Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

February 15, 2007 issue

Help To Beat Addiction Now a Phone Call Away

Story by Corinne Saunders

“Ninety-five percent of people need help to beat addiction, whether it’s a patch, group therapy, treatment, etc. Only one to five percent can beat addiction cold turkey,” said Robin Lindner, communications director for Partnership for a Drug-Free NC.

To help those 95 percent, North Carolina has established the first statewide help line for substance abuse, and it’s already receiving calls.

Each locality has a help line, as mandated by state law, but toll-free 1-877-4HELPNC is a 24-hour number any North Carolinian can call, anytime, for personalized help and information.

Funded by Partnership for a Drug-Free NC, the help line offers callers a chance to speak to people, not an automated system, about what they need. Whether it is facts about drug or alcohol abuse, help locating nearby treatment or help facilities, information about how to begin breaking substance habits or how to help a loved one, this number can point people from anywhere in the state in the right direction. The number was set up as part of Partnership for a Drug-Free NC’s new Hope, Help and Healing Campaign.

“There are so many wonderful resources out there; a lot of times people don’t know about them. This number can help them get directed,” Lindner said.

Eighty percent of North Carolinians have a family member with some kind of addiction, she said. “There’s a stigma attached to substance abuse, that you can’t talk about it—it’s such a negative thing,” Lindner continued. “Some people say they wish they had cancer or heart disease so they could talk about it.”

Drug addiction is treatable, however, and the new number provides immediate support and resources for treating the disease.

“The people here are not judgmental,” Lindner said. “They’re not here for any other reason than to help you.”

Partnership for a Drug-Free NC, Inc. (PDFNC), is a nonprofit organization that employs more than 250 people inits three main divisions.

Insight Human Services, the clinical arm of PDFNC, has sister agencies across the state and provides treatment services. Unlimited Success, the prevention arm, gives children, teachers and administrators the facts about drug abuse. TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities) is the legal, criminal justice arm that offers help to individuals in the criminal justice system who have substance abuse or mental health problems.

For more information, click to www.drugfreenc.org or call 1-877-4HELPNC.

 

 

Facts About Substance Abuse

The Alcohol/Drug Council of North Carolina’s most recent reports (2004) claim the estimated cost of substance abuse to NC citizens is more than $12 billion.

North Carolina Population: 8,540,468

People Somehow Affected by Addiction: 4,197,640

Estimated People Who Abuse Substances: 839,528