JACKSON, Wyo. – It's been a few weeks since Wyomingites started listing their New Year's resolutions. So how are they sticking?

One study shows less than 40 percent stick to their goals, and if an addiction is on the list – the success rate is usually even lower.

Ed Wigg is executive director of the Curran-Seeley Foundation treatment center in Jackson. He says beating addiction is a team effort, and he sees success rates upwards of 70 to 90 percent for alcohol and drugs when there is high-quality care and patient dedication.

"We have to help them develop healthy primary relationships with other people and get away from this primary relationship they've established with their drug."

Wigg says treatment is tailored to each patient. It might mean therapy, daily or weekly meetings, a residential program and, sometimes, medications for support.

Substance abuse treatment clinics have been established in every Wyoming county. They charge on a sliding-fee scale and most insurance and Medicaid is accepted, so services are affordable for everyone. A listing of centers is at WyomingWellness.com.

Wigg says treatment for addictions starts out intense, and it can last for years and maybe even a lifetime, with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or other group support.

"This is just one step in a process. If you stay with the process and continue to do this, the longer you do it, the better chance you have at being successful."

Wigg notes that substance abuse treatment centers receive state funding, and the legislature is looking at cutting funding over the next two years.







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MANCHESTER, N.H. - September is National Recovery Month, and New Hampshire groups are working to raise awareness about the many paths to recovery from alcohol or substance-use disorders.

This Saturday in Manchester, a "Rally 4 Recovery" will feature speakers sharing their own personal stories, as well as booths representing treatment centers, health agencies and various recovery tools - from 12-Step programs to SMART Recovery, Recovery Dharma and more.

"The rally really is a chance for people in recovery to demonstrate that no matter how low we may have fallen in our lives, we do recover, we do get better," said Keith Howard executive director of the group Hope for New Hampshire Recovery, which is leading the event.

Howard said there will be more than 40 booths, as well as juggling instructors, visual art and live musicians, all of whom are in recovery themselves. He said these stories are powerful for helping people who may be struggling with addiction as well as their friends, families and neighbors.

During this awareness month, advocates are working to reduce the stigma around addiction and mental illness; they say it often can prevent people from seeking the help they need. Howard said it's important to "show up, show pride and show the world we get better." He said his own story is an example of what hope - and help - can do.

"I was living on the streets - homeless, toothless and pretty much hopeless," he said, "and thanks to work that I did as directed by folks in recovery, today I'm able to be executive director of a large Recovery Center."

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has free, confidential and anonymous resources for people dealing with addiction - themselves, friends or family. The SAMHSA hotline can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP, and its Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator can be found at findtreatment.samhsa.gov.

DAYTON, Ohio -- An Ohio county is taking a trauma-informed approach to its work on preventing marijuana use in teens.

As marijuana policy changes were enacted in Ohio over the last few years, families in Montgomery County grew concerned about the impact it would have on teenagers' perceived risk of substance use.

In response, the county's Alcohol Drug Addiction Mental Health Services (ADAMHS), provides prevention programming in all of its 16 public-school districts, as well as parochial and charter schools.

Tristyn Ball, director of prevention and early intervention services for Montgomery County ADAMHS, said it is important to get at the root cause of drug use.

"What we've shifted to is an approach that, rather than using punitive measures, really moving towards, if a young person is using, really identifying why are they using marijuana?" Ball explained. "And what can we do to give them the skills that they need to perhaps make healthier decisions?"

ADAMHS has partnered with Dayton Children's Hospital and its student resiliency coordinators, who work directly with young people who have endured trauma.

Local county data show that around 15% of young people have tried marijuana, which has decreased over the last few years. Many that do use are starting as young as 13 years old, which can have an impact on brain development.

Medical marijuana was legalized in Ohio in 2016. Many studies show that medicinal cannabis can be helpful for adults in treating chronic pain, as well as effects from certain diseases. Ball pointed out their prevention work is not about stigmatizing medical marijuana use, but about understanding the impact substances can have on teenagers.

"Medicine is medicine, you know, it's prescribed by a doctor," Ball emphasized. "When we look at opioids, or really any kind of controlled substance, we trust medical professionals to prescribe that. It's just about making sure that overall our goal is just the health and wellness of a young person."

Over the past year, Ball noted ADAMHS has screened more than 1,000 students in the county for behavioral-health indicators, including depression, anxiety and substance use.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennesseans paused to remember International Overdose Awareness Day today, as the state reported increased numbers of overdose deaths.

Anthony Jackson, director of prevention and early intervention for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said the pandemic worsened conditions that fueled the increase in overdose deaths, such as disconnection from recovery resources and increased stress and anxiety.

"COVID's created a situation where maybe they've been isolated a little more than they would have been otherwise," Jackson explained. "Maybe there's been some economic difficulties or economic anxieties that may have triggered a relapse of some sort."

Preliminary numbers released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate more than 3,000 Tennesseans died from a drug overdose in 2020.

Community groups across the state are holding memorials, trainings and awareness events to remember the lives lost, celebrate the survivors of overdose, and educate residents on the tools to prevent overdoses.

Jackson noted since the overdose prevention program began in late 2017, regional overdose prevention specialists have saved more than 26,000 lives through overdose reversal.

"You may not know who's impacted by this," Jackson observed. "You may not think you need to be trained, but you do. Because you need to understand this could impact anyone."

According to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, the state's regional overdose prevention specialists have distributed more than 71,000 naloxone kits and recorded more than 11,000 opioid overdose reversals over the past year.