It is a given that substance abuse treatment helps an individual get hold of his life, and now a recent report form the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research based at the University of Kentucky suggests that addiction treatment also serves society at large. According to this report, addiction treatment allows the state of Kentucky to save up to $10 million annually, which is roughly $5 for every dollar that is spent on treatment services.

This report was from the findings of the Kentucky Outcome Study, which followed some 906 participants into a year of their substance abuse treatment. After the said year, these participants were found to be involved in fewer crimes, made more money in decent jobs, and used less drugs and alcohol. All of these developments are what saved the state the rather hefty amount of money.

Of these three, the report noted that Kentucky was able to save the most on grounds of the lower crime rate. The study reported that only 30% of the participants were arrested after beginning treatment, compared to 57% the previous year. It was further noted that the state saved $9.2 million in costs of arrest alone and this still do not include the amount saved on costs of taking care of crime victim needs such as medication.

Numbers speak for themselves

The figures provided in the report also provides solid proof that addiction treatment maybe a possible step towards improving a community or state’s standard of living, and ultimately quality of the life. In particular, the outcome study found that 72 percent of the total participants did not use alcohol 30 days prior to the survey while 86% have taken alcohol but not enough to be intoxicated. Moreover, 88% haven’t used illegal drugs in the past 30 days.

Employment rates among the participants were also higher, with 47% having a full time job as against only the 29% who had one prior to treatment. Their average income also rose to $933 a month from the previous $445.

Implications

The main implication of this report is in highlighting the benefits of substance abuse treatment to society. Robert Walker, the author of the study, specifically noted that “The study certainly supports moving toward more of a community-based treatment approach rather than incarceration.”

The state of Kentucky is currently looking at the possibility of raising budget for substance addiction treatment, but this maybe easier said done than given several considerations. On top of these considerations is the question of where exactly to get the money for the budget increase from.

A new trend in youth drug abuse is raising alarm across different communities nationwide. More and more kids are being admitted to emergency rooms and school clinics for overdosing on non prescription cough and cold medicine, something that is very much available in the supermarket and drugstores. Police and doctors note that over the past years, these medicines are fast becoming popular recreational drugs for young people, even as young as 12 years of age.

Doctors and police, however, clarify that the use of cough and cold medicines in drug abuse is not entirely something new. The difference however in present abuses is the type of chemical found in the medicines which causes these kids to be high. This ingredient is what is known as dextomethorpan or DXM, which was approved as cough suppressant by the Food and Drug Administration in 1954.

DXM has been used in cough syrups in from the 1970s as replacement to codeine, which is a highly addictive and abused drug. It is sold legally even without prescription since regulated amounts of it does not make users high. However, this did not stop young adults from experimenting.

Over the past two years, more and more cases of overdose have been reported as more young people use it to get high. DXM, when taken in large doses causes hallucinations, irregular heartbeat, depressed breathing, and elevated blood pressure. Overdoses of the drug is known to result to seizures, comas, and death. In fact, five deaths related to DXM overdose have been reported over the past two years.

It’s all in the Internet

The popularity of using DXM to get high is fueled largely by the Internet, where the youth can easily turn to for information regarding how to use the drug to get hallucinations and the like. Young people who try it and get “good” results from their experience can easily share this in the Internet where other users their age can easily read about it.

Prevention and Intervention

The growing concern over the increasing rates of DXM abuse in community and middle schools have led to some drugs stores restricting access to different cough and cold medicines . Some owners hide these medicines behind counters and customers have to specially request them first while others allow customers to buy only one box in a single transaction.

Manufacturers on the other hand are quite more lenient, saying that they cannot restrict access of their goods primarily because there are people who really do need and use them responsibly. Some of these drug manufactures, recognizing the potential of their products to be abused, employed packaging modifications to make the medicines less attractive to the younger population.

Education about the effects of DXM is also something that manufacturers and local officials are trying to address. Methods being explored to achieve this include putting up an educational website about the effects of DXM, school seminars, and meetings with parents, schools, and community officials.

Along with education, intervention is also very important in order to address this growing trend in drug abuse. Intervention is a tricky job and when done in the wrong way may cause more harm than good. It is for this reason that most people suggest that intervention is best left to the care of professional interventionist.