Drug Rehab for Hawaii

Hawaii is America’s tropical paradise. Travel brochures for this series of islands in the Pacific will feature long white beaches, towering waves, and peaceful sunsets. While these are certainly accurate images, they conceal the trouble the population of Hawaii has had with drugs.

There are many statistics that define this problem. Such as a higher than average rate of drug abuse by the population, more drug deaths than car accident deaths, and high rates of treatment demand for marijuana and “stimulant” addiction - which is nearly all due to methamphetamine.

Narconon Fights Back Against the Drug Problem

Taking effective action to combat these numbers are the staff of Narconon Hawaii, located in Kapolei. Every year, as many as 15,000 Hawaiian youth receive the unique drug education classes delivered by Narconon Hawaii. A carefully monitored study done of the results of these classes showed that substance abuse by children who received these classes went down, while students who had not received these classes increased their substance abuse. (Those students soon received the full curriculum of classes as well.)

Those Hawaiians who had lost the battle with drugs and were addicted were helped to find rehabilitation with the full Narconon drug rehab program. This program has proven to help seven out of ten graduate find lasting sobriety after they go home. This long-term program takes each person in recovery through eight phases or steps that address the damage addiction does and the development of the life skills that are needed to walk a sober path.

Hawaiian Methamphetamine and Marijuana

These are the two top drugs that are sending people to rehabilitation in the state. Remote stretches of these fertile mountains are the perfect places for domestic crops of cannabis. And Hawaii has long been in the crosshairs of Asian methamphetamine manufacturers. Before methamphetamine was manufactured by Mexican drug cartels or small mom-and-pop operations in the US, it was being created in large Asian meth labs. It hit Hawaii and the West Coast first before moving to the Midwest to wreak havoc there.

Meth has created greater damage to Hawaiian society than any other drug. According to the Hawaiian Meth Project, 42% of Hawaii’s drug enforcement operations relate to the presence of just this one drug. The estimated annual cost in terms of healthcare, incarceration and other costs is half a billion dollars a year.

But now, there’s a new player on the Hawaiian drug scene. In 2011, reports surfaced that prescription drugs were starting to send more people to rehab from Hawaii. Benzodiazpines like Xanax, Valium or Klonopin were frequently being seen in abuse and addiction cases. One health professional stated that the problem had increased from 1% of the population having a problem with these drugs to 6% in just 18 months.

“Bath salts,” a deceptive label for a strong and dangerous synthetic drug, is also causing an increasing number of problems. These bath salts have nothing to do with bathing. The packaging for this drug is labeled “bath salts, not for human consumption” just to escape seizure by law enforcement. Their only purpose is abuse for the resulting high.

Some say the effects of the drug mimic cocaine, but severe hallucinations have resulted in violence and death that are not common with the use of other drugs.

Recovery is Possible

Even with the serious drug problem being experienced in this paradise, recovery is possible. If someone you care about is struggling with addiction to methamphetamine, marijuana, prescription drug or any other substance, contact Narconon for drug addiction help.


See also: Hilo Drug Rehab.

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