Drug Addiction

RASE Project: Helping Addicts Recover from Substance Abuse

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction, Drug Rehabilitation on December 19th, 2011

Recovery, Advocacy, Service and Empowerment (RASE) has once again opened its doors to individuals who want to seek help and treatment for substance abuse.

drug abuse recoveryRASE started its operation in May 2001 when a group of treatment professionals as well as those in recovery for substance abuse started it in Pennsylvania for the benefit of those who are in need of the services they provide.

Executive director Denise Holden, who was once herself an addict but successfully overcame her challenges, said that RASE serves as an outlet for people who have the same experience as hers to help out in the community.

“When people get clean they disappear into anonymous recovery communities to protect themselves from the stigma,” she said. Through RASE, fully recovered victims will be given the opportunity to make a difference by volunteering to help others.

At present, RASE has established recovery centers for women in Cumberland and Dauphin counties; addiction treatment care facility for adults in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Perry, and Lebanon counties; and support centers and services at Lancaster and Dauphin counties.

The organization has also provided professional training and information dissemination and educational services throughout the areas they have covered. They also hold events that address the problem of substance abuse with ready resource speakers. Assessment and referrals as well as family interventions are also being done.

Funding is important for any organization, but RASE founders say, their advocacy will continue even if financial support is limited or completely runs out. The fact that they are able to save a lot of lives that might have been otherwise wasted by substance abuse is enough for volunteers and other members to continue each and every day of their operation.

For those interested to help and share, you may contact RASE Project at 717-232-8535 or visit www.raseproject.org.

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Rehabilitation Facility Adds Specialists for the Holiday Season

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse, Drug Addiction on December 16th, 2011

During the holiday season, the pressure to party and celebrate is at a high, driving more and more people to alcohol and drug abuse. This is the reason why facilities, such as the Narconon Freedom Center, recruit additional specialists to deal with the increase in number of patients needing intervention.

partyFrom Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, people can’t seem to say no to parties and events which make it almost impossible for individuals with pre-existing drug and alcohol problems not to succumb to their cravings. This is why families of the affected persons turn to rehab facilities to ensure that their troubled loved ones will have a safe and drug-free place to stay for the holidays.

Executive Director for the Narconon Freedom Center Brian Kuehne says that most families refuse to acknowledge any drug or alcohol problem so as to avoid spoiling the season for everybody. “Yet they secretly dread the ringing of the phone fearing it will be the police with bad and possibly fatal news about their child or loved one,” he adds.

It has been noted that while addiction in any other normal season is already hard for victims to overcome, the difficulty increases as the holiday season ushers in a time for celebrations. If nothing is done to curb the habit of an addicted family member, it could lead to fatal situations and complicated conditions not only for the addict but as well as for his family members.

This predicament is best addressed by the intervention of drug abuse specialists which rehab facilities have pumped up in numbers to cater to new and old addiction cases that they handle.

While it may not sound so appropriate this time of the year, Kuehne tells families that one of the best gifts they can give to their loved ones dealing with substance abuse addictions is intervention to start the steps towards a healthier and happier life of substance abuse victims.

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$100,000 Assistance Given to Mental Health Initiatives

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction on December 10th, 2011

The National Council for Community Behavioral Health has selected the Area Mental Health Center (AMHC) to participate in a national campaign to improve services for patients with mental illnesses and addictions.

substance abuseAs one of the 10 behavioral health organizations chosen, AMHC will be rewarded with $100,000 as a participant in the newly formed Co-Occurring Disorder Learning Community.

Lauren Lueck, marketing coordinator for AMHC said that their agency’s inclusion in the program will help them provide better and more effective services and care to patients with mental disorders and substance abuse problems.

People who are suffering from their addictions also develop mental disorders. Statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that up to 75% of addicts have mental health issues and 50% of those with mental health issues are also confirmed substance users or addicts.

The AMHC will be working with experts on the field of mental health and substance abuse. In the next year and a half, AMHC and its partners will develop and implement comprehensive assessment and treatment methods.

Executive director for AMHC Ric Dalke says that they truly appreciate everything that has been provided for their organization. “We are honored to have this opportunity to strengthen our knowledge and skills to help those who are experiencing serious emotional disorders along with substance abuse problems.”

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Nicotine Boosts Cocaine Effects

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction, Tobacco Abuse on December 5th, 2011

Aside from being an addictive substance itself, nicotine is now considered a potent booster of cocaine effects. In a new research done at the Columbia University headed by Dr. Amir Levine, researchers were able to relate nicotine and cocaine addiction by treating mice samples with nicotine and then introducing cocaine in their system.

nicotineThey recorded that the mice samples exposed to nicotine and then to cocaine had more addiction symptoms compared to the mice that were not given nicotine beforehand. Reversing the order of introducing the two substances did not produce the same significant results.

The findings of the study suggest that smoking, being exposed to secondhand smoke, or even the use of nicotine replacement products could increase a person’s susceptibility to cocaine. It is advisable then to keep nicotine exposure to the minimum or nonexistent, if possible, to avoid the possibility of being addicted to cocaine as well as other addictive substances.

Proponents of the study explained that nicotine affects the histone proteins in the brain which leads to a more exaggerated response to cocaine by an individual.

Authors of the study stated that there is a need to treat nicotine addictions of patients who are currently on cocaine addiction treatment programs to help them overcome their problem. There are cases wherein substance recovery patients are prescribed nicotine-replacement products to help them stop smoking. Yet this new study could prove this method wrong as any nicotine source could readily aggravate the difficulty of getting over their cocaine addictions.

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Candid Discussions on Substance Abuse Between Parents and Teens

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse, Drug Addiction, Raising Healthy Kids on December 4th, 2011

Students from the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will get the opportunity to bare all when it comes to substance abuse issues with their parents.

teen alcohol abuseOn its second year, the “Candid Discussion” event, made possible by the Community Connections group in partnership with the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) L-S Chapter, will take all the barriers when children and parents talk about drugs, alcohol and risky behaviors.

The event will have ten student volunteers chosen by the SADD. Their identities will be kept confidential, even their parents and school authorities will not be able to know who they are. This is what the organization will give them in exchange for their honesty with regards to issues of substance abuse.

The students and parents will be in separate rooms, with the students speaking via a voice modulator to avoid any identification. The volunteers will talk honestly about their lives, their activities, how they deal with relationships, and just about any other teen issue that are hard to discuss in a home setting.

“The only people who know who these kids are the SADD kids who asked them to do it. Even the teachers don’t know. It’s all very confidential, which allows the kids to be honest,” adds Kathy Howd from Community Connections.

“Quite frankly, I think a lot of parents have no clue what’s going on,” Howd said. “And the kids have so many ways, especially with technology, to mislead them.”

Sarah Greely, who teaches at the L-S wellness department and an adviser for SADD, hopes that their initiative will help both parents and kids to discover everything about the truths on substance abuse.

Organizers of “Candid Discussion” made it clear that they aren’t trying to portray teenagers of today as substance abusers or risk takers. They instead want to put kids and parents on the same level when it comes to the issue of drugs and other substances so that both parties will be able to work together in promoting healthy living and safe environments.

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Majority of Male Arrestees Test Positive for Drugs

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction on December 1st, 2011

In a new study funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, about 68% of male arrestees in the Hennepin County jail tested positive for illegal drug use. The results were gathered when random testing was done early this year on adult men booked into the said prison facility.

drug abuseAmong the types of drugs detected, marijuana topped the list with 55% of those arrested testing positive for pot use. Cocaine also figured with 16% confirmed users, opiates with 6%, methamphetamines with 4%, and oxycodone with 1.5% users from among the sample population.

For Minnesota Department of Human Services drug abuse strategy officer Carol Falkowski, the results yielded were what she anticipated. “Being addicted to illegal drugs is expensive and so you often see this connection between crime and criminal behavior and drug addiction because people have to acquire money to get their drugs,” she said.

Hennepin County forms part of the ten sites in the whole country participating in a federal initiative that records drug use among male arrestees. Compared to last year’s results, a slight drop in overall drug use was noted at 2.4% this year. As for the remaining nine sites participating in the study, results have yet to be obtained.

Another trend on the rise in the state’s drug problems is that of heroin and illegal painkillers abuse. While there may be a decrease in methamphetamine and cocaine use from 2007 to 2010, patients affected with painkillers and heroin addictions who seek treatment are constantly on the rise.

According to Falkowski, their community was able to address the problem of meth use at the appropriate time but the same community is reluctant to deal with heroin issues. “There’s the stigma that heroin is a very hardcore drug and many communities under any circumstance are reluctant to admit that they have that in their community,” she said.

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