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SAFE COMMUNITIES NEWS

Drugs Led me to the Edge of My Life

When I was 12 I started smoking cigarettes. To this day I still wish I hadn’t started. When I was 13 I met this friend who had other mates including drug dealers. One time we thought it would be cool to just try one joint which we did. And although we weren’t physically addicted — it was very much emotionally addictive. This began the circle of what seemed like death.

I began doing cocaine just after my 14th birthday. Cocaine then took over my life. I thought I could control it but every day that I did it, the more it began to take over me. I had very bad withdrawal effects and I began to lose my mates over it. And that includes my best friend that I smoked weed with the first time.

When I was 17 it got so bad that I had to do it every hour. I also began drinking heavily. My life came to a stop when I was rushed to the hospital after a heavy dose of both cocaine and alcohol.

I had eaten very rarely and I just began slowly dying. I had passed out outside my house and my family found me there after 10 minutes of being unconscious.

After 2 months I was taken into rehab and I was clean of drugs until I started smoking weed again. But I brought myself into rehab again and did some more time in there.

Now I am fully clean.

RESOURCES

other news

Safe Communities Reveals Fentanyl-Reduction Plan Related to Dane County Harm Reduction and Prevention Act

June 6, 2023 Cheryl Wittke – Executive Director Safe Communities Madison-Dane County Contact: info@safercommunity.net Easy, free access to lifesaving doses of naloxone at over 100 community locations Today Dane County
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School-based Programs

Sources of Strength Program The target population for Sources of Strength Secondary are Middle and High School students in Dane County. Sources of Strength is a highly effective program that harnesses
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pile of empty pill bottles

Dispose of medications during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 22

Help minimize unintentional drug poisoning Safe Communities Madison-Dane County and the African American Opioid Coalition (AAOC) will host three drug take-back locations in conjunction with National Prescription Drug Take Back
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SAFE COMMUNITIES

getting involved

The partnerships built by Safe Communities have created a safer community, with more opportunities for education and awareness. We continue to envision a safer future for the people who live in Madison and Dane County, with instances of unnecessary deaths and serious injuries are infrequent, rather than a daily occurrence.

RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE

Treatment Key

Safe communities has complied a list of abbreviation definitions for finding the right treatment for you.

MAT: Medication for Addiction Treatment.
OP: Outpatient Treatment – person lives at home or in the community, attends. individual and group therapy, these can include or not include MAT.
IOP: Intensive Outpatient Treatment – person lives at home or in the community, attends individual and extended groups, 9-12 hours a week.
Residential: person lives at the facility for a period of at least 14 days, some last as many as 45 days.
PHP: Partial Hospitalization Program is a structured mental health treatment program that runs for several hours each day, three to five days per week.
DBT: Dialectical behavior therapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that integrates mindfulness techniques.