Alcohol and Drug Services Video

Alcohol and Drug Services Video
Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) launched a new website in late 2013. As part of our agency marketing and outreach efforts, ADS also posted a brief video overview of our services on Youtube. The video is located below. Visitor numbers to the newly renovated ADS website have nearly doubled in the last few months. As
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Getting Wasted Has Real Consequences

How do we help those people who intend to get very drunk and who enjoy getting wasted via drinking games? CNN posted a thought-provoking article about the culture we live in whereby people intentionally indulge in drinking games to become very intoxicated, post their exploits on Facebook, YouTube and other social media for fun, and
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Heroin Facts and Information

Heroin is highly addictive and potentially fatal. This we know. Despite these facts being common, we are seeing a surprising number of people move on to heroin and quickly become hooked. Is it that each person considers him or herself exempt from addiction, or somehow different from others? The reasons for using illicit substances are
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Deadly Heroin and Fentanyl Drug Mixture

Below is a recent message from Dr. H. Westley Clark, Director of the Center For Substance Abuse Treatment, on a dangerous drug mixture which has already resulted in numerous overdose deaths around the country. While this message was targeted to treatment providers, it is relevant information for the entire community. Please share this cautionary message
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A Heroin Crisis is Happening in Vermont

CBS News recently profiled the rising opioid drug addiction problem in the state of Vermont. The CBS piece (see video below) highlighted that there has been an increase of 800% in opiate drug abuse since year 2000 in the state. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is quoted as saying “It’s an illness we need to treat,
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Addiction and the Brain

Food for thought: As a society, we often think of drug-induced behaviors as simply intentional misdeeds or “bad choices”. We live in a country that prizes personal independence, freedom, and self-determination. It is important to emphasize that drug addiction is a process which hijacks the brain’s neurochemistry and alters normal brain functioning. A drug addicted
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Heroin and Prescription Drug Overdose

Just released by The Partnership at DrugFree.org is another article highlighting the growing opioid overdose epidemic spreading across America. The popular vacation destination, Jersey Shore, experienced an increase in overdose deaths in 2013 which doubled that seen in the previous year. The article reports that three people have already died this year in Ocean County,
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Link Between Mental Illness and Substance Abuse

Treatment professionals have long recognized a causal link between active substance abuse and the exacerbation of mental health symptoms. Similarly, those treating addiction have observed a patient’s drug use and associated problems suddenly escalate when the patient goes off of a needed psychotropic medication. That these two illnesses are connected is no great surprise. The
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Methadone for Opiate Addiction

Methadone has been used successfully in the United States for over 40 years as a primary treatment for opiate addiction. Many thousands of patients across the country are now stable and have restored their lives by utilizing methadone medication to manage opioid withdrawal. SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) has identified methadone
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Marijuana Addiction Is Real

Marijuana is addictive. Regular users often defend pot as “not that big of a deal”. However, the reality is that 9% of users become dependent on marijuana (source DrugFree.org) and will experience persistent memory, thinking, and behavioral problems as well as significant lifestyle disruption while their use of pot continues over time. These individuals will
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