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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 - PAGE 5A
Autumn Leaf Festival
Begins This Friday
The annual Maysville
Autumn Leaf Festival is
planned for this weekend.
The festival will open at
noon Friday with arts and
crafts booths in the down
town area. A cake walk will
be held at 5 p.m. and the
Eli Carland band will per
form at 7 p.m. A haunted
hayride will be held at 8
p.m.
On Saturday the booths
will open at 9 a.m. The
parade will be at 10 a.m.
and the opening ceremo
nies will be at 11 a.m.
The schedule for Saturday
afternoon includes:
Commerce School of
Dance, noon; Exception
to the Rule performs, 1
p.m.; Barefoot Creek, 2
p.m.; Blue Billy Grit, 3 p.m.;
jump rope contest, 4 p.m.;
watermelon spitting con
test, 4:30 p.m.; cake walk,
5 p.m.; Time Travelers, 7
p.m.; and haunted hayride,
8 p.m.
On Sunday, several gos
pel groups are scheduled
to perform throughout the
afternoon. The schedule is
as follows: Crystal River,
1 p.m.; Gospel Sounds
of Grace, 1:30 p.m.; The
Maxwells, 2 p.m.; and
Athens, 3 p.m.
A scavenger hunt will be
held throughout the three-
day festival. Forms are
available at the commu
nity club booth. The forms
are due back by 2 p.m.
Sunday.
City Issues Only 3
Building Permits In Aug.
Commerce’s Department
of Building Inspections
issued three building
permits during August,
according to the monthly
report presented to the
Commerce City Council.
One permit was for a
commercial building off
Homer Road owned by
Jon Massey and valued at
$280,000.
The other two were for
an addition to Ivie Funeral
Home on South Elm
Street and the renovation
of J.D.’s Tobacco Town
on North Elm Street. The
combined value of the
two projects was placed
at $70,000.
So far during 2009, the
department has issued
permits for construction
valued at $2.93 million,
up slightly from permits
valued at $2.78 million
through August 2008.
— Sick And Husbandless
Cont. from Page 4A
was alone. My husband,
who is a huge source
of comfort, could not
be contacted. I did have
the ranger station's
telephone number but
was clearly told to only
call in case of a real
emergency. Does hav
ing swine flu count as
a "real" emergency? I
decided against call
ing him and went into
swine flu survival mode.
There was no way I
could function as a
mother while suffering
from a media-hyped
disease from which I
expected to die. My
mom rearranged her
schedule to keep the
girls at her house. The
ladies from Jon's office
were very helpful, too. A
neighbor made vegeta
ble soup; another friend
brought dinner from
church and my good
friend from Arkansas
wanted to make sure my
will stated she would get
my brown blanket after
my death.
Fortunately, I only had
a fever for 14 hours and
with my mom taking
responsibility for my
girls, I was able to get
plenty of rest and drink
plenty of Gatorade. I
believe I had a mild
case, but nevertheless,
I felt horrible and was
ready for my husband to
hurry home.
When Jon arrived
late Sunday night, I
collapsed in his arms
letting him know how
much I missed him. He
was so eager and excited
to share his week's
experience with me but
unfortunately, I had to
trump him with my
eventful week.
Before jumping into
the full details of my
week I wanted to let
him know how much I
appreciate all the ways
he is helpful. He is a
very hands-on father
and he participates in
every aspect of our
daughters' lives. I recog
nized that I had never
really fully expressed
this to him, and I felt
it was important to tell
him.
Later that night after
the girls were settled in
bed, Jon began to hear
the full details of my
week. He quizzed me
about a lot of things and
then the big question.
"How do you think you
got the swine flu?" All
I could muster up for
some type of explana
tion was, "from a Neti
Pot."
Tricia Massey is a
member of the Commerce
Downtown Development
Authority, serves on
the board of directors
of the Boys and Girls
Club of Jackson County,
chairs the Commerce
Public Library's capital
campaign fund and
is marketing director
for Renaissance Senior
Communities.
We offer personal loans
from $150.00 to $500.00.*
Telephone Applications Welcome.
Call or Come Visit Us Today!
SECURITY
FINANCE
1816 N. Broad Street
Commerce, GA 30529
(706)335-3551
’More if you qualify. All loans are subject to our
liberal credit policy and credit limitations, if any.
—Methadone Clinic Offers Addicts Hope
Jason Wolfe, left, talks with clinic administrator Robin Rathbun. Wolfe takes
Methadone daily after years of prescription drug abuse but hopes to eventu
ally be successfully weaned from the treatment.
About the Robert W. Dail
Memorial Treatment Center
Robert W. Dail Memorial is a drug or alcohol
rehabilitation center with a primary focus on
substance abuse treatment based at 734 Hospital
Road in Commerce.
The facility provides detoxification, methadone
maintenance, and methadone detoxification ser
vices to the public. The treatment center pro
vides outpatient care. There are special groups
and programs for pregnant and postpartum
women. No special language services are avail
able. Payment assistance is not offered for pro
gram costs.
Cont. from Page 1A
because his brother had
success in methadone treat
ment, “John” came in.
“Methadone lasts all day,”
he notes. “I can take metha
done in the morning and
I’m myself for the rest of
the day, whereas on Lortab,
I’d wake up in the morning
(thinking) where am I going
to get my next pill at or, if I
would go to lunch at work,
I would be gone for two to
three hours just trying to
get the medicine I needed.”
Both “John” and Jason
come to the treatment cen
ter every day where, under
supervision, they take a
“disk” of Methadone that
curbs their craving for opi
ates. It does not provide
euphoria, and, explains
Robin Rathbun, administra
tor, a patient taking metha
done in the proper amount
with no other drugs is in no
way physically or mentally
impaired.
Each new patient under
goes a physical and gets
counseling. Then the pro
cess of finding the patient’s
opiate tolerance level
begins.
First, they have to go
through physical with
drawal.
“Opiate withdrawal is
awful,” notes Rathbun. “In
a healthy person it is not
potentially life-threatening,
but it is so awful that when
people know how to fix it,
they will... that means tak
ing the drug again.”
She calls the withdraw
al “like the worst case
of flu you’ve had times
1,000.” Typically, after
three days it begins to
ease, but discomfort can
persist for two weeks.
Interestingly, withdrawal
is pretty much the same
for patients, regardless
of how long they’d been
hooked and how much
they’d used.
But a physical depen
dence is not the same as an
addiction.
“Addiction is that physi
cal syndrome along with
drug-seeking behavior,”
Rathbun says.
Treatment centers like
Dail operate under strict
federal rules. All metha
done is taken on the prem
ises under observation for
the first 30 days. While
addicts can build up trust
enough to be allowed to
take home one day’s treat
ment eventually, that right
must be earned. After all,
notes Rathbun, they’re at
the center because they
“are not trustworthy with
narcotic medication.” Dr.
Beth Sullivan is the medical
director at Dail and Paul
Arria is the clinical direc
tor.
Everyone is subject to
random drug tests monthly
to make sure they’re not
using other drugs with
methadone. Anyone found
with other drugs in their
system must be tested
more frequently. The center
is prohibited by law from
writing prescriptions for
methadone.
Rathbun cites national
figures suggesting 4-5 per
cent of the adult popula
tion is abusing narcotics.
Nationally, hydrocodine
— Lortab — is the leading
drug abused.
“Pharmaceutical abuse
is really serious,” she says.
“Prescription abuse in the
past five years has really
skyrocketed.”
The image of a metha
done user has always been
associated with heroin, but
throughout Georgia, exclud
ing Atlanta, while heroin is
available, the pharmaceuti
cals have been much more
abused than heroin.
“We are a drug using
society,” says Rathbun. “We
truly believe we can fix
problems with chemicals.
Why are we surprised we
have a lot of addiction?”
The Robert W. Dail
Memorial Treatment
Center also stresses pre
vention, but Rathbun points
out that methadone treat
ment works.
“People can recover, but I
would also like for people
not to get addicted in the
first place,” she says.
Addiction starts in two
ways. Rathbun estimates
that half of the addicts
are addicted from delib
erate recreational misuse
of drugs. The other half
are people who “inno
cently become depen
dent” after being on pain
medication for a legiti
mate reason.
A key to preventing the
latter, she insists, is better
monitoring by doctors so
that when the pain issue is
resolved, the patient’s medi
cation is tapered off “so if
you are physically depen
dent, you will not have
withdrawal symptoms” that
cause most people to seek
more drugs.
The body builds resis
tance to opiates, so during
the course of an addiction,
it takes more and more
medication to satisfy the
need. Wolfe said he’d take
six Lortab-10 at a time, five
times a day. A Lortab-10
costs $7 day. “It’s horrific
the amount of money you
spend,” he admitted. “It’s
not just me. A lot of people
do that.”
More important is the
cost to families and society,
which cannot be measured.
Drug addiction destroys
relationships, changes
personalities and takes
over the lives of not just
the afflicted, but also their
loved ones.
“Methadone saves lives,”
says Rathbun. “It’s not as
though it’s not an abusable
thing, because it is.”
Methadone treatment is
not always effective. Most
people suffer relapses, but
treatment programs like
those offered at the Robert
W. Dail Memorial Treatment
Center are credited with
reducing the spread of HIV/
AIDS, hepatitis B and C,
tuberculosis and sexually-
transmitted diseases as
heroin use is curtailed. The
National Institute on Drug
Abuse found that attend
ees of treatment programs
reduce criminal activity by
more than half and increase
full-time employment by 24
percent.
For Wolfe, “John” — and
238 other addicts — the
Robert W. Dail Memorial
Treatment Center is their
best hope for recovery,
their lifeline out of the hell
of drug addiction.
Free Legal Services Available To The Elderly And Poor
Free legal services are
available to senior citizens
and low-income clients in
the area.
Services are based on
case type and financial eligi
bility. Georgia Legal Service
Program does not handle
criminal cases.
For an appointment, call
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