Addiction

When Greg Troutt left jail after serving time for several misdemeanors stemming from a drug addiction, he had 60 bucks in his pocket and a bus ticket - and a calling - to Texas, where he had been based at Fort Hood. Troutt, who was born and grew up in Kentucky, joined the military, and when he came out, became one of the many addicted to drugs. While in jail, he began praying, preaching and forming an idea to help people when he got out. “I felt called by God to do something bigger while I¿was in the jail, and I¿said 'There's something bigger than this.' So I got my calling while I¿was incarcerated and began to preach while I¿was incarcerated and began to experience God while I was incarcerated,” said Troutt, who is now the executive director of a Christ-centered life recovery program in Kentucky.

They say the first step is admitting that you have a problem, so here I am. I thought I had been living a relatively clean life, I tried to do the right thing, I said no to drugs. But now, in the fifth decade of my life, I have found myself in the grips of a chemical addiction. My name is Mike, and I am hooked on Freon. I feel better just for saying it, and I know that I am only one of many who have come to depend on the gas that gives life to air conditioning units. This isn’t a life-threatening problem, and I don’t mean to make light of those whose dependencies are. But I realized after spending last weekend without the sweet relief of conditioned air just how far gone I am. Need it, crave it, gotta have it. I always have enjoyed what Freon can do for you, but I considered myself a casual user.

Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world to preach the good news of his kingdom, Theo Macmillan told a group of youths who joined hands Saturday afternoon at College Park to pray for their community. “The world starts right outside your door,” he said. The Unity Movement rally was the first event organized by young adults and youths from churches throughout the community to try and bring Christians together, regardless of denominations, to address problems of addiction¿ - whether to drugs, alcohol or sexual promiscuity.

They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no. - Amy Winehouse I don't know if they have rehab for spending addicts. If not, someone ought to start one. I was flipping though the news channels when I heard a guest demand that we give tax rebates to poor people. "Rich people accumulate wealth. Poor people accumulate things," he said. He had a trickle-up theory of economics. He believed that poor people will go on a wild spending spree. The money will burn a hole in a poor person's pocket while wealthy people would sock it away.

Every day in Kentucky, many men, women and increasing numbers of youth find themselves in trouble and in court because of substance abuse problems that have taken control of their lives, and Clark County is no exception. The drug problem knows no boundaries, destroying relationships, marriages and communities at an alarming rate. But cities like Winchester are trying to fight back and reclaim their communities and the lives of their family members. On Thursday, more than 150 people gathered at the People Helping People building for the Where Hope Begins banquet, a fundraising event for Lifeline Connection and Teen Challenge, organizations that work with people with substance abuse problems.

Dear Editor, I am a Danville resident. My name is Choe Sergent. I am writing to you today to encourage you to support, in any means you can, one of our local outreach ministries that provides an invaluable resource to our community. I was addicted to narcotic pain killers I was receiving from doctors that diagnosed me with Crohns disease. I came here from Corbin to the Isaiah House and sought relief for this bondage I was under. After completing the program a year ago, I have been drug free ever since.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has announced that legendary Kentucky journalist Al Smith will be named as a Fellow of the Society at their September convention in Atlanta. Fellow of the Society is the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contribution to the profession. Last year, Carl Bernstein (of "All The President's Men" fame) was named as a Fellow. Al is running with the big dogs. Although Smith, a former head of the Appalachian Regional Commission, is no stranger to the national scene, his greatest impact has been on the local and state level.

The thought of using again is always in the mind of a recovering addict. I still have moments when I crave, or think about, using drugs and alcohol. I explained that in a recent column for "The Jackson Times. " After it was published, I received a letter the following week from my mother. Her thought, after reading my column in the paper, was that I was ready to just give up on recovery and go back to my old habits. My intention was to get people to understand how powerful addiction is. Once you are away from something you spent a large part of your life with, the old desires just don't go away.

LIBERTY - Melissa Russell's eight-year addiction to painkillers began in the hospital after the birth of her second child. She received morphine for pain and was given Perocet, also known as oxycodone, to take home, along with instructions to call the doctor if she needed more. She called on numerous occasions. After the pain went away, she tried to stop taking the pills but couldn't, so she faked back pain to get more. "My doctor always gave me the pills," she said. "He knew what was going on. He did that for others, too. " She doesn't blame the physician for her problems, though.

A solitary figure lurks in the darkened room with only the flickering light from his computer screen illuminating his reddened eyes. Sounds are meaningless, and the clicks of the mouse are frequent, though erratic. Hours pass unnoticed in the quest for more images. He is addicted. Some people have labeled pornography "the victimless crime. " In fact, many believe it is no crime at all. Everyone in the process seems to profit from the industry, especially those who promote it on the Internet.

SelfRefind, an outpatient addiction recovery clinic, is moving its headquarters to Danville, a town its employees consider “home.” The clinic, which treats people with opiate addictions, opened in Danville six years ago. The company now has 12 Kentucky locations and two in Ohio. In 2011, after its growth in Danville spread to four separate offices, the company moved to a larger facility, the former Kentucky Christian Academy in Harrodsburg, to “centralize everything into one space,” said Chief Executive Officer Jamie Durham.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway warned students at George Rogers Clark¿High School that they risk their lives and futures if they take medications not prescribed for them by a doctor. “We've lost an entire generation to prescription drug abuse,” Conway told the students Thursday afternoon during an appearance at the school. That's why he's been touring high schools around the state to warn students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. “The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers among all age groups in Kentucky is down, and for the first time we are below the national average for prescription drug abuse,” Conway said in a press release.

Now that law enforcement officials and doctors have cracked down on the abuse of prescription painkillers, a growing number of central Kentucky drug addicts are turning to heroin. “We've been finding heroin here, and officers in Lincoln and Boyle are dealing with the same issue,” said Garrard County Sheriff Ronnie Wardrip.  Mercer County also has seen an influx of heroin and is bringing its first cases since the 1970s to a grand jury this spring, said Sheriff Ernie Kelty and Chief Deputy Scott Elder.

September is National Recovery Month across this country - a time to lift up the many people who are in recovery from substance abuse, and the professionals and programs who assist people in that recovery process. It is a time to advocate for public policy which supports both the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. In conjunction with National Recovery Month, the Boyle County Detention Center hosted a Recovery Fair on Monday. This was a time of celebration for our entire county, because our county has made a commitment to treatment and education, in addition to incarceration.  In contracting with the substance abuse treatment program, West Care Kentucky, Jailer Barry Harmon and his staff have recognized the well documented relationship between crime and substance abuse and addiction in our county, and, indeed, across the country.  Our Boyle County officials have taken important steps to make a real difference in one of the primary root causes of crime.

This marks the 25th year The World's Longest Yardsale has presented capitalism in its rawest, purest form. No middlemen. No advertising campaigns. No impulse buys set up in the checkout lanes. No catalogues or Internet commons. Just thousands of buyers and sellers wheeling and dealing face to face in the dust and the heat and exhaust fumes for four days along U.S. 127, from Addison, Mich., through Mercer, Boyle, Lincoln and Casey counties, to Gadsden, Ala., a marketplace that stretches 690 miles.

I can hear the moans and groans now. It's only been a few days since a Jessamine County couple was indicted for possession of illegal gambling machines, but gambling proponents likely are already preparing their arguments. “Who is the victim of this alleged crime?” Since gamblers choose to engage in the activity, some would argue that if the machines are honest, there is no victim. But those who consider gambling a victimless vice likely have never sat face-to-face with people whose loved ones cannot control their urges to gamble.

A group of Clark County students will take the stage at Leeds Theatre next week to educate the public on the dangers of underage drinking. The Clark County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy and George Rogers Clark Youth Network will put on “'Not my kid!' Why Not?” from 7 to 9 p.m.on Friday, April 27. The play is a first for the youth network, said ASAP coordinator Janna Smith, and is staged in conjunction with Alcohol Awareness Month. “They developed an idea and we just took off with that idea and created this play about different situations that teens get themselves into when they drink at a party,” Smith said.

As a self-described alcoholic bully who likes to fight, Jared Thomas knows one when he sees one.  And Thomas saw one when William Northington entered the Substance Abuse Program at the Boyle County Detention Center. “He's big and aggressive. He's got scars on his face. I knew the other guys would be listening to him,” explained Thomas, director of the SAP. “I knew if we couldn't get him on our side, we'd have to take the power away from him.” Northington turned out to be a team player of the first order.

Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world to preach the good news of his kingdom, Theo Macmillan told a group of youths who joined hands Saturday afternoon at College Park to pray for their community. “The world starts right outside your door,” he said. The Unity Movement rally was the first event organized by young adults and youths from churches throughout the community to try and bring Christians together, regardless of denominations, to address problems of addiction¿ - whether to drugs, alcohol or sexual promiscuity.

When Greg Troutt left jail after serving time for several misdemeanors stemming from a drug addiction, he had 60 bucks in his pocket and a bus ticket - and a calling - to Texas, where he had been based at Fort Hood. Troutt, who was born and grew up in Kentucky, joined the military, and when he came out, became one of the many addicted to drugs. While in jail, he began praying, preaching and forming an idea to help people when he got out. “I felt called by God to do something bigger while I¿was in the jail, and I¿said 'There's something bigger than this.' So I got my calling while I¿was incarcerated and began to preach while I¿was incarcerated and began to experience God while I was incarcerated,” said Troutt, who is now the executive director of a Christ-centered life recovery program in Kentucky.