Drug addiction is an everyday struggle for many people in the state of Massachusetts, with an approximated 9 percent of Massachusetts residents reporting past-month use of illicit drugs. The problem covers a wide spectrum of difficulties and impacts numerous distinct age groups and backgrounds. Massachusetts is not only in the highest quintile of States for illicit drug dependence and abuse in the past year in people 12 and older, but in all age groups (which includes youth) for needing but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use. This is where drug rehab and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Massachusetts can step in to help, and individuals having difficulties with addiction can experience the advantages of a drug treatment and alcohol rehab program in Massachusetts.
Currently, prescription drug abuse is one of the worst drug problems that the state of Massachusetts is faced with. This is a dilemma in most states in the country, but the problem is particularly bad in the state of Massachusetts. In fact, Massachusetts is in the top ten of states for past-year illicit use of pain relievers among residents 12 and older, as well as illicit use of pain relievers among young adults. While prescription pain relievers are designed for individuals who are having difficulties with actual acute and chronic pain, Massachusetts residents are using these powerful narcotic drugs recreationally to get high. Not only is this a problem in terms of abuse and addiction, but Massachusetts residents are dying because of this type of abuse.
One of the advantages of drug rehab and alcohol rehabilitation programs in Massachusetts is that people can forego the tragic results brought on by prescription drug addiction, and make the decision to seek help and receive helpful treatment for their issue. For instance, instead of acquiring the help they needed for addiction, 301 individuals died in the state of Massachusetts in 2009 from prescription drug overdoses. Those who died had an average of four different kinds of drugs or abusive substances in their systems at the time of death. Of those who lost their lives to prescription drug overdose in Massachusetts in 2009, an estimated 95% had at least one indicator of substance abuse. The vast majority of these deaths, 75% to be exact, were accidental deaths and not suicides. So these individuals could have benefitted from attending a drug rehab and alcohol treatment center in Massachusetts, and gotten the treatment they needed instead of losing their lives. But instead, over two times as many individuals died from overdosing on prescription drugs than those who died from overdose on illicit street drugs.
Pregnant mothers in particular can benefit from receiving treatment at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, substance abuse is an issue that many pregnant mothers in the state struggle with. Statistics reveal that pregnant women in Massachusetts have the highest rate of alcohol and illicit drug use and the second highest rate of tobacco use in the entire nation. A survey which screened over 7,000 pregnant mothers in Massachusetts found that a quarter of them were actively smoking cigarettes, 26% were consuming alcohol, and over 10% were smoking marijuana. Even more tragic, is that over 200 of these women were actively using illicit drugs which include cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates. Overall, over 36% of the pregnant women screened in Massachusetts tested positive for substance use, and 44% of the pregnant women tested positive for more than one substance.
Massachusetts is also confronted with a serious problem of drug and alcohol abuse among young people. For a state that ranks near the worst for high school graduation rates, young people in particular can reap the advantages of attending a drug rehab and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Massachusetts. In particular, rates of prescription drug abuse, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine use as well as binge drinking among youth are on the rise in Massachusetts and at a much higher rate than teen drug use nationally. Prescription drug abuse is of particular concern, where local law enforcement officials reported an increase of pill parties where youth get together and take part in an activity also known as "pharming." At these gatherings, teens will bring with them whatever medications they can get their hands on and dump them in a bowl, which they randomly choose from for consumption to get high. Prescription drug use is about as widespread as marijuana use among teens in the state, and teens are particularly fond of prescription pain killers which produce a high comparable to heroin and other opiates. Teens in Massachusetts are typically under the impression that these potent prescription narcotics are not harmful because they're prescribed by a physician, not realizing they are putting their health in serious danger. Because of the extent of this problem in the state, several drug rehab and alcohol treatment centers have emerged in Massachusetts geared at treating teen drug addiction.
Alcohol abuse is of particular concern among all age groups in the state of Massachusetts, and residents who abuse alcohol can benefit from the different drug rehab and alcohol treatment facilities which are readily available in the state. To highlight this problem, over 17% of residents who were surveyed in 2009 admitted to binge drinking in the past 30 days. This obviously leads to many effects, especially when inebriated Massachusetts citizens drive under the influence. In 2009, police officials document that there were 15,234 arrests made in the state for driving under the influence of alcohol. In fact, a recent survey discovered that 14% of Massachusettsns reported having driven after drinking in the past 60 days. As a result, these citizens decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol claimed 68 lives on the roads of Massachusetts in 2009.
All citizens of Massachusetts benefit from the drug rehab and alcohol treatment programs available in Massachusetts, by taking advantage of the various treatment options readily available in the state. There are many non-profit organizations in Massachusetts which treat addiction on both an out-patient and residential treatment basis, as well as a wide variety of private drug treatment and alcohol rehab programs, many of which are specifically tailored to handle all types of addiction. Individuals who want to get help can take advantage of the wealth of drug rehab and alcohol treatment facilities in Massachusetts to recover from addiction and become fully rehabilitated.