Archive for March, 2010
Help is One Call Away
Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 05:19 Written by Monica Wednesday, 31 March 2010 05:19
This article is especially hard for me to write because it is close to my heart. A few days ago, a friend of mine lost a very special member of his family, a child less than two years old. There were drugs found at the scene according to officials. The details are not all completely known and this article is not about that particular situation but about getting help before it is too late.
Texas offers rehab programs. If you are on drugs, you most likely can not get off of them on your own. Detoxing can even be dangerous if not done under medical supervision. I’m not sure just how to write this other than to be completely open and honest. Drugs can take over control and someone you care about can pay the ultimate price. You are worth more than that and so are the ones in your life who are affected by your decision to take drugs.
If life seems overwhelming, if day to day situations are too stressful, please know that you can get help at a Texas rehab center. Please know that if you are in another state, you can get help, too. The rehab center is not there to judge you, it is comprised of people who want to see you succeed in beating your addiction. Along with detoxing, you will have counseling, group therapy and classes to learn why you became addicted and how to avoid a relapse.
If you know of someone who is addicted, call a Texas rehab center and request help. Most likely, the counselor you are put together with will recommend an intervention. Have a counselor available at this very important meeting.
Whether you are setting up an intervention for a loved one or it is you personally who has the addiction, please get help. You will not only be saving a very special person, yourself (even if you do not see yourself that way, you ARE), and you quite possibly could be saving the lives of others at the same time. Children holler and act up. People on drugs have a higher stress level and can not handle that. Get help for that person and you will also be helping any children that person has or is around.
Help is one phone call away. Please do this for yourself and the children in your life. Do it in memory of a special little boy you never even knew. It will be one of the greatest steps you ever take and one that you will absolutely never regret.
Tags: children, counseling, drugs, gruop therapy, Texas rehab center | Posted under Texas Rehab | No Comments
Spare Tires: A New Place to Find Drugs
Last Updated on Friday, 26 March 2010 12:42 Written by Monica Friday, 26 March 2010 09:31
Spare tires aren’t just a slang phrase for overweight people and they aren’t just a way of being responsible and prepared for a flat. No, nowadays, spare tires seem to be good hiding places (well, maybe not) for marijuana. DPS officers in Texas are finding this out more and more
In September, 73 pounds of marijuana worth over $23,000 was found in Hungerford. In June, 1400 pounds were found in two spare tires in Pierce. Yesterday, 70 pounds was found in a spare tire in Wichita Falls when a car was stopped for speeding.
More and more traffic stops are turning into criminal arrests, not for speeding or seat belt violations but for transporting drugs. Texas shares a border with Mexico and the drug trade is getting bigger and getting worse. Now, let me ask a few questions here to those who have experience in the illicit drug business. Bear in mind that no one knows you are answering these questions except you and the Man upstairs if you believe in Him.
My first question is, seriously, is it worth it? Is smuggling or transporting drugs, dealing them to minors and others who are addicted, is it worth it? Is having a lot of money for a little bit of time until you are busted or one of your workers is busted and makes a deal and turns on you really worth it? Can you truly live with the fact that a pre-teen or teen is hooked on what you sell and you could be intervening with the person who had been destined to find a cure for cancer or solve the great Hoffa mystery or write the next bestseller or break a sporting record?
Maybe you don’t have a spare tire because you do drugs and it keeps the weight off but being a dealer is no less attractive. Do you know what you are missing? You are missing out on walking the beaches and holding the hand of the love of your life. You are missing out on a child looking up at you with adoring eyes and saying “Daddy, teach me to tie my shoe.” You are missing out on the proud look of your mother because you are now walking the stage at the university of your choice, having accomplished the dream of getting your degree.
Drugs being found in spare tires. It certainly beats finding them in the bodies of precious young people who have accidentally overdosed. Texas has a bad drug problem. It doesn’t take such offenses lightly. If you are reading this, it is not too late to turn your life around. Do it for your future children, that degree you dreamed of, that book you want to write or whatever your secret goal is. Because I know a secret that you don’t. You are worth a second chance.
Tags: dealing, marijuana, spare tires, traffic stop, transporting | Posted under Texas Rehab | No Comments
What Does Health Care Reform Mean for Addicts
Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 March 2010 11:06 Written by Monica Wednesday, 24 March 2010 11:06
The health care reform bill passed. Now what does it mean? According to the front page of my local paper it means 13 attorney generals are already filing suit against it. Some people can barely feed their children in this economy. Many people skip meals because they can’t feed themselves and are thankful they do not have a child in this economy. Now the government is saying pay for health coverage or get a fine? What does this mean for someone with a drug addiction or, more likely, a dual diagnosis problem of addiction and mental problems? There is no straight answer. Every link, every meeting shown on TV, shows a different answer.
I can s
ee it now. A person can not afford health care yet finally admits he or she has an addiction problem that has damaged that person both physically and mentally. Drugs take away everything so you know that person isn’t eating or worrying about paying bills. He goes to get help and is told “Oh, you do not have health insurance. We need to contact law enforcement.” Hmm, sort of reminds me of the vet who went to a clinic stating he was suicidal and was told sorry, no room for you here and later killed himself.
The surprising thing about my article? I have always been a Democrat. However, I am turning more and more to a Republican view on this. Women writing hot checks to feed their children because they can not get food stamps, men working honey-do jobs for less than minimum wage just to make enough to keep the electric on that month, the stories are all over the internet and in our society. What will health care reform mean for those families and for the families of an addict? The Texas attorney general has joined in the suit.
Now I would love for every person to have health care insurance but to be penalized criminally for it? People who can not afford insurance are not criminals. I could never afford insurance as a single mother and was thankful that my children were covered under their father’s insurance following our divorce. I made sure to keep myself healthy and exercised and dieted and stayed away from things that could hurt me. That doesn’t mean I’m a saint. It doesn’t mean someone who is sick or can’t afford health care or is an addict is a lowlife, either. Addiction is a disease, cancer is a disease. Being poor should not make one a criminal yet that is exactly what the new health care reform will make those who can not afford it. Oh, and if you think the poor can go get government coverage, well, just ask the injured vet who keeps getting denied or the single mother who can not get food stamps so she goes without eating in order to feed her kids.
What does health care reform mean for addicts? Something tells me we haven’t seen the entire picture in this so-called scale of fairness.
Tags: addiction, dual diagnosis, health care reform | Posted under Texas Rehab | 1 Comment
Drug Use, War and Veterans
Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 07:17 Written by Monica Tuesday, 23 March 2010 07:17
USA Today has an article in it stating that the increase in drug use among soldiers is due to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Soldiers come back with injuries and PTSD and get hooked on prescription pain medication and mood swing pills. As the 7th anniversary of the war in Iraq is this month, it seems like a fitting and interesting piece to read.
Perhaps part of the reason for the rise in drug use is the fact that medications are sent constantly through the U.S. mail? It takes forever for a soldier to get seen, some are still waiting for their VA cards, but the medications come left and right, with the soldier even being confused as to what each one is for. Not surprising if one of those injuries affected the brain and if there is a diagnosis of PTSD.
Prescription pain medications are meant to help people but yes, they can be addictive. The intended patient and others can get hooked on them. That is why it is best to be under a doctor’s care so the patient can be monitored. But with a system where a soldier is constantly having to start over, where he or she consistently hears the dismissal attitude that questions the integrity and experience of the soldier or veteran, is it any wonder that it appears prescription pain medication use is on the rise? Not to mention alcohol and marijuana use?
When a soldier comes home, he lives with survivors’ guilt because the same blast that killed his comrade “only” gave him a headache or “only” took an arm or a leg. But realistically, that soldier with an amputated limb or head injury
comes home to a new battle, one with the VA where his service is questioned and when someone does believe the DD214 is legitimate, doesn’t want to hear about his experiences because it will give that person PTSD. If a person can claim such a diagnosis second hand, how much more real is it then for the youth who actually lived it?
“Not in the system” is a term many veterans are hearing over and over and over again. Is it any wonder they turn to marijuana and alcohol use? In drug rehab, we are taught about enabling. How enabling is it for a system to turn its back on the very soldiers it was set up for? It’s hard for them to fight for their rights when they are remembering the buddy who lost a life. It’s hard for them to question the fairness of a system that doles out millions in bonus checks to employees while wounded veterans are kicked to the curb.
So they quietly go to their corner, drink a few more shots and smoke a little more weed. They take the pills delivered by mail when what they also need is counseling, medical monitoring and a call center set up that does not belittle their contribution to their country. If a call center representative spoke to a customer the way some of the ones for the VA system speak to veterans, that representative would be out on the street looking for another job. Instead, he or she is just lining the pockets of the higher ups with fatter bonus checks. Whether the veteran is in Texas, Michigan, Florida or another state, he or she needs something besides mailed prescription bottles. Maybe that’s why drug use is on the rise among those who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tags: Alcohol, drug use, marijuana, prescription pain medication, VA | Posted under Texas Rehab | 1 Comment
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