Malibu Beach Recovery Center

Did you ever read an article and think “That’s really reaching for a topic”? You know what I mean—the information is something so well-known, or the topic seems so unnecessary, that you wonder how it ever made it to print. I just read one like that. It had a title similar to others I’ve seen, such as Top Cities to Retire In, or Top Cities for Singles, only this one, in USA Weekend, was Choose Health: Top Cities for Living Clean and Sober.

The writer interviewed the editorial director of addiction and recovery site The Fix, which I’ve written about before on the MBRC blog. What the director said was correct—“[when recovering,] having a community and support around you is vital,” but to name actual “top” cities that are good for living clean and sober seems a reach, at best. Every large city has bars, and even smaller towns have liquor stores. (For the record, L.A., Delray Beach, Fla., and NYC were the three top cities mentioned in the article. L.A. was lauded for its high number of treatment centers and focus on healthy activities, and the Florida city was cited for retirees that “energize this recovery community” (?) and for a recovery motorcycle club. NYC offers the most AA meetings and a big recovery population.)

These are large, well-known cities, and I would agree that there are probably lots of self-help meetings and treatment centers in cities as opposed to small towns. But just as temptation is everywhere, those in recovery, or wanting to recover, and reach out anywhere. There are online meetings, and organizations such as hospitals and churches and the like offer programs for substance abusers.

I have wondered if kids who live in rural areas turn to drugs more frequently than others (especially those where meth labs are prevalent?), and those who don’t have much hope of making a good living. But what about all the wealthy kids who are in the news for their substance abuse?

No, it’s not the city you live in that determines whether you take drugs or get – and/or stay – clean and sober. If you know anything about substance abuse, you know that it affects all socioeconomic levels, and all areas of the country, and as I hope you’re finding out the other countries I’m writing about, it affects our world. Many things affect recovery: whether you get help handling trauma, if that’s been a major problem, and don’t turn to drugs to self-medicate, or whether you can get into a (good) treatment program, and whether you stay away from triggers and the addicts you were associating with when it all started, to name a few.

Just ask Cheryl Debow, of Middletown, Ohio, whose Army veteran son died of a drug overdose while waiting for a spot in an addiction program in 2010: A Veteran’s Death, the Nation’s Shame. 

Or, on a more positive note, ask Antonio Lambert of Smyrna, Delaware, a 41-year-old mental health educator with a dual diagnosis: mood disorder with drug addiction – one of “the scariest in drug addiction” who was featured in: “After Drugs and Dark Times, Helping Others to Stand Back Up.” He grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia without much supervision and became an alcoholic at a young age. He was sexually abused, got into gunfights, and was sent to prison. When he was released his mood disorder kicked in big time and he began using cocaine. Finally he entered a Christian-based recovery program, which made all the difference. He now works as a peer supporter.

Substance abuse has a wide reach, from the largest town to the smallest city. But so does recovery and those who care about helping.

When I first saw the headline, “Overdose Rescue Kits”, I thought it was a joke, a takeoff on articles about hangover remedies. But it wasn’t a joke. (FYI, since that day, the “New York Times” has changed the headline to “Kits Using Naloxone Revive Addicts After Opiate Overdose”. They make those changes occasionally.) I knew about oral activated charcoal used for drug overdoses, but this was different.

Last October I posted about states passing legislation to help those who overdose by removing the fear of being arrested if someone calls 911 to get the person help. This article is about helping people in other countries who overdose on drugs like heroin and Oxycontin.

In Europe, someone dies from a drug overdose every hour, the article says. (I wonder what the figure is in this country.) With naloxone (or Narcan, the brand name), which blocks opiate receptors, the person may be revived. I don’t know if it’s possible in every case, but it’s been “shown to work” and “has been used for decades by surgeons and paramedics.” Naloxone is “a secondary chemical in the drug Suboxone”, according to Wikipedia.

The article mentioned there’s a question about how legal it is to distribute these kits the way other countries do it, but there are groups in Central Asia and in Europe hard at work. In China, if you call a hotline, someone on a motorcycle will deliver the kit to you. In Afghanistan, however, the person who gave you a heroin injection may also provide the Naloxone shot. L

Now the cost. Roughly between  25 cents and $2.00 in other countries, in contrast to about $6 or $9 in the U.S, depending on what article you read.

Be sure and check out the photo of the kit in the article. It looks very professional, like a first aid kit you might buy for your house. A nasal spray is available as well. I wonder why I never heard of these kits before.

In a 2009 article in Time magazine, addiction writer Maia Szalavitz wrote about programs in Chicago and North Carolina in this country.  I also found mention of the kits by a Canadian blogger. Here’s an article from the Harm Reduction Journal on a government site about a study of a program in New York City. The conclusions seemed pretty positive. Finally, NPR has had a story on the kits, too.

As the New York Times writer mentions, if someone is revived with this kit, it may send him or her back to rehab. On the other hand, Szalavitz notes a problem with these programs: could drug users also think that if this is something that can resuscitate them they can continue using drugs with impunity? Which, as we know, is playing Russian roulette with your life.

About hangover remedies…there’s news on that front as well. Just before New Year’s, several new products hit the news. Enterprising entrepreneurs have been busy.

One product, a patch, goes on an area like a forearm 45 minutes before drinking and should be worn for eight hours after the last drink. It contains B and other vitamins, Acai berry, and folic and pantothenic acid. But even the doctor that helped produce the patch said that nothing will help those who drink a lot, so doesn’t this appear senseless?

Another supposed remedy is a pill that is a blend of aspirin, an antacid, and caffeine, and yet another is a mix of vitamin B and C, magnesium and cysteine. It seems to me there are so many more productive things to be doing with one’s time, and so many better things to invent for mankind.

Update from Joan Borsten:

Fifteen minutes after we published Pat's article, the phone rang.  A woman had already read it and wanted to know where to get a Naloxone kit.  She said she wanted to have one on hand in case her brother, a heroin addict, overdosed.   While researching this article, Pat had looked without luck for a manufacturer of these kits.  She tried again and discovered that kits require a prescription and the local pharmacy may or may not have a kit on hand, but there are apparently 200 naloxone distribution programs around the country.  There is a large program in New York directed by Sharon Stancliff with the Harm Reduction Coalition.  To find one in your area, type http://hopeandrecovery.org/overdose into your search engine and enter a zip code into the program locator.

For many people, finding the right treatment program is not always easy. Not only do program offerings vary, but programs can be costly.  Some centers are strictly private pay and over many people’s budget. Or if programs do take insurance, they don’t take your insurance. Maybe you don’t even have insurance.

If you’re a family member looking for treatment for a loved one, the search can seem overwhelming.  Entering “Addiction treatment” or “Treatment center” and the name of your state into an internet search engine turns up numerous choices. What do you do?

Consider a web-based company that refers you to centers according to your specific needs and ability to pay. Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services (www.drugandalcoholrehab.net) in California is one such site.

Founder Debra Norton calls her nationwide referral service a “1-stop shop” that helps people find treatment programs in line with their budget. She started the website to “offer direction to people so they weren’t having to call 1,000 phone numbers and end up with only high-end services.” Indeed, Norton provided a wealth of information when I interviewed her recently.

For example, there are a number of centers that accept insurance. She explained that some accept Medicare, the federal insurance program for those 65 and older and others who are disabled. Similarly, she said, some accept TRICARE, the insurance program for military personnel and veterans.

Financing is another option if you have decent credit, Norton said. She knows of treatment programs that work with finance companies to help clients, and she has heard of payments as low as $200 per month.  “Maybe you’ve asked for help and your father has said he will help pay,” she said. Financing may be especially helpful in that case.  Norton takes the time to talk to those seeking treatment.

There are also sliding-fee programs. But one of the first questions Norton asks is whether you’re willing and able to travel, because not all programs exist in every state. In addition, you may be placed on a waiting list for some state-funded programs.

Norton suggests going to www.rehabusa.net, which will bring you to SAMHSA, a government site on which you can find various facilities. However, be careful when looking for referral sites, Norton advises. Some sites portray themselves as such (“Find Treatment Now”), but are actually treatment centers and may refer you to their three facilities, for example.

You can contact Norton at 800-515-3277, or by filling out the form on the DARS site. Her other is site is Outreach Services (www.drugandalcoholrehabchoices.com, 866-418-1397), which includes quite a bit of information on addiction.

I’ve been writing about alcohol and prescription pill abuse so often that I haven’t given marijuana its due.

As NIDA reports, it’s “the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.” It’s not that I haven’t been hearing about pot (or weed, skunk, Acapulco gold, tea, reefer, or any of the other terms it’s known by).  This MSN video reported that pot use is up among baby boomers these days.  

I occasionally discuss marijuana use with other parents since I have a 21-year-old. Although statistics say the numbers have been decreasing, pot smoking seems to be popular with the younger crowd in my area. Opinions among parents I’ve polled seem to run the gamut from “Everyone does it at that age. They’ll grow out of it” to true concern.

A counselor recently told me that today's pot is different from what the flower children of the 1960’s smoked. For one thing, it’s stronger today, which led her to believe it really does qualify as a “gateway” drug. She said that who are experimenting often think, “Wow, if I feel so good on this stuff, I wonder what a different drug might get me.” I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s scary.

Then there’s the standard body of thought that daily use can lead to “suboptimal functioning,” to quote NIDA again. The organization also holds that long-term use can lead to addiction, or at least to increased anxiety and depression.

In my local paper today, a 20-year-old  that attended high school with my son was arrested along with his parents for having a large cache of marijuana. The man’s brother, in a nearby town, was also arrested and charged with intent to distribute and other crimes. He had a number of guns in his house and $15,000. The 20-year-old and his parents could get seven years in prison, the article said. The 27-year-old brother, who had already been jailed for distributing pot, was expected to get up to 26 years.

Pot can decimate lives, too.

These questions, and the advice in the paragraph that precedes them, are courtesy of the CSAT site (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment), part of SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) in The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The link on the CSAT site where I found them is no longer active, and I couldn’t find a page they had been moved to, either. It’s unfortunate because the information seems extremely helpful. Sometimes the best questions are the ones you wouldn’t think to ask.

If you or someone you care for is dependent on alcohol or drugs and needs treatment, it is important to know that no single treatment approach is appropriate for all individuals. Finding the right treatment program involves careful consideration of such things as the setting, length of care, philosophical approach and your or your loved one's needs.

Here are 12 questions to consider when selecting a treatment program: