Medicine Abuse drug guide for parents

As a parent who has lost a son to medicine abuse, the past couple of weeks have been truly moving. The Partnership at Drugfree.org showed me some of the stories people shared about medicine abuse over this past week, and as a parent who has experienced the epidemic's effects firsthand, they really resonated with me. In 2004, my son Mark died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. We found a bag of loose pills in his room -- none of the drugs had been prescribed for him, or for anyone else in the family for that matter. I wish that I could tell Mark what I've learned about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, but it's too late. At a time when most of life's experiences should lie just ahead, his life ended and I will always wonder if I could have saved him. Now that I've gotten involved with The Partnership, I believe that their resources may have provided me the information I so desperately needed. Read the medicine abuse drug guide and arm yourself with information you need to fight this epidemic at home: http://my.drugfree.org/the-drug-guide The guide can help you learn the signs and symptoms commonly experienced by people abusing the three main types prescriptions drugs -- pain relievers, stimulants, and depressants. It's crucial for us as parents to talk with our kids about the dangers of abusing medicine and to make sure that the medicines in our homes are secure at all times. Please do this before it's too late. Educate yourself by looking at the medicine abuse drug guide now. It could be a lifesaver. http://my.drugfree.org/the-drug-guide Thank you, Phil Bauer Parent Advisory Board Member P.S. If you're feeling overwhelmed with your child's drug problem and would like to talk to someone, you can call The Partnership's Parents Toll-Free Helpline at  1-855-378-4373 or get more information now: http://my.drugfree.org/if-you-need-help

“Red Ribbon Week” October 23-31 Raises Awareness About Drug Prevention

By Join Together Staff | October 10, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Drugs, Marketing And Media, Parenting, Prevention &Youth

The 27th annual “Red Ribbon Week,” October 23-31, will raise awareness about drug prevention around the country. Families can get involved this year by entering a contest to promote awareness in their neighborhoods, and win a drug prevention grant for their children’s school.

The week was created after parents, students and teachers began wearing red ribbons in commemoration of the 1985 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Kiki Camarena.

The National Family Partnership has announced a Red Ribbon Week contest that families can enter to win a $1,000 grant for their school, and a new iPad for their home. The DEA is co-sponsoring the contest. To participate, families and students are invited to decorate the outside of their homes with the message, “The Best Me is Drug Free.” They can take a photo with the family and their Red Ribbon Week decoration, and upload it towww.redribbon.org/contest or www.facebook.com/RedRibbonWeekby November 2nd. To upload the photos, you must be at least 18 years old.

Voting for entries will take place November 2-16 atwww.redribbon.org/vote. There will be 10 winners from across the United States, who will be announced at events at their schools in December.

Free Family Addiction Education program

CONTACT:

Noni West, strategic marketing coordinator Cathie Cush

PRO-ACT C2 Communications

215-345-6644, ext. 3111 215-579-2076

nwest@councilsepa.org CathieCush@comcast.net

Beverly J. Haberle, executive director

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

215-345-6644

bhaberle@councilsepa.org

PRO-ACT Family Addiction Education Program helps families address drug and alcohol addiction

Next free sessions start Nov. 1, 6 and 7 at various locations in five counties
Each month PRO-ACT (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization–Achieving Community Together) hosts a free Family Addiction Education Program to help individuals and families recognize and address an addiction problem in a spouse, parent, child or other loved one. Led by trained volunteers who have been in the same situation, these information and support programs begin the first week of each month and run one evening a week for three consecutive weeks. Each session lasts two hours.



Programs are offered at several locations throughout the five-county southeast Pennsylvania region:

· Tuesdays—From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Media and Northeast Philadelphia.

· Wednesdays—From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Pottstown; from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in North Philadelphia; and from 7 p.m.to 9 p.m. in West Chester.

· Thursdays—From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Northern Liberties; 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Bristol and Colmar



Sessions are free and confidential—first names only. Pre-registration is required. To register, call 800-221-6333, weekdays 9 a.m. through 5 p.m., or visit www.proact.org and click the Family Addiction Education Program link.

Trents Lighthouse Ohio

About
Transitional Living for Men in Recovery - Cincinnati, Ohio
Description
For More Information Please see:

www.trentslighthouse.com

Facebook: Trents Lighthouse


Contact Information for Trent's Lighthouse:

Kim Trent (513) 546-5151
Owner/Operator
trentslighthouse@aol.com
kimtrent@trentslighthouse.com

Jack Whittle (513) 526-2587
General Manager

General InformationTransitional Living for Men

Providing a safe, sober-living environment for men who are in recovery from
addiction and/or alcoholism.

Located in Northside



4576 Hamilton Ave
Cincinnati, Ohio 45223
Always open

Phone (513) 546-5151
Email trentslighthouse@aol.com
Website http://www.trentslighthouse.com

Recovery Revolution Inc. PA.

About
We are a charitable non-profit premiere licensed treatment facility that treats individuals and families that are impacted by addiction.
MissionIt is the mission of Recovery Revolution Inc. to promote healthy, responsible, and individualized treatment for addictions through programs responsive to family and community needs.
Company Overview
Recovery Revolution, Inc. is the only licensed drug and alcohol treatment center in the Slate Belt Region of PA. We offer outpatient and intensive outpatient services for adolescents and adults as well as family members of our clients. RR, Inc has group counseling on different days and times to accommodate many different schedules. We also offer an outpatient program in Colonial Academy, which
is an alternative school in Wind Gap, PA. We offer sober activities and events to benefit our clients and educate the community as a whole. Recovery Revolution Inc. is a non-profit organization with the mission to promote healthy, responsible, and individualized treatment for addictions through programs responsive to family and community needs. Please call for any additional information or check out our website.
DescriptionWe accept individuals with or without insurance. We believe that addiction impacts the body, mind, and spirit. Therefore, treatment must address each of these areas to be successful in the recovery of the whole person. Call today and take the first step towards a new life.
General Information1 out of every 8 Americans will have a significant addiction in their lifetime. 1 in every 4 Americans are impacted by a close family member or significant other by addiction.



Opened November 22, 2005
Awards 2010 Most Innovative Program (Magellan Health Services)
Best Outpatient Treatment Center (Our Alumni Association, Our Staff, and Many Community Members)
Hours

Mon - Fri: 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Products Recovery Revolution provides a level of care assessment by a Master’s level clinician to indicate addictions treatment needs. We accept adolescents and adults for individual, group, and family sessions ranging from 1 hour to 9 hours a week of treatment, dependent on the individuals needs. We offer ancillary services such as a educational support group for families and loved ones of individuals struggling with addiction, free educational seminars, 12 hour DUI Class, Sober Activities with our active Alumni. Recovery Revolution also provides a school based addictions treatment program at Colonial Academy, in Wind Gap, PA. We provide 1-5 hours of treatment a week for student participants.

We provide treatment to people that "for profit" facilities turn away. We are the only treatment that offer indigent people for addictions treatment within a 25 mile radius. We average about 100 clients that we see on a weekly basis and about half of them are under the age of 25.

Recovery Revolution holds an annual fundraiser so that we can continue to take clients that are indigent. Part of our mission is to continue to provide life changing treatment to people based on clinical necessity, not financial status. This money is used to help pay for client's that can not afford treatment.



109 Broadway
Bangor, Pennsylvania 18013
Today 9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Phone (610) 599-7700
Email info@recoveryrevolution.org
Website http://www.recoveryrevolution.org

Milestone House Dover NJ

About
www.themilestonehouse.com
DescriptionSober Living Facility
General Information
The Milestone House is a premier Sober Living Facility for Men and Women who want to make recovery a way of life. We are proud to be a leader in the industry and currently have three sites located in historic Dover, New Jersey.

Our residents typically have completed some level of structured treatment prior to entering our house. At Milestone there is opportunity to continue growth in recovery, li
ving in “real” life as responsible adults. All residents must be drug and alcohol free before entering.

The “recovery community” is very supportive of us and, overall, our residents have been very successful at remaining drug and alcohol free. We create an opportunity where one can live “real life” and have the extra support that they may have been lacking during previous attempts to stay clean and sober. Men and women ages 18 and up are welcome here.

Willingness and taking action is the fundamental expectation we embody. A large percentage of our residents have multiple years of recovery, highlighting the essence of what true Sober Living encompasses. It has been proven to be beneficial to mix residents who are new in recovery with others that have multiple years clean and sober.

We offer many amenities and comforts, but what are truly priceless are the energy of our environment and the spirit of love, tolerance, helpfulness, serenity and usefulness; which absolutely results from the working and re-working of the 12-steps.

You will be encouraged to join us at all of our on-site, solution-based meetings and workshops and to truly experience a “new freedom and happiness”.





60 N. Sussex Street
Dover, New Jersey 07801


Phone (973) 442-4600
Email info@themilestonehouse.com
Website http://www.themilestonehouse.com

Serenity Solutions Philadelphia

About
Offering Individual, Group, and Couples Counseling, Interventions and Clinical Supervision
DescriptionHelping people find peace and serenity in their stressful lives by teaching them how to change thoughts and behaviors and be in the present moment.

Specializing in Anxiety Management, Anger Management and Recovery from Addictions.



135 South 19th Street, Suite 250
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103


Phone (215) 285-1084
Email alisa@SerenitySolutionsTherapy.com
Website http://www.SerenitySolutionsTherapy.com

Do you know an inspiring youth coach?

,

Do you know an inspiring youth coach? How about a teen with excellent sportsmanship?

The Partnership at Drugfree.org, in conjunction with Major League Baseball Charities, is celebrating extraordinary individuals on and off the playing field who embody the spirit of teamwork and healthy, drug-free competition.

Nominate your community’s youth sports heroes for the third annual Commissioner’s Play Healthy Awards contest! The awards are an extension of both organizations’ comprehensive efforts, including the Play Healthy website, to educate families on the risks of steroids and performance-enhancing substances.

One winning youth coach and one student athlete will receive prizes, including a trip for themselves and one special guest to New York City. They will also receive:
Two tickets each to The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s annual Winter Wish Gala at Gotham Hall on December 4, 2012, where they will be honored;
A $1,000 gift card to a sporting goods store;
A commemorative plaque presented at the gala; and
The opportunity to be featured prominently on drugfree.org.

We’re taking nominations now at drugfree.org/playhealthy.

Get involved with the Commissioner’s Play Healthy Awards contest today!

We look forward to recognizing our nation’s best youth sports leaders.

Thanks,

Courtney Gallo
Youth Sports Advocate
The Partnership at Drugfree.org

P.S. There are only 2 weeks left for your chance to win a free trip to NYC!

Please note: A panel of judges will determine the winners by reviewing all nominees who demonstrate their commitment to fair, drug-free play and an overall healthy lifestyle. Additionally, the judges will evaluate the nominee’s commitment to leadership, sportsmanship and encouragement of others on and off the field. The deadline to enter is Friday, October 26, 2012.

Teenager undergoes surgery after drinking liquid nitrogen in cocktail

Police investigating after 18-year-old suffers perforated stomach during night out with friends in Lancashire.

Peter Walker
The Guardian, Sunday 7 October 2012 13.16 EDT
A teenager has undergone emergency surgery after drinking a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen, according to police.

The 18-year-old from Heysham in Lancashire reported feeling breathless after drinking the liquid during a night out with friends on Thursday, Lancashire police said in a brief statement.

She was taken to Lancaster Royal Infirmary and diagnosed with a perforated stomach. Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a section of her stomach, thought necessary to save her life. The teenager was in a serious but stable condition, police said.

A Lancashire police spokesman said the force was working with other agencies and the premises which sold the drink, which has not been identified. He said: "The investigation is still in its early stages and we are still interviewing witnesses to establish the full facts. The premises involved have fully co-operated with all agencies and have suspended drinks involving liquid nitrogen."

Liquid nitrogen has been used increasingly in recent years as a method for making increasingly elaborate cocktails, having first been pioneered in culinary use by the likes of Heston Blumenthal. The liquid version of the gas, which vapourises at a temperature of -196C, is an extremely effective way to flash-freeze substances and has a series of medical uses.

In cocktails and cooking it is simply a method – for example to chill glasses instantly with a crowd-pleasing waft of grey vapour, or to freeze ingredients – and should never be ingested, as this can cause serious cold burns.

FACING THE DRAGON

About
In "Facing the Dragon" by David Parnell and Amy Hammond Hagberg, readers will witness the agonizing metamorphosis of a good-looking high school athlete into a violent drug addict and then witness a second transformation during his amazing recovery.
Mission"Facing the Dragon - How a Desperate Act Pulled One Addict Out of Methamphetamine Hell" was written to warn people about the dangers of drugs to prevent future drug use and to give hope to those already addicted. It is also the intention of this book to open the eyes of the nonaddicted to the what is going on around them. There are addicted people who need help and neglected and abused children who need someone to be their voice.
Company OverviewFacing the Dragon was founded in 2004 by David and Amy Parnell. We focus on meth prevention through education and advocacy for drug endangered children.
Description
Book Description:

After more than twenty-three years addicted to methamphetamine and other drugs, David Parnell put an SKS assault rifle under his chin and pulled the trigger.

The blast took off half his face, yet somehow he survived. Following an afterlife experience where he briefly experienced heaven and hell, David woke up in the hospital, and he was changed forever, both physically and emot
ionally.

In Facing the Dragon, readers will witness the slow, agonizing metamorphosis of a good-looking high school athlete into a violent, drug-dealing, psychotic wife beater whose children were terrified of him. In graphic detail, they will relive his suicide attempts and then walk alongside him as he endures countless surgeries to reconstruct his decimated face and learns how to cope with his hideous disfigurement.

Now forty-three, Parnell is clean and sober and is making the most of the second chance he's been given, bringing his message about the dangers of meth and other drugs to schools, prisons, churches, and antidrug organizations around the world as a full-time lecturer.

By experiencing the nightmare of his life-—and his brief glimpse of hell--readers will find hope and healing when facing their own life-threatening dragons.



Contact Info
Website http://www.facingthedragon.org
http://www.hcibooks.com/p-4050-facing-th...
http://www.amyhagberg.com/

FDA Crushes Illegal Online Pharmacies

The latest campaign sees over 22,000 websites shut down, and 3.7 million doses of counterfeit meds seized.


The end of a golden age of drug scams?

By McCarton Ackerman

10/05/12 The Fix

The FDA is using the power of the Internet to fight illegal online pharmacies. The fifth International Internet Week of Action, held from September 25-October 2, is a global effort to fight the online sale and distribution of potentially counterfeit and illegal meds. Through the efforts of this campaign—joining forces with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies from around 100 countries—more than 18,000 illegal pharmacy websites were shut down and 3.7 million doses of counterfeit medicine seized. An additional 4,100 internet pharmacies were shut down yesterday and 79 arrests have been made. "Consumers in the United States and around the world face a real threat from Internet pharmacies that illegally sell potentially substandard, counterfeit, adulterated or otherwise unsafe medicines," says FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg. "This week's efforts show that strong international enforcement efforts are required to combat this global public health problem." One of the targeted web pharmacies was Canadadrugs, which the FDA has previously warned and accused of selling drugs made by unapproved manufacturers for unapproved use, among other infractions. Canadadrugs was also accused of producing fake versions of the cancer drug Avastin that made their way into US oncology clinics, a claim the company denies. Other online pharmacies that were busted sold drugs including "Female Viagra"—which doesn't exist—and unapproved variations such as "Viagra Professional" and "Cialis Super Active."

Foot Prints in recovery NC.

About
http://FootprintsinRecovery.com/ Drug & Alcohol Recovery
MissionTo offer the most effective and affordable drug addiction treatment and recovery services, where you become part of a family and not just a number. We are the only drug rehab that offers a guarantee. For more information, please call 1-877-429-0713.
Description
Footprints in Recovery strives to encourage cost-effective growth and healing for those wishing to be free from chemical and substance abuse dependency. Our vision and philosophy as a recovery center is to provide a leading and healthy recovery environment for struggling addicts utilizing the 12 step principles with personalized programs to fit your specific needs. Our serene recovery location, on
the beautiful and historic Outer Banks in North Carolina, allows for the ideal setting in which to begin your recovery process. Your treatment will include group therapy on the beach and activities surrounded by stunning scenery to provide the perfect atmosphere for healing and recovery.

Footprints in Recovery has an amazing clinical staff who are licensed, certified, and trained to provide daily individualized care and treatment to each person suffering from addiction in a safe, private, confidential, empathetic and a well structured 12-step recovery home setting. Group therapy, psychoeducation, art and music, drum circles, exercise and meditation are just a few of the therapeutic modalities offered here. Additionally, we believe in the holistic approach and include kinetic, massage, and spirituality in your treatment. We believe in being a small individualized recovery center and provide an 8 bedroom home to assist in your healing process. We only accept 8 to 12 clients at a time, as we believe in focusing all of our time on each individual.

Footprints in Recovery realizes the importance of recovery as well as healing in other areas of your life, including your family. Our Licensed Family Therapist will walk with your family and assist in their healing by providing a family program. We offer specialized mental health treatment services, such as Psychiatrists and Doctors, to assist in helping with co-occuring disorders such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Treatment

Footprints in Recovery is not like most other places that offer drug and alcohol rehab treatment. Here at Footprints you will be treated on a personal basis and not like a number. Drug addiction and alcohol abuse recovery is just a footstep away! We have magnificent sunny beaches, stunning scenery, and a fresh ocean breeze to provide the perfect atmosphere for healing and recovery. Activities incorporating the beach and the Pamlico Sound are included in the weekly routine of your program.




4721 N. Croatan Hightway
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina 27948


Phone (877) 429-0713
Email info@footprintsinrecovery.com
Website http://www.footprintsinrecovery.com

Celebrate Recovery Springfield Pa.

About
CR is a Christ Centered Recovery Program for anyone seeking freedom from lifes hurts, habits and hangups.
MissionTo provide a safe and confidential place, to focus on God's healing power through fellowship with others by working the 12 Biblical steps and the 8 beatitude principles.
DescriptionLIVES ARE CHANGING RIGHT HERE IN DELAWARE COUNTY!

We meet every Wednesday at 7:00 at Life Christian Fellowship, Springfield, PA.



607 W Springfield Rd
Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064


Phone (610) 328-2843
Email celebraterecovery@Lcfconnect.com
Website http://www.Lcfconnect.com/CR

SOBER ESCORTS INC.

Sober Escorts, Inc. offers a variety of services. These services are tailored to our client’s individual needs and goals. Listed below are the services which make up the bulk of Sober Escorts, Inc.’s business. If you happen to have a need or situation that is not covered in the following information, please feel free to contact us. We’re here to help. We care – We’ve been there!

We are a fee for service company, normally a flat per day fee, plus expenses. Our rates are very reasonable and affordable. Please contact us directly for specific pricing.

Click on any service category below to read more about that particular service:

To Treatment Transit

From Treatment to Extended Care TransitFrom Treatment to Home Transit

Sober Companion Services


There are 3 types of transit services; To Treatment, From Treatment to Extended Care, and From Treatment to Home. We know through experience, some of it our own, that airports and airplanes are difficult for some clients going to or coming from treatment. We know of individuals who “got lost” on their way to treatment and others who, upon discharge, were not able to make it home, or to their intended destination clean and sober. That first 24 to 72 hours outside of the structured treatment setting can be pretty rough.





Sober Escorts, Inc. works with families, interventionists, admission specialists, physicians, lawyers, personal managers, agents, anyone and everyone concerned with getting the client to treatment safely and expeditiously. We are familiar with the uncertainty, fear, and sense of aloneness inherent in the trip to treatment. A Sober Escort can be extremely helpful during this period. Many of our escorts have been through this themselves. They will lend their strength, encouragement, and support to the client in an effort to insure a successful trip to treatment.




Sober Escorts, Inc. works with anyone and everyone concerned with getting the client safely and expeditiously from primary treatment to an extended care facility, halfway house, or sober house. The majority of these prefer that the client come to them directly from the primary treatment facility. SEI will gladly accompany the client to any one of these destinations. Often times there are pressing matters at home that must be dealt with before moving on to the next destination. This can be a dangerous and stressful time. In this type of situation our escort will perform all the services covered in “From Treatment To Home”.




SEI assists with the transition from treatment back to everyday living. Our escort will meet the client at discharge, accompany them on their trip home, and within the first 24 hours after discharge, attend with them their first AA or NA meeting. We’ll continue with at least one meeting per day for the duration of our contract. We’ll go early and stay late, encourage them to meet people and get phone numbers. We’ll help them if necessary. Our escort will work with the client to make their home a clean and sober environment and we’ll do our utmost to see that the client follows through with their recommended discharge plan.








There are numerous situations where a newly recovering individual would find the support of a Sober Companion beneficial, business trips, social events, and weddings are but a few. A Sober Companion will lend strength and support in situations or circumstances that are deemed as perilous or stressful to the client.

Another Sober Companion service SEI offers relates directly to the film and entertainment industry. There are instances where a Sober Companion is required as a condition for cast insurance during the shooting of a film.

Via Telephone Voice: 352.236.0127 Toll Free: 877.218.3800Via Facsimile Fax: 352.438.1145Via Postal Mail Sober Escorts, Inc. 1187 SE 65th Circle Ocala, FL 34472 Via e-mail:Click here to send us an e-mail

m.

Little Hill Alina Lodge New Jersey

About
She never said it would be easy. She said it would be worth it.
Description“Gerry has inspired thousands of people to regain their lives and live sober. This is the greatest gift anyone can give. She has been a front-runner in the field of alcohol and drug treatment for many many years” Betty Ford commenting on Geraldine Owen Delaney
General Information
Alina Lodge, founded in 1957, is legendary for its no-nonsense structured approach to treatment. Scope: In furtherance of our mission and as an industry leader, we remain committed to the highest standards of student safety, quality care, individualized treatment, and positive results delivered in a cost effective manner. We offer a no-nonsense program with diverse counseling modalities. The integ
rated services, excellent staff and emphasis on the whole person—and the whole family—contribute to our successful track record with chronic relapsing individuals. Of course, one need not wait for chronic relapse to come to Alina Lodge. Addictive behavior, if untreated, has serious, often life-threatening consequences whether or not someone has had prior treatment. Therefore, Alina Lodge also offers a 90 day MINIMUM treatment program designed specifically for those who have had no prior residential treatment. The Lodge intends to remain a unique, innovative and effective clinical model for treating all of its clients as they begin their recovery from their addictive diseases. Specialties: Long term, low cost treatment for those suffering with the disease of addiction.





Basic Info
Joined Facebook 08/13/2009
Location Blairstown, New Jersey 07825


Contact Info
Phone (800) 575-6343
Website http://www.alinalodge.org

More Than 195,000 People Sign Online Petition Demanding Meth Testing of Homes

By Join Together Staff | October 4, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs

More than 195,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, test the homes it sells for methamphetamine contamination.

The petition, on the website Change.org, was started by Jonathan Hankins, who purchased a home in Oregon from Freddie Mac that turned out to be a former meth lab, according to The Baltimore Sun.

“Within weeks of moving in, my wife, my two year old son, and I all started experiencing terrible dry-mouth and mouth sores,” Hankins wrote on the petition site. “Then we started to have trouble breathing, and I developed sinus headaches and nosebleeds. My home was contaminated with methamphetamine. But even worse, it was filled with traces of the toxic stew used to cook the drug.” Hankins says he and his family now have to pay their mortgage as well as rent on a second house where they have moved.

There were more than 10,000 clandestine meth lab incidents last year, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The article notes that thousands of homes nationwide may be contaminated by methamphetamine and the residue produced when the drug is made.

Time to speak up

Time to speak up, While last week's events for The Medicine Abuse Project were huge successes, guess what we're hearing in the national dialogue about medicine abuse? Silence -- it's just not getting the attention it deserves. But that just gets us even more fired up. By adding your voice, you can help us end this silence. Do you have a personal story about medicine abuse, about something that happened to either you or a loved one? Do you have questions or thoughts about the epidemic that you want to express? Share your story now and help us end the silence. No matter what you have to say, say it now and The Partnership at Drugfree.org will make sure others hear it. We're building a movement, and by speaking up and speaking together, we can make an impact. Raise your voice now: http://my.drugfree.org/raise-your-voice  Thank you, Marcia Taylor Senior Vice President of Government Affairs The Partnership at Drugfree.org

352 PARK AVENUE SOUTH, NINTH FLOOR | NEW YORK, NY 10010 UNSUBSCRIBE

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
Email help@ranchrecovery.com
Website http://www.ranchrecovery.com

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!

Ole Hansen & Sons . The Press of AC . Levine Staller Attorneys at Law
Creative Financial Group . RK Kia of Vineland . Dondero's Diamonds & Fine Jewelry
The Azeez Foundation . Universal Supply Company . Hidden Creek Golf Club . Print Art
Mr. & Mrs. Roger Hansen . Mr. & Mrs. Mark Auerbach . Met Life . Glenn Insurance Company
The James & Barbara Summers Family Foundation . NorthMarq Advisors LLC . Holman Automotive Group
McKella 280 . Shore Medical Center Foundation . Callen Construction . Adams, Rehman & Heggan
Tuckahoe Turf Farms . Fulton Bank of NJ . AtlantiCare . Cooperstown Baseball Group, Inc.
Kline Construction . Katherine Weiland . Driftwood Camping Resorts, Inc. . Kevin Brennan . Joe Capano
United States Liability Insurance Group . Third Base Sports & Trophies . Charles & Kathleen Previti
Seabrook House . Saul Ewing LLP . Avalon Carpet Tile & Flooring . Tishman Construction Corp of NJ
Stephen Kay Golf Course Design LLC . Gruccio, Pepper, DeSanto & Ruth, P.A. . Dr. & Mrs. John Lorenzetti
The Woods at Blue Heron Pines . Newfield National Bank . Binder Machinery . Stanker & Galetto, Inc.
J. Louis McCraw . James Gandy, CPA . Harrison Beverage Co. . RLG Associates . Chris Esbenshade
Serago Roberts Jewelers . Cathy Vinnicombe . Guy Deninger . Dixon Associates Engineering LLC
Rich Energy Solutions . The Frank & Victoria Rich Family Foundation . The Espoma Company
Patricia Katchen . Marion Butler . Feather Ventures . De Rossi & Son. Co. . Broadley's Mechanical
Hanlon Investment Management, Inc. . Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC . A.E. Stone . Carol Brigio
J.E. Rosenkrantz Consulting Engineer LLC . Kramer Beverage Company . Ocean City Home Bank
The Richard Stockton College of NJ . Susan & Bob Mayer . Just 4 Wheels . Falasca Mechanical
Edward & Cathy Kane . The Waldele Family . G.E. Mechanical . Mark Gerencser . Margate Community Church
Family Practice Associates of Cumberland County, P.C. . U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management
Rastelli Seafood LLC . U.S. Foodservice . Seashore Fruit & Produce . Pepsi Bottling Group
Specialties La Cote Basque . Barretta Plumbing Heating & Cooling . Richard Lockwood
Young's Skating Center . Mercedes-Benz of Atlantic City . Cindy & Joseph Riggs . Jennifer Morris
Gold Transportation Services . Rich Fire Protection . Peter Lumber Company . Cornelius McPeak
Sound Advice & Video . Susanin Widman & Brennan, PC . Club Car . Ilene Daniels . Binder Machinery
Suzan Binder . Gibson Associates, P.A. . Tri City Products . Mr. & Mrs. Roger Rubin . Carmella Harker
Phoenix Business Forms, Inc. . Senator Jim Whelan . Daniel Thoren . Paper Chase . Hannah G's Restaurant
Milton & Betty Katz JCC of Atlantic County . Sand Barrens Golf Club . Steve & Cookies by the Bay
Ventura's Green House . Artistic Hardware . Barbara's - A Fashion Experience
Barista's Coffee House . Blue Heron Golf Club . Body Architects . Essential Elements . Esthetica
Finale - The Final Act in Beauty . Fisher's Shoes . Freund Brothers . Greenberg Chiropractic
Harbor Pines Golf Club . Home Buddys . Joelle's Card & Gift Boutique . John Kelly Interior Design, Inc.
Latz's by the Bay . Leisure & Lace . Linwood Custom Jeweler . Mays Landing Country Club . MYOGA
Pamela's Health & Harmony . Paul Dempsey Photography . Sandi Point Coastal Bistro . Secret Garden Florist
Smithville Inn . The Bake Works . Tiffany . Tilton Athletic Club . Tomatoe's . Yoga Nine
Ed Diehl . Joanna Helfrich . Melanie Rice . Lori Burke . Audrey Carter . Jim & Khristine Briggs
Nick Weinstein . Joe Capano . Rick Barker . Steve Dicarlo . Chris Comer . Torie Rich
Michael Leonardo . Thomas Freund . Steve Fabietti . Patrick McKoy . George Harper
Jason Watson . Amy Manzione . Michael Thomas . Michael Lentz . Nina Soifer
Tim Glenn . John Ruskey . Holly Jeffries Dionne . Christie Goddard
Cianel Palmer . Hansen House Volunteers

www.hansenfoundationnj.org





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Copyright © 2012 The Hansen Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are a friend or contact of The Hansen Foundation
Our mailing address is:

The Hansen Foundation
523 S. Leipzig Ave.
PO Box 1020Cologne, NJ 08213

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