Culture of Intoxication in San Diego County

The desire for intoxication is the main reason people begin drinking alcohol or using legal and prescription psychoactive drugs and illegal drugs. Alcohol and drug treatment providers in San Diego County regularly see people for treatment who use alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and mind altering prescription drugs.

We are seeing an increase in the number of young heroin users who began using prescribed psychotropic drugs, along with alcohol and marijuana. Once the intoxication begins, and the addiction progresses, people want a more intense experience, as the high isn't as high as before. Some people who are using drugs realize that the stronger drugs are too dangerous and they are able to stop using the drugs. For others who are unable to stop, they move into the use of heavier opiates such as Oxycontin, and then into smoking and shooting heroin. Each day of drug use increases the chance of danger and deadly side effects.

The federal government's War on Drugs has been directed toward illegal narcotics. Recent data from NIDA — National Institute on Drug Addiction — Monitoring the Future Survey, shows that, "seven of top 10 drugs being high school seniors are misusing legal prescription or over-the-counter medications."

As a member of the treatment community in San Diego County, we are seeing younger people with more severe and dangerous addictions. The drug dealer is not necessarily the culprit in this addiction. It can be the parents medicine cabinets, the over prescribing by some physicians to give unnecessarily large amounts of pain medication to teenagers, and the proximity of Tijuana where purchasing prescription drugs is reported to be easy and done frequently. Prescription amphetamines, sedatives, tranquilizers, and the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication Ritalin also were among the most popular drugs of abuse among high-school seniors, along with over-the-counter cough medications.

What's the answer?
We can learn through alcohol and drug addiction treatment that we can develop more reliance on living in reality, rather than seeking intoxication.

Living in sobriety is to experience the gift of being alive and alcohol and drug addiction treatment can help people to open the door to recovery.