Reentry Drug Court

Health, Addiction And Recovery.

Drug rehab successes lead to new 'problem solving courts' - the overwhelming success of the country' s drug court system during the past 18 years has led to the creation of a whole new way of approaching america' s personal legal problems. Here' s how it happened. If you' re one of the lucky folks who haven' t been to court lately, you probably don' t know how drug addicted prisoners have helped bring about a better justice system, all because drug rehab actually works.

Back in 1989, the federal government urged the states to do something about overcrowded jails. - if you' re old enough, recall the tv show' miami vice' - chances are you' ll also think of drugs( drug rehab wasn' t a household term yet) . It was the height of the crack cocaine epidemic in America, Florida, and in Miami, cocaine was a very big problem. Miami and drugs were almost synonymous. Such offenders were seldom, ordered by a, if ever judge to a drug rehab program. Meanwhile, Miami - Dade County officials knew that maybe three - quarters of the people in jail were non - violent drug abusers. They went to jail, used more drugs, got out, did more crimes, and went back to jail - the drug - related crime revolving door.

Watch them closely and if they make it, offer to drop the charges. - whoever had this bright idea deserves a medal: let' s try putting the addicts, who are not violent criminals, through a drug rehab program. In other words, motivate them and treat the cause of the crime, and clear the jails of thousands of not really dangerous people. State Attorney( at the time) Janet Reno, with Chief Judge Gerald Wetherington, and Public Defender, Judge Herbert Klein Bennett Brummer, evolved the first drug court for nonviolent offenders to get drug rehab instead of jail time. If it' s a successful drug rehab program they' ll recover their lives and we won' t see them again in court. It opened in Miami, and became a sensation across the country. Drug rehab really works when it' s motivated and it' s done right.

Here was a way to deal with the escalating number of drug offenders coming through the courts and into the jails. - from 1989 to 1999, nearly 500 drug courts appeared in cities across the country. The reason is that they save tons of money, and save lives, prevent new crime. By the end of this year, the number of drug courts will have risen to over 2000, with dozens more planned. In Portland, OR, from 1991 to 2001, drug court saved taxpayers$ 79 million. The secret of drug courts was simple: A specialized court with specially trained personnel dealing with a specialized problem.

The story is much the same in cities everywhere. - offender has a drug addiction? You get predictable results, and save tons of time and money. A supervised drug rehab is the answer. Building on the drug court formula of specialization and supervision, a host of new courts have arisen. These have changed the face of our judicial system, and they' re all based in one way or another on drug court methods: Adult Drug Court( what we' ve been talking about) Campus Drug Court.

In 2004, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators issued a statement to all 50 State Chief Justices and State Court Administrators to" take steps, to expand and, nationally and locally better integrate the principles and methods of well - functioning drug courts into ongoing court operations. " They said" drug court and problem solving court principles and methods have demonstrated great success in addressing certain complex social problems, that are not, such as recidivism effectively addressed by the traditional legal process. " Here' s a list of what has transpired since the first drug - addicted offenders in Miami were put through drug court and well - supervised drug rehab programs. - community courts. DWI Court( or DUI Court) Family Dependency Treatment Court. Domestic Violence Court. Gambling Court. Juvenile Drug Court.

Gun Court. - mental health court. Teen Court. Reentry Drug Court. Truancy Court. Who could have foreseen such a development from that first drug court in Miami in 1989, all because a specialized approach and a successful drug rehab program turned out to be the key to success.

By 2005, 558 specialized, there were 2' Problem Solving Courts' to deal with almost every kind of legal issue a family can imagine, and it' s likely that number now is closer to 3, 00These new specialized courts make dealing with special problems faster, and much more, easier effectively than ever.

Explain That Alcohol Is Actually Poison( Look It Up If You Don' T Believe Me)

Health, Addiction And Recovery.

Alcohol rehab could be avoided by talking to your young kids - some worrisome statistics strongly suggest we need to change how and when we present the facts about alcohol to our kids - it' s a lot more dangerous than most people think, and we need start telling them about it a lot younger. It also makes it more likely they' ll become alcohol abusers later in life and wind up needing alcohol rehab. Too many kids are trying alcohol at the middle school level, and researchers say alcohol is dangerous to developing brains.

Some of these statistics are alarming: By the eighth grade, about 40 percent of American students say they' ve had some alcohol. About 10 percent of fourth - graders and 29 percent of sixth - graders say they' ve already tried alcohol. Roughly 47 percent - nearly half - of people who began drinking before age 14 became dependent on alcohol later in their lives. - s. today, there are nearly 18 million people who need alcohol rehab and it' s likely that at least half of them began drinking when they were under 21 - probably way under 2 these are only a few of the statistics that are driving an ongoing study on children' s use of alcohol by university of pittsburgh medical center professor john donovan. Which means that if you allow alcohol before that age, there' s a 47 percent chance they' ll need alcohol rehab. Only 9 percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older became dependent on alcohol. 35 percent of Texas sixth - graders had drunk alcohol at least once. 18 percent of fourth - graders surveyed in Texas had drunk alcohol at least once. 9 percent of 9 - to 12 - year - olds in a national survey said they' d had more than a few sips of alcohol. 4 percent of sixth - graders in a national survey reported that they had drunk alcohol in the past month. In the U. His findings that link alcohol dependency to the age one starts drinking agree with many other researchers. Parents need to talk to their kids and make sure they understand the dangers. And he has found that kids are trying alcohol a lot younger than most people think, which may be even more likely to lead to alcohol addiction and the need for alcohol rehab in their later teens or 20s. "Parents should know that even when they give children alcohol in family contexts, there is still a risk that their children would be more likely to be involved in problematic use later on, " Donovan said.

In a statement last March announcing the" National Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, " Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu said that kids who start drinking before age 15" are five times more likely to have alcohol - related problems later in life. " He also said new research indicates that alcohol harms the developing adolescent brain. - and liver disease, a consequence of alcoholism historically seen only among middle - aged people, has begun to appear in young adults in their 20s. Just imagine what it' s doing to an 8 or 10 - year - old' s brain. It' s time for parents to take action: the consequences of not doing so could result in your kid becoming alcohol dependant or addicted and needing alcohol rehab. Get some examples. Parents with young children should use the following topics as a guide to talk to their kids about alcohol: Explain what" dependency" means. Explain that the younger someone starts drinking alcohol, the more likely they are to become dependent on it.

Explain that alcohol is actually poison( look it up if you don' t believe me) . - it' s an addictive substance. Young bodies need food, water and fresh air, or they will, not poison not develop properly. Don' t sugar coat it, but don' t scare them into nightmares, either. Give examples of what alcohol addiction can do to behavior, robbing people of the desire and ability to achieve their goals. Tell them that people with a real alcohol dependency can almost never stop drinking on their own, and that they' ll ruin their lives and the lives of everyone around them, even people they love, unless they can get through an alcohol rehab program that helps them recover their senses. Talk to them now, and you could avoid having to get them into an alcohol rehab program later.

Kids whose parents talk to them about drugs and alcohol are less likely to become alcoholics.

And The List Of Americans Needing Drug Detox Or Rehab, Already At About 21 Million, Is Being Extended

Health, Addiction And Recovery.

Drug detox is the right prescription for doctor - shoppers - a massachusetts" pain management" doctor has lost his license to practice after six of his patients died of causes that may be connected with the addictive painkillers he prescribed. Although many people rely on narcotics to handle legitimate chronic pain, illicit prescription drug use has reached epidemic proportions and often requires medically supervised drug detox and drug rehab to resolve.

We' ve read news reports of several such cases in the past year: 71 doctors nationwide were arrested last year and 412 physicians lost the right to prescribe narcotics. - doctor shopping - going from one doctor to another faking symptoms to get a prescription - is a major contributing factor to the prescription drug abuse problem. Massachusetts Representative Peter Koutoujian says doctors, pharmacists and the medical board could detect potential prescription drug abuse more quickly if they had access to the Department of Public Health' s narcotics prescription database, which tracks all such prescriptions. But doctors and pharmacists are sometimes at a loss to determine whether a request for a prescription is legitimate or merely a ploy to get drugs. Abusers and addicts could be identified through the database and encouraged to get into drug detox and rehab to handle their drug problem. However, due to privacy concerns, the database is not available in all states. The database would also allow authorities to identify doctors suspected of over - prescribing and initiate investigations.

According to a recent federal survey, only nine states provide physician and pharmacist access to their prescription drug databases. - koutoujian, who headed a legislative commission on oxycontin abuse last year, said his commission recommended expanding access to the massachusetts database but, the public health, so far council has refused to change the rules. Rep. Says Koutoujian: "We' re falling behind the curve" by not doing so. The story of the Massachusetts pain management doctor began back in 1999 when a local pharmacist noticed an unusually high number of patients, sometimes a half - dozen a day, filling prescriptions for high doses of narcotic painkillers all prescribed by the same doctor. And the list of Americans needing drug detox or rehab, already at about 21 million, is being extended. Obviously worried about prescription drug addiction, the pharmacist says he stopped filling the doctor' s prescriptions in 200He also alerted other local pharmacists to the situation.

A Boston detective was called in and, posing as a patient with back pain, visited the doctor. - having no access to the state' s prescription database, he set up a special phone line for other area drugstores to call so they could track the prescription requests from that doctor' s patients. He received prescriptions for narcotics on nine separate visits. But there was still no official investigation. By 2005, at least one complaint about the doctor had been received by regulators and, two health insurers, early in 2006 suspended him from their provider networks. The doctor continued prescribing, and more people were joining the ranks of those needing drug detox for prescription drug addiction and abuse.

But, the doctor was, by then the ninth highest prescriber in the state for the most addictive narcotics, with only hospitals and large institutions prescribing more. - it wasn' t until may of this year that federal, and local law, state enforcement officials finally acted, soon followed by suspension of the doctor' s medical license. His office wrote nearly 12, 000 pain - pill prescriptions in 2006 - about six prescriptions every working hour - which adds up to a lot of people abusing and possibly addicted to prescription drugs who should have been in drug detox or rehab instead of filling more prescriptions. Who would see this private data? Access to the state' s prescription database might have helped prevent the loss of life and unknown numbers of addictions but for concerns about patient privacy. Basically it would be the doctor, who already has the patient' s file, who is already, and the pharmacist looking at the prescription. Instead, six people in Massachusetts have died, and dozens or even hundreds more are hooked on narcotic painkillers, people whose lives - if they live through their addictions - may now be ruined unless they get through a proper medical drug detox program and drug rehab.

At the risk of over - simplifying, what' s the problem, if it gets people into drug detox and rehab and saves lives?

He Nearly Lost It All, Then He Found A Drug Rehab Program That Changed His Life

Health, Addiction And Recovery.

Drug rehab voices of recovery: alcoholic's son makes it through rehab - chris had a rough start in life: his older brother is an alcoholic and his father, took his own, severely addicted life when chris was only eight years old. Soon he was following in his brother' s and father' s footsteps. Despite the fact that Chris managed to get through college and dental school, his career didn' t last.

He nearly lost it all, then he found a drug rehab program that changed his life. - he was able to keep himself supplied with all the oxycontin he wanted. As a dentist, Chris had open access to the opiates. And he became addicted. And it went on for years. But he didn' t stop there: he run the full gamut of substance abuse: everything from alcohol and cocaine to methamphetamine and methadone. It wasn' t until his mother traveled across the country to visit him a couple of years ago that it was recognized that he had a serious, life threatening problem.

He no longer went to work and he rarely left his one bedroom Denver apartment in Denver, Colorado - except to refill his prescriptions or to cop illegal street drugs. - he was forty pounds lighter than the last time she saw him and he was obviously struggling with the addictions that plagued other family members. His mom, worried and distraught at the thought of losing her son, convinced him that his best chance at recovery would begin in a residential drug rehab program. I feel that for every month I spent in drug rehab, I learned as much as I would have in three months in the outside world. " At 34, Chris is now fully recovered. He reluctantly agreed to go, but soon discovered a world beyond the vicious cycle of alcohol and drug abuse - the only world he had known for so long. "Drug rehab gave me a strong foundation. He spends his time volunteering his services as a dentist at a local jail and talking to others about how they might find a new beginning through drug rehab.

He' s now been clean and sober for five months. "I have learned gratitude in recovery. - it' s obvious that chris has paid his dues in recovery to get to this point. I am one of the luckiest guys in the world. None of that happened to me. I could have been arrested, lost my license, gotten a DUI to practice dentistry. For that I am grateful. " Chris is living proof that it is possible for to overcome addiction.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month celebrates the successes, and urges those who need help to get into a successful drug rehab program so they too can reclaim their lives.