Mexican drug cartels control most of the drugs smuggled into the United States from south of the border. New Mexico is therefore on the front line of the drug war. The spillover of drugs into the state has resulted in widespread problems with meth, heroin, club drugs, cocaine, and the whole gamut of prescription drugs. Unfortunately, the state is forced to spend so much money trying to catch the smugglers that public rehabilitation and treatment programs in New Mexico are less well funded. There is a wide network of both public and private drug and alcohol treatment centers in New Mexico, however, so families seeking help for substance abuse should not despair.

Many families quite naturally hope to find an adequate rehab facility in their own community. The cost of treating a drug or alcohol addiction can be high; the cost of not treating them is higher, and inadequate programs are the costliest of all. Poorly-chosen treatment programs can result in an endless cycle of relapse, recovery, relapse, even death. So if the local New Mexico drug and alcohol rehab center doesn’t offer a comprehensive program with certain essential elements, keep looking.

What entails a comprehensive program? Successful drug and alcohol treatment centers in New Mexico or anywhere else focus on the long term, tailor their programs to the individual and his particular problem and circumstances, and offer three key elements: detoxification, counseling, and behavior modification. In addition, good treatment centers teach nutrition and fitness to build up bodies debilitated by substance abuse. The goal of living clean for life is augmented by ensuring that addicts learn a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Any treatment facility should be able to offer inpatient care during detox, the vital process of helping an addict through withdrawal. This should be coupled with intensive counseling to help the addict beat the emotional cravings left behind even after the drug is gone. Ongoing behavior modification is required to help the addict understand his own addiction and identify the things most likely to trigger a need to drink or get high. Only by understanding and overcoming all those stressors can the addict learn to live without depending on drugs or alcohol.

Such a treatment program may or may not be offered in your local community. If it is not, look farther afield. A New Mexico drug and alcohol rehabilitation center may be located too close to home. There is a distinct benefit found in removing an addict from the distractions of daily life, and from the old haunts where drugs—and people willing to help him get drugs—are too readily available. Inpatient care at a rehab facility in New Mexico or perhaps outside the state or local community may be the best choice for making a clean break from the old life.

For families in New Mexico, drug and alcohol treatment centers exist to help break the seemingly endless cycle of abuse. But none of them can help if you don’t pick up the phone and call.