Drug, alcohol abuse involves many costs

The concern about substance abuse and dependency is not new. It is not about good or bad or right or wrong. It is not about a bunch of Puritans that don’t want anyone to have any fun. The concern is that for individuals, families, communities and our state, the personal, financial and emotional costs of substance abuse are so terribly burdensome and encompassing.

I have worked in the field of substance abuse treatment in Maine for more than eight years. I have seen lives destroyed by alcohol and other drugs of abuse. But I have also witnessed the very real value of treatment and the changes that people can and do make every day. I have seen the incredibly rewarding work that people put into their recovery and the discovery and creation of a new life.

In 2004, the Maine Office of Substance Abuse estimated that the overall cost of substance abuse in Maine was $618 million a year. This figure includes the cost of individual treatment as well as incarceration, loss of family income, law enforcement and the economic impact on a region whose work force is largely impaired by substance abuse. The smallest of these costs is treatment.

But we all know that the real cost is far more personal and unrelated to dollars and cents. Who among us does not know someone who has lost a meaningful opportunity due to alcohol or other drug abuse? Who does not know personally a family that has been forever changed? These costs are truly devastating and beyond measure.

So why do people do drugs? It is natural to want to feel good, to change your reality and heighten your sensations. It is normal to want acceptance, pleasure and excitement. My son Jacob will often spin around till he gets dizzy and falls over. Some people meditate, exercise, take drugs, eat food, talk with a close friend, have sex – there are many ways for us to stimulate or soothe our experience of the world.

But as a society, we seem obsessed with finding a fast, easy, painless pathway to comfort, contentment or excitation. The alcohol industry spends millions and millions of dollars every year to market the positive value of drinking. The pharmaceutical industry is doing the same with direct-to-consumer advertising of its products. I believe this barrage of messages influences what, where, when and how much people use. It also undermines people’s efforts to change their behaviors.

Individuals in recovery most often need outside support to help them make and maintain positive changes in their thinking and behaviors. Communities that want to take on the issue of substance abuse need support as well. That can come in the form of a community group such as Link for Hope in Houlton, the River Coalition in Old Town and other groups that work with local churches, businesses, law enforcement officers, schools and families to change the ways drugs and alcohol are perceived in their community.

There are similar groups throughout the state. If you are seriously concerned about substance abuse, I encourage you to join a prevention group and start counteracting the messages that support substance abuse in your community. Call the state’s substance abuse office toll-free at (800) 499-0027 to find a group near you, or to get ideas for starting your own program.

The fix is prevention, treatment and recovery all working together to create healthy, safe and productive individuals and communities.

Peter McCorison is the director of substance abuse services at the Aroostook Mental Health Center in Caribou and is himself in recovery from a chemical dependency. Send comments about “Finding a Fix” by calling 990-8291 or e-mailing findingafix@bangordailynews.net.