| Breaking the cycle of drug addiction
If a community were a pond, then drug addiction would be a pebble big enough to cause ripples throughout, said Jim Gouveia, Benton County Drug Treatment Court program coordinator.According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Oregon ranks No. 2 in the country for illegal drug use, and mid-valley communities are no exception."I can't say the drug problem in Benton County has increased necessarily," Gouveia said. "But we're up there."Drug use isn't an individual problem or even a family problem. It's a community problem, said Jennifer Hogansen, a behavioral health specialist with the Corvallis Clinic."The effects on children and families, in particular, can be devastating," Hogansen said.The drug problem is a top priority for the criminal justice and social services systems, as well as educators, mental health experts and taxpayers.Locally, a consistent approach of modifying drug users' behavior to achieve lasting, life-changing results is being applied to public and private treatment programs.
San Joaquin Jail Program Claims Success
San Joaquin County officials are hoping the state can match its success with a jail program that reduces repeat offenses.
It's called "Beyond Incarceration" and it began just over three years ago. The program stresses education and treatment for prisoners, not just punishment.
Judge Richard Vlavianos of the Superior Court of California, San Joaquin County, sees participants in the program once a month and spends much of his visit on the subject of drug addiction. He refers to statistics that show 76 percent of the men in California state prisons are there for drug-related crimes.
Beyond Incarceration would seem to be making good progress against those statistics. The recidivism rate in San Joaquin County among the 800 inmates who've taken part is 35 percent.
Presiding over a 'drug emporium'
Consultant George Camp let the cat partially out of the bag with his comment about "less violent individuals" in the state penitentiary (Tribune, Nov. 6). He neglected, however, to tell the public what he darn well knows about the rest of that cat - that 75 percent of the current prison population in the State Penitentiary are in that category, already incarcerated because of drug addiction and would be served better by facilities in Jamestown and at the Bismarck Transition Center.These two examples of "hospitals of hope" that exist around this state, are neglected by Gov. John Hoeven and certain "greed Republicans" - determined to blow millions of dollars on prison bars and cement, on "depots of despair," rather than allocating those dollars more realistically toward labor intensive drug treatment programs already up and running.Better late than never.
Lohan's boyfriend slams mum's TV show
Lindsay Lohan's boyfriend has criticised her mother Dina for filming a reality TV show.Snowboarder Riley Giles said publicity surrounding the series could set back Lindsay's recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.The pair have been dating since they met at the Cirque Lodge rehab centre in Utah, where Lohan spent two months in a treatment programme. Giles also revealed that he and Lindsay were asked to appear on the show, writing on his MySpace page: "Advice of the week - if you're a mother with four kids the best thing you can do for them right now is have a reality show We Do Not Want. She had the nerve to ask us to be on it. No thanks!"The series, which began filming last month, will follow the Lohan family's life in New York, focusing on Dina's new career as a talent manager.Lindsay reportedly sacked her mother as her manager last month, accusing her of courting media attention.
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