Great Falls, Montana, Alcohol and Drug Addiction Information
Great Falls, Montana has a population of 56,690 with an average household size of 2.311 and is located in Cascade County. The city takes its name from the series of waterfalls that Lewis and Clark had to navigate around and about with their equipment and boats while on the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.
Between fly fishing, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, and rafting, there are numerous recreation opportunities in this beautiful corner of the United States. Great Falls offers museums, art galleries, historic landmarks, and an abundance of entertainment possibilities from the theatre to music venues. Gret Falls also has an ongoing drug problem.
Great Falls Montana’s Drug Source
The DEA (The US Drug Enforcement Administration)2 reports that marijuana is the most widely abused drug in Montana. Most originates in Mexico and is smuggled into the state by Mexican poly-drug trafficking organizations. Locally produced marijuana is primarily grown indoors, with grows generally consisting of less than 100 plants. Potent “BC Bud” or “Kind Bud” from the Pacific Northwest and western Canada is increasing in popularity and availability. It is often smuggled directly into Montana across the Canadian border, and from there is often transshipped to other areas of the United States.
Law enforcement officers across the state identify methamphetamine as the most significant drug problem in Montana. Mexican trafficking organizations are responsible for the majority of methamphetamine distribution in the state. Mexican methamphetamine is most available in western Montana, due to the proximity to established trafficking routes in the Pacific Northwest. Beyond organized methamphetamine trafficking, numerous small scale local laboratory operators, producing moderate quantities of methamphetamine for personal use or local distribution, are problematic to law enforcement.
Cocaine is available in the larger communities of Montana, but not widely available throughout the state. Billings, Great Falls and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation are the primary locations for cocaine use. Sources of supply are usually located in Washington, California, Colorado, and the Southwest. Crack trafficking in Montana is primarily limited to the Billings area, where street gangs control the market. These gangs have sources of supply in California and Chicago.
Western Montana, primarily Missoula, has a higher availability of heroin due to the proximity to the state of Washington, historically a transshipment point for heroin in the Pacific Northwest.
Club drugs, such as MDMA (ecstasy), are not widely available throughout the state but can be found in the larger communities and on college campuses. Traffickers are typically white males, 18 to 25 years of age, with sources of supply in the Seattle, Washington, area. Abuse of other club drugs, such as LSD, GHB, and Ketamine appear to be limited to college communities.
Current investigations indicate that diversion of hydrocodone products such as Vicodin® continues to be a problem in Montana. Primary methods of diversion being reported are forged prescriptions and employee theft. OxyContin®, benzodiazepines (such as Xanax® and Valium®) and Adderall® were also identified as being among the most commonly abused and diverted pharmaceuticals in Montana.
The Dwindling Spiral Will Continue
One thing is for certain, for a drug addict, the dwindling spiral will continue on its downward path unless action is taken. NOW is the time to do something before the addicted person winds up in jail or dead of an overdose or accident. Unfortunately past failed attempts to overcome addiction only further depress the individual so it comes as no surprise that fear and hesitation.
In the city of Great Falls, there is an increased need for effective drug and alcohol rehab and addiction treatment centers as drug and alcohol use continues to escalate. Drug use erodes the quality of life not only for the user, but for their families and communities. Marriages and families are torn apart by mistrust, betrayal, fear and anger. Careers are ruined; companies lose millions of dollars in lost production time; cities and suburbs become degraded by the increased crime and violence that goes with drug trafficking and drug addiction. To do nothing for the addict, should not be an option. Something can be done; help is available.
The Damage to Society
In the State of Montana, and specifically in the city of Great Falls, the effects of drug and alcohol abuse goes way past the the damage done to the addicts themselves. In terms of time lost on the job, to the health system inundated by illness and overdoses to communities harmed by the crime rate caused by addicts looking to steal anything in order to get their next fix, to families living a nightmare as they watch helplessly as their loved one goes further down the chutes. The rollercoaster of emotions, concern and anger seems like a never ending ride the abuser puts his friends and family through. Failures in the past with drug rehab centers further numb the addict to any hope of a future without drugs. It truly can appear hopeless.
Great Falls and Area Drug-Related News Stories
»Woman gets 10 years in meth case
»Man charged with felony drug possession
»Man serving 20 years on drug charges gets new trial
»Woman sentenced on Great Falls area meth charges
Treatment Center Changes Needed
Just in the state of Montana, there are many different types of drug rehab and treatment facilities. In the United States, there are thousands of drug rehab and treatment centers. Of course the common goal of all addiction treatment programs is to help end addiction for the individual. In Montana and across the United States, a variety of techniques and methods are being used. Some of the well known treatment methods in Montana include the twelve step method, relapse prevention, one-on-one counseling, drug rehabilitation, behavioral modification, cognitive therapy, support groups, sober living, therapeutic communities, AA , NA, inpatient, and outpatient drug rehab programs. There are many types of treatment centers available in Montana, so making a decision can be difficult. Unfortunately, many uninformed people in Montana go from rehab to rehab looking for the one that is right for them.
In Montana, there are many attempts being made to meet the needs of drug addicts, but statistics show success rates to be dismally low. What is needed and wanted is a drug treatment which not only handles physical addiction, but finds the underlying reasons why a person turns to drugs in order to free the person forever. What Montana addicts, alcoholics and their family, friends and loved ones need is a real and effective drug rehab treatment center. One where they are not on a time schedule or use other drugs to get the addict off the original drugs. The addict needs a reliable proven program where when they are done, their drug addiction is a thing of the past and they are now able to live full productive lives free of the stronghold of drugs or alcohol.
Choosing a Drug Rehab and Addiction Treatment Program
What should the goal be of a drug rehab center? Clean and sober for 30 days? While that might be a good short term goal, many treatment centers and 12 step programs still leave the drug addict fighting a continuing battle with addiction. Once an addict always an addict; or it’s a mental disorder they can do nothing about. When choosing a drug rehab center for yourself or a loved one from Great Falls, Montana, it is important to become educated on the different types of drug rehab and what the end results are.
Should the Drug Rehab Location Matter When it Comes to Finding a Solution to Addiction?
Drug and alcohol addiction typically involves habitual routines in the environmental scope of the individual, i.e. the locations of their drug or alcohol use, the people they associated with in the activities of drug or alcohol use, etc. Drug or alcohol addiction is not just drug and alcohol use, it revolves around people and things in their immediate environment which help to trigger the addictive behavior. The abusers location & routines of drug and alcohol use further trigger drug and alcohol use. It is the constant and seemingly unstoppable drug or alcohol use and the hopelessness of day to day existence which perpetuates the problem and inhibits the native desire to stop ruining their life through the use of drugs and alcohol.
The above factor should not be over looked when considering a treatment center location. The first 2 weeks of treatment are always the most difficult & There many factors at work to make this so. In addition to what has been covered above, a more basic factor is this; people are creatures of habit.
Drug or alcohol addiction is not just drug and alcohol use, it revolves around people and things in their immediate environment which help to trigger the addictive behavior.
Even overwhelmingly positive & beneficial changes in life, such as the birth of a child or a new job does not guarantee the individual will have no thoughts of missing past negative activities such as, drug or alcohol use, drug or drinking acquaintances and other associated activities. Factually this is the normal reactive auto response of most human beings; to do what they are familiar with; good or bad. It is not really that they yearn for these things, it is just all that they have known for some time. If the abuser is close to home when overwhelming feelings manifest themselves, there is a good chance he or she will leave and get back to what they know, drug addiction, as it is not very far away . Due to these factors, attending a drug rehab close to home is seldom the correct treatment option for chronic drug or alcohol abusers. It is extremely therapeutic to be distanced from their former association with drug dealers, bars, the cabinet where the alcohol was kept, the cigar box where the cocaine was stored, etc. All these triggers make the task of sobriety seem insurmountable to the chronic drug or alcohol abuser as these triggers continuously stimulate a reminder of their past addictive behaviors.
For individuals with a severe drug or alcohol addiction problem, choosing a long term inpatient treatment program is another key to a successful outcome.
By providing a new, safe trigger free environment, distanced from past negative associations and surroundings for an extended period of time, the chance for success increases dramatically.
Our program provides people with positive circumstances to increase their chances for a successful recovery. The vast majority of students entering our program, around (80%), are from out of state or from other countries.
Narconon Riverbend helps END addiction and alcoholism FOR GOOD.
Narconon Riverbend produces graduates who are DRUG FREE AND CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS OF SOCIETY. Narconon Riverbend has a success rate in excess of 70%, as compared to 15-20% for more traditional treatments. Narconon Riverbend is a long-term treatment facility, something that is more and more vital in fully handling the onslaught of newer and more potent substances, including a dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse.
The Narconon program steps are entirely drug-free; that is, the Narconon drug rehab program does not use drugs or medications to solve the problems caused by drugs, but does use nutrition and nutritional supplements as an important component of its delivery. Thus the program is neither a psychiatric nor medical, but a social education model of rehabilitation.
A Narconon Program Graduate is someone:
- Who has completed the Narconon drug rehab program;
- Who knows he is, in fact, capable of living a drug-free life thereafter;
- Who has improved his or her ability to learn and thus can accept new ideas on how to change life for the better;
- Who has personally absorbed the fundamentals of ethics and morality well enough that he or she can be productive and contributive to society and will have no further troubles with the justice system;
- Who knows how to solve the problems of life in a rational manner to the best of his ability, without the use of mind-altering drugs.
Click to see PDF of brochure now.Call now and request a copy of Healing Addicted Lives written by Gary W. Smith, Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor and Director of Narconon Arrowhead Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education Center.
Call anytime to speak with one of our counselors about our program. We will take the time to answer your questions whether it be for yourself or a loved one. It is possible to replace the loss and pain of alcohol or drug addiction with a productive, enjoyable life.
Call now (877) 340-3602.
1 Great Falls stats courtesy of http://www.maps-n-stats.com/ (Link to Data)
2 DEA Website facts for Montana
Drug Rehab by State