Alcohol in the News

Education about Substance Abuse should be given as early as middle school or high school. Most kids get into the habit because of curiousity, peer pressure, or as a coping mechanism for personal problems. However, if they are educated about the the forms and effects of substance excuse, perhaps it may make some of them think twice before indulging in the vice with careless abandon.

My daughter is in the CCA Leavenworth KS. She has a meth use problem. She has been using for 3 to 3 1/2 years. The drug squad picked her up over a month ago. IF she is lucky she is looking at 3 to 5 years. OK, she needs to pay for her actions but in the meantime, I want my daughter to come home well. I understand that a meth user/abuser will always have to fight the desire for meth. I want help for her. Just incarcenating her is not going to ready her for a life once she is out of prison. What can I do to get her this help and who do I talk to about getting it? Please give me advice as I am desperate in wanting to help her beat this addiction. I have seen such a change in her attitude these last few weeks that I am encouraged but I still don’t see that desire to ‘live’. Thanks, Cherryl

i am looking for a program for my son, and I have state aide insurance. I am finding it hard to find a center that will take our insurance, i find this SO VERY DISTURBING!!

JUST PASSIN THROUGH

On this journey called life, I like any other “normal” person have been through many difficult times. One golden nugget that I’ve learned is that it is perfectly normal to go through trials, but it is absolutely abnormal to build a house and reside in the middle of them.
God expects us to reach the promise land, but to celebrate that; we must walk through the desert (sand in our shoes, bad hair days & all). In the AA program we are encouraged to work the steps. Rain or shine we are to continue working towards the solution. It’s when we stop and make residence in our troubles; that we set ourselves up for a major fall.

As a kid growing up in the city, my brothers and I along with others from the neighborhood, would finds ways to entertain ourselves during the long summer months. One day (why, I don’t know) we all went down a manhole and began a journey through street drainage system. I remember my older brother instructing us all to take hold of the belt loop of the person in front of us. Holding onto that person for dear life, we all eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel and conquered the darkness.

Like someone once said, “If your catching hell, don’t hold it and if you’re going through hell, DON’T STOP.”

My friends don’t ever roll over and die in your trials. Cry out to a loving God, didn’t He promise to “ never leave you nor forsake you”? And if you must, grab onto someone by the belt loop and experience the light of the promise land

Yours on the journey
Joe Rivera
Temecula, Ca

09-20-07

My son ia visually and hearing impaired, and he needs help with weed and alcohol. He went The Beginnings here in Tyler, he needs inpatient treatment, and they referred him to a center in Houston who will be able to provide enterpreting ( sign language). Is there any place closer to Tyler?

Is it me or are DUIs being more forcefully administered in a general sense and also concerning VIPS like Mike Tyson and Paris Hilton? I think the message is getting sent loud and clear: the courts don’t care if it’s VIPs or the average person who drinks irresponsibly and receives a DUI or multiple DUIs—those who drink and drive and get caught and going to have to suffer the legal consequences.

I’ve been off and on Methadone or something like it since 1971. Nobody would ever suspect it and I’ve led a pretty decent, responsible and rewarding life except for the instances where people who knew my secret couldn’t deal with or accept it. The stigna is horrendous. I would suggest that people who are in need of treatment investigate places like AA or NA first, but if substitution is necessary that is road that needs to be taken. Prisons are filled with the people who can’t stay off the drugs and their recidivism rates reflect this. I believe that maintenance programs should be the first place these people should be directed upon their release and exoffenders should be encouraged to participate. It is actaully getting a little better with suboxene and bupreorphine now available. Maintenance isn’t the answer for everyone but it should be available if needed.

Can someone please help me understand the WRAP program better. I want to be in my childs life when it is born and im unsure how to feel, I dont know if i am going to be able to be there for her and the baby if she is in the program.

sorry abby, education is not the answer.
while informative, it is ineffective at preventing drinking and drug use. DARE is a joke to most kids, and a waste of police resources.
as for the rehab scenario, in Ct. a disturbing trend has occurred; the poor get free long term rehab, the wealthy can afford the overpriced self-pay facilities, but the middle class without insurance, has no options.

I would say that education *alone* is not the answer. I would also agree that DARE is a failure…but that doesn’t mean that a more thoughtfully-run program can’t be a success. Education has had a positive impact on smoking rates and alcohol use (to a lesser extent). I work with an addiction treatment center near Sacramento and it is indeed true that many people “in the middle” who need help are getting squeezed. I’d like to see much more thoughtful spending for drug and alcohol programs in this country – and a society that supports and educates rather than one that punishes and incarcerates.

Look at all of the other country’s that have the drinking age at 18. I feel that the age of drinking will cause more accidents during the first twenty years but after that it should level out. Once alcohol and teens become a norm. Teens should be exposed to alcohol early on so they can understand social drinking.

I will back up what firemanjohn said. My husband, a criminologist and national researcher on crime and delinguency, has stated time and again that D.A.R.E is ineffective and a waste of money. So, are the “scared straight” programs.

Thanks for the drug abuse news. It’s sad to know 1 in 10 UK young people think their parents are involved in drug abuse. Parents should be the first giving the education about drug abuse, not the schools.

Ok.. I have a new, free, public service to seriously help on the war on drugs. As of today, drug use statistics are reported to people based on anonymous surveys that are usually conducted in the following, but not all situations:

In-Person Household Surveys
Phone Household Surveys
In-School Surveys
Arrestee or Jail Surveys
Medical Data
Law Enforcement Data

and other data types can be used as well.. For more information, visit this article on erowid:

http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/statistics/statistics_article1.shtml

We still have to mention the more important fact that there still cannot be accurate(!) data collection for drug use statistics because of “Simple Survey Errors”.

“..For instance, in 1997, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA or NHS) encountered a strange problem with survey administration. Surveyors recorded that nearly 10% of selected respondents over the age of 18 could not complete the survey because their parents refused to let them participate.” (More info visit http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/statistics/statistics_article2.shtml)

In an effort to raise drug use awareness and promote the progress of our society, I’ve been developing a new tool that reports drug use statistics that are otherwise already reported by government agencies like the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This however, goes beyond just reporting statistics for the USE of substances.

DopeStats.com reports statistics on the use and cost of over 300 substances in 3,140 U.S counties. That is, it reports

Average price
Median price
Mode Price
Total Economic Cost

for each of the 300 substances in each of the 3,140 U.S counties. It also produces maps that visually show drug use in each county of the United States. The process to do all of this is simple and intuitive: Ask people to fill out a brief (less than a minute), anonymous survey in each U.S county.

Since this tool seems to solve the problems mentioned above, and because it is a very useful tool for parents, researchers, law enforcement officials, and anyone else interested in seeking information about the war on drugs, and because its quick and free(!), why not give it a statistic? DopeStats.com also reports statistics for Nicotine, Alcohol, Tylenol, and many other legal substances too.

Drug use statistics for each U.S county – DopeStats.com

Alcoholism is the new death wish…..thats all I have to say. we need to offer a hand to those in need of help. Help by helping others, not by ignoring the pain…

Good day! Hot picture alert! If Paris Hilton is your fave, then I have a website for you to see. Who wants it?

Alcohol is the strongest scourge of the world at this time ! Our youth are guzzling it down, as if it were Diary Queen Milkshakes !

Currently, there are five (5) common health afflictions, scattered world wide, and all from what many of us thought was moderate drinking ! Well………it’s not !!!
Moderate drinking of stiff drinks, should be no more than 1-2 per week Maximum !
These illness’s hit with no forewarning signs, and are severe & permenant, as there are no known cures !
They are, and in no particular order:
-Grand Mal Seizures
-Rapidly Progressive Blindness
-Rapidly Progressive Deafness
-Rapidly Corroded Livers
-Heart Attacks

We must to do something to at least spread this warning !
What we need is our Government Leaders to take a stand and pass legislation, for mandatory health warning labels on all liquor containers ! They did it on Cigarette’s, so why not Alcohol ???
Perhaps then we may see at least 50% of our youth, avoiding these health problems !!

If we don’t do something pretty soon, tell me, whats going to happen when all us old sods are in nursing homes….? Who will be able to assume our professions ???
When our youth are already destroying their own health & futures ???????

May God help us all !

I work with clients suffering with addiction and i am curious about the GABA-A effect on alcoholism recovery. Is this something that a person may use while in the early stages of treatment to help enhance the chances of successful abstience from alcoholism or is it also something one can do to remain free of cravings for alcohol. Also, is this something we as consumers can buy over the counter and take with our vitiams in the morning?
I love the information available on this site and have used it for some of my clients as a tool to make healthy choices. Thank you!

I know it sounds jaded, but I’m never surprised at what Hollywood kids say their childhood was like.

Great site, we need this stuff, all of us in recovery. I have devoted my life to carrying the message in my book, web site and speaking, it is truly my passion because we need to give it away so we can keep it. Two things I have tried and they work, A.A. and God, the two work hand in hand for real recovery, fredom from addiction and a better life, I do not want to be just dry, a drunk without a drink or a drug, other wise what is the point? I’ll join in, contribute, share my experience, strength and hope, when the hand reaches out we must be there.

Drunita Arps, my heart goes out to you…
I beat Alcohol & Cigarette’s with the only help I trusted… God’s…!
Let me know if you’d like our story…

God Bless.

I think you may be trying to reinvent the wheel.

The most successful recovery group ever created in all history is the 12 Step AA program. It works for any group of people and it’s free.

Regards, Joe

I would like to see a better relation between AA, Alanon, and Alateen in schools. I feel that in middle and high schools there is a lack of awareness from the parents and students as well of the resources that are available to deal with alcoholism and substance abuse. I think that making these support programs available to families in places where they are always at, whether by that name or another, would hep. For most young adults…in the hardest years, aa and alanon are either misconstrued ideas or they havent been exposed to the existence of these programs. Schools are the centers of communities. I think it would be appropriate.