addiction. When you consider that addicts will do just about anything to get their next hit, that’s saying a lot.

Nevertheless, once the person is back out in the world, that’s exactly what it will take to prevent relapse. And the chances of a person getting to that point in 21 days are pretty slim.

If you’re looking for a rehab program that really works, don’t settle for something second best. It may seem easier, faster or even less costly, but none of that will do you any good if there’s a relapse. Not only does the risk continue, you’ll have to pay for rehab over and over again. Contact a drug rehab program counselor who can help you find something that really works.

Should addicts who commit crimes as a result of drug addiction get their prison sentence reduced if they successfully complete a drug rehab program?

I read an article today about a man who robbed 11 restaurants, a liquor store and a convenience store to get money for drugs. While awaiting sentencing, he got into a drug rehab program and, so far, appears to have handled his addiction. As a result, the judge reduced his seven-year sentence to five.

The judge noted that this is the first time in the man’s adult life that he’s been clean and that “his efforts should be encouraged as being the best means of protecting the public.”

The success of drug courts in the U.S. has proven his point. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration quotes about 80% of addicts commit crimes directly related to their drug addiction. If the criminal gets help with his addiction through a successful drug rehab program, he’s likely to stay out of prison permanently.

The most difficult news articles to read are the ones about addicts losing their lives because of drug addiction. When you have seen that drug rehab can be successful, someone dying from a addiction-related circumstance is unreal – it is so preventable.

I came across an article about this today – a man who had been addicted to cocaine for 10 years died when he made an aggressive move towards police and was shot.

According to the article the man was not violent but had a criminal record; mostly crimes that were drug related. At one time he was successful in life – a good job, a family and a nice home. But his addiction to crack cocaine destroyed all of it, and now it’s destroyed him.

Anyone that has worked in or gone through a successful drug treatment program could tell you that a successful drug rehab program would have helped.

The New Jersey Star Ledger just reported that an employee of a drug treatment center was arrested for sexual assault. He’s worked at the center for the last five years but was picked up after investigations revealed he had demanded sex from two clients in exchange for swapping their dirty urine samples for clean ones so they could pass their drug tests. Not exactly the ideal employee for a drug rehab program.

Currently the man is not allowed to counsel women doing court-mandated drug rehab but, believe it or not, he’s still working there!
 
That kind of behavior is bad enough under any circumstances but having worked in the drug rehab field for a while now I can guarantee you that the chances of those girls completing the program successfully are very slim. Several years ago a client told me she got involved in a relationship with her drug counselor at another rehab center – both she and the counselor wound up on drugs. Thankfully, the client ended the relationship and got into a successful drug rehab program.

But others aren’t so lucky. When a drug rehab program employee steps over the line and behaves inappropriately towards a client, they should be out of there. Forever. And never allowed to work in another drug rehab program.