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Acupuncture Helping Inmates Curb Drug Addiction

By Jeralyn

[photo by Baltimore Sun]

An acupuncture program in Baltimore jails has been helping 700 inmates a year curb drug addiction:

Modern science has not found solid evidence that it works. Nonetheless, the inmates claim that with acupuncture, all they crave are the meditative moments it brings. They say it soothes them and helps clear their cluttered minds to find the strength to confront their addiction.

District Judge Jamey Hueston thinks every addict should try it....Acupuncture is the key element of the Addicts Changing Together Substance Abuse Program, administered by the drug court. Beginning for women in 1993 and for men three years later, the program steers nonviolent offenders to a rigorous 45-day, behind-bars regimen in lieu of a longer prison term.

How it works: [More...]

In addition to 25 acupuncture sessions, inmates receive group and individual counseling, GED training and life-skills classes. Recently, the program added a family-mediation option for addicts who long ago burned family bridges but want to mend them.

Participants reside in a separate dorm at the Baltimore City Detention Center, away from the general population, and are encouraged to rely on one another for support.

Why it works:

The theory behind the acupuncture treatment is that it releases naturally occurring chemicals in the body that ease the symptoms of drug withdrawal and help users fight their addiction.

....The treatment causes the body to release feel-good chemicals called endorphins, which go to the same receptors in the brain that are turned on when someone takes drugs, says Dr. Lixing Lao, director of the traditional Chinese-medicine program at the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Medicine.

The same treatment is effective in treating chronic pain. And the cost savings is impressive.

At a cost of $40,000 a year for all 688 inmates, the acupuncture portion of the city jail program is cheap by most treatment standards. But its supporters stress that it must be used with counseling and other services to be effective. Acupuncture won't permanently cure addiction.

"We are not saying it's curing addiction — there is no cure for addiction," says Dave Wurzel, a certified acupuncturist whose firm does the jail's treatments. "Just like there is no cure for heart disease or diabetes. All we are doing in addiction treatment is lowering the risk factor that this person will die today of his or her addiction."

The Baltimore Sun article is here.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).