Drug Rehab Centers Long Beach: Non 12 Step Drug Rehabs See Spike in Patients as Authorities Close ‘Pill Mills’

In the last few weeks media have reported on a sweeping crackdown of so called pill mills in South Florida – long regarded as the epicenter of the nation’s pain pill epidemic. The press has reported on a massive number of raids that are resulting in such clinics shutting down.

Just a few statistics instantly paint the picture of how this has been overdue. First, Florida leads the country in prescription medication abuse, as per DEA records. Next, in 2009 Florida practitioners purchased 41.2 million pills of oxycodone compared to just 4.8 million pills purchased by practitioners in the other 49 states. Of the top 25 oxycodone prescribers nationwide, 18 were in Broward County and three others were in nearby Palm Beach County.

This has left many with serious opiate addictions with nowhere to go to fill their prescriptions and, like a heroin addiction, if they do not continue to use daily they will experience unbearable withdrawal symptoms.

Some media have begun to report on how this has created a problem for neighboring states like Georgia. They are one of 7 states that do not electronically track prescriptions and as a result of the raids in Florida, a spike in out of state patients is occurring because of the demand to fill these prescriptions.

What is also occurring is large numbers realizing they have no other choice but to get off these drugs. With it a tidal wave of people are now seeking to get into medical detox and specialized drug rehab programs. State funded rehab centers are overrun and turning people away with waits that are minimum 3 weeks and more like 3 months. This does nothing to help the person who is at risk of seizures or severe withdrawals from opiates that are more powerful than heroin.

For those who have family and friends to help them seek specialized care and private pay rehab treatment; non 12 step drug rehab centers are reporting a huge spike in enrollment. This is due in part to their known efficacy in treating opiate addiction with success rates above 70% vs. traditional rehab options that are closer to 10% efficacy.

Florida is a hotbed for traditional or ‘disease model’ drug rehab and usually consists of 30 day treatment with 3 days of medical detox. Per the AMA website and other sources, this style of treatment has somewhere around a 9% success rate for opiate addiction. This is likely due to the fact that they all use 12 step methods for therapy (like AA or NA meetings) which tell the person that they will be a lifelong addict, that their opiate addiction is ‘incurable’ and as a result they often prescribe suboxone or methdadone.

For those finally making the leap to get help, many are refusing being told they are unable to beat the addiction or that they must lead a life continuing drug replacement therapy. Most have personally known others who have done this type of rehab only to come out and relapse immediately after. Non 12 step rehab programs offer a completely different model to treating opiate addiction.

The centers will vary but are categorized under non disease model centers, non AA based treatment, non-faith based rehabs, long term drug rehabs and also holistic drug rehabs. The main difference is that they do not tell the patient that they are sick or diseased or incurable. Instead of group therapy they do extensive one on one counseling and life skills courses to build the person back up to the point where they can take responsibility and confront underlying issues that lead to the addictive behavior.

Non 12 step rehab centers often take longer than the traditional 28 day treatment, but that is due to the layer by layer address to get to the core of the addiction. This is why success rates are often 5X greater than traditional 12 step programs.

For those that are finally reaching to get off these opiates the biggest fear they have is relapsing back into the hell that they currently are in. When possible, and usually with family financial support, it makes sense to attend a rehab program that gives them every chance possible for success.

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