Drug Treatment Center marks first anniversary

It’s a year to the day since eight drug addicts serving time became the first clients of Mesa County’s Summit View Drug Treatment Center.

Located on the third floor of the community corrections building in Grand Junction, the residential treatment center has seen more than 100 clients in its first year.

They’re clients like Brandon Burns, who volunteered for treatment because he kept using meth and marijuana while he was on probation. He’s coping with his past in treatment, picking at the things he’s hidden from with drugs since he was a preteen and learning how to deal with those problems sober.

“This is the longest I’ve been sober since I was 12 years old,” Burns said. “I’ve never felt this good in my life ever.”

Burns was ready to come, but Jason Thomas, who didn’t know his court sentence would bring him to the center, came in “kicking and screaming.” This was his fourth rehabilitation experience.

“I was going to fake it,” he said. He changed his mind when he saw this treatment center had more group participation and less staff control than other centers.

Group meetings with the 16-20 men living six to a room on the treatment floor happen every morning and afternoon. Clients write in a series of workbooks on topics from the connection between drugs and criminal behavior to anger management to communicating with family. Discussions are about discovering why they use drugs so they can live without drugs.

“It’s not the drugs, it’s you as a person you’re changing,” said Justin Ringold, who is transitioning out of the center.

The program isn’t for pretenders, said client Matt Onstott.

“If you do it for your sentence, it’s not going to work, you’re going to get called on it,” he said.

Optimism is common in the center, but that can wane when clients go to a community corrections floor to finish a sentence and when they get a place of their own. Justin Bohannon graduated from the center Nov. 5. He started going to the gym, took GED classes and got two jobs. But temptations outside get stronger, he said, and he ended up relapsing. He told the center he got high, and they worked with him to get him back on track.

“I knew if I went to prison I’d be in and out of prison for the rest of my life. The time comes when enough is enough,” he said. Still, it’s been “rough” to stay clean.

Helping clients transition from the center into the workforce has been a challenge, said Treatment Coordinator Jason Talley. The center now includes a short-term program, an enhanced outpatient program and a transition program to help with that, and case workers keep up with graduates and encourage them to meet new people and volunteer in the community. Talley said recidivism is low and the completion rate was 74 percent as of December.

Burton Shoebridge Jr. graduated treatment Nov. 26 and will move out of community corrections today. After spending nearly three decades in an out of prison, jail was the easy thing for Shoebridge. Living drug free in the real world was the struggle. But after treatment, he says he’s ready to try it.

“Things are going great and I’m not willing to give that up,” he said.

Counselor Bill Wimsatt said he’s heard no regrets from graduates.

“The ones I see are happy to be sober, happy to be clean. They walk up and they have a smile on their face, and that tells me enough. That tells me they’re happy to be living the life they choose to live,” he said.

The next step for the center could be incorporating clients under the age of 18. Talley said the need is greater to give youth a place to go than women and their children because the center isn’t “ideal” for families and there are two local in-patient treatment options for women, whereas the only nearby center for youth is in Glenwood Springs.
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source: Grand Junction Colorado Free Press

Teen treatment centre gets green light

A proposed teen addiction treatment centre cleared a major hurdle yesterday on its way to securing provincial funding.

Champlain Local Health Integration Network board members unanimously approved the latest proposal, which calls for a 20-bed facility to be built in rural Ottawa.

The proposed site, at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group-owned Meadow Creek farm in Kanata, will include a 15-bed facility for anglophone residents, and a separate five-bed facility for francophones.

Champlain LHIN CEO Dr. Robert Cushman said he is "very optimistic" the province will offer up the $5 million capital costs, as well as the $2.4 million annual operating budget.

"We've been in discussions with the ministry of health and long term care for many months," said Cushman. "It's not coming as a surprise. It's not coming out of nowhere."

The program will accept teens aged 13-17.

Cushman said the key part of the program is continuing care. Residents will be monitored for six months after discharge to prevent relapse.

BRITNEY SYNDROME

"We want to have better results than the Hollywood-style treatment," said Glenn Barnes, chairman of the Champlain Addiction Co-ordinating Body and one of the architects of the program.

"One of the black clouds that follows residential treatment is the Britney Spears syndrome -- where these people go in for rehab, they're 30 days dry, but when they get out they're just as screwed up as before."

A comprehensive patient assessment will include a mental health evaluation, Cushman said.

"We know 80% of these addicted youths have mental health problems," he said.

"We're talking about a subset of youth that are our most vulnerable and have extreme needs."

While initial plans called for a 48-bed bilingual facility, Cushman said the cost savings in the current proposal would strengthen transitional housing, in-school prevention programs and youth outreach initiatives.

"We need to do this well before considering an expanded program," said Cushman. "We want to decrease the numbers coming into residential care through prevention programs, and also the numbers coming back in after relapse."
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source: The Ottawa Sun

Treatment center's sole focus: Sobriety

The people living in a former bed and breakfast at the base of Pikes Peak are diverse: A chiropractor. A teenage boy. A welder from California. A woman recently apprehended by celebrity bounty hunter Duane "Dog." Chapman.

But for all their differences, they have at least two things in common: a fight with addiction and a place to wage it.

They are the most recent patients at Peak Addiction Recovery Center, which opened April 7 and appears to be the first local inpatient rehab center focused exclusively on sobriety.

Colorado Springs has some rehab programs, but those are either for specific groups of people, such as the homeless, or they include substance-abuse programs among other services. Cedar Springs Hospital offers treatment, for example, but it is a general psychiatric facility.

Peak Addiction, by contrast, is a 16-bed residential facility geared solely toward helping people get sober, stay that way, and live a better life afterward.

It was started by Dr. Charles Stephens, a doctor specializing in addiction medicine, and Executive Director Michael J. McKelvey, a former addict with a long career in nonprofits. The idea started from a conversation about the lack of services in the region. Most cities the size of Colorado Springs have at least two rehab centers, McKelvey said.

"It opens up treatments to populations that haven't been able to receive this locally in the past," said Michael Allen, vice president of Connect Care, a part of Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, which administers public money for substance-abuse programs.

Allen typically sends clients to rehab centers in Denver and Las Animas, but the patients have a higher risk of relapse when they return to Colorado Springs without a support system in place.

"I think demand is going to be huge," Allen said.

The program relies on proven models such as the 12-step method used by Alcoholics Anonymous, behavioral and motivational therapy, group sessions and individual counseling. But it also includes holistic methods such as yoga, exercise, a proper diet and relaxation.

In its first two months, the center has enrolled about two dozen people, and there is a waiting list for men.

Several clients, many of whom have been in and out of rehab, said they were more hopeful about long-term sobriety from their time in Peak Addiction. The atmosphere, more bed-and-breakfast than institution, keeps their spirits at ease and makes them more willing to focus on their lives.

David Packard, 19, said he'd fallen into cocaine and marijuana and within a year had resorted to stealing. He went to Cedar Springs in April and relapsed less than four hours after getting released. He was arrested days later for possession.

At Peak Addiction, he said, "It's like a family."

He's learned lessons that were lost on him before. The focus goes beyond drugs, but the program delves into the reasons patients have turned to them and how to be a productive, happy person without them.

A 30-year-old patient, who asked that her name is not used because of ongoing legal concerns, said meth addiction had left her on the streets and resulted in jail time. She'd been in and out of rehab, and said she feels hope for the first time. "It makes my heart melt almost, you know. It gave me another chance at life."

Most of the staff members have overcome addictions of their own, which serves as a source of inspiration for clients. The program also includes a detailed plan for sobriety upon leaving.

McKelvey said the rehab center charges clients on a sliding scale. Treatment, which can last as long as 45 days, generally costs between $4,000 and $10,000. The center is planning to pursue grants, and it accepts donations. It also accepts insurance.

The center is partnering with other organizations, including the court system, to help substance abusers.

Jeff, a chiropractor, was leaving on a recent morning after spending a month at the facility. He thought he'd beaten his drinking problem after a year of sobriety, but relapsed with a night of heavy boozing, which scared him.

As he waited for his ride home from the center, he said he learned that everyone has problems and ways they deal with stress. An addict's ways are just especially dangerous, and the brain is wired for destruction.

"Once I get alcohol in my system, I don't have a choice of whether or not I can drink anymore," he said. The program has taught him not just how addiction works, he said, but how to use that knowledge to stay sober.
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source: Colorado Springs Gazette

Drug Rehab Warns Against Opiate Addiction

There are many forms of substance addiction. Addiction in any form, of course, should be a cause for raised concern. There are increased risks however that stem from opiate addiction. Unlike forms of stimulant addiction, opiates run a greater risk of overdosing. For opiate addiction, there is drug rehab. There is a process of detoxification and treatment to reduce the influence and the withdrawal affects cause by opiates. Most cases of opiate addiction can not be overcome without some form of treatment or drug rehab.

Opiates, also referred to as narcotics, are pills and powders derived from the Chinese poppy plant. Many opiates are based in the natural byproduct of this plant, morphine. The majority however are derivatives of morphine and other synthetic substances. Opiates include heroin, and prescription drugs containing morphine, codeine, and synthetics like oxycodone or hydrocodone. Opiates are depressants. They slow the functions of the central nervous system. When introduced to the brain, opiates create a sensation of euphoria (pleasure) and block pain receptors. The ability to block pain has made these prescription drugs valuable pain relievers. However, the rush of euphoria is often the key reason behind abuse and addiction problems.

Heroin is the most infamously known of the opiates. Heroin is primarily taking through snorting or intravenous injection. It is taken in this manner because then the affects of heroin are almost instant. This also increases the addictiveness of the drug. In no time at all, a person can become chemically dependent to heroin. It gets to the point where the body can suffer physically when heroin is not present in the system. Increases in consumption can result in an overdose. Depressants slow down the functions of the body and brain. Heroin overdose oftentimes ends with respiratory failure. Breathing is slowed to the point where it just stops entirely. Heroin addiction cases require lengthier detoxification and a more intensified addiction treatment program.

The newer problem rising from opiate addiction is based in prescription medications. Abuse cases have risen over the past fifteen years by several hundred percent. Prescription drugs have evolved to the point that many of them use a synthetic makeup of chemicals and not morphine itself. These are classed as opioids. Prescription medications when taken correctly are miracles. The question is, when the drugs have served their purpose; can the individual stop taking them? If the person still feels the need to take, regardless of if there is pain or not, chances are it is some form of addiction.

The large majority can use medications with no ill affects. The percentage of those who develop an addiction to pain medications is a relatively small portion of the population. However, because of an increased exposure to prescription opiates, more and more individuals are discovering they are a part of the small percentage, and have a problem. These are individuals who wouldn't normally be subject to illicit drug use. Prescription drug addiction has been a consistent and steady rise since the late 90's. More and more drug rehabs are turning their attention to this type of addiction problem.

Opiate addiction cases primarily require some form of drug rehab. This includes a detoxification to stabilize the individual and eliminate the influence of drugs in the system. After detoxification, treatment and therapy should be utilized for the psychological and emotional elements of addiction. It is remarkable to see the human body recover from the depths of addiction. The right drug rehab program is what can make this possible. This article was provided by Cirque Lodge. Cirque Lodge is renowned as a leading alcohol and drug addiction treatment facility; nestled in the mountains of Sundance Utah.
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source: transworldnews.com