Anyone can get off drugs. You could leave someone in a room for a week and make sure they didn’t leave, and they would be off drugs. The hard thing is keeping them off the drugs. That hurdle is what is crippling our society, it is what is encouraging the war on drugs and it is what is preventing families from having their son, daughter, mom or dad back. A key part to ensuring that someone is able to stay off drugs is to make sure that they are able to integrate back into society.

One of the byproducts of addiction is the fact that an addict completely isolates themselves from the rest of society. There are reasons behind this. Drugs and alcohol will cause a person to lie, steal, cheat and manipulate – all of these actions result in harming society in one way or another. At one point a person makes the decision to go against the morals and values of society. When they do this they are separating themselves from the rest of the world. After a person completes a drug and alcohol rehab, they are thrown back into society. They are thrown back into the group that they harmed and resisted for so long. This provides for a bumpy transition at best. (more…)

Reason one: The Drug Abuser Is Now in a New Group

People tend to pay most attention to the thoughts and feelings of their drugged peer group. As a young (new) drug abuser works to fit into his or her new group, they are learning how to behave all over again. There are conflicts with the new beliefs and codes of conduct of the new group and the ways of the existing group, i.e. the family. What is expected of them in the new group might be in complete opposition to the expectations of the existing group.

Some new drug users solve this dilemma by donning two personalities, one for the family and one for the druggie group. Keeping these two avatars separate can be a real juggling act, especially when it involves significant changes in appearance.

The new group actually has a completely different moral code which must be followed in order to maintain group status. Where theft might cause the person to become ostracized by the members of the former group, in the new group of drug abusers it might elevate one’s position and gain the respect of fellows. This can be seen in gangs, where initiations often involve performing some act of violence. (more…)

If you suspect someone you know may have an addiction to drugs, there are signs that you can look out for. Although these signs and behaviours are signs that someone may have a problem with drug abuse, exhibiting one or more of them doesn’t necessarily mean someone is a drug addict.

* Changes in eating habits or appetite and unusual change in weight.
* The odour of a substance about someone’s person or clothes.
* Unusual hyperactivity and alertness and uncharacteristic talkativeness.
* Unexplained needle marks and/or bruises.
* Change in attitude or personality for no apparent reason.
* Unexplained tiredness and lethargy.
* Hanging out with new friends and at new places, avoiding old friends.
* Loss of interest in activities and pastimes that were previously important.
* Problems at school or work such as lack of productivity and poor attendance. (more…)

There is a new drug pusher in town. He does not hang out in the alley or on the street corner-and it is not Heroin or crack this time. This time the pusher is hanging out much closer to home and the drugs are what most people would call medicines. More teens abuse these than all types of illicit drugs combined, if you exclude marijuana.

Online drug stores are happy to dispense any controlled drug at a price much higher than one would pay at a regular pharmacy and an estimated 85% of these sites require no prescriptions or positive identification. Drugs such as Opioid (opiumlike) pain-killers (Oxycontin, Vicodin), muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety drugs (Valium, Xanax), and stimulants such as Ritalin are the most often abused.

Left-over pills in the medicine cabinet can become a windfall for a young person looking to get high or make a little extra cash at school. Many teens who would never touch illicit drugs might abuse prescription drugs because they seem to be a safe way to get high and they are so readily available. (more…)

Drug courts are just some of the most effective things man has done in the corrections system and criminal justice system in a very long time. Since working in Oregon with judges and working with judges in the Haight it seems it is becoming more common and wished for. The judges themselves have gotten enamored with the drug court system. They are happy with what they are doing, how they can interact directly with the accused and the treatment alternatives presently. We call this in the drug obsession and law enforcement communities Coerced Treatment. Of course it is a choice, meaning you may end up in to prison, a drug court or you can do more time from that drug court, but it actually is a form of coercion treatment.

Drug addiction education videos are a rewarding assistance to folks wanting to make a difference in relapse prevention treatment drug addiction learning. It is through executives and those with the information that this research has made the impact it has. Research from across the country and from the start of this trend show that drug courts and education were highly valuable in promoting recovery and giving folks long-term sobriety. Most vital of all for the courts is that it reduced recidivism. Folk failed to get arrested and put back in the slammer. (more…)

An addicted person is not thinking clearly, it is obvious. When it comes to his or her addiction, they are making destructive decisions and doing stupid things.

Good choices and responsible actions are required to avoid worsening of the situation and deadly accidents. The user is not able to make those choices right now.

While you can never force someone into getting better, an expert interventionist can show the addict where he or she is headed and make it real to them that misery and possibly death lie down the path they are on. (more…)

“If only I had known then what I know now, I would never have taken that first hit!” This is the common cry of Drug addicted people all over the world. It matters little if the drug is Heroin, crystal Methamphetamine, Hashish or Crack Cocaine. The whole process that eventually led to this person’s ruined life, their diminished potential, ravaged body and blunted mental capacity could have been avoided if the original act had never occurred.

It seems obvious that no one would begin an activity that stands a good chance of ruining their life unless they did not know or did not believe that it could actually happen to them. But most schools in the United States have some form of drug education. So why is it that in the U.S. there are still roughly seven thousand young people trying illegal drugs for the first time each day?

We have been hearing for years that most kids will try drugs no matter what the adults say. This is from a group that forwards a theory called Harm Reduction. They hold that the best we can do is teach young people to use drugs safely or responsibly. But how do you take crack Cocaine safely? What is the responsible way to use heroin or crystal methamphetamine? (more…)

A continuation school is a place for students who have been found to need special attention to keep up in high school, or middle school and been sent to the “alternative education center”. They are not necessarily sent there because of drugs, or behavior problems, but often that is the case.

The school today was for students who were expelled completely from their district’s school system. While a couple of them were booted because of behavior problems, and because of attendance records that were so bad they were just wasting everyone’s time, the largest percentage of these kids were there as a result of substance abuse. Even the usual “last chance” school is a step above this one. I have attended this type of facility so many times that I really have gotten to know the kids and I have to say I really like them. (more…)

It used to be that kids would join little league teams excited to play baseball, football and hockey. Young boys all over the country had dreams of being the next Mickey Mantle or Roger Staubauch. These days, as kids innocently join teams ready to begin their dream of becoming a professional in their chosen sport, and as parents cheer from the stands hoping that their little one doesn’t get hurt, the pressure to be bigger, faster and stronger than the other guy gets harder to ignore.

With professional sports contracts paying out millions of dollars for each player every year, a kid’s dreams can bring him fame and a pretty big fortune. But only if he is successful at beating out every other kid with the same dream. Out of the 1,500 or so active professional football players, there are maybe millions of kids who dream of being a great pro quarterback. With those odds, kids, sometimes coaches, and sometimes even parents begin looking for an edge for their child. Even though they are illegal to use more and more kids are turning to steroids to give them the edge they are looking for.

Steroids are hormone drugs that make athletes stronger and more muscular. This is an obvious advantage on the football field. Kids realize that their high school sports years are when college recruiters are going to make offers to the best players to play on a college team. Being recruited by a major college means that the player will get not only a free ride scholarship to the college but will play on a great team and then maybe get a job on a pro team. This is true for high school baseball, soccer, and hockey team players too. Kids are sometimes introduced to steroids as young as junior high school and sometimes the pressure to be the best makes the steroids too hard to resist. Also, some kids are given silent permission to use steroids by their coaches and parents because these adults may recognize the signs that a teen is using steroids but not do anything about it. (more…)

There is a big difference between getting and staying sober. And while many people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction think that all they need to do is stop drinking or using and they will be OK, this idea couldn’t be further from the truth. Statistics show that more than 90% of all people who stop drinking or using drugs relapse quickly when they do not create and follow an aftercare recover plan.

Think of it like this; if you broke your leg and there were serious complications that kept you from walking for a very long time, your doctor would prescribe a therapy program to help you regain strength in your leg and help you walk again, and you would defiantly undertake and follow this therapy program, but for the chronic alcoholic and drug addict, one of the ugly effects of this deadly disease makes the alcoholic think he is OK, and doesn’t need help, and even after quitting drinking without aftercare this hideous disease will soon take over and he or she will again drink. (more…)