No matter how severe, drug addiction can be handled with good treatment. I recently read an article about a young girl from a middle class family who ended up hooked on crack cocaine and living on the streets in New Jersey. She spent years taking drugs – went from ecstasy to pain pills to crack. Today, after several years and several failed attempts at treatment, she is finally nearing the end of a drug rehab in Pennsylvania.

And while there were many times that she faced death – contracting both Hepatitis C and HIV as a result of her addiction - her mother remained hopeful that she would some day recover from addiction and never stopped trying to get her help. 

When I was addicted to drugs, several years ago, if the decision were left up to me, I never would have gone into a drug rehab program. Thankfully I also had a family who never gave up on me and made sure that I went into a good program.

And I’ve now been off drugs for six years.

The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter how severe the addiction is. Getting into a successful drug rehab program, with family support, can fix it. Don’t give up. Contact a drug rehab program counselor today – they can help you.

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One of the most important elements of successful drug rehab is enabling the former addict to handle the environment they go into after completing treatment. Some go back to the same place, the same people and the same situations that either got them into drugs or alcohol in the first place or made it difficult for them to stop. For those who don’t feel ready to go back home directly after doing a drug rehab in Florida, we now have ‘recovery communities.’

One recovery community, written about in a recent article, is Delray Beach, Florida. Over 3500 recovering alcoholics and drug addicts live in half-way houses or on their own in a community of people they feel understand what they’ve gone through, and what they’re still going through. They attend meetings together, support each other, hire each other, and take care of each other.

Although there are similar communities throughout the U.S., Delray Beach is the largest. People live there for a while before they go back home, or they stay for years – some permanently.

Is this really necessary for recovery – for some, it may well be. But a good drug rehab program can often help the person cope with their environment once they return. If you’re looking for a good drug rehab program that can do that, contact a drug rehab counselor who can help you determine which type of facility is best for your situation.

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Here’s a classic story of a mother’s anguish over her son’s death from alcohol – Chris was only 23. His father had an alcohol addiction and had committed suicide. Chris was dead set against alcohol and drugs. Nevertheless, he started drinking when he was 15. Mom tried to get help for him, but she didn’t get much from the government agencies she was going to. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to know that she could contact a private drug rehab counselor who would help her find the help he needed.

After years of alcohol addiction, Chris died from liver disease. At only 23 years old, his liver was so shot he couldn’t overcome an infection.

Here’s how she ends her story:
“I wish my son was out there still, although there is some respite in death for someone who was always going to find living hard. I say to myself: at least I know he is safe now.”

Pitiful. And what’s worse is that something could have been done about it. If you have a family member who is abusing drugs or alcohol, contact a drug rehab program counselor who can guide you to the help they need.

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When you’re high, you’re not thinking about the effect you’re having on your family. In fact, one of the reasons you’re still on drugs might be that you’ve already had a glimpse of the harm you’ve done and instead of doing something about it, you get high again to numb the guilt. It’s a vicious circle. But you can end it. Just one call to a drug rehab program counselor can do it. And whether you’re the person taking drugs or the family member, that call needs to be made fast.

What are you doing to your family? The damage is widespread, but here’s just one thing to look at – a journalist’s recent observations while interviewing Amy Winehouse:

“Amy has never exactly been a picture of health, but she looks especially worse for wear - hunched, heavy-lidded and just frail. Now her words are slurred, her eyelids drooping. Her head wobbles into a nod. She falls asleep for a second, wakes with a start, mutters and drops off again. The smoldering cigarette in her left hand falls to the floor.”

Imagine seeing someone you care about in that condition. And it’s not an unusual picture; it’s probably how I looked when I showed up on my mother’s doorstep after years of drug abuse and a recent six-month stint with heroin. It was a long time before I appreciated how devastating it must have been for someone who cares about me to see me in that condition. But it did get her to find a drug rehab immediately. She picked up the phone and made the call then and there.

If you’re an addict, or a drug user, realize that’s where you’re headed – if you’re not already there. And if you’re a family member, even if you haven’t yet seen the person you care about in that condition, know that this is the future you’ll be facing. Do something about it now – contact a drug rehab program counselor who can help you find the right drug rehab facility.

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One of the many consequences of drug addiction is the addict becoming involved in criminal behavior to support their habit. Sometimes the drug addict becomes a thief, sometimes he gets prescription drugs illegally by going from doctor to doctor and faking symptoms, and sometimes he sells drugs. Drug addiction is bad enough, but criminality puts one more nail in the coffin. And all of it could have been avoided had someone gotten them into drug rehab earlier.

Dannel Malloy, mayor of Stamford, Connecticut is learning this lesson too late. His son, Ben, is a drug dealer. I’m sure the mayor didn’t know about it – he may not even have known that his son was taking drugs – but Ben Malloy sold drugs to undercover agents four times during a two month investigation. When he was finally arrested he had 34 bags of marijuana in his car and more in his bedroom – along with some cocaine.

No doubt, the parents are shocked.

There’s no news yet on whether Ben was selling drugs to support his own habit, but based on the amount of marijuana he had, it looks like his motivation may go beyond that. If he’s not selling drugs to support his own habit, chances are he’ll go to prison instead of getting the opportunity to go to drug court and do drug rehab instead. And maybe he needs more than drug rehab. Who knows how many people he’s introduced to drugs, or how many of those people became addicts.

This is just one more reason to make sure you are alert to the possibility of the people you care about taking drugs, and getting them into a drug rehab program as early as possible. Drugs ruin lives, prison does the same. Put them together, and you’ve got a situation it’s really hard to overcome.

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I read an article today by an NBC news correspondent about a 15 year old Texas girl, Mariela Torres, who just completed treatment for heroin addiction – cheese heroin. The reporter was alarmed by her story, and by the fact that heroin dealers are targeting kids before they even get into high school. Obviously, the drug scene is not his usual beat. Mariela is now drug free thanks to drug detox and a three-month drug rehab program, but thousands of high school kids in Texas are still in trouble.

She was offered ‘cheese’ – a mixture of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM that looks like parmesan cheese – when she was 13 years old. The “friend” who gave it to her told her it wasn’t really a drug, it just makes you feel happy. Two years later, a heroin addict, she was lucky enough to get into a drug detox and drug rehab that sorted her out.

She told the reporter that when she sees other kids using cheese heroin at school, she still wants to take it, but she knows she shouldn’t and, so far, has resisted the temptation.

Parents educating their kids about drugs is a major influencing factor on whether or not kids take them. Kids are 50 percent less likely to use drugs and alcohol if their parents teach them about the dangers. But parents also have to understand the drug scene and know what to tell their kids to expect.

More than 5000 school kids in Texas have tried cheese, according to a recent study by the Dallas Independent School district, and more than two dozen have died of overdose. Check your kids out carefully, become familiar with the drug scene, the terminology, how they can get it – and make them aware that someone who tells them it’s not really a drug isn’t telling them the truth. Find out if your kids are trying it, or other drugs and, if so, get them into a drug rehab program fast before the situation gets worse.

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I came across an article today about a doctor who was addicted to prescription drugs. And while it is unfortunate to read a story about someone struggling with addiction, what was more unfortunate about this story was the fact that several people noticed she was suffering from substance abuse and never made an effort to get her into a drug rehab program.

The result was she was finally arrested on charges related to her prescription drug addiction. The Medical Board in the state suspended her license. She then ended up getting into a three month long drug rehab program and is now awaiting sentencing on charges that could prevent her from practicing medicine for 10 years.

The signs that she was addicted were there. Per the article the doctor showed many signs that her addiction could even endanger patients. And many noticed the signs, including her staff, pharmacists and even the authorities. Yet no one did anything to get her help.

When I was struggling with drug addiction several years ago I was not willing to get help. The only reason I went into a drug rehab program was because of a push from family members. That push saved my life and I now have over six years off drugs.

Why didn’t friends, families or co-workers reach out to this woman and try to get her help when they saw signs that she was on drugs? Why didn’t anyone help her to get into a drug rehab program?

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I just read an article about a house in Salem, Oregon being purchased for mothers getting court-ordered drug treatment. The plan is to use the facility to house both the mothers doing drug rehab and their children so the kids won’t have to go to a foster home.

Although this seems like a great idea, it could actually be a drawback. Anyone who is going through drug rehab - mother or not - has to be able to focus on their treatment without the distractions and responsibilities of their normal day to day activity.

In fact, being able to concentrate on handling the issues behind your drug addiction one of the major reasons why residential, long-term drug rehab is more successful that other treatment models.

Although you definitely have to make sure kids are well taken care of, I think a different arrangement would be best all around. If mom can be given the time to get through a drug rehab program successfully, the kids will benefit from her absence in the end. 

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I read an article today about a high school kid who was arrested for possession of marijuana. School officials found the drug in the kid’s pocket, wrapped in a pamphlet telling parents how to recognize the signs of drug use. One might think of the packaging as the classic ploy of the criminal trying to get caught, but it may also be the drug dealer teaching his customer how to ensure his parents don’t know he’s into drugs - which is what I suspect happened. One way or another, the kid needs to get into drug rehab fast.

Statistics have shown that the sooner you get someone into drug rehab, the better the chances are of them getting off drugs and staying that way.

If your kid, or someone else you care about, is showing signs of drug abuse, get them into a drug rehab program fast. Obviously, dealers are doing everything they can to get people hooked and help them avoid detection. Unfortunately, you need to be smarter about these things than they are.

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Since the recent bad press on Malibu drug treatment centers, I haven’t seen many reports on new celebrities checking into rehab at any of those locations. In fact, it looks like football star Ben Cousins left the Malibu rehab facility he was in and checked into rehab back in Australia. Perhaps Cousins read the reports and decided he’d rather be in a drug rehab with a higher success rate.

While it’s true the amenities in Malibu are excellent, that doesn’t help much if you can’t get off drugs.

The best way to find a drug rehab that will work is by contacting a drug rehab program counselor who is familiar with all the different programs, how well they work, and whether or not they would be suitable for your circumstances.

You’ve no doubt read plenty of articles about people going into rehab over and over again - one relapse after another. There are thousands of drug rehab programs – if you choose the one that’s right for you, you’ll only do it once.

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