Carrollton Treatment Centers

Carrollton, Texas, is home to approximately 110,000 people. It is found in Dallas County and it is around 12 miles outside of Plano and 10 miles away from Irving. During the 1990s, the city experienced a 33% population growth. Today, it continues to grow with a rate of around 2% per year. Like all cities, Carrollton has its share of drug and alcohol abuse problems. Meanwhile, scientists have determined that there is a positive correlation between substance abuse and levels of property and violent crimes, with addiction being a causality for those crimes. However, in Carrollton, the rates of both these types of crimes are lower than the state average. This would suggest that the prevention and intervention efforts that the city has put in place have been successful.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Carrollton, TX

Carrollton officials have determined the rate of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction in the city through a range of studies. These have shown that:

• 28.4% of people aged over 12 used tobacco products in 2008. This is slightly lower than the rate in 2007, which was 28.6%.
• There was no change in the rates of use for the different types of tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless, and pipe tobacco).
• There was a slight decrease during the past month with regards to the use of all tobacco products, particularly with cigarettes.

The reason why Carrollton looked specifically at tobacco use is because this is known as a gateway drug to other addictive substances. Hence, the city authorities also looked at which substances people aged over 12 were most likely to be initiated to. They found that these are:

• Cannabis
• Prescription painkillers
• Prescription tranquilizers
• Ecstasy
• Inhalants
• Stimulants
• Cocaine

Carrollton authorities based their initiatives on research that showed that detox and rehab facilities have to be culturally sensitive to the needs of individual patients. Because of this, they have also conducted a piece of research in substance abuse among different ethnic population groups. They found that, in terms of alcohol abuse (another gateway drug) in the population of young people aged between 12 and 17:

• 5.7% of Asians currently drink alcohol.
• 10.1% of blacks currently drink alcohol.
• 13.1% of those of mixed races currently drink alcohol.
• 14.8% of Hispanics currently drink alcohol.
• 16.4% of whites currently drink alcohol.

Alcoholism is of particular concern in Carrollton, not in the least because of the associated dangers of driving under the influence. Various intervention methods have been put in place to combat this. This is why they have further researched the rates of alcohol abuse, this time looking specifically at how young people between the ages of 12 and 20 consume alcohol. What they found was that:

• 81.5% of young people were in groups when they last drank, which also means they were more likely to binge drink.
• 13.4% were with at least one other person when they last drank.
• 5.2% were alone when they last drank, which is of particular concern in terms of potential addiction.

The City of Carrollton has also opened community courts, where people who are under the influence and commit nonviolent offenses are given the opportunity to seek treatment from a detox and rehab facility instead of having to go to prison.