Pubdate: Sat, 16 Sep 2006
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2006 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Corey J. Hodges
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO ADDICTION PROBLEMS

Hard realities come with being around people with addictions.

Perhaps, operative words here are "being around." Coupled with this 
are suspicion and denial.

The third component is the cover-up. Denial, excuses and 
co-dependency are ways in which we unwittingly participate to prolong 
the problem of addiction in others.

By association we have an addiction, subtle or submerged by the undertow.

In ways direct or indirect, we exacerbate the problems of someone 
with an addiction. Here we are talking about loved ones, family 
members, co-workers or someone in the public eye. Money is given.

If not given, money is stolen.

Things around the house start to come up missing.

A family member charged with managing the affairs of an older parent 
or relative starts to deplete bank accounts. When family members 
discover that Mama's or Daddy's retirement savings, monthly Social 
Security and pension checks are being pilfered to support an 
addiction, anger, shame and disappointment surface in abundance.

Suddenly siblings are faced with having a drug-addicted family member 
whose thefts from a parent are felonious.

What is to happen after the meeting filled with threats, shouting and 
crying comes to an end? Many families are being faced with whether or 
not to prosecute for theft a family member with an addiction.

Will the next step be punishment or practicing tough love?

One thing is for certain.

This is no time to disown the problem.

To abandon someone with an addiction is to say that the problem will 
go away on its own. Co-dependency is not a cure. Our state is 
currently under assault.

Among other problems of addiction and its various sources, we as a 
state and nation are faced with a crisis of methamphetamine addiction.

The problem of methamphetamine is as likely to be found in rural 
areas as along the urban Wasatch Front. A few months ago, the Public 
Broadcasting Service program "Frontline" documented how bad the 
methamphetamine problem is nationwide. Utah was not an exception. 
According to the "Frontline" Web site: "Methamphetamine is the 
primary drug threat in Utah, and more residents seek treatment for 
meth abuse than any other drug, including alcohol.

In 2004, 2,889 individuals sought treatment for meth addiction or 
about 26.3 percent of all persons seeking substance abuse drug treatment.

Although this is a slight decrease from 2003, when 3,436 individuals 
sought treatment, admissions for meth addiction have remained in the 
thousands for the past five years." Even though the latest statistics 
are 2 years old, jailers across the state are seeing a spike in 
arrests for the illegal use of methamphetamine, which more than 
suggests the problem is spreading. In most cases, arrest is not 
leading to treatment.

This is a reality with which our schools, social service agencies, 
families, churches and jails are grappling.

There is plenty of disappointment to go around.

In a time when inclusiveness is at the forefront of our thinking, 
this complex problem is ours. Simple solutions are not to be found.

However, treatment programs can be residential, inpatient or 
outpatient. Some among us are positioned to offer outpatient services.

When those treatment options are grasped, the temptations that lead 
to addiction will be conquered by a living faith in a God who is 
available for treatment of body, mind and soul. ---------- COREY J. 
HODGES writes about current events and ideas from a moral 
perspective. Hodges, the senior pastor of the New Pilgrim Baptist 
Church in Taylorsville, welcomes comments at