Drug and Alcohol Rehabs Blog

Inpatient Drug Rehabs

Many times doctors, therapists and family members will make the damaging mistake of allowing an addict to go to an outpatient program first to “see if it works.”  Because the relapse rate is so high with outpatient programs (some estimates as much as 95%) then it is typically a waste of time and money.

If someone wants to have a much higher chance of overcoming addiction successfully, then a long-term inpatient drug rehab is going to give them a better shot at that, regardless of how severe the problem may seem to be.

The chances of success also increases dramatically with the type of treatment methods.  We can help you find inpatient drug rehabs that have a proven track record of results in handling addiction forever.

What is the Best Drug Rehab?

We often get calls from people looking for the best drug rehab program available.  Too often people think that the celebrity rehabs are the best ones, but they’re not – at least not in terms of success.

A swanky house with Egyptian cotton, a private chef with a pool on the coast might be grand, but if the counseling is not effective or, worse – they give harmful drugs to addicts, then what’s the point?  People might as well go down to Cabo San Lucas or the Virgin Islands for a 30-day vacation.  At least that would be more therapeutic!

When we think of the best, we are thinking in terms of results.  Which rehab programs consistently get people completely off of drugs and alcohol and help them stay that way?  Location and facility are secondary.  We can help find successful programs with nice facilities, larger or smaller client populations, rural or coastline, etc. but it’s the core rehabilitation philosophy and methods that count with a recovery program that truly works.

Adderall Abuse Causing More Addiction Problems

(From CADCA Coalitions Online) – According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, full-time college students between the age of 18 and 22 are twice as likely to abuse the drug Adderall as non-students and part-time students. In addition, of those students surveyed, 90 percent had also engaged in binge drinking during the past month and about half of those students were heavy alcohol users. The study also shows that students who are not of the legal drinking age of 21 and used Adderall nonmedically, were more likely to binge drink than non-users. Originally prescribed for treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Aderall is classified as a Schedule II drug because of its high potential for abuse, but it has recently become popular on college campuses as a study aid.

The survey also showed that of the full-time students that had used Adderall nonmedically in the past year were more than 3 times as likely to abuse marijuana and eight times as likely to abuse cocaine. Those students were also eight times more likely to misuse tranquilizers, and five times more likely to abuse other painkillers as well.

Adderall addiction and abuse has become an increasingly alarming problem among teenagers and young adults in America.  If you suspect someone you love is abusing Adderall or any other drug, contact us today to find successful drug rehab centers.

Proposed Alcohol Tax Increase to Provided Needed Funding for Treatment

(exerpt from Bob Curley’s article on Join Together online) -For decades alcohol industry lobbyists have succeeded in derailing most attempts to raise state alcohol taxes, but the lousy economy has many cash-hungry states now considering alcohol-tax increases — in some cases, to help pay for addiction treatment services as well as address budget deficits.

Serious proposals for increasing alcohol taxes are on the table in more than a dozen states, and governors of three trendsetting states — California, New York and Massachusetts — have endorsed higher alcohol taxes as part of their budget proposals.

“There is overwhelming community support for a tax on alcoholic beverages that will be used, in part, to support treatment for those who suffer from the disease of alcoholism and to prevent problem drinking particularly among underage drinkers,” said John Coppola, executive director of the New York State Association of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Providers, which is backing a 10-cent-per-drink tax proposed by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. “A dime a drink seems like a very small price for saving a life.”

This winter, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger forwarded a plan to increase the state’s alcohol tax and dedicate a portion of the proceeds to addiction programs. A January poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that raising alcohol taxes was the most popular budget fix among state voters, with 81 percent supporting Schwarzenegger’s call for increasing alcohol taxes by 5 cents per drink.

Similarly, the Oregon Partnership recently released a poll showing that 61 percent of state voters approved of an alcohol tax increase; the group is supporting a plan to increase beer taxes — which have remained at the same rate for 32 years — to raise up to $165 annually million, mostly for addiction treatment and prevention.

Michele Simon, research and policy director of the Marin Institute, a California-based industry watchdog group, said the fact that the state’s Republican governor supported raising alcohol taxes indicates that the GOP’s long-standing blanket opposition to tax increases may be crumbling. “There has been some shift because we’re in such dire straits,” she said. “But the industry is fighting tooth and nail — they’re the only thing keeping us back now.”

Addiction is NOT a Disease

Rather than taking someone else’s word for it, I’m usually an advocate for finding out for yourself about something.  It’s not being skeptical; it’s becoming more educated.  Addiction happens to be one of those things that people just assume the propaganda of it being addiction as truth – however it is not the truth.

Addiction has recently been defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is treatable but not curable, yet there is no proof anywhere to fully back up such a statement.  This begs the question of “Who benefits?” from pushing this viewpoint on the American public?  The answer, you will ultimately find in many cases, is the individuals or companies that get paid the most money to keep it this way.  Today those groups include ineffective treatment centers who continually re-admit people into detox facilities and drug rehab programs; therapists and other doctors who now have a client for a lifetime (a built-in excuse not to actually help them overcome the problem permanently); and pharmaceutical companies.
The last one is probably the most disturbing, because many addiction treatment centers and counselors believe what their doing and saying is right, yet it is based on false statements.  Saying that addiction is “treatable” now days means there is a drug you can take for it to curb the symptoms.  These drugs generate billions of dollars – and not a single one can cure the problem.

Doesn’t it seem odd to anyone that prescription drugs are one of, if not the biggest, drug abuse problems in the country and doctors and treatment centers keep prescribing MORE drugs to addicts?  It’s actually common sense to see that it won’t solve the problem – and you don’t need a graduate degree to figure that one out!

Our intention is to actually help people, not give them a quick fix that not only doesn’t last but can actually make them worse!  Find out what effective drug rehab centers consist of and how you or someone you know can put addiction behing them forever.

Adolescent Drug Rehabs

Probably the most under-served populations needing drug and alcohol rehab help are young people under the age of 18.  Not only are there a limited number of programs that work with adolescents, but the choices for types of rehabilitation programs are even more slim.

The most unfortunate side of this is that a majority of state-run adolescent addiction treatment centers take young people and diagnose them with some mental disorder or another and then destroy their developing minds and brains with harmful prescription drugs.  I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with parents who have sent their children to the local teenage drug rehab and had their kid come out in much worse shape down the road than when they first went in.

Young people often need guidance, structure, support and leadership – not more drugs.  There are several faith-based organizations that provide programs like this, as well as wilderness programs.  The most effective type of program we’ve found is an alternative treatment approach that uses a long term rehab program that is drug-free and focuses on empowering young people to take control of their lives.  There are a few of these facilities that use the biophysical approach that can also work with young people under 18.

Crime, Drugs and Interventions

80 % of crimes in communities across the nation are from expanding criminal gangs made up of over 1 million members, according to a gang threat assessment compiled by federal officials.  “Primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs are capable of competing with major U.S. based Mexican drug trafficking organizations” says the Justice Departments National Gang Intelligence Center.  This is very alarming for families with kids who live in larger metropolitan areas where drugs and crime are more rampant.  Drugs are easier to get now which makes it worse for a person who already has a drug or alcohol problem.

More and more young people are not only experimenting with illicit drugs but also finding a way to get “high” by opening their parents medicine cabinet.  It makes it very difficult for young people to not fall victim to drugs and alcohol because of the amount found on the street, schools, but also those prescribed and found.  According to several drug rehab programs, enrollment for addiction to prescription drugs like painkillers and anti-anxiety medications make up almost half of patients in residential facilities.  What is needed is effective drug education and rehabilitation.

Sometimes trying to find the right drug rehab can become very frustrating.  Most people looking for help have a loved one who is out of control, abusing drugs or alcohol.  Things can seem very bleak especially if the addicted individual does not want help.  A drug intervention is necessary when a person does not want help.  It is a procedure where an intervention specialist educates the family on addiction, tough love, enabling, and rehabilitation.  Once the family is properly educated and knows what to do the intervention takes place and the addicted individual, once they agree, is escorted into a drug rehab program.

Formulating Your Own Opnion about Drug Rehab

I hear too often from our callers that they simply trusted what their doctor or therapist said about drug rehab instead of finding out more for themselves.  Not all drug rehab centers are the same.  In fact, we consider a good number of them to actually be damaging to an individual. 

You can contact us to find out which types of addiction treatment we feel can be harmful and why.  After doing so, compare the information we share with you along with what you have already found and what other rehab centers and addiction professionals say.   It is true that you can find someone to say something positive about any rehabilitation program and something negative about any one as well.  This is why it is so important to go with what you feel will actually work.  Tradition or authority doesn’t mean anything if they have no results.

 So contact Drug and Alcohol Rehabs today by calling us at 1-877-421-9659.

Youth Turning More Toward Prescription Drugs than Street Drugs

We have been warning of this for years – prescription drug addiction and abuse is becoming more of a problem in our country than illegal street drugs, as evidenced by the latest Monitoring The Future (MTF) study shows from the University of Michigan.

The 2008 MTF survey indicates a continuing high rate of prescription drug abuse among teens, with little change seen in the past six years. Nearly 10 percent of seniors reported past year nonmedical use of Vicodin, and 4.7 percent report abusing Oxycontin, both powerful opioid painkillers. In fact, seven of the top 10 drugs abused by twelfth graders in the year prior to the survey were prescribed or purchased over-the-counter. The top categories of abused prescriptions include painkillers, stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin) and sedatives (Xanax, Valium, Klonopin).

We attribute this epidemic to a few factors.  One is the lack of restraint by the FDA on pharmaceutical regulations and marketing practices as well as the nieve willingness of doctors to so willingly hand out harmful prescriptions to patients.  There is also the lack of understanding of parents about the dangers of prescription drugs and the perception of youth thinking that they are not as harmful as street drugs.  There is not a single source of blame here, but rather a shared responsibility.

Due to the abuse potential and addictive quality of these drugs, many young people who start off taking these drugs wind up requiring a full long-term rehabilitation center to solve the problem once and for all.  If you or a loved one is struggling with prescription drug abuse you can call and speak with one of our drug and alcohol rehab counselors today at 1-877-421-9659.

Giving Thanks for Successful Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

With Thanksgiving approaching this week, I am reminded of how successful drug and alcohol rehabs have personally touched my life and many others that I know.  Each year the Holiday Season can be a very difficult time emotionally for people – especially individuals and families struggling with addiction.

It was almost 10 years ago that I had my first Thanksgiving as an adult without alcohol or other drugs in my life and I was able to fully enjoy the company of my family, thanks to my successful and permanent recovery after having gone to an effective long-term drug rehab program.  Since that time I have had the eye-opening experience of working with thousands of families across the country and helping them find solutions for addiction treatment that work.

Unfortunately many families think that “this may be the year” where their loved one who is battling alcohol or drug abuse will make it on their own, but in most cases the best thing that can be done for them during the Holidays is to get them into a program that can really help – one that focuses on results and doesn’t just fill them with hopeless falsehoods about addiction.

Believe it or not, there are effective solutions for overcoming addiction permanently.  We can help you find successful detox programs and rehab centers that work.

Contact us today for more information about finding rehabilitation help for yourself or a loved one.  Call 1-877-421-9659 and find something to be thankful for this week.