Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean are the prime source of drugs smuggled into the United States. Idaho, with its shared border with Canada and vast forest lands, is home to a lot of home-grown marijuana as well as a lively smuggling trade. Many people in Idaho are unaware how easy it is for their children to get their hands on “cool” drugs like crystal meth, Ecstasy, club drugs, or any of a hundred legal prescription drugs.

Drug awareness programs as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment centers are becoming more prevalent in Idaho. Programs encompass public and private facilities offering inpatient and outpatient care. Evaluating the right program for your particular drug or alcohol problem is vital to ensuring a positive outcome. Any successful rehab program must be tailored to the individual, for no addiction is the same for any two people, and no two drugs have the exact same effect. Some are harder to treat than others, so any drug rehab facility in Idaho or anywhere else should be evaluated for its qualify of staff and level of experience in dealing with the problem at hand.

Picking a bad treatment facility can be as destructive as not beginning treatment at all. A poor or limited approach is unlikely to keep the addict from relapsing, which can lead to a downward spiral of intensified abuse, worsening health, and increasing discouragement. Find a detox center or rehab facility that offers a comprehensive set of services and is adequately staffed and funding to provide safe, effective care. A holistic approach is required to effect real change when treating substance abuse. Detoxification alone is not enough. Counseling alone is not enough.

All major cities and many larger communities in Idaho offer one or more treatment options. If, however, the Idaho drug and alcohol treatment center in your area does not offer detox, counseling, behavior therapy, and wellness programs, keep looking. Inpatient care may be required to heal the physical damage done by the drug or alcohol abuse. Residential treatment, removed from the addict’s home, may also be the wise course to jumpstart a new approach to life. While the instinctive urge to seek treatment from an Idaho rehab facility close to home is understandable, it may simply mire the addict within the same environment that triggered the addiction in the first place. Families often enable substance abuse without realizing it; removing the addict to a safe, supportive environment where there is no outside stress, no everyday distractions, allows him to focus completely on getting well.

Likewise, the 24/7 support for the patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing offered by an inpatient treatment program handles what families often cannot—the intense emotional dependency that lingers even after withdrawal has eliminated all physical traces of the drug. Teaching a recovering addict to overcome that dependency is the real key to recovery. Sometimes a little “tough love” is the answer.

For any resident of Idaho, drug and alcohol treatment centers are just a phone call away. Maybe it’s time to pick up the phone.