The Obama administration has announced dramatic shifts in the country’s drug policy that could amount to a revolution in the government’s approach. The new policy is based on three ideas – addiction is a disease that can be treated, addicts can recover, and reforming the way the criminal justice system works in terms of drug [...]
A new substance abuse treatment facility for mothers and pregnant women run by Spectrum Health Services opened this month in Westborough, Massachusetts. The Giblin House—named after the facility’s main contributor, native real estate developer Kevin Giblin—represents a new rehabilitation and treatment center dedicated to women and children. The $2.5 million project took the nonprofit organization [...]
Prison is a tough place to be. For inmates, deserved or not, who are serving their time as mandated by the criminal justice system, it can be a festering stew, an unending cauldron of violence, or a time for reshaping their lives, coming clean, and learning how to live a life free of substance abuse [...]
An overwhelming majority of inmates within the United States has a disorder that involves alcohol or drugs. This raises the question of whether or not more of our rehabilitation institutions should offer some sort of treatment programs. A recent Kansas City post examines this phenomenon, highlighting the gap between incidence of problems and those who [...]
How well is the U.S. prison system equipped to deal with inmates’ addiction problems? According to new research from the Miriam Hospital, Brown University and their affiliated Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, many prison systems do not offer medical treatment for heroin or opiate addiction. A recent release in Science Daily shows that [...]
Methamphetamine abuse, although on the decline, is still a significant problem in the United States, and it’s no longer confined to the West and Southwestern portions of the country. Meth use has spread to every state, leaving in its wake thousands of addicts, broken homes and shattered lives. Methamphetamine production, distribution and possession are illegal [...]