My son came to a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program from a hospital setting. His situation was at the time dismal. But after eight months, he was able to move out of your drug treatment program to live independently, with the agreement that he would stay in close contact with his counselors. He would also attend school. Your team of hard-working drug treatment counselors was there for him every step of the way. They went beyond the call of duty in helping my son attain his high school diploma. They helped him with school papers, assisted him in meeting deadlines and gave him a place to turn whenever he needed advice. Every member of our family thanks the people of the drug treatment center. What you all did on behalf of my son enabled him to change his life. You gave him tools to make better choices. For that I cannot thank you enough. He truly couldn’t have done it without you. I would hate to see him return to a drug abuse treatment center BUT I know that if my son ever stumbles, you’ll be there for him. And that’s very comforting, especially now that he’s attending college, where he’ll be forced to make the right choices to achieve his new goals.

Counselors at Cliffside, Malibu drug and alcohol treatment center stay abreast of all developments in the research of addiction and alcoholism. The following is a snippet from an article found on the NIH web site… “Previous studies established that alcoholism runs in families, but this research has given us the most extensive catalogue yet of the genetic variations that may contribute to the hereditary nature of this disease,” says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “We now have new tools that will allow us to better understand the physiological foundation of addiction.” “This is an important contribution to studies of the genetics of alcoholism and co-occurring substance use disorders,” adds Dr. Ting-Kai Li, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). “The findings will open many new avenues of research into common factors in genetic vulnerability and common mechanisms of disease.” NIDA researchers found genetic variations clustered around 51 defined chromosomal regions that may play roles in alcohol addiction. The candidate genes are involved in many key activities, including cell-to-cell communication, control of protein synthesis, regulation of development, and cell-to-cell interactions. For example, one gene implicated in this studyÑthe AIP1 geneÑis a known disease-related gene expressed primarily in the brain, where it helps brain cells set up and maintain contacts with the appropriate neighboring cells. Many of the nominated genes have been previously identified in other addiction research, providing support to the idea that common genetic variants are involved in human vulnerability to substance abuse.

My grandfather was a drug addict. He started with heroin during the Korean war. My father was a drug addict. He started smoking pot during Vietnam. The probability that I would become a drug addict was etched in stone. A mortal lock, as they say. When I took off for Iraq, I told myself that I am not going to become one like my dad and granddad. But I did. I had always been a drinker, a heavy drinker, but not until I got into the service did my drug abuse start spiking. It was horrible, and I knew from day one that it was in my genes, in my blood. As soon as I got back, I sat down with my granddad and told him what I had done and that I thought I needed drug abuse treatment. He just started laughing. Then, he pulled out an envelope from his desk and told me he had been planning for this day. What was inside changed my life. It was a brochure for a residential drug treatment center in Malibu, CA. He told me he had put aside a little money for this day, how he had been sober for thirty five years, and that he would be happy to drive me. He did. I’m not a drug addict anymore. And ever since then Ive started putting a little bit aside for when my grandson comes to talk to me.