California Drug Rehab
According to a nationwide study by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there is a marked increase in teen drug addiction among Californian teens.
From 2002 to 2004, the number of Californian kids aged 12 to 17 years old who had used illegal drugs in the last month rose from 11.44 percent to 12.05 percent. While there were less students using cocaine, more of them were getting high on pain relievers, while as much as 9% admitted they had become regular, or even dependent, users.
What’s even more disturbing is that among all the people surveyed, all other age groups showed a decrease in drug use. But teenagers—who associated drugs with freedom to experiment, self-expression, and “a normal part of the party life”—still did not understand the long-term implications of popping a “few fun pills”. Because of this, California drug rehab centers have increased their efforts to study, and respond to, the particular needs of teen substance abuse.
The research shows that the increase in drug use can be partly explained by peer pressure: drugs are introduced by friends at a party, or circulated as a stimulant or stress reliever during exam times. By the time teenagers realize that they are hooked on the drug, the problem has become so severe that they need to enroll in a drug treatment program.
Furthermore, teenagers are particularly vulnerable to drug abuse because of the psychological pressures and issues that surround adolescence: insecurity, a desire for acceptance, confusion about one’s identity, and the competitiveness that can occur in the best universities when students will “take anything” so they survive long nights and get the A. Thus, someone who tries to quit, without proper support and counseling provided in drug treatment programs will almost always fail.
For those who have combined with alcohol for a more exciting high, the drug treatment program also requires corresponding alcohol rehab efforts as well. To treat one problem, while leaving the other unsolved, can pull the user back into a cycle of abuse and addiction the moment they leave the drug rehab. Success rests in getting to the root of the problem—not just taking the drug out of the system, but giving tools and support mechanisms to help them say no to any chemical that endangers their life and their future.
As part of the efforts to lower drug use incidents in California, many organizations have joined forces to create a wider publicity campaign. Drug hotlines, pamphlets, regular lectures and talks, as well as peer counseling where teens help other teens break the cycle of addiction—these all help those stay away from drug addiction or at least make the step of identifying that they have a problem that needs serious attention. When those teens understand that drug addiction is not normal, and are open to entering adrug treatment program, then the healing process already begins.
These support mechanisms are even more important after the drug rehab, when teens must reenter the college party scene, or the race to the end of the term, without familiar crutches of drugs and alcohol.