The Nashville Drug Treatment Centers initiate their first Prescription Drug Addiction Outreach Program in Durham, NC
The Nashville Drug Treatment Centers initiate their first Prescription Drug Addiction Outreach Program in Durham, NC
The Nashville Drug Treatment Centers have begun a prescription drug addiction awareness campaign in the Nashville area with hopes of providing addicts suffering from a painkiller or other prescription drug addiction with information on new treatment protocols and methods currently available to treat their substance use disorder.
The Nashville Drug Treatment Centers has a great deal of experience with prescription drug addiction, especially opiate derivatives, such as Vicodin and Oxycodone. Drug rehabs and alcohol addiction treatment centers have been dealing with the results of painkiller and prescription drug addiction for decades. With the knowledge and experience they have gained over the years, treatment for prescription drug addiction is more effective than ever before. However, this effectiveness in treatment does not seem to make a dent in the scope of addiction because addicts tend to hide in the shadows for reasons such as shame, fear of incarceration, or any punitive measures that may be inflicted upon them. The government's recent approach to drug treatment has been compassionate, but stubborn. From Marketwatch:
According to recent estimates, there are approximately 2.7 million people with opioid dependence in the U.S. Approximately 20 percent of this population is addicted to illicit opioids, such as heroin, and the other 80 percent to prescription opioids, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, hydromorphone and codeine. Before the year 2000, medication-assisted therapies for opioid dependence had been sanctioned to a limited number of facilities in the U.S. The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) allowed medical office-based treatment of opioid dependence and greatly expanded patient access to medication-assisted treatments. As a result, an estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. sought treatment for opioid dependence in 2011.
Medical intervention or, "medical maintenance" programs are an effective tool for managing the more voracious symptoms of drug addiction. Alcohol and drug treatment centers often use medicines to treat withdrawal symptoms in addicts who cannot physically stop "cold turkey." The lack of recidivism when using medical intervention proves that it is a positive and successful model of treatment. By relying upon the strengths of new prescription drug treatment models and complementary medical methods (holistic drug treatment), drug treatment centers and alcohol rehabs can better help individuals overcome their dependency, regain their health and live free from symptoms of this disease.
Painkiller addicts in the Nashville Drug area have excellent drug treatment options available to help rid them of their addiction. The drug rehabs of Nashville use a multi-modal drug and alcohol treatment approach for those with either a prescription drug addiction or a dual diagnosis with alcoholism. A new method involves the use of Suboxone films, which are made from buprenorphine and naloxone. During the early stages of the drug treatment program, the patient will take the Suboxone in the morning to kill their opiate cravings. Over a gradual period of time, the individual will continue to decrease their dosage of the drug until they are free from physical dependency. This model has been previously used in methadone maintenance programs for heroin and morphine addiction, but unlike methadone, Suboxone has a shorter drug half-life, making it easier to withdraw from. That way when losing one addiction, they do not gain a new one.
The treatment centers want to create awareness about the new treatment methods for prescription drug addiction in hopes that those suffering will reach out for help, even if they lack confidence in finding successful treatment due to past failures with drug dependency and/or drug withdrawal. They want people to know that there is effective drug treatment for their addiction. From Newsroom & Media Center:
"Tennessee Department of Health data from 2013 show 54 percent of overdose deaths were men and 46 percent were women. The median age of overdose death victims was 46 years old, with 75 percent being between 30 and 59. Nine of the unintentional deaths were among individuals between 15 and 19 years of age. By race, whites accounted for the vast majority, 90 percent, of overdose deaths. By education level, 72 percent of overdose deaths were among people with a high school diploma, GED certificate or less education."
"The abuse of prescription drugs, specifically opioids, is an epidemic in Tennessee, with disastrous and severe consequences to Tennesseans of every age. This high number of overdose deaths can be prevented if we all work together and fight this deadly epidemic."
- Doug Varney, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services