Drug addicts need aid to quit
Friday, September 08, 2006
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
By Jennifer McLain Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Substance abuse for many addicts runs in the family and starts at a young age.
Unless they get the support they need, it is very hard to pull themselves out of addiction, said Michael Bloom, a counselor at the Pasadena Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency.
In an effort to create awareness, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.
"Recovery Month was promoted at a national level to encourage awareness for this treatable disease," said Cheryl Ruedi, executive director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of East San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, in Covina.
It is estimated that alcoholism afflicts 13.8 million Americans directly, and 43 million indirectly, according to Ruedi.
Brenda Weiwel, executive director of the Los Angeles Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Santa Fe Springs, said substance abuse is a significant problem throughout the San Gabriel Valley.
"Everyone from criminal justice to mental health to child welfare are constantly talking about how the people they serve are impacted by substance abuse," she said.
Former addict Cynthia Cooks, 30, said drug abuse runs in the family.
"It was passed down to me," she said. "But I'm going to break that family tradition."
After serving time in prison at 19 and losing custody of her children, she enrolled in the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of East San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys.
Eleven years later, she is the deputy program director at the council, and hopes that she can help others get out of their destructive lifestyles.
Recovering addicts Linda Castaneda, 38, of Baldwin Park, Erleene Connard, 40, of Covina and Alfredo Gonzalez, 30, of El Monte have been clean for one year.
After years of abuse, each enrolled in programs at National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in Covina.
By the time Connard was 13, she said she was addicted to heroin, and by 15, she was pregnant. Since then, Connard has had her share of jail time and drug abuse.
"My disease was uncontrollable," Connard said. "I didn't care who I hurt."
While she is happy to be clean, she is saddened that her 23-year-old son is now an addict.
Gonzales said he started drinking because he was encouraged to do so.
"My stepdad was an alcoholic, and my mom would rather me drink at home than somewhere else," he said. "From the time I was in junior high, my stepdad would tell me to grab a beer and talk to him."
Later, he became addicted to methamphetamine.
"The bottom for me was ending up in a homeless shelter," he said. "I ended up burning every bridge, and I found myself with no place to go."
Bloom, co-founder of the Pasadena Recovery Center, said he receives many calls weekly from people seeking help.
"It's certainly a real social problem, and addicts need rehabilitation in order to get better," Bloom said. "There needs to be awareness that this is an illness and it should be treated as such."
jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477
 |
Click here to return to the news page.
|
