NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO ADDICTION PROBLEMS

Hard realities come with being around people with addictions.

Perhaps, operative words here are "being around." Coupled with this
are suspicion and denial.

The third component is the cover-up. Denial, excuses and
co-dependency are ways in which we unwittingly participate to prolong
the problem of addiction in others.

By association we have an addiction, subtle or submerged by the undertow.

In ways direct or indirect, we exacerbate the problems of someone
with an addiction. Here we are talking about loved ones, family
members, co-workers or someone in the public eye. Money is given.

If not given, money is stolen.

Things around the house start to come up missing.

A family member charged with managing the affairs of an older parent
or relative starts to deplete bank accounts. When family members
discover that Mama's or Daddy's retirement savings, monthly Social
Security and pension checks are being pilfered to support an
addiction, anger, shame and disappointment surface in abundance.

Suddenly siblings are faced with having a drug-addicted family member
whose thefts from a parent are felonious.

What is to happen after the meeting filled with threats, shouting and
crying comes to an end? Many families are being faced with whether or
not to prosecute for theft a family member with an addiction.

Will the next step be punishment or practicing tough love?

One thing is for certain.

This is no time to disown the problem.

To abandon someone with an addiction is to say that the problem will
go away on its own. Co-dependency is not a cure. Our state is
currently under assault.

Among other problems of addiction and its various sources, we as a
state and nation are faced with a crisis of methamphetamine addiction.

The problem of methamphetamine is as likely to be found in rural
areas as along the urban Wasatch Front. A few months ago, the Public
Broadcasting Service program "Frontline" documented how bad the
methamphetamine problem is nationwide. Utah was not an exception.
According to the "Frontline" Web site: "Methamphetamine is the
primary drug threat in Utah, and more residents seek treatment for
meth abuse than any other drug, including alcohol.

In 2004, 2,889 individuals sought treatment for meth addiction or
about 26.3 percent of all persons seeking substance abuse drug treatment.

Although this is a slight decrease from 2003, when 3,436 individuals
sought treatment, admissions for meth addiction have remained in the
thousands for the past five years." Even though the latest statistics
are 2 years old, jailers across the state are seeing a spike in
arrests for the illegal use of methamphetamine, which more than
suggests the problem is spreading. In most cases, arrest is not
leading to treatment.

This is a reality with which our schools, social service agencies,
families, churches and jails are grappling.

There is plenty of disappointment to go around.

In a time when inclusiveness is at the forefront of our thinking,
this complex problem is ours. Simple solutions are not to be found.

However, treatment programs can be residential, inpatient or
outpatient. Some among us are positioned to offer outpatient services.

When those treatment options are grasped, the temptations that lead
to addiction will be conquered by a living faith in a God who is
available for treatment of body, mind and soul. ---------- COREY J.
HODGES writes about current events and ideas from a moral
perspective. Hodges, the senior pastor of the New Pilgrim Baptist
Church in Taylorsville, welcomes comments at coreyjhodges@comcast.net.