Drug Issues in Oregon

Pheobe Chapman & Grace Eldred

May 20, 2024

The lack of drug rehabilitation centers in or in close proximity to Brookings, Oregon really impacts people seeking help for substance use disorders. The place of accessible and affordable drug rehabilitation places within the town could potentially contribute to addressing broader social issues, such as homelessness and lack of resources for the environment.

Helping individuals who suffer with substance use disorders can help the reduction in homelessness. This can eventually lead to a decrease in littering, this will assist the public by causing less social predicaments.

Sometimes, individuals struggling with drug addiction within the community can have different effects on the community of Brookings; it can cause people to feel unsafe and relocate to somewhere safer.

Drug rehabilitation services would provide assistance to needed support to individuals in need but could also make Brookings an overall better environment.

Many different approaches, such as drug rehabilitations, can help with safety, cleanliness, besmirch and overall environment. This may increase the population of this small town.

Certain substances may have worse or more withdrawals than others. Depending on the person and substance, some people are more likely to relapse than others. This causes discouragement and lack of will to go to a rehabilitation center.

“Drugs have short-term and long-term effects. These effects can be physical and psychological. Drugs can impact the way you think, feel and act. Making sure you know the risks can help reduce the potential harms you experience,” says BetterHealth. 

Coffee is considered a very addictive drug that many people are addicted to. BetterHealth also states, “Dependence can be psychological, physical, or both. People who are dependent on drugs may find that using the drug becomes more important than other activities in their life.”

Treatment can range from medication, counseling, group rehabilitation programs and more. Those who want to get treated are driven by their motivation, support groups and if they may or may not have a mental disorder;

Getting help depends on the individual and others around them. According to The Recovery Village  “Relapse is an incredibly common part of recovery, and it’s important to understand that returning to substance use does not mean treatment or recovery has failed.”

Recovery is not something that is easy for everyone. It is a goal or is something someone reaches to achieve.
  

When someone is successfully rehabilitated, they will have a more stable life; they will no longer spend money on their substances.

In addition, everyone deals with addictions differently. It all depends on how we view things, our support groups and occasionally disorders. If we support and help ourselves and our communities, we will all have hope and faith in one another.

ScienceDirect says, “Current treatment programs are now based upon specific treatment models that are not limited to behavior management, but also include reality therapy, psychodynamic approaches, and social/cognitive frames of reference.

“Currently there are over 500 substance abuse and mental health treatment programs that provide a variety of services for persons with substance abuse disorders.

“Services include assessment, detoxification, residential treatment, transitional housing and treatment, educational and vocational services, and continuing care. In a 2003 survey of therapeutic communities, there were over 19,000 beds and almost 11,000 slots reported to be available for outpatient treatment.“

Everyone's drug rehabilitation is different., it is important that treatment programs are aware, and do the best they can to help those who need it. They need to also be aware there may be underlying mental illnesses that need to be addressed to help patients to recover and overall help them.

Present
The drug crisis in America is becoming more of a problem than ever before. According to the National Database for Drug Abuse Statistics, substance abuse disorders affect over 20 million Americans aged 12 and over.

In the United States, 47% of young people use an illegal drug by the time they graduate from high school. 24% of 12th graders have used drugs in the last 30 days.  50.0% of people over the age 12 have used illicit drugs in their life.

Accidental drug overdose is a leading cause of death among persons under the age of 45. In 2017, the cost of drug abuse in the United States was nearly $272 billion including the cost of crime, healthcare needs, and other impacts on society.  

 In most cases, illicit drug use begins as a coping mechanism to deal with trauma, depression, anxiety, loneliness or undiagnosed mental illness.  In other cases, like opioid abuse, abuse can begin when a patient is prescribed pain medicine like oxycodone for legitimate pain then leads to addiction.

Drugs come in many different forms. Different drugs affect the body in a variety of ways. Some of the more common forms of drugs are pills, liquid, powder, and gas.

They are used by swallowing the pills or liquids, using needles to inject liquid under the skin or directly into a vein, snorting, smoking or huffing amongst other ways.  Different drugs have very different effects on the body and are used for different purposes by the abuser.

Some drugs are depressants, some are uppers, some cause vivid hallucinations, and some dull pain.  Common depressants are alcohol, heroin, marijuana, benzodiazepines, and rohypnol.

Examples of uppers are cocaine, methamphetamines, and Adderall. Drugs like mushrooms, LSD, ecstasy and over the counter cough syrup like robitussin are used as hallucinogens 

People begin using drugs for several reasons. Many people turn to drugs because they lack healthy ways to deal with stress or other strong feelings.

Illicit drug use becomes a way of coping with overwhelming feelings, like anxiety, depression, trauma or loneliness. Peer pressure is another factor in starting to use drugs, especially for young people. 

Drug addiction is considered  a disease known as substance abuse disorder. It is defined as the harmful pattern of using any mood altering substance.

These substances change the brain circuits involved in reward and self-control. Some of the chemical changes in the brain can last a long time after someone  has stopped using  drugs. Effects on the body can last a lifetime.

Treatment for substance abuse disorder is commonly called rehab.  Rehab involves treatment for all areas of drug abuse including the physical addiction, psychological addiction, social and mental consequences.

Most substance abusers recognize the need for help, but most never receive it. According to the National Database for Drug Abuse Statistics, among the 15 million individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), less than 8% receive treatment. Of the 946,000 adolescents aged 12-17 who needed substance abuse treatment, only 159,00 received treatment.

Rehab comes in various forms. There are inpatient rehab centers that combine medication to help with withdrawal from illicit substances with group and individual counseling to help with the behavioral component of drug abuse and begin to help the drug abuser address the underlying cause of their drug abuse. Sometimes, families are involved in treatment of a person’s drug abuse to deal with family issues that lead to addiction.

At times, outpatient rehab is more appropriate if addiction is not severe.  Treatment can also involve formal diagnosis and appropriate treatment for mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. There are well known groups that have a long history of proven success in substance abuse treatment that continue in the form of meetings that are available continuously to the abuser.

Those groups include 12- Step programs like Alcoholic Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and non-12-Step programs like Self Management and Recovery Training.

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