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“For most addicts,there’s a constant presenceon your shoulder telling youyou’re not good enough,that somehow, you’re ‘less’than everyone out there.Your thoughts go round likea washing machine on highspeed. The noise in yourhead is constant, loud andharsh. Alcohol and drugs aremerely the medication.“Addiction isn’t fun.Addiction is lonely, terrifyingand insidious. Oh, sure, youstart out like everyone else, afew drinks here and there, adabble or two in something alittle harder. You don’t realizewhen it stops being fun, butit does. Suddenly you findyourself alone in a room,afraid to go out, because‘outside’ is too damn scary.So you take that hit, and for ashort while, the noise stops.Peace through oblivion. Thenyou come around and thenoise starts again, louder thistime, and coupled with theanxiety, fear and terror thatcome with withdrawal.“So you take another hit.Sweet, blessed relief. Andsomewhere in the back ofyour mind you hope you don’twake up from this one. You’renothing but trouble, you see.All you cause is pain andworry.”— Kristian JohnsChanging timesThroughout much of the last century, scientistsstudying drug abuse labored in the shadowsof powerful myths and misconceptions about thenature of addiction, according to the NationalInstitute on Drug Abuse. Back in the 1930s, it wasassumed that people addicted to drugs werelacking in willpower.Today, thanks to science, our views andour responses to drug abuse have changeddramatically. Groundbreaking discoveries aboutthe brain have revolutionized our understandingof drug addiction, enabling us to respondeffectively to the problem. As a result ofscientific research, we know that addiction is adisease that affects both brain and behavior.Research has shown that people generallytake drugs to feel good, feel better or copewith difficult problems or situations. Youcannot turn on the television, listen to theradio or pick up a magazine without seeing anadvertisement promoting some substance thatwill improve your life. This Tampa Bay TimesNewspaper in Education publication, created inpartnership with the Drug Abuse ComprehensiveCoordinating Office (DACCO), focuses oneducating you on substance abuse prevention.We hope this publication will serve as adiscussion tool for parents, teachers, communitymembers and youth.Addiction: a treatable diseaseWhile the initial decision to use drugs isvoluntary, drug addiction is a disease of the brainthat compels a person to become singularlyobsessed with obtaining and abusing drugsdespite their many adverse health and lifeconsequences.Addiction is a primary, chronic illnessinfluenced by genetic, psychosocial,environmental and lifestyle factors. Addictionis not a sign of weak morals; it is a disease.Symptoms of addiction include loss of controlover drug or alcohol use, cravings, use despiteconsequences, distortions in thinking, the needto consume greater amounts to get high, andphysical dependence and withdrawal.Like many other diseases, substance usedisorders are chronic and follow a predictablecourse. Long-term drug abuse results in changesin the brain that persist long after a person stopsusing. The good news is that addiction, like otherdiseases, can be successfully treated. Peopleall around the world are recovering to live long,healthy and happy lives!The best treatment programs are scientificallybased and meet the multiple needs of theindividual, not just his or her drug use. It isimportant to remember that no single treatmentis appropriate for all individuals.Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse, NationalInstitute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the NationalInstitutes of Health, and the Department of Health & HumanServices Centers for Disease Control and Prevention2 tampabay.com/nie
HillsboroughPreventionCollaborativeIn November 2010, several local leadersin Hillsborough County, Florida, formed theHillsborough Prevention Collaborative (HPC) towork together to deal with community issuessuch as alcohol and drug abuse, violence, ganginvolvement, teen pregnancy, school failure,youth crime and obesity.The HPC has had participation fromthe Hillsborough County Board of CountyCommissioners, the Children’s Board ofHillsborough County, Hillsborough CountyPublic Schools, the Hillsborough CountySheriff’s Office, the Central Florida BehavioralHealth Network, the Florida Department ofChildren and Families Suncoast Region, theU.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District, the FamilyJustice Center, DACCO, Mental Health CareInc., ACTS, the Mendez Foundation, the Centre,Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, the CrisisCenter of Tampa Bay, Bay Area Youth Services,Success 4 Kids and Families, the Child AbuseCouncil, Hillsborough Kids Inc., the HealthyStart Coalition, the Hillsborough Healthy TeenNetwork, the Florida Institute for CommunityStudies, St. Joseph’s Children’s HospitalAdvocacy Center, Abe Brown Ministries andBeulah Baptist Institutional Church.Community members, including students,parents, schools, churches and businesses,can work with the Hillsborough PreventionCollaborative to make sure health, wellnessand success are promoted in all aspects ofcommunity life – family, friends, school, work,social, business, neighborhoods and so on. Thiscan be done through activities that• raise awareness about health and theprevention of illegal drug use, underagedrinking, prescription drug abuse, violenceand failing school• promote healthy individual, neighborhood,school and family relationships• provide information to community membersso they can make positive choices• try to change parts of the communityenvironment that promote unhealthy orunsafe choicesThere are many ways you can getconnected with the Hillsborough PreventionCollaborative. Visit us at https://sites.google.com/site/hillsboroughprevention/, e-mail us athillsboroughprevention@gmail.com, or look forus on Facebook.Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating OfficeThe Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office’s(DACCO) mission is to work for a drug-free community– one person, one family at a time. DACCO reachesHillsborough County residents through communityeducation, prevention, assessment and referrals,support services, intervention, and outpatient andresidential treatment.Research shows that the use of alcohol, tobacco andother drugs is associated with specific aspects of ayoung person’s community, school, family environmentand individual characteristics. These aspects arecalled risk or protective factors. Effective preventionprograms identify which risk factors are elevatedin the community and which protective factors aresuppressed, and then implement programming thatspecifically targets those factors.Prevention strategies include education onsubstance abuse and its risk, as well as short-termactions focused on changing individual behavior.Environmental prevention strategies involve long-term,potentially permanent changes that have a broaderreach. The most effective prevention plans will use bothenvironmental and individual prevention strategies.Working in various locations, DACCO educates youth,adults and families about preventing substance abuse.Now in its third year, the DACCO-led Community AlcoholPrevention Grant Collaborative is targeting youngadults through a countywide educational campaignthat highlights state laws, campus alcohol policies, thenature of blood alcohol concentration and the needto self-monitor alcohol use. Partners in this initiativeinclude the University of South Florida, the Universityof Tampa, 10 Connects CBS Tampa Bay and the TampaBay Times.DACCO provides a range of treatment servicesfor individuals and families in need. DACCO treatssubstance use disorders in outpatient and residentialsettings and addresses co-occurring mental healthissues, such as anxiety, depression and post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD).DACCO offers supportive services to help clientsstay engaged in treatment, meet all their health careneeds and improve their lives, including HIV testing andcounseling, adult education/GED, primary health care,day care and affordable housing. DACCO offers bothoutpatient and adult residential treatment programs.Both outpatient and residential programs includedifferent intensities of individual, group and familycounseling; on-site NA/AA meetings; life skillseducation; and urine drug screening. To schedule anassessment of patient needs, call 813-984-1818, ext. 0.To learn more about DACCO’s services, visitdacco.org and click on “Community Education” tolearn more about substance abuse.tampabay.com/nie 23
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