According to an article from the New York Times from May 28, 2009, “Government spending related to smoking and the abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs reached $468 billion in 2005, accounting for more than one-tenth of combined federal, state and local expenditures for all purposes, according to a new study.”
The report was released by the National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse which is a private group that operates at Columbia University. Most of the spending, according to the article, goes to health care costs that occur after abuse, such as lung cancer or overdoses. Only 2 percent of the spending goes toward prevention.
This study was the first of its kind to calculate abuse-related spending by all three levels of government, legislative, executive and judicial. The approach now leads to other social problems that require government spending such as homelessness or child abuse.
“Federal studies show that the best drug treatment programs pay for themselves 12 times over, the report said, because patients who succeed have quick improvements in health and behavior.”
A promising piece of the report cited the education that has been provided by the anti-smoking campaigns. With the combination of educating people about the effects of smoking and the taxes on cigarettes, smoking is down overall.
The center thinks that addiction treatment centers should be covered more widely by insurance companies because then more people will take advantage of it.
Insurance companies argue that record of drug treatment is not sufficient enough to implement any sort of changes. The report overall suggests that we need to invest more in prevention and less on the law enforcement aspect of drug abuse and addiction.
There is that old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and this report is just an indication of how true that really is.

Current research in anti-addiction has opened the door for prescription medications that allegedly treat the symptoms of addiction. Naltrexone is the newest medication to be making headlines. The news is especially controversial because it demonstrates the possibility that addiction may soon be treated like a brain disease that a family doctor can address. This development is similar to the way in which depression moved from being treated in mental health facilities 30 years ago, to primary care doctor’s offices, with medications like Prozac being readily available to anyone who seeks treatment.

Naltrexone functions by blocking the release of brain chemicals that are linked to pleasure and excitement. Earlier drugs used to treat addicts, like Suboxone for opioid addiction, similarly prevent the release of feel good chemicals when taking opiates, but can still be addictive because they contain opioid ingredients.  A federally funded study for Naltrexone called COMBINE compared cognitive-behavioral therapy alone with the combined treatment of therapy and the medication. The study showed that patients receiving the combined treatment were more likely to stay sober and drank less if they did relapse.

The general sentiment in the rehab industry is that medications do not treat the long-term effects of addiction. The traditional method of treatment includes the 12 step program and intensive therapy workshops. Although it is a disease of the brain, there is also a significant behavioral aspect that requires special attention and cannot be cured with a pill. Advocates of traditional treatment facilities stand behind the principle that the road to recovery requires foundational healing and total system recovery – a transformation that cannot be discovered by medication alone.

The holidays can be one of the most challenging times of the year for families who have someone suffering from substance abuse. The abundance of drinking at parties and social gatherings can be torturous for a recovering alcoholic. Teens with winter blues are looking for fun, and it’s unfortunate that many get their kicks through illegal drugs. For young adults who have been suffering from addiction over a long period of time, it might be hard to convince them to sober up or get clean for the holidays. For families who are trying to find runaways in the cold of winter, it’s a bleak scenario to be in.

Despite all the difficulties that come with both addiction and recovery during the holidays, the season also brings a tremendous opportunity of hope and a chance for change. If a friend or family member is newly out of rehab, they will be looking to you for support. Staying sober with your friend or relative can help with their recovery, and make them feel less inclined to drink at parties. If you have a feeling beforehand that drugs will be involved, you can be the one to suggest an alternative social activity and have fun without all the drama of drug addiction.

As family and friends come together, the holiday season can be a great time to plan an intervention. Taking the plunge to go into detox and commit to rehab isn’t easy. Sometimes being reunited with the friend who moved away or the wise Grandparent can make all the difference in a young person’s life. It’s a great opportunity to share love and concern for someone, without feeling too awkward, because it’s the season of sharing and giving. The greatest gift you can give to someone suffering from addiction this holiday season is to support them in getting help and treatment for their condition.

To help increase awareness about the drug and alcohol addiction crisis, A&E has opened up The Recovery Project Shop. This special store has books and DVDs, including copies of the hit series Intervention, all about how to deal with abuse, addiction, and recovery. A&E will donate a portion of the sales made in the online store to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a non-profit organization with a goal to reduce drug abuse nationwide.

People across the nation are dying every single day from prescription drug abuse overdoses and illegal substance abuse. It’s a scary situation when addiction hits people in every community. To help our nation get some answers, today is Drug Facts Chat Day. Head on over to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s site to chat about drug abuse and its impact on your life and community. The chat lasts all day from 8 am to 6pm EST.

Also in the spirit of Drug Facts Chat Day, a recent Washington Post story featured one family’s struggle as they lost their daughter, Nicole, to a heroin addiction. Nicole’s mother and an addiction specialist were on hand for a live discussion on dealing with addiction. They answered questions on a wide range of topics – everything from how to treat someone in recovery and what to do to get help for someone you love who is addicted.

The nation’s best drug rehabilitation centers have programs in place that not only have high success rates, but more than that they empower people to make lifelong positive changes to regain control of their lives.

How does a drug rehab facility do that? How does a treatment program successfully show people how to change and inspire them to actually do it? There is no simple answer to those questions, but the top programs do have some noteworthy similarities.

1) Individual Attention – To really break an addiction, changes have to be made on a personal level. If the program isn’t personal, it doesn’t make sense to expect individual results.

2) Social Strength – For many people, social interaction is how they got involved with substance abuse. Making friends and building relationships with people who aren’t interested in binge drinking or getting high is essential to establishing a clean, sober life.

3) Clinical and Therapeutic Services – Addiction recovery requires some degree of medical attention and therapy at the different stages of the rehab process to ensure the best treatment options are being employed.

4) Residential Opportunities – A residential option gives those in recovery, especially for long term drug rehab, a chance to completely focus on their treatment without the temptations of old habits and behaviors.

5) Goal-Oriented, Life Skill Development – It’s always easier to accomplish a task when there’s a goal in mind. Building the life skills that are important in every facet of a person’s life is essential to not only breaking the alcohol and drug addiction, but also to ensuring the person is capable of meeting future challenges in their life. By cultivating personal goals and individual life skills, recovery should be life-long.

Drug rehabilitation is one of several drug treatment options for those suffering from drug addiction – or even alcoholism or other substance abuse. Tough government policies often make getting treatment more difficult, especially if abusers are sent to jails with no rehab facilities or programs. Serving time may encourage people to think twice about using drugs, but for some who are seriously addicted, prison provides no cure to their addiction.

That’s why some states across the nation are revisiting the local drug laws to force drug rehab onto offenders, instead of putting them into prisons. California is in the midst of a new proposition, called the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA). If passed, the Act will provide drug rehab services to people suffering from illegal drug addictions.

Not everyone thinks the policy will be successful. Actor Martin Sheen is reported by the Los Angeles Times to be against the proposition, because it affords drug abusers too many second chances without consequences. The topic is relevant and personal to Sheen – he has openly discussed his own struggle with alcoholism, and the difficulties his son Charlie Sheen has had with substance abuse. As someone who has experienced the negative aspects of alcohol and drug abuse, on his own life and the effects on his family, he has said it’s important to keep consequences into place – to stay tough on the issue of drugs.

Both points of view raise very good issues. Rehab can be forced on to someone, but unless the person wants to change, they won’t. If the Act passes, the state of California will need to have an excellent drug rehab program into place to ensure success.

Drug treatment for crystal meth at Gatehouse Academy is very similar to drug treatment for such drugs as cocaine or heroin. Cognitive behavioral therapies that are designed to modify the addict’s thinking and behaviors in order to increase coping skills and to help the addict learn how to stay sober once outside of treatment. These therapies help the addict learn how to handle various life stressors.

There are no pharmacological treatments for meth detox and withdrawal at this time. Antidepressants have been shown to help many because depression is prevalent in addicts that are currently using and those that are in recovery. Many suffer from depression because the effect that meth has on the brain drains dopamine and slows dopamine production from the very first use.

Long-term drug rehab treatment is needed to help the meth addict understand his addiction, learn how to cope with it and to teach the skills needed to live a sober life in mainstream society.

Statistics show that success for addicts improves when the individual participates in a drug rehabilitation program. The type of program that works best varies from person to person, based on the individual’s needs. Inpatient treatment has greater success for people with a long history of abuse because they learn the coping skills necessary to re-enter society. Outpatient treatment works best for people with a recent history of abuse. However, people that try to quit on their own or use medically assisted detoxification with no additional therapies have the same success rate as those who were never treated at all—which is a very low success rate. The reason that treatment, whether inpatient or outpatient, works is because after 3 months, improvements can be seen from the detoxification to relearning coping skills.

Gatehouse Academy is an extended care treatment center for young men and women in need of long term drug rehab or alcohol rehab. We offer the opportunity for young adults from the ages of 17-25 to learn life skills, continue formalized education, enhance physical well-being, and recover from the detrimental effects of chemical dependency.

If you have any questions please contact us.