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CALIFORNIA
- Drug rehabs
throughout the country are not created equally.
It is important to get all the information
possible when it comes to drug rehabilitation
facilities and their treatment methods.
State to state,
prescription abuse issues vary. However,
prescription drug abuse overall has been
soaring. More readily available, and with the
misconception that if a doctor has prescribed
it, then it must be safe, more and more people
are abusing and becoming addicted to prescribed
medications.
The DEA1 (United
States Drug Enforcement Administration) reports
that due to the discrepancy in national laws
between the U.S. and Mexico, the prolific
“border pharmacies” within walking distance
across the border in Tijuana and other Mexican
border towns continue to be a major source of
controlled substances in the San Diego
metropolitan area. Another is the Internet,
which has greatly facilitated the smuggling of
illicit pharmaceuticals into the U.S. through
Tijuana-based distributors. Doctor shopping and
prescription forgery are the primary methods of
prescription drug abuse in the Los Angeles and
San Francisco metropolitan areas. In Northern
California, OxyContin, Vicodin, benzodiazepines
and carisoprodol are most commonly abused. In
the Los Angeles area, Vicodin, Xanax, codeine,
Valium, OxyContin, and Promethazine with codeine
cough syrup remain the principal drugs abused.
The San Diego area prescription drugs of choice
are Vicodin, VicodinES, Lortab, and Vicoprofen,
along with anabolic steroids. Rohypnol is rarely
encountered by law enforcement within in the
greater Los Angeles area.
The office of the Attorney General for the state
of California, Edmund G. Brown, Jr., distributed
a news release in June of 2008, Brown to Launch
Online Technology to Fight Prescription Drug
Abuse. In it he announces a plan to create an
online prescription drug database so that
authorized doctors and pharmacies can stop drug
dealers and addicts who collect dangerous
narcotics from multiple doctors.
“Every year thousands of doctors try to check
their patient’s prescription history information
but California’s current database is difficult
to access,” Attorney General Brown told a news
conference. “If California puts this information
online, with real-time access, it will give
authorized doctors and pharmacies the technology
they need to fight prescription drug abuse which
is burdening our healthcare system.”
The attorney general currently receives more
than 60,000 requests annually from authorized
doctors and pharmacies for patient prescription
history information. Such requests are currently
processed within several days by fax or
telephone which makes it difficult for doctors
and pharmacists to quickly review a patient’s
prescription history before dispensing another
controlled drug. California’s new online CURES
system will make it much easier for authorized
individuals to quickly review prescription
information to help prevent “doctor shopping,”
or gathering large quantities of prescription
medications by visiting multiple doctors. The
new online database, which the state is
preparing to launch in 2009, is expected to cost
$3.5 million over the next three years.
The new CURES program will give doctors and
pharmacists the technology they need to monitor
the prescribing and dispensing of controlled
medications. Attorney General Brown said that if
doctors and pharmacies have real-time access to
prescription history information, it will help
them make better prescribing decisions and cut
down on prescription drug abuse in California.
“If doctors can easily check their own patients’
prescription history, it will reduce the number
of people who are able to obtain large
quantities of narcotics from many different
physicians,” Brown said.
According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network,
there were 598,000 emergency room visits
involving non-medical use of prescription or
other pharmaceutical drugs in 2005. 55% of these
visits involved multiple rugs.
 One thing is for certain, for
the drug addict of prescription medications, the
dwindling spiral will continue on its downward
path unless action is taken. NOW is the time to
do something before the addicted person winds up
in jail or dead of an overdose or accident.
Unfortunately past failed attempts to overcome
addiction only further depress the individual so
it comes as no surprise that fear and
hesitation.
In the state of California there is an increased
need for effective drug and alcohol rehab and
addiction treatment centers as drug and alcohol
use continues to escalate. Drug use erodes the
quality of life not only for the user, but for
their families and communities. Marriages and
families are torn apart by mistrust, betrayal,
fear and anger. Careers are ruined; companies
lose millions of dollars in lost production
time; cities and suburbs become degraded by the
increased crime and violence that goes with drug
trafficking and drug addiction.
From city to suburb to rural life, drug and
alcohol use and abuse continues to undermine the
quality of life for California citizens. To do
nothing for the addict, should not be an option.
Something can be done; help is available.
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Should a chronic drug or alcohol abuser
attend a treat program close to home? |
|
 Drug
and alcohol addiction typically involves
habitual routines in the environmental
scope of the individual, i.e. the
locations of their drug or alcohol use,
the people they associated with in the
activities of drug or alcohol use, etc.
Drug or alcohol addiction is not just
drug and alcohol use, it revolves around
people and things in their immediate
environment which help to trigger the
addictive behavior. The abusers location
and routines of drug and alcohol use
further trigger drug and alcohol use. It
is the constant and seemingly
unstoppable drug or alcohol use and the
hopelessness of day to day existence
which perpetuates the problem and
inhibits the native desire to stop
ruining their life through the use of
drugs and alcohol.
The above factor should not be over
looked when considering a treatment
center location. The first 2 weeks of
treatment are always the most difficult
and there are many factors at work to make
this so. In addition to what has been
covered above, a more basic factor is
this; people are creatures of habit.
Even overwhelmingly positive and beneficial changes in life, such as the
birth of a child or a new job does not
guarantee the individual will have no
thoughts of missing past negative
activities such as, drug or alcohol use,
drug or drinking acquaintances and other
associated activities. Factually this is
the normal reactive auto response of
most human beings; to do what they are
familiar with; good or bad. It is not
really that they yearn for these things,
it is just all that they have known for
some time. If the abuser is close to
home when overwhelming feelings manifest
themselves, there is a good chance he or
she will leave and get back to what they
know, drug addiction, as it is not very
far away . Due to these factors,
attending a drug rehab close to home is
seldom the correct treatment option for
chronic drug or alcohol abusers. It is
extremely therapeutic to be distanced
from their former association with drug
dealers, bars, the cabinet where the
alcohol was kept, the cigar box where
the cocaine was stored, etc. All these
triggers make the task of sobriety seem
insurmountable to the chronic drug or
alcohol abuser as these triggers
continuously stimulate a reminder of
their past addictive behaviors.
For individuals with a severe drug or
alcohol addiction problem, choosing a
long term inpatient treatment program is
another key to a successful outcome. By
providing a new, safe trigger free
environment, distanced from past
negative associations and surroundings
for an extended period of time, the
chance for success increases
dramatically.
Our program provides people with
positive circumstances to increase their
chances for a successful recovery. The
vast majority of students entering our
program, around (80%), are from out of
state or from other countries. |
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Healing Addicted Lives |
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 Call
now and request a copy of Healing
Addicted Lives written by Gary W. Smith,
Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor
and Director of Narconon Arrowhead Drug
and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education
Center.
Call anytime to speak with one of our
counselors about our program. We will
take the time to answer your questions
whether it be for yourself or a loved
one. It is possible to replace the loss
and pain of alcohol or drug addiction
with a productive, enjoyable life.
Call now (877) 340-3602.
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