Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Hawaii near top for alcohol abuse

A survey finds the state has the lowest number of residents with an illegal drug dependency

Hawaii has one of the nation’s highest rates of alcohol addiction but ranks as the state with the least drug dependence, according to a federal government survey released yesterday.

More than four out of 100 people over 12 years old in Hawaii are addicted to alcohol, says the study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

That puts Hawaii ahead of only Montana and the District of Columbia, and worse than the national average of 3.4 per 100 people.

Only 1.4 percent of Hawaii residents acknowledged illicit drug dependence, which beats every other state in the survey conducted in 2006 and 2007. Nationwide, 1.9 percent said they were addicted to drugs.

“While that rate of dependence on drugs is low, it’s just the opposite for dependence on alcohol,” said Art Hughes, a co-author of the report with the Office of Applied Studies.

The study can be used by Hawaii health officials to determine how to prioritize their resources for fighting drug and alcohol addiction and abuse, Hughes said.

Alcohol abuse is Hawaii’s most widespread problem, but crystal methamphetamine dependence has more quick and severe consequences, said Alan Johnson, chief executive of Hina Mauka substance-abuse treatment center.

“With alcohol, you have a lot of people who are abusing but haven’t reached the addiction yet,” Johnson said. “But when you get down to treatment of those having disasters and consequences to their families and themselves, you see the ice addicts coming in.”

More people are admitted to drug-abuse treatment centers for ice — the street name for crystal meth — than alcohol and marijuana, said Johnson, chairman of the Hawaii Substance Abuse Council.

It often takes years for alcohol abusers to develop a debilitating addiction, but ice smokers have a 65 percent of becoming addicted after their third use, Johnson said.

source: Star bulletin

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Is denial always part of the deal?

Maybe denial really IS just a river in Egypt. Lorraine T. Midanik, dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of California in Berkeley, is convinced that the contemporary concept of denial as applied to alcoholism represents a weak link in the disease model of addiction. Neither the founding fathers of Alcoholics Anonymous,….

Analysis of alcoholics' brains suggests treatment target

An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse – and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Reporting in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the scientists said that a protein known as beta-catenin that is….

Drug rehab

The forces of drug addiction are very strong and therefore, getting rid of the drug addiction is not a simple task. People must realize that they alone cannot tackle their problem of drug addiction and therefore, they need help, help of a drug rehab center. It is the responsibility of the parents and the friends….

Campaign aims to steer kids off booze

Thousands of children are being admitted to the region’s hospitals with alcohol-related illnesses. Statistics show more than 3,000 under-18s end up in hospital in North East England each year due to excessive drinking, 149 of those in South Tyneside hospitals. The Department for Children, Schools and Families launched an advertising campaign to get parents to….

New Research Improves Early Detection And Survival For Pancreatic Cancer

There are new and innovative methods to better understand the risk factors for and improve earlier detection of pancreatic cancer. Specifically, researchers can demonstrate that the development of, new biomarkers, novel treatment targets, innovative approaches to screening and surveillance and improved understanding of risk factors can lead to diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at earlier more….