The Road Out Blog

Caleb is a young teen living in an affluent area of a major California city. Although he is quite young, Caleb, (not his real name), has shown himself to have unusual talent in acting and singing and has starred in plays in middle school, high school and the local community college. He’s even acted in a few television commercials.

I first heard of this young man from his aunt who attended a parent seminar I gave at a high school in another part of town. The aunt told of her increasing worries over drugs and alcohol abuse among the crowd that Caleb was hanging with. She said that although he was talented and quite handsome, his judgment was poor and he had more courage than sense. I tried to reach the family but got no response.

Factors which MUST be addressed when overcoming addiction:

1. First and foremost, drug use must cease.

This seems so obvious that it need not be mentioned. This might require medical help during the initial withdrawal, but usually can be accomplished comfortably and without using dangerous drugs.

2. Poisonous drug and drug residues must be removed from the body.

This is called detox. But the word detox has wrongly come to mean just staying off drugs for a short period. That does not did the body of all the toxins built up over years of drug abuse. Never settle for anything less that complete cleansing of the body.

That one is pretty easy. Drug treatment programs are voluntary. There are no locks on the doors. It has to be that way, the drug user will have to stay off drugs on his or her own willpower in the end.

 Self-determination is learned by making the right choices. While going through treatment, especially the first portion of treatment, it is best for the person to be in a setting that does not offer a short taxi ride to some well-known drug dealer. That way the choice of blowing the place and going back to the old ways is not as easy to make. So it is very advisable to get them out of the area where they have been using drugs.

 This seems like a silly question. I mean, wouldn’t a person who is addicted know it?  Sometimes the most difficult situation to recognize is the one you are in the middle of. And that holds true with addiction too.