Drug Rehabilitation for Vermont
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Beautiful, green and remote Vermont, nestled up against Canada in the far north of the United States, seems far off the main drug trafficking channels of the United States. Unfortunately, this remoteness doesn’t keep drugs, alcohol, and addiction from being a problem to the citizens of the state.
Much of the drugs channeling through the area are trafficked in by users who are trying to finance their own addictions. They drive to distribution points in New York, Boston, New Jersey or Connecticut, or a more enterprising individual makes the long haul to the American Southwest with a passenger car or tractor-trailer and brings back a load, mostly composed of marijuana. Some ethnic groups import khat from Africa, a drug primarily consumed in Somali communities in Vermont, using package delivery services or couriers.
Colombian and Dominican traffickers also contribute to the supply, using street gangs for most retail sales. The growth of drug sales activity by street gangs and motorcycle gangs has meant an increase in violence as these groups compete for territory. More violence and crime results from addicts who need to finance their own habits.
Heroin Has Long Been a Problem in the Northeast
The channels to bring heroin into the Northeast have existed for several decades, with Boston and New York being the main points of supply. So every state in the Northeast has long experienced citizens with opiate addiction problems. The arrival of medical pain relievers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet made more addictive substances available through medical practitioners. Opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine used in addiction treatment centers have further complicated matters.
The end result is that anyone with an opiate addiction has a variety of options. Young adults and teens may then indulge in prescription drugs at a party and then when they are addicted, switch to heroin, which is usually less expensive and may be more available.
Vermont Proximity to Canada Means Trafficking Across the Northern Border
Canada is a source of potent hydroponic marijuana grown in British Columbia and MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. International smuggling channels previously brought MDMA in from Europe to Canada and then to the United States, but now Canadian drug traffickers have established manufacturing plants within Canada. Vermont’s border with Canada is remote and largely devoid of occupants, meaning that trafficking across that border was easy for many years. In the wake of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, increased border security resulted in increased drug seizures in these remote rural areas. Unfortunately, the usual pattern for smugglers is that they adapt to the changing conditions and work out ways to avoid detection.
Asian drug trafficking organizations, the main groups cultivating hydroponic marijuana in Canada, have also branched out to establish indoor grows in nearly every region of the United States. Only a few indoor or outdoor grows have been seized in Vermont.
Young People Hit Hardest by Addiction in Vermont
According to federal statistics, more than 8000 people were admitted to publicly funded drug or alcohol treatment centers in Vermont in 2008. One in five was under twenty-one years of age.
Many more young people are putting themselves at risk of needing treatment for substance abuse. By the time Vermont youth graduate from high school, more than half of them have used marijuana at least once, a third within the last month. Nearly a quarter of them have abused a prescription drug at one time or another.
A survey from 2007 found that an estimated 34,000 people under twenty-one were using alcohol, and two-thirds of those were binge drinkers - that is, they were drinking five or more drinks in one sitting at least once a month. Some of these young people will add to the 53,000 people in Vermont who define themselves as suffering from alcohol or illicit drug dependence or abuse, and the 41,000 Vermont citizens who say they need but are not finding an addiction treatment facility for alcohol use that is beyond their control.
Vermont Battles Their Addiction Problem
The Governor of Vermont is determined to reduce the loss of life and productivity that affects so many Vermonters. In 2014, he dedicated his entire State of the State address to the problem and since, has worked with legislators and community groups to improve conditions.
New England as a whole is a heavy consumer of the most common drugs, including marijuana, opiates, alcohol, and cocaine, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In Vermont as well as Maine, more than thirty of each thousand babies must struggle through withdrawal from their mother’s drugs after they are born.
Much of the state’s problems with opioids were triggered by indiscriminate prescribing of painkillers by doctors across the state. When the money for expensive pills ran out or doctors refused to renew prescriptions, many people turned to heroin to quench their intense cravings. In just a few years, the number of people who received treatment from the State of Vermont for heroin addiction rose dramatically. In 2010, only 623 received this treatment—by 2014, the number receiving treatment for heroin addiction had hit 2,258, a 64% increase over 2013.
The presence of fentanyl, an intensely strong opioid, in the heroin supplies across the state makes this a very dangerous time to be addicted in Vermont. Efforts are being made to increase access to treatment options, but in most cases, this treatment consists of giving each addicted person methadone or the newer drug, Suboxone. Both of these options keep a person continuously influenced by a synthetic opiate—he doesn't have the chance to break free from the effects of drugs. He will continue to be chained to an addictive substance. For many people who come to Narconon centers, it’s their first chance to become 100% drug-free.
Opiates Present the Greatest Addiction Challenges in Vermont
In Vermont, alcohol, and opiates present the most frequent challenges to addiction treatment centers. Far more people need addiction treatment for opiates other than heroin than for heroin itself. These other opiates include methadone, morphine, codeine, OxyContin (oxycodone), hydrocodone, fentanyl, and buprenorphine.
As both methadone and buprenorphine, both used in addiction treatment facilities to prevent opiate withdrawal symptoms, have become drugs of abuse, this system of treatment shows its weakness. Far better is to make withdrawal tolerable with methods used in Narconon drug and alcohol treatment centers around the world. Narconon uses nutritional support, gentle re-orientation exercises and calming physical processes to help make opiate withdrawal tolerable, even mild for some people. By overcoming addiction without the use of further drugs, a person has a chance to face life without any drug use at all and to rebuild a healthy, drug-free life again.
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The Narconon Program
Throughout the United States, there are Narconon rehabilitation centers all of which accept residents of Vermont. The rehab program delivered in each of these centers is exactly the same and staff are trained in each center to deliver the same quality of support and care for those in recovery.
The program is constructed to ease each person into this holistic and drug-free program. The first step is supporting each person as they withdraw from any drugs or alcohol they were consuming before arrival. With generous nutritional support and one-on-one work with the staff, many of the symptoms of withdrawal are alleviated. Special exercises help each person let go of worries and fears so they can begin to focus on the present and their recoveries.
When it is determined medically that a person needs to step down from their current level of drug use we work with medical detox services to complete this before a person starts the drug-free withdrawal at Narconon. A person who needs medication for a physical condition would also continue that medication on the advice of his physician.
Once withdrawal is complete and an individual is eating and sleeping normally, he (or she) begins the New Life Detoxification. He receives a precise regimen of nutritional supplements and exercises moderately each day. He then spends time in a low-heat sauna with other clients who are going through this detoxification action.
Day by day, this combination of nutrition, exercise and sweating enable the body to reach deep into the fatty tissues to draw out old, stored toxins that were never fully eliminated after drug use. For years, these toxins have clouded a person’s thinking and impacted his outlook on life. Now, there’s a chance to be rid of them. Many people describe their brighter outlook on life and some say their physical cravings for drugs disappeared as they detoxed.
Brightening Perceptions plus Life Skills Training
The next step of the Narconon program returns sharper perceptions and a measure of self-control that has been lacking throughout the addicted years. This step is called “objectives” because it helps each person regain an objective grasp of their own thinking and actions.
Following objectives is the Narconon Life Skills training. To prevent relapse and make lasting sobriety a reality, it is necessary for each person to rebuild the skills needed to make sober choices in the future. Years or decades of addiction destroy these skills but now they can be recovered.
One of the crushing burdens a person in recovery faces is the guilt they feel for all the harm they have created while addicted. They have harmed those they love the most through neglect, theft, abuse, and abandonment. They may have destroyed businesses and sold drugs to others who then became addicted. Relieving this burden is a necessity if they are to give themselves a chance to be happy again. During this life skills training, each person learns how they gave up their own integrity—and also how they can recover it again. There is a moment during this training when their grief and guilt lifts, giving them that chance at a happy future again.
A New Way of Looking at the Problem
In Vermont as well as other New England states, there’s a new attitude toward addiction. Perhaps at one time, state officials and law enforcement personnel may have felt that an addicted person should simply be locked up in jail. But by now, there’s hardly a Vermont family that has escaped the pain of seeing a loved one lose everything to addiction. The emphasis has shifted to solving the problem, not just arresting those who fell into this trap.
While this is a very good move, Vermonters deserve the chance to recover their clear thinking, find relief from guilt and learn the sober living skills that can enable them to continue a productive, sober life. These are the improvements offered by Narconon centers across the United States and around the world. A simple phone call will help you learn more about this holistic approach to recovery.
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