DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION,

TREATMENT, AND REHABILITATION

Drug Abuse Prevention
­ Drug abuse prevention is concerned
with bringing about changes in
people’s knowledge, attitudes, and
practices towards drug abuse. It
utilizes a variety of approaches and
methods whereby people go through
the teaching-learning process, which
may be planned, implemented, and
evaluated through the barangay
organized groups and other
organizations and agencies in the
community.
­ This education can take place at a number
of levels including:
Family Based Drug Prevention
- The prevention of drug abuse should start
inside the family unit as early as possible. There
are many obvious benefits of home-based drug
prevention education including self-awareness,
the enhancement of parent-child
communication skills, and family bonding.
Parental supervision and involvement are critical
in adolescents. Parents must not only have a
plan to educate their children on the dangers of
drug use and abuse, but they must also
establish and enforce family rules. This includes
creating an effective system of monitoring their
children’s activities.
 
- Strategies may include Youth – Adult
Communication as in Parent- Youth dialogues
and Family encounters family-Based
School Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs

- Drug abuse prevention should be addressed as

early as preschool. Preschool children can
benefit from learning how to handle
aggression, solve problems, and communicate
better so that they can avoid putting
themselves at risk for drug abuse later in life.
Middle and high school programs should focus
on peer relationships, communication,
assertiveness, drug resistance skills, and
developing anti-drug attitudes. School-based
prevention programs should be repeated often
for the best level of success.
 
- Strategies may include Info-Oriented
Classroom/ Community Activities such as
contests in the school /community- essay,
slogan, poster, cartoon, and playwriting.
School-Based
 Community-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs
- Communities that make an effort to come together in the fight
against drugs are sure to make an impact in the prevention of drug
abuse. There are many places to establish these prevention
programs including schools, churches, and community-based clubs.
 
Strategies may include Broadcast Media: TV, radio or Printed, Plugs,
films, slides, spot announcements, music programming, newsletter,
comics, leaflets, brochures, magazines, and other publications.
­ Drug abuse prevention may include the following approaches:
a. Drug Education – learning situations during seminar workshops,
symposiums, and lecture forums, which take up value clarification,
leadership training, coping skills, and decision making. It is a
movement, which utilizes humanistic techniques in both school-
based and community-oriented drug abuse prevention programs.

b. Drug Information – It is an activity that focuses on the

dissemination of basic facts about the causes and effects of drug
abuse with the objective of creating awareness and vigilance of the
people in the community.
c. Alternatives – this includes a number of ideas for
stimulating meaningful involvement for the youth that
can complete successfully with the demands of drugs
and alcohol. Primary the services should focus on
services or constructive and productive pursuits and
recreational activities that are usually community- based
such as:
 Voluntary service works
 Income-producing activities
 Sports, arts development: theater- choral/dance
groups
 Community fair/ contest
 Other recreational activities: development of
physical, emotional, interpersonal, mental-
intellectual, social, spiritual, and all aspects of
behavioral development.
d. Interventions – this strategy is applied to
experimenters and potential drug abusers. Activities like
peer or group counseling should be encouraged in every
community. It is applied to the individual or group which
needs specific assistance and support.
Drug Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation
­ This is a component under the drug demand reduction
pillar which aims to reintegrate into the society
recovering drug dependents.

­ Through the use of effective treatment modalities, drug

dependents are being trained to kick out the habit and
become productive citizens of the country once again.
 Treatment
- It is the medical service rendered to a client for the
effective management of physical and mental
conditions related to drug abuse.
 
- It can be done through detoxification. It is a
medically supervised elimination of drugs from the
system of any addicted person such as self-drug
withdrawal, substitution, and reduction method.
 
Rehabilitation
- It is the dynamic process directed towards the
physical, emotional/ psychological, vocational, social,
and spiritual change to prepare a person for the fullest
life compatible with his capabilities and capabilities,
and render him able to become a law-abiding and
productive member of the community without abusing
drugs.
Treatment Modalities and Rehabilitation Approaches
 Multidisciplinary Team Approach
- It is a method in the treatment and rehabilitation of drug
dependents that avail of the services and skills of a team
composed of a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker,
occupational therapist, and other related disciplines in
collaboration with the family and the drug dependent. It may be
done with the following techniques:
a. Individual Therapy - This involves a one-to-one
relationship whose aim is to help the patient reduce his drug-
abusing behavior and develop insight into his condition
b. Group Therapy - This is a form of therapy where the individual is
helped through a group process. Each member of the group receives
immediate feedback from the other members regarding his verbal and
other forms of behavior. Group support and encouragement are given to
the subject on the promise that these are effective devices, which can
produce positive results toward behavioral modification.
 
c. Unconstructed Group Therapy - The role of the therapist can be
assumed by the entire group or group members.
 
d. The Family Therapy - This is a form of intervention based on a
recognition that while the family as a primary social unit can be a source
of problems leading to drug abuse, can also be a powerful factor in
improving the behavior of the drug-dependent. Family therapy may
include the restructuring of the family, environmental manipulating,
strengthening family communication, and discovering the potential of
family members to help facilitate the rehabilitation of the drug dependent.
 Therapeutic Community Approach
- It views addiction as a symptomatic manifestation of a more complex
psychological problem rooted in the interplay of emotional, social,
physical, and spiritual values. It is a highly structured program wherein
the community is utilized as the primary vehicle to foster behavioral and
attitudinal change. The patient receives the information and the impetus
to change from being a part of the community. Role modeling and peer
pressure play significant parts in the program.
- The goal of every therapeutic community is to change the patients’ self-
destructive thinking and behavioral pattern, teach them personal
responsibility, positive their self-image, create a sense of human
community, and provide an environment in which human beings can
grow and take responsibility and credit for the growth.
 Hazelden-Minnesotta Model
- It views addiction as a disease, an
involuntary condition caused by factors
largely outside a person’s control. The
program consists of didactic lectures,
cognitive-behavioral psychology, Alcoholic
Anonymous principles / Twelve Steps
Principles, and Biblio-therapy.
 
- It aims to treat patients with chemical
dependency, endorsing a set of values and
beliefs about the powerlessness of people
over drug-taking and turning to a Higher
Power to help them combat the disease. In
this modality, counselors and patients
collaborate in defining the path to recovery.
  Spiritual Approach
- It uses the Bible as the primary source
of inspiration to change. It views drug
addiction as a sin and encourages the
patients to turn away from it and renew
their relationships with the Lord.

 Eclectic Approach
- It aims at applying a holistic approach to
the rehabilitation program. The spiritual
and cognitive components of the Twelve
Steps complement the behavioral aspects
of the Therapeutic Community.
- The skills and services of rehabilitation
professionals and paraprofessionals are
made available. In doing so, different
personality aspects of drug dependents
are well addressed and geared towards
their rehabilitation and recovery.
Requirements for the application for
the Treatment and Rehabilitation of
Drug Dependents in the Philippines
 
 Drug Dependency Examination
(DDE)
- Drug dependents may directly set an
appointment with a DOH-Accredited
Physician for DDE.
- He/she may also secure a referral form
for DDE from the Legal Division of the
Dangerous Drugs Board.
- If a drug dependent resides outside
Metro Manila, he/she may coordinate
with the nearest Treatment and
Rehabilitation Center or Anti-Drug Abuse
Council in his/her place of residence.
 Philippine National Police (PNP)
Clearance
 Certificate of No Pending Case from the
Regional Trial Court (RTC) and/or
Municipal Trial Court (MTC).
a. If a minor drug dependent has a pending
case, secure a Certification of suspension of
proceedings from the RTC or MTC where the
case was filed.
b. If an adult drug dependent, secure a
Certification of Dismissed Case from RTC or
MTC where the case was filed or a Certificate
that the proceeding is suspended.
Steps on Treatment and Rehabilitation of drug-dependent
(Voluntary Submission, Voluntary thru Representation, and Compulsory
Confinement)
 
1. Secure referral form and other requirements for Drug Dependency
Examination (DDE) at the Legal Affairs Division, Dangerous Drugs
Board.
2. DDE is conducted by a DOH-accredited physician
3. For voluntary confinement, submit the result of the Drug
Dependency Examination together with the other requirements to
the Legal Division of the Dangerous Drugs Board.
4. The DDB Legal will process the petition for confinement (pre-signed
by DDB Authorized Representative) prior to the release of a petition
filed by the applicant with the RTC.
5. The release of the Petition is made either to the applicant and/or
authorized representative.
In case of compulsory confinement, the parent(s)/spouse/relative(s)
shall execute and submit a statement/affidavit providing information as
to the drug-taking habit of the alleged drug dependent.