Addiction treatment centers and drug rehab programs in San Antonio are needing to receive more resources before properly serving all of the people who need help in the community, local authorities have stated.
The number of people in San Antonio who struggle with a substance use disorder has been increasing in recent years and now it is estimated that at least 12 percent of the city’s residents have a chemical addiction, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
In addition to seeing a surge in the consumption of prescription opioids, San Antonio has been particularly affected by the opioid epidemic because the number of illegal drugs regularly seized in its surrounding areas is very high.
Representatives of the Metropolitan Health District at the University of Texas at San Antonio recently held a town hall meeting where they highlighted that substance use disorders don’t discriminate and continue to impact distinct types of communities in the area. Consequently, they said, expansions in addiction treatment are absolutely needed.
Local physicians were also present at the meeting and took the opportunity to share their first-hand experiences watching the opioid epidemic unfold in the area. Other attendees used the occasion to call for an increase in federal funding to promote public health as well as substance abuse prevention programs and to allow local addiction treatment centers to have more drug detox specialists.
Steps to stop drug abuse
Besides focusing on increasing resources for addiction treatment centers in the area, representatives of the Texan city are also implementing other measures to locally address the drug abuse problem. They hope to be able to expand access to opioid reversal medications (such as Naloxone) and increase the amount of educational information provided to physicians who prescribe addictive substances such as opioid painkillers.
The San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse — a nonprofit organization that was established in the late 50s to lead… (continue reading)
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
