Pasadena Treatment Centers

Pasadena, Texas, is home to some 141,674 people. It is found in Harris County, and it is situated around 72 miles outside of Beaumont and 10 miles outside of Houston. The city experienced a small population boom of around 19% during the 1990s. Today, population growth is almost stagnant. Nevertheless, the city has its own share of drug and alcohol abuse problems. There is a positive correlation between substance abuse and property crimes, and property crime levels in Pasadena are high than the state average.

On the other hand, the same correlation exists with violent crimes but the Pasadena levels of violent crimes are lower than the state average. It is believed that this is in part due to the Drug Court Program launched by the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Court. Here, people who have been arrested on drug or alcohol charges and who are battling with a dependency or addiction, are given the opportunity to seek treatment through detox and rehab facilities. They will be closely monitored during their time in the program and, if they are found to stay clean at the end of a set period of time, their criminal charges will be dismissed.

That said, Pasadena authorities understand that there is also a serious need for more intervention efforts. They aim to make sure that strong prevention methods are put into place, helping young people to stay away from substances altogether, while also helping everybody to avoid spiraling into addiction. To determine what sort of actions have to be put in place, Pasadena has conducted a significant piece of research on the extend of the substance abuse problem.

Statistics on Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Pasadena, TX

Research has shown that 8% of those older than 12 admit to having used an illicit substance in the past month. However, there has been a significant reduction in levels of substance abuse for most drugs in the population of 18 to 24 year old people. Specifically, they found that:

• Rates of cocaine abuse dropped from 2% to 1.5%.
• Rates of inhalant abuse dropped from 0.5% to 0.3%.
• Rates of prescription stimulant abuse dropped from 1.3% to 1.1%.
• Rates of methamphetamine use dropped from 0.6% to 0.2%.
• Rates of prescription painkiller abuse increased from 4.1% to 4.6%.
• Rates of LSD abuse increased from 0.1% to 0.3%.

More Work Needs to Be Done in Pasadena, TX

While there are some positive developments, which are also seen in the percentages of people who smoke, there are some negative statistics as well. Clearly, prescription painkiller abuse is one of the greatest threats facing Pasadena, and these rates are rising regularly as well. In areas where people have abused prescription painkillers, many also turn to heroin, which is more readily available and more affordable. Hence, in an effort to avoid this, Pasadena is already investing in improving services offered through detox and rehab facilities. It is hoped that, by having treatment available, those who are ready to come forward for help will find that there are no barriers in place for them to get the addiction treatment they need.