IS YOUR KID AN ADDICT

Is Your Kid an Addict?
Addiction to drugs and booze are leading teenagers to the ER at a skyrocketing rate. How can you help them before they get there—and how much blame lies with the parents?

By Jennifer Matesa

08/15/12  SOURCE: THE FIX


I know a 23-year-old NYU graduate—I'll call her Sophia—who had an arrangement with her dad when she was in high school: he would buy her booze if she would buy him pot. Since many folks don’t think either pot or alcohol are “hard” drugs, some adults—including Sophia's dad—don’t have a problem with such boundary-crossing bartering. For my friend, however, it created a number of conflicts: for one thing, it meant Sophia was dealing in illegal drugs, and exposing herself to prosecution for felony crimes. For another, it meant she got a clear message from her father that teenage drinking isn’t harmful.

So began Sophia’s drinking career as a young teenager. In high school she drank hard and hung out with likeminded kids. Her grades dropped, and her parents switched her school and put her in therapy—perhaps her father couldn’t imagine what might be leading his daughter to “act out.”

In college she continued to drink, picked up weed, popped Xanax and got wasted regularly. Finally she realized that if she were going to have any chance at a normal life, she’d have to get sober. So she did, at age 21, in the Manhattan 12-step community. To this day, her dad doesn’t get how much weight his lax attitude about drugs and alcohol carried.

This scenario is more common than you might think. “Sometimes we’ll see a situation where one parent smokes pot,” says Nicole Kurash, LSW, director of inpatient adolescent programs at Gateway Rehabilitation in Pittsburgh. “It hasn’t been a problem—they can hold a job, they’re successful, so they don’t think their kid smoking pot is a problem either. A lot of times what we see is, ‘If I let my kid drink at the house, it’s OK. At least it’s in my home.’”


“The substance becomes a remedy for normal emotional struggles,” one expert says. “How do you ask a girl to to dance? Is anybody going to like me? I feel my body going in a thousand different directions—all these things are managed by the substance. What you’ve learned is, ‘I don’t have to feel that.’"

Sophia’s situation might sound beyond the ordinary—her dad buying her booze if she buys him pot. But it’s how ordinary it came to seem to Sophia that’s so significant an illustrator of the teenage epidemic of drinking. “I was like, ‘Who am I trying to hide this from if it’s my dad who’s buying it for me?’” Sophia recalls. “My therapist told me I was totally crying out for rules.”

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classify underage drinking as a public health crisis. Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug among America’s youth, more than nicotine and illegal drugs, and people aged 12 to 20 drink 11% of all the booze consumed in the US. Most of this alcohol—more than 90%, in fact—is consumed in binges. In 2008, underage drinkers made 190,000 emergency department visits for alcohol-related reasons.

“We see kids coming in on alcohol and marijuana, and also prescription opioids—first it’s Percocets and Vicodins, then Oxys, then heroin,” says Patricia Schram, MD, an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and faculty at the Children’s Hospital Boston Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research.

“People are dying from this,” says Kurash. “It’s not this horrible homeless person living under a bridge using IV heroin—that’s not the total reality of who loses their lives. It is also the wealthy suburban kids who are mixing their prescription drugs. It’s the beautiful 19-year-old girl who goes off to college to be a teacher and gets pressured into drinking too much and overdoses and dies.”

Gateway’s adolescent program serves kids between 13 and 21, and most of the kids they see come from “privileged suburban neighborhoods,” not the inner city, says Kurash. “They have access and money, and sometimes they’re held less accountable. We always have kids who use alcohol and marijuana, and we’re seeing plenty of kids who are using prescription pills—opiates and benzos like Ativan and Xanax.”

“I’m seeing kids who get addicted on their first time” trying prescription drugs like oxycodone, Schram says. “Their prefrontal lobes are not fully developed, they don’t have brakes on their impulses. That’s why they engage in high-risk behaviors—not only drugs, but other high-risk behaviors.”

What happens in the brains of kids at risk for alcoholism and addiction? “We see that even prior to use themselves, they have some abnormalities in the cognitive control circuitry in the brain,” says Bonnie J. Nagel, PhD, who runs the developmental brain imaging lab at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Nagel’s five-year, $1.6 million ongoing study underwritten by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is looking at the effects of substances on adolescent brains. She enrolls kids ages 12 to 15 before they’ve started to drink or use and follows them throughout time.

“We know that family history of alcoholism increases one’s likelihood of going on to develop alcoholism,” Nagel says, “but we don’t understand the neurobiology of that. When we bring in kids and throw them in the scanner and say they have a predisposition to alcoholism, we don’t know how much is genetic and how much is environment.” But her initial findings suggest, she says, that “there are abnormalities in the circuitry of the brain during decision-making that would suggest atypical kind of control.” Which means that when kids are placed in a heated situation, unlike adults—whose wiring has had a chance to develop by years of experience making good decisions—kids’ fragile circuitry might break down.



Most experts agree that genes don’t make a person an addict or alcoholic. Instead, as Canadian addictions expert Gabor Maté notes in his book about addiction, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, addiction is one result of “an infinitely complex and moment-by-moment interaction between genetic and environmental effects.” The way parents model—or don’t model—healthy ways of negotiating feelings has a profound influence on kids ability to deal with their own emotions.



“In addicts—and you see this in adolescents—there’s an inability to self-soothe or manage emotions,” says Michael Clemmens, PhD, a gestalt therapist and author specializing in addiction who lectures internationally and who for many years worked with teens with addiction. How do parents read the signs of addiction?—kids who are headed for trouble are quick to anger and show discomfort with feelings, Clemmens says.

“The substance becomes a remedy for normal emotional struggles,” he says. “How do you ask a girl to to dance? Is anybody going to like me? I feel my body going in a thousand different directions.—All these things are managed by the substance. Emotional, moral and cognitive development is slowed because you don’t get to move through those problems on your own. What you’ve learned is, ‘I don’t have to feel that.’"

The desire not to feel, not to face reality, comes out in kids’ behavior: their grades may drop; they may change friends; they may isolate themselves in their rooms; their tempers may snap for no reason; they may swipe cash or possessions. Worst of all, they may begin to be secretive or deceptive. “I can’t get the kid to engage in treatment if they see I’m pointing out they’re lying to me,” says Harvard’s Schram.

It’s important for parents to keep in touch with their kids’ social networks. “If your kid is hanging with other kids who are using,” says Gateway’s Kurash, “you can bet your kid is also using.”

As in my the case of my friend, the NYU grad, parents see the acting-out—the changes in friends, dropping grades, skipped classes, failure to communicate—and often miss the underlying addiction. So how should parents go about learning how to identify addiction in their kids, and how to talk to them about it?

Parents may be tempted to go through kids’ rooms and backpacks, but most experts agree that, without hard evidence, that’s likely to exacerbate the problem. “If you go in there without any evidence, it communicates mistrust big-time,” says Clemmens. “If there’s an incident, or a pattern of using, that’s one of the options. If it’s just because they’re an adolescent, it creates an atmosphere of mistrust.” If parents have evidence, he said, it’s a good idea to have a third party conduct the search so the parent can continue to be the good cop.

“Searching rooms, notebooks, journals—I come down kind of hard on parents who do that,” says Heidi Van Doeren, a Pittsburgh-based private-practice therapist who has worked with teens with addiction since 1994. When parents search their kids’ stuff, Van Doeren says, “they’re trying to manage their own anxiety—which is an impossible phenomenon—by controlling an external circumstance.

“Look,” she says, “we’re trying to raise confident individuals. So if you find drugs, what are you doing to do with it? If you read the journal, what do you do with that information? It’s not like that information leads to a more empowered stance. Do you really think it’s going to get the kid to stop smoking pot?”

Instead, parents should learn how to talk with kids about addiction and drug-use, and most of all learn how to demonstrate the behaviors they want kids to adopt. Instead of just talking a good talk, parents need to walk the walk.

“I believe you hook the kid—I believe you ask them, ‘What does this behavior cause for you? What is it in your life that you are interested in that this could jeopardize? Whether it’s getting into college, getting that girl, having your parents finally respect you—you inquire into what they’re most interested in.”

“I think the first thing to do is to ask them, ‘Where are you going? How are you doing?’ Keep communication open, and model talking about feelings,” says Clemmens. “And that’s tough with adolescents because they don’t want to talk about that shit with us.”

Clemmens noted that kids are often smarter and more perceptive than parents give them credit for. “If we talk about drug-use in condemning, prohibitionary ways, or in joking ways—those are things adolescents can pick up on,” he says. “Parents need to be communicating, ‘My concern is not about the drug, it’s about you. You have to be aware of the impact of these drugs on you.’”

Experts said parents need to be firm about setting limits on drinking early in kids’ lives. Kurash says Gateway emphasizes that parents are legally responsible for their kids’ decision to drink, and for any consequences. “Number one, it’s against the law,” she says. “Number two, a child can overdose from alcohol, especially young kids who don’t know their tolerance level, and then you have that on your hands.”

Clemmens grew up in rural eastern Pennsylvania, in Amish country, and went to Catholic men’s college where, he says, all the students and even the priests smoked pot. Clemmens himself began getting drunk at 14, then progressed to cannabis, meth and cocaine; he has been sober since 1975. He urges parents to set limits by helping their kids understand the physiological consequences of excess drinking in teen years: it disrupts brain development. “It’s different from having a glass of wine with dinner as an adult,” he says. “To get drunk behind the barn with a bunch of your friends as an adolescent—that’s just plain too early.”

Clemmens and others also agreed that it’s impossible to talk about preventing teen addiction without talking about the health of the entire family. The CDC’s long-running Adverse Childhood Experiencesstudy shows that risks of addiction and alcoholism increase with the number of traumas kids endure during childhood. These include physical, emotional and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; living with substance abuser, a convicted offender, and/or a family member with mental illness; and seeing domestic violence.

“When you have family environments that do not teach affect regulation—learning how to soothe yourself—and you have the biochemistry that’s already a potential time-bomb, there’s the tendency to move in the direction of addiction,” Clemmens says.

In order for parents to teach kids how to regulate their feelings, the parents themselves may have to start with their own emotions. Van Doeren urges parents to confront their own feelings of insecurity and inability to control their kids. “I ask the parents, ‘So what’s it like for you that your 15-year-old son is moving away from you? What kind of support do you need from your system?’ I would encourage Al-Anon.

“I encourage parents to talk about their own experience with their kids: ‘I’m worried; I love you so much and maybe this worry is all mine, but I want to talk with you about this,’” she says. “If you can do this without unbridled emotional out-of-control-ness, which is never helpful—if you can keep from saying, ‘You need to quit the football team, you need to do this or that or the other thing’—then it can work out well.’”

Fix Contributor Jennifer Matesa also writes about addiction and recovery at her blog,guineveregetssober.com.

Cedars at Cobble Hill British Columbia

About
Cedars at Cobble Hill is a co-ed residential addiction treatment facility located on the west coast of British Columbia.Call 1-866-716-2006 - staff available 24/7.
Description
Cedars at Cobble Hill is a residential addiction treatment center on Vancouver Island offering the serenity, hope and healing you need to embark on your journey of recovery. Situated on over 65 acres of property with several kilometers of trails our facility takes advantage of the natural beauty of British Columbia's west coast. This environment provides patients with both privacy and a natural th
erapeutic setting.

Our Vancouver Island rehab primarily treats alcohol, drugs and eating disorders as well as gambling and other addictions. Our Physicians, certified in addiction medicine, work individually with patients to formulate achievable goals supported by their expertise. Cedars can also provide psychiatric diagnoses and work with co-occurring disorders. Medical detox support is available 24/7. Treatment plans are individualized to best fit the needs and goals of each patient.
Cedars has a talented and dynamic group of individuals consisting of some of the best professionals in the field of addiction. Our team of licensed counselors, addiction medicine physicians, nurses and support staff all play an equal part in supporting our clients and their recovery. The passion and dedication of our staff creates the best possible healing environment for our clients.

Cedars at Cobble Hill’s inpatient residential treatment is the best Vancouver Island has to offer. From our accommodation to our staff we offer the most accessible patient support. We look forward to being a part of your journey to recovery, and helping you create the foundation to living a sober and healthy life.

General Information"your full recovery is our sole purpose."





3741 Holland Ave.
Cobble Hill, British Columbia V0R 1L0


Phone (866) 716-2006
Email info@cedarscobblehill.com
Website http://www.cedarscobblehill.com

"Expanding Your Recovery Toolkit"

Dear editor,
The October session marks the one-year anniversary of the "Expanding Your Recovery Toolkit" workshop series.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Free monthly workshop series for individuals and families with a current or past drug/alcohol addiction issue. Next session meets Tues., Oct. 16, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc., 252 W. Swamp Rd., Unit 12, Doylestown, Pa. Topics include drug addiction from a parent’s perspective; honesty, openness and willingness in recovery; and a group discussion on relapse warning signs. Refreshments. To register, call 215-345-6644 or email JSchwartz@councilsepa.org.

CONTACT:

Jessica Schwartz, community development coordinator Cathie Cush

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc. C2 Communications

215-345-6644, ext. 3122 215-579-2076

jschwartz@councilsepa.org CathieCush@comcast.net

Beverly J. Haberle, executive director

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

215-345-6644

bhaberle@ councilsepa.org

CALENDAR LISTING:

“Expanding Your Recovery Toolkit” Workshop Oct. 16 in Doylestown

Meeting tocelebrate one-year anniversary of peer-led education and support program

TOP OF THE WORLD RANCH CANADA

Company Overview Top of the World Ranch Treatment Centre provide an immersive ranch recovery experience with Leading-edge programs and expert, dedicated staff in a safe, serene natural setting in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in British Columbia.

Description
Our Ranch Statements:
Ranch Statements

Mission Statement:


Ensuring the optimum potential for mental, physical and spiritual healing for our clients by bringing together the finest team of highly trained, intelligent and compassionate staff that delivers high impact evidence based and experiential holistic treatment programming and continuing care in an environment most conducive to our client’s immediate and future success. To be sought after as the centre of choice.

Top of the World Ranch Treatment Centre’s Vision Statement:

In congruence with our abundance of exemplary nature, to put into place the physical conditions which enhance and optimize our client’s experience and potential for mental, physical and spiritual growth and for thier healing from addictions and other mental health disorders.

Staff Statement:

We act as a compassionate synergistic team where trust and accountability reign and ego does not exist. We communicate to each other with forthright consideration and in the best interests of each other, our clients and this centre. We support each other with the knowledge that each one of us is an equally important part of our team and that within this synergy we will continue to elevate each other individually and within our organization with the understanding that continued growth is one of our guiding principals. To be sought after as the employer of choice.

Top of the World Philosophy:

We are here to help to create the optimal conditions for healing to take place for our clients. We believe that the best way to achieve this is through our own actions, thoughts and words and that as a staff we must continually focus on our own mental, physical and spiritual health as we must have these in place in high degree to offer this to another.

We wish for our clients to understand that the universe has a plan for them to be happy, to be whole and to find purpose and meaning in their lives. That this plan will be an on going beautiful, yet challenging journey that has an immensely positive impact on their own lives and the lives of others and that the necessary first step on their journey is their own sobriety and holistic wellbeing.



Contact Info
Phone +1 250-426-6306
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THANK YOU FROM HANSEN FOUNDATION

Heartfelt Thanks
to the Sponsors, Supporters & Volunteers
of our 16th Annual Golf Tournament
September 25, 2012.

Our event was a HUGE success, and we couldn't have done it without you!

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Jason Watson . Amy Manzione . Michael Thomas . Michael Lentz . Nina Soifer
Tim Glenn . John Ruskey . Holly Jeffries Dionne . Christie Goddard
Cianel Palmer . Hansen House Volunteers

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HALFWAY THERE FLORIDA

MissionTo provide any individual who wishes to escape from the torment of Addiction with an environment, an example and comprehensive resources and program components, through which to both attain and maintain a lifestyle of healthful and prolonged Recovery, and to design & implement this aspiration in a way that demonstrates outstanding rates of efficacy.
Description
Halfway There of South Florida has been providing a residential living environment highly-conducive to sustained recovery, for over a decade, now. Its high success rate is rooted in.


• A Strong Recovery Ethic
• A Family-Oriented Setting
. Pet Friendly
• Comprehensive Program Resources


Addiction is a Multi-Faceted Condition which requires an equally Multi-Dimensional Treatment

1100 SW 4th ave
Delray Beach, Florida 33444
Always open

Phone (352) 339-5476
Email Carie@halfwaythereflorida.com
Website http://www.halfwaythereflorida.com

Booze to Flow Through Disney's Magic Kingdom

A Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant needs alcohol to be authentic, park bosses decide.
By Chrisanne Grise

09/17/12  Source :The Fix

"You have your purists. You have the people saying. 'Walt is spinning in his grave'" admits A.J. Wolfe, editor of theDisney Food Blog. She reports a 50-50 split in reader opinion on a new decree in Disney's Magic Kingdom: for the first time in the park's 41 years, guests will be able to buy booze. But before we start conjuring images of drunken mobs brutalizing Mickey Mouse and friends, the wine and beer will only be sold at one specific restaurant and only during dinner hours. The "Be Our Guest" restaurant is based on Beauty and the Beast, and will serve French cuisine, which apparently demands alcoholic accompaniments. "You cannot walk into a French restaurant and not get a glass of wine or beer," explains Maribeth Bisienere, vice president of food and beverage for Walt Disney Parks. "It made more sense to do it than not to do it." Be Our Guest will now offer 20 wines and several Belgian and French beers. Says Bisienere, "We really wanted to wait until it became something that worked with the particular theme."

Puking Myself Clean

After realizing with horror that I'd become a full-on opium fiend, I needed a private and cheap way to kick. The infamous "Thai puking rehab" turned out to be my best bet.




By Steven Martin  Source The Fix

09/13/12

“You are going to suffer,” an old monk said to me upon my arrival at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery a couple of hours north of Bangkok, after I’d introduced myself as an opium addict.

Buddhist monasteries have traditionally acted as places of refuge. Wat Tham Krabok is no exception, but this particular wat (Thai for “Buddhist monastery”) goes above and beyond tradition. Here, under the auspices of monks, novices, and nuns in toga-like robes, you will find scores of recovering drug addicts from countries all over the globe, ready to take a particularly unpalatable cure involving five days of induced high-intensity vomiting.


I needed a way to get clean with as little attention and expense as possible, and the monastery on the edge of the jungle seemed the only way out.

The detox facility at Wat Tham Krabok had been founded specifically to treat opium addiction, but that was fifty years earlier, back when the vice was commonplace. Now, except for that one elderly monk, no one at the wat remembered ever having treated an opium habitué. He backed off from his initial pronouncement when he found that I had been heavily into it for only a few months. “We used to get addicts who had been smoking opium daily for ten or twenty years,” the old monk explained. “The local people used to complain that at night they could hear the addicts’ screams all the way into town.”

These were my unusual circumstances when I arrived at Wat Tham Krabok in November of 2007: After helping to report a story for the Asian edition of Time magazine in 2001, about how Chinese-style opium dens had somehow survived the 20th century in isolated, landlocked Laos, I had become a self-taught expert on opium paraphernalia. This in turn inspired curiosity as to how the relics were used, and I began experimenting with the drug—vaporizing opium in the traditional manner with a long bamboo pipe held over a glowing oil lamp while reclining on a woven grass mat.

But after seven years of curious dabbling I had awoken from my pleasant dream and found myself a voracious opium fiend with a 30-pipe-a-day habit. My costly and time-consuming vice had left my editors bewildered and my bank account empty. I needed a way to get clean with as little attention and expense as possible, and the monastery on the edge of the jungle seemed the only way out.

There were about fifty drug addicts in treatment at Wat Tham Krabok when I arrived, a handful of them foreigners like myself. The vast majority were Thai men who were there for methamphetamine; the Westerners were a mixed bag, both in gender and the habits which they were trying to kick. Among the Westerners, I was a standout not only for my anachronistic addiction, but for the fact that I was fluent in the local vernacular. Thus, despite having just arrived at the wat, I soon found myself acting as a liaison between the Thai monks and the Western addicts, many of whom had recently arrived in Thailand specifically to take the cure and were very much out of their element. My circumstances gave me some unique insight into the workings of the monastery and its unusual detox technique.

The daily routine began before long dawn, when the ringing of an old schoolyard bell shattered the morning calm and almost invariably startled me out of some fevered dream. A bed and surroundings to which I have yet to become accustomed usually guarantee that I’ll be visited by nightmares, and coming off opium seemed to push my nocturnal musings to disturbing levels of intensity. Yet awakening to find myself at the wat didn’t exactly bring immediate feelings of reassurance. Here I was starting my first day of treatment, wearing a strange uniform in a strange place, and surrounded by strangers.

The first order of the day was sweeping. Crude bamboo brooms were handed out and dead leaves that had dropped from the wat’s many mango trees were swept into small piles. The task was carried out in the dark, and there was minimal talking among the fifty or so addicts taking part. This daily chore was of the sort that could be termed “mindless,” but it also afforded some time for self-reflection. We swept leaves for about half an hour, and then made offerings of burning incense sticks to a shrine containing the mortal remains of the monastery’s founding abbot. Whispering in the darkness, we all regrouped for morning calisthenics.

Thai culture is by nature non-confrontational, but I noticed one of the monks carrying a yardstick-length bamboo stick just in case some persuasion was necessary. Still, for a place housing scores of young men coming off meth, the monastery had a surprisingly mellow vibe. The morning routine ended with roll call and a cup of bitter tea that was said to cleanse the blood of toxins. After breakfast, addicts who had already completed their initial five days of detox (which included the all-important vomiting cure) were grouped into working parties and led off to different corners of the monastery. For the newly arrived like myself, the midday hours were free, and this allowed me to get to know some my fellow addicts and the Thai station.

It was during this time that I met Saundra, a forty-something former heroin user from England who had completed the detox years before and then decided to take the vows of a Buddhist nun and extend her stay at the monastery indefinitely—something all successful participants in the program have the option to do. With a shaved head and eyebrows, and wrapped in a white robe, Saundra described to me how the vomiting cure was supposed to work.

I was to take this most important part of the treatment over five consecutive days. A secret elixir, the ingredients of which were said to have come to its discoverer in a dream, had to be downed from a shotglass in a single gulp. The potion was a purge and not to be digested. The articles I had previously read about Wat Tham Krabok were illustrated with photos of spectacular bouts of projectile puking—but this was not typical. Saundra told me that I might have to stick a finger down my throat to get the vomiting started. I would be joined by a number of other addicts who were also on their first five days of the cure.

I then jammed two fingers down my throat and, as though priming a pump, this act brought forth torrents of rust-colored puke.

The treatment was the main event of the day and very much public. In fact, busloads of schoolchildren were sometimes in attendance—in hopes that the nauseating spectacle would be a deterrent to future drug use. “The trick is to stay relaxed and focused,” Saundra advised. “Block out the noise around you. As long as you stay focused you’ll not have any problems.”

I might have backed out of the program had I known beforehand exactly what I was getting myself into. The purge was done outdoors on a wide concrete patio, where I kneeled with a handful of other addicts over a shallow cement trough. There was no doubt about what function the reeking pit was going to serve.

Without ceremony, a monk poured the muddy potion from a bottle into a shot glass, and then handed it to me. I did not stop to think about what was about to happen or sniff at the glass, but instead knocked back the dose like it was a shot of tequila. The taste was absolutely vile, and I shuddered. But despite the withering vapors venting through my nostrils and the burning lump sliding into my gut, I did not immediately vomit. A monk instructed me to drink as much water as I could hold, and I gulped down cup after cup until I was woozy. Still there was no urge to vomit. As Saundra had advised, I then jammed two fingers down my throat and, as though priming a pump, this act brought forth torrents of rust-colored puke.

I vomited until the deluge became dry heaves. Exhausted, I wiped the strings of saliva and snot from my mouth and nose and tried to catch my breath. Saundra shouted at me over the noise of the crowd: “You’re not finished! You have to get all the medicine out of your body. Drink more water! Just like before, drink until you are going to burst!”

Addicts on either side of me were doing the same, all while a crowd of spectators sang songs to conga-drum rhythms and cavorted about while we gagged and retched. All of it was meant to be encouragement, of course—moral support from the addicts who had already completed their five days of vomiting. In the end Saundra was right: Staying focused on the goal of breaking my addiction got me though a week that was as demanding as it was miraculous.

Except for food and drink, treatment at Wat Tham Krabok is free, and, like all Buddhist monasteries, it relies on donations. Anyone contemplating a visit should remember that the place is not a day spa. Show up expecting to be waited on hand and foot, and you will not last long. Living conditions at the watare very typical of Buddhist monastic life, which is to say they are decidedly rustic.

Statistics on how many are able to stay clean and how many have relapses vary widely, but at Wat Tham Krabok one thing is certain: You can only do the cure one time. Once you check out of the monastery’s drug detox program, you will not be allowed to check back in, no matter how unique your excuse for having had that setback.

On my last day at the wat, I met with the abbot. He placed in my hand a ring with the monastery’s name engraved around a blue stone, and a slip of paper with a short Buddhist mantra written on it. Both were to remind me of my time at Wat Tham Krabok, and to help me fight temptation. The abbot made it clear that the week I had just completed was the easy part—that the real test lay ahead. In my jubilant state, newly free of my 19th-century addiction, I failed to take his warning seriously.

Freelance writer Steven Martin was born and raised in San Diego, and has spent the past three decades traveling and living in Southeast Asia. Steven’s memoir, Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction, was published in July by Villard, an imprint of Random House.

Trinity Sober Living VP · Pompano Beach, Florida

Woman's Sober Living at its best. Trinity Sober Living (TSL) =is a sober woman's community dedicated to providing affordable sober living. We are Sober housing facilities for those in recovery. Our foundation is the 12 Step program(s) of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. We are here for, those battling substance abuse. We provide a safe and clean environment for those in the need of direction. Combined, We have over 20 years of Sobriety and experience. Showing our clients how to become productive members of society again. As well as a goal of restoration of normal lives. Our integrity and dedication to each individual is just two of our well respected reputations. We strongly believe in giving back that in which what was so freely given to us. Living in one of our sober houses aids the sometimes difficult transition of reentering the community as a newly sober person. Here at Trinity Sober Living we provide rooms in fully furnished houses for people who need a completely sober living environment. With locations in Pompano Beach and the Deerfield Beach area and expanding. Trinity Sober Living homes are ideal for anyone looking to maintain their sobriety by living in the safe, comfortable environment of a sober house. Feel free to contact us at any time! Our Staff: Maureen 754-422-3199

Treating Alcoholism Reduces Financial Burden on Families, Study Finds

By Join Together Staff | September 28, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inAlcohol & Research

Treating alcoholism saves families money, largely by cutting down on expenses related to alcohol and cigarettes, a new study finds.

The study of 48 German families with an alcoholic member found that after one year of treatment, family costs directly related to alcoholism dropped from an average of $832 per month to $178 per month, according to HealthDay.

Costs for alcohol fell from an average of $310 per month to $87 per month, while cigarette costs dropped from $114 per month to $79 per month after a year of treatment. The average amount of time spent caring for an alcoholic family member decreased from 32 hours each month to eight hours a month.

“When they look at effects on families, addiction studies mainly focus on problems such as domestic violence and depression, not on the financial burden of caring for an alcoholic,” lead researcher Dr. Hans Joachim Salize said in a news release. “But when health services and policymakers study the costs and benefits of treating alcoholism, they need to know that treatment has an immense financial effect not just on the alcoholic but also on his or her spouse, partner, children and parents. The benefits of treatment reach well beyond the individual patient.”

The results appear in the journal Addiction

Joseph -- Are you a drug dealer? You might be without even knowing it - because of what's in your medicine cabinet. My name is Ron, and I'm a father from Kansas. Over the past couple of weeks The Partnership at Drugfree.org has been highlighting the enormity of the medicine abuse epidemic. I'm here to tell you that this Saturday, I'm going to do something about it - and I hope you'll join me. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has organized a National Prescription Take-Back day for this Saturday, September 29, 2012, from 10am to 2pm in all 50 states and U.S. territories. Join me, and thousands of others, in safely disposing of our prescription medicine. Click here to RSVP now. Do you have some unneeded or expired medicine lying around? I know I do, and I also know that it is crucial to make sure my leftover medicine gets disposed of safely, so no one can get their hands on it and abuse it, like my son did. Participate in your local Take-Back on Saturday and safely dispose of your unneeded medications. Click to RSVP now and then find your local Take-Back location: http://my.drugfree.org/take-back  Thank you, Ron Grover Parent Partner The Partnership at Drugfree.org P.S. If you share your Take-Back moments on Facebook and/or Twitter with The Partnership you could win a new iPad! Find out more: http://my.drugfree.org/ipad

Prescription Drug Overdoses May Contribute to Drop in Life Expectancy in Some Whites

By Join Together Staff  | Leave a comment | Filed in Prescription Drugs & Tobacco

An increase in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, and higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, may be contributing to the decline in life expectancy for white Americans with lower levels of education.

The findings come from a report published in Health Affairs, which concludes that the life expectancy has fallen by four years since 1990 for the least-educated whites in the United States.

The study examined data from Americans without a high school diploma, The New York Times reports. In addition to prescription drug abuse and smoking, other possible reasons for the lifespan decrease include obesity, and an increase in the number of the least educated Americans without health insurance.

The article notes that prescription drug overdoses have greatly increased since 1990, and have disproportionately affected whites, especially women. Smoking rates among both white and black women without a high school diploma have increased.

White women without a high school diploma lost five years of life on average between 1990 and 2008. By that year, the life expectancy for black women without a high school diploma had exceeded that of white women who had the same level of education.

The study found white men without a high school diploma lost three years of life. In contrast, the life expectancy for both blacks and Hispanics with the same level of education increased. Overall, blacks do not live as long as whites; Hispanics live longer than both whites and blacks.

Critics of State Marijuana Legalization Measures Focus on Mothers

By Join Together Staff | September 26, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Legislation & Parenting

Critics of ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana in Oregon, California and Colorado are focusing on mothers, according to Reuters.

Opponents are using grassroots meetings to try to convince parents to vote against the measures. “If people tell you it’s not a gateway drug – it’s baloney,” Colorado state Representative Kathleen Conti said at a recent gathering of parents and other residents.

“Talking about the impact to kids is critical and crucial to our success,” says Roger Sherman, who is leading Colorado’s anti-legalization campaign. “Suburban women are one of our strongest core constituencies for our campaign.”

Anti-legalization groups are talking about the risk to youths, although the measures would not allow marijuana sales to teenagers. The article notes there is conflicting data on whether making marijuana legal for adults would lead to increased use by teens.

Colorado’s teachers union came out against the measure, saying it would hurt students. The main group backing the measure in Colorado, called the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, says that when marijuana is sold underground, it is entirely uncontrolled. Mason Tvert, the group’s co-director, called it the “worst possible policy” for protecting teenagers.

Polls suggest there is substantial voter support for initiatives in Colorado and Washington that would allow recreational use of marijuana. Voters in Oregon are split.

All of the measures would legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for anyone over age 21, and would allow taxable retail sales of the drug. The measures would conflict with federal law, which outlaws marijuana. The governors of all three states are opposed to the measures.

Meet the parents Hour

Dear Joseph, Did you know that 90 percent of addictions start in the teenage years? We invite you to join us for The Medicine Abuse Project LIVE: Meet The Parents Hour with Dr. Drew Pinsky, practicing physician, board certified in Internal and Addiction Medicine from VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," and actor and model Amber Smith (“Celebrity Rehab: Season 2”) to discuss medicine abuse and recovery. Amber will share her personal story, discussing how she became addicted to pills in her youth and the journey she has taken to healthier living. The hour-long chat will take place tomorrow, Thursday, September 27 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PTon The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s Facebook timeline. Joining the LIVE Q&A discussion is easy. It will take place within the comment thread under Dr. Drew and Amber’s photo on The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s Facebook Wall. Please make sure to REFRESH YOUR BROWSER THROUGHOUT THE CHAT to view all the latest comments and questions. To make sure everyone has the chance to ask his or her question, submit yours in advance and Dr. Drew and Amber will do their best to get to it during the session. Submit your question to Dr. Drew and Amber now. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to chat live with Dr. Drew and Amber and hear from others touched by substance abuse. Get involved. Sharing your voice provides incredible support to our community! We look forward to seeing you at our next "Meet The Parents Hour." Thank you, Tom Hedrick Parent Support Leader The Partnership at Drugfree.org P.S. If you haven't Liked us yet on Facebook, do it now so you can participate in the live chat session. P.S.S. Text MPROJECT to 50555 and reply YES to make a $10 donation to The Partnership at Drugfree.org. Your gift will help to continue important programs like "Meet The Parents Hour".

Newest Synthetic Drug to Cause Concern is Called “Smiles”

By Join Together Staff | September 25, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related & Drugs

The latest synthetic drug to cause concern among law enforcement officials is called “Smiles,” or 2C-I, Fox News reports. The drug has been linked to the deaths of two North Dakota teens.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 2C-I is abused for its hallucinogenic effects. It is taken orally in tablet or capsule form, or snorted in its powder form. “2C-I is used by the same population as those using Ecstasy and other club drugs, high school and college students, and other young adults in dance and nightlife settings,” the DEA reports.

The drug is chemically similar to the drug 2C-B, which is a Schedule I hallucinogen. This means it is illegal to manufacture, buy, sell or possess the drug. The DEA states 2C-I can be treated on a case-by-case basis as if it were a Schedule I controlled substance, if it is distributed with the intention for human consumption.

A 17-year-old North Dakota teen took 2C-I mixed with melted chocolate, according to the news report. He began hyperventilating, and hit his head on the ground. Several hours later, he stopped breathing and died. The previous evening, an 18-year-old was found dead in the same town, from a similar overdose.

The drug can cause nausea and vomiting, as well as terrifying hallucinations and feelings of panic and fear, the article notes.

Drug Tests Become More Common in Middle School

By Join Together Staff | September 24, 2012 | 2 Comments | Filed in Drugs,Prevention & Youth

A growing number of middle schools are requiring that students submit to drug testing, The New York Times reports. Students are being asked to provide a urine sample to participate in sports, or even in extracurricular activities such as choir and drama.

Some parents and civil liberties advocates are objecting to the tests, the article notes.

Middle schools that conduct drug tests are located in states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia. Some school administrators, coaches and teachers said drug testing deters young students from substances of all kinds, including alcohol, marijuana and steroids.

There are no known cases of middle school students testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and only a few positive results have been found for marijuana, the article notes.

“Drug testing is a multibillion-dollar industry,” Dr. Linn Goldberg, head of the Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University, told the newspaper. “They go to these schools and say it’s great. But do the schools actually look at the data? Schools don’t know what to do.” He added, “There’s little evidence these programs work. Drug testing has never been shown to have a deterrent effect.”

A 1995 United States Supreme Court ruling states that drug testing for high school athletes is constitutional.

In most cases, outside drug testing companies conduct the tests. Students are given little or no notice about them. Specimens are sent to a lab, and families are notified if the result is positive. In some cases, schools require a second test to confirm the finding. Law enforcement generally is not notified if a test is positive.

School punishments can range from a warning, to removal from a team or activity.

If you are participating in the
16th Annual Hendricks House & Hansen House
Charity Golf Tournament Tomorrow
(Tuesday, September 25, 2012)
at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, NJ

Don't forget this year's NEW schedule:

8:30am - Breakfast & Registration
10:00am - Shotgun Start
3:30pm (after golf) - Dinner, Silent Auction & Awards

We're looking forward to beautiful weather
and a fantastic tournament.

See you in the morning, and THANK YOU for your support!

www.hansenfoundationnj.org

Prescription Drug Abuse and the Future of America

By R. Gil Kerlikowske | September 21, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inAddiction, Community Related, Prescription Drugs & Young Adults


Last month, I visited a fellow Medicine Abuse Project partner—Project Lazarus—an organization on the forefront of combating the prescription drug abuse problem. Project Lazarus is located in Wilkes County, North Carolina, an area of the country that has borne a disproportionately large part of the burden caused by medicine abuse. While there, I met a group of dedicated people working hard to reduce medicine abuse in the area and across the country—doctors, leaders and law enforcement officers. I have great admiration and respect for all of the people I met at Project Lazarus, but one individual in particular stood out for me.

Donna Reeves is a mother from North Carolina who tragically lost her daughter to a drug overdose in 2006. She spoke of the importance of involving a diverse range of people in the conversation about prescription drug abuse—emphasizing that this problem doesn’t just affect one demographic, but all age groups across the geographic and socio-economic spectrum. Perhaps most importantly, Donna highlighted the urgent need to educate parents on the signs of drug abuse, the tools available to help young people seek treatment and the existence of a life-saving overdose reversal drug, Naloxone. Donna’s message was heartbreaking, but it’s one we must hear: education is one of the most powerful ways to prevent drug abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classify prescription drug abuse as an epidemic. While there has been a marked decrease in the use of some illegal drugs like cocaine, data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show that approximately one-fourth of people aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2010 began by using a prescription drug non-medically.

Alarmingly, the majority of new or occasional nonmedical users of pain relievers obtained the drug from family or friends for free or took them without asking. Chronic users were more likely to obtain the drugs from doctors or by buying them. What can we learn from this? We know that securing medicine in the home—and disposing of unneeded pills—can help prevent medicine abuse from ever beginning.

Securing medicines in the home and disposing of medicine properly is an important part of the solution, but it must be accompanied by prescription drug monitoring programs in every state, law enforcement efforts to thwart improper prescribing practices and, of course, education for parents, prescribers and patients.

If you have unneeded medicine in the home, please take advantage of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on September 29th, when the Drug Enforcement Administration will open sites across the country to receive unused prescription drugs—no questions asked. If you’re a parent, please take the time to talk to your children about the harm caused by medicine abuse, and educate yourself on the signs of abuse. Working together, we can build a better future for our country’s young people—free of the pain caused by medicine abuse.

RECOVER PROJECT MASSACHUSETTS

About
Our peer-developed Code of Ethics is at the heart of our work
MissionThe RECOVER Project is a community open to all concerned with alcohol and drug addiction. We exist to foster recovery and empower individuals, families, and the communities of Franklin County.
DescriptionWe provide peer-to-peer support based on the guiding principles that people can and do recover from alcohol and drug addiction and that competence and wisdom reside in those with lived experience.
General InformationOur Code of Ethics is a set of guidelines that dictates how we interact and relate at the RECOVER Project. It also dictates decisions
about our programs and policies.



68 Federal Street
Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301


Phone (413) 774-5489
Website http://www.recoverproject.org

New Hope Recovery Ranch Nevada

About
New Hope Recovery Ranch is one of the only places in the country where the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit come together to ensure that those in the long-term residency program welcome sobriety into their lives.
MissionNew Hope Recovery Ranch is a 6 to 12 month live-in addiction recovery program that gives men practical and spiritual tools for continuing whole and healthy lives.
Company OverviewPastors Rick and Teresa McKinney are the founders and directors of New Hope Recovery Ranch. Both Rick and Teresa were set free from serious personal addictions and through their ministry at New Hope Recovery Ranch in Silver Springs, NV they have been able to help thousands of men over the last ten years.
Description
The desert is an environment of dangerous extremes. Certainly, the choices made in the desert are of life and death.

At New Hope Recovery Ranch, located in Silver Springs, NV, the desert is the perfect setting for recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Rebirth into a God-centered life is the ultimate result.

New Hope Recovery Ranch is a non-denominational, Christ-centered, long-term residency
program for men that allows recovering alcoholics and addicts to set aside much-needed time and effort to focus on what is causing the downward spiral—and teaches them to claw their way back up. Residents focus on asking, considering, and responding to life’s basic questions—and quickly determining God has all of the answers.

According to Pastor Rick McKinney, “Healing at New Hope includes spiritual, mental, and physical healing. You’re feeding your mind, body, and spirit here. When you feed these, you’re going to get well.”

New Hope Recovery Ranch integrates miracles from three sources—The Bible, the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and animal therapy. Residents spend a minimum of six months on campus. Recovering alcoholics and addicts stay in the residency program for up to one year, learning about the all-encompassing love of Jesus Christ and the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.








Location P.O. Box 961, Silver Springs, Nevada 89429


Contact Info
Phone (775) 577-4734
Email newhoperr1@aol.com
Website http://www.newhope-church.com