Posts Tagged drug rehab center

Global Awareness Campaign to Fight Substance Abuse

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on September 12th, 2009

SPSARV

A yearlong awareness campaign to fight substance abuse and related violence is being launched by the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV). National Recovery Month, the annual US observance in this month is serving as a channel to start the global initiative. This year’s theme is “Together We Learn, Together We Heal” and its objective is to uphold the necessity of spreading the awareness about substance abuse and also the importance of developing and accessing effective treatment and recovery services. The target group of this awareness campaign is the church leaders who will be encouraged to effectively respond to issues related to substance abuse in their congregations and communities.

The activities of SPSAVR in collaboration with the General Board of Church and Society’s Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health work area includes advocating for public policy on substance abuse and related violence. It works through its United Methodist Inter-Agency and Standing Committee Task Force to distribute resources throughout the global church.

The World Health Organization estimates that globally there are 76.3 million people suffering from alcohol related problems and 15.3 million people suffering due to substance abuse. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2007 around 20.8 million people in the country were in need of treatment services for alcohol or substance abuse problem but had no access to it.

Melissa H Davis, executive director of SPSARV said, “We hope the campaign will demonstrate to United Methodists throughout our church’s connectional system the sheer magnitude of the global alcohol and drug problem and encourage congregations to launch addiction ministries and advocate for just public policies in response.”     

The campaign will distribute educational articles to educate church leaders on issues related to substance abuse, identify clergy who are working for the cause and also disseminate The Big Book.

If you wish to have more information on SPSARV, you may please visit www.umspsarv.org.

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18 Killed in a Drug Rehabilitation Center

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing on September 8th, 2009

mexico

Shocking but true – gunmen killed 18 under treatment drug abusers in a rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city, bringing to light the current scenario of illicit drug trade and drug abuse in the country. On 2nd September at around 7.15 am a group of 8 gunmen broke open one of the doors of the center, lined up the victims against the wall and fired them.

This is the third time that a drug rehabilitation center has been attacked in Ciudad Juarez. In one of the attacks the gunmen killed 8 patients and injured 6 others. Mexico has been struggling with domestic consumption of drugs and trafficking for quite some time. According to reports of a government survey released last year, there are 460,000 drug users in the country which is 51% higher than the number of users six years back. As a response to this intensification of the problem, several rehabilitation centers have sprung up many of which are not regulated properly. The center in which the incident occurred is located near the border where drugs and prostitution is rampant.

The state authorities of Chihuahua are of the opinion that rehab centers have turned to hideouts for drug smugglers who are being sought by the police and the other rival gangs. The drug cartels also use them as training and recruitment centers.

Such incidents are absolute confirmation of the fact that the escalating problem of violence and crime related to trafficking of drugs is going beyond control. Rehabilitation centers are places where hapless people come with some hope of overcoming their crisis. It is strange how such incidents could happen repeatedly in a place where security of the patients should be the topmost priority of the authorities. Is it just the end of another drug addict or is it the end human lives who had the right to live like any other fellow beings?

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