Marijuana Drug Treatment

Marijuana drug treatment is an effective solution for those who have an addiction to marijuana. Every year, drug addiction affects more than twenty million Americans, their families, friends, and co-workers. Without the right drug rehab and help, the future of these individuals does not look very promising. If they continue their self-destructive behavior their bodies will deteriorate, their minds will become damaged, and their spirits will be crushed.

The causes of marijuana addiction are numerous. However, several key areas can be pinpointed. Marijuana use kills the pain of ordinary life; it destroys the physical and emotional pain by changing an addict's perception on life. Marijuana use makes the drug addict become numb to the pain, unhappiness, or hopelessness that is a part of their lives.

People use marijuana for many reasons, such as:

  • curiosity or experimentation
  • peer pressure or desire to be part of a group
  • a sense of relaxation and pleasurable euphoria
  • numbing effect that helps to ease physical or emotional pain.

Nearly all addicted individuals believe they can stop using marijuana on their own in the beginning, and most try to stop without help of marijuana drug treatment. However, most of these attempts result in failure to achieve long-term abstinence. Research has shown that long-term drug addiction causes significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences. These consequences include the compulsion to use marijuana despite adverse cost to the individual, which is a defining characteristic of addiction.

In general, most drug addicts are good people. It is the crippling manifestation of marijuana addiction that changes their character and decays the ethics and morals of people who are addicted. The most common statement heard in the drug rehab field is "He or she was such a wonderful person before they started using drugs". A successful marijuana drug treatment center will help the individual to reacquire and strengthen their ethics and morals that once existed before drugs entered into their lives. It is the goal of the marijuana drug treatment program to help restore the individual to their former self, before they started using drugs.

The ultimate purpose of marijuana drug treatment is to enable the individual to achieve lasting abstinence from drug use. The short term goal of a drug rehab is to help the individual through detox and withdrawal from drugs in addition to improving their ability to function in society again. A drug rehab will help minimize the medical and social complications of drug abuse.

Millions have successfully recovered from marijuana addiction because they received the right help and information. Generally speaking, the more help an individual is given to conquer their drug addiction, the more successful their results will be. Also, those who stay in marijuana addiction treatment longer than 3 months usually have better outcomes than those who stay a shorter amount of time.

Individuals who go through medically assisted withdrawal while in rehab to minimize discomfort but do not receive any further treatment, perform about the same in terms of their drug use as those who never attended a drug rehab. Over the last 25 years, studies have shown that attending a drug rehab works to reduce drug intake and crimes committed by drug-dependent people. Researchers also have found that drug abusers who have been through a drug rehab are more likely to have jobs.

It is important to be well informed in order to choose the right marijuana drug treatment center for you. Each program is unique in its approach to recovery as well as their philosophies, treatment methods, setting, length of care, and cost. Take note of what is important to you, and make decisions based on your personal necessities. The facility you choose should have a high success rate and competent staff. Keep in mind that there are a multitude of approaches to choose from: outpatient, inpatient, 12-step, group therapy, and the list goes on from there.

One promising type of drug rehab center offers treatment that is not psychiatric or medical. This may be the answer for many people who are struggling with sobriety. Those who have tried other forms of treatment may find that a social education model of recovery is the key to their success in recovering from drug or alcohol addiction. This type of care is entirely drug-free. The program does not use drugs or medications to solve the problem of drug addiction. This method uses nutrition and nutritional supplements as an important component of its treatment. Also, treatment provides a specific course of addiction rehabilitation which includes training in communication, full body detoxification, counseling in problem identification and solving, as well as counseling in personal values and integrity. A drug rehab center of this kind will help the individual accomplish heightened moral standards and sobriety with an improved quality of life.

Principles of Effective Marijuana Drug Treatment Programs:

  • No single treatment is appropriate for all individuals. Matching treatment settings, interventions, and services to each individual's particular problems and needs is critical to his or her ultimate success in returning to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and society.
  • Treatment needs to be readily available. Because individuals who are addicted to drugs may be uncertain about entering treatment, taking advantage of opportunities when they are ready for treatment is crucial. Potential treatment applicants can be lost if treatment is not immediately available or is not readily accessible.
  • Effective treatment attends to multiple needs of the individual, not just his or her drug use. To be effective, treatment must address the individual's drug use and any associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems.
  • An individual's marijuana drug treatment and services plan must be assessed continually and modified as necessary to ensure that the plan meets the person's changing needs. A patient may require varying combinations of services and treatment components during the course of treatment and recovery. In addition to counseling or psychotherapy, a patient at times may require medication, other medical services, family therapy, parenting instruction, vocational rehabilitation, and social and legal services. It is critical that the marijuana drug treatment approach be appropriate to the individual's age, gender, ethnicity, and culture.
In 2007, more than 27% of homeless individuals had received mental health treatment prior to the receiving drug treatment.

In 2006, more than 16% of individuals were admitted to drug treatment centers for marijuana.

In 2007, 4.4% of homeless individuals seeking drug treatment reported that prescription drugs were their drug of choice.

In 2008, 4.0 million individuals aged 12 or older received treatment for alcohol or illicit drugs problems.

In 1998, the justice system spent $433 million on drug treatment.

In 2007, 12% of older adults (ages 55 and up) were parents living with their children prior to entering a drug treatment center.

In 2006, more than 10% of those who needed treatment received it at drug treatment centers.

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