News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
An Upper Cumberland drug rehab organization looks to help people with prior drug convictions overcome their addictions.
Chelsea Hughes is the Intake Coordinator at Adult and Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland. She says many patients find trouble receiving proper addiction treatment while incarcerated.
“What I have seen is that just being in jail, it’s not really helping them,” Hughes says. “When they leave the jail, usually they’ll be back within the next week or two because they haven’t really gotten any help by just staying in jail. That’s the problem – they’re having to serve time in jail but they’re not able to get the help that they need for their addictions, their drug abuse, and drug problems.”
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced indictments for 35 individuals this week, all on drug-related charges including use or selling of methamphetamine, heroin, or synthetic marijuana. Sheriff Eddie Farris reported a large majority of current inmates are repeat-offenders with some having prior drug convictions.
“Recidivism here in this county is about 84 percent and most of the jails in this area are also meeting that threshold of about 80 percent,” Farris says. “We have about 700-800 individuals that seem to want to continue to repeat. For us, we certainly try to go through the court system with them, any kind of rehab, those kinds of things.”
Hughes says many who have been released from incarceration on drug charges are likely to become repeat offenders if they do not receive the proper help.
“A lot of the times they don’t have the will power at that point to choose to go to rehab or a facility to get help with their addiction,” Hughes says. “So they end up choosing to go back to the same lifestyle within a couple days or back in jail. It’s kind of like a revolving door.”
Hughes says she has witnessed the struggles of Putnam County jail inmates seeking treatment first-hand. Just last week Hughes says she received nearly a dozen letters from female inmates looking for addiction help.
Many times, Hughes says, the issue of drug rehabilitation can become a challenge for the facilities themselves, including Teen Challenge.
“Another issue is we don’t have a lot of beds. We just opened up a brand new facility, opening up 16 more beds for more women to come in, and we have been full since we opened that up,” Hughes says. “We just kind of have to wait until somebody graduates or we send them out of state. The problem with that a lot of the time is their legal requirements won’t allow them to go out of state.”
The issue of drug rehabilitation hits close to home for Hughes as she overcame her addiction six years ago. She encourages those struggling with addiction, with or without prior convictions, to simply give treatment a try.
“This is a big commitment, it’s a big dedication, it takes a lot of hard work,” Hughes says. “Long term is what’s going to help change your behavior. That’s what needs to happen, you need to change your mindset, change your behavior, change your patterns… Freedom is going to come from this addiction, from drug abuse, and getting a hold on a new life.”
Hughes asks anyone looking to receive help with their addiction to contact Adult and Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland. The organization’s regional office is located on Freedom Lane in Livingston.
