Washington

Washington State is leading the way in changing politics with many controversial issues being made legal. As of 2013, Washington is the only state where cannabis, same-sex marriage, and assisted suicide are all legal. In 2008, the Washington Death with Dignity Act was passed, allowing legal assisted suicide. In the November 2012 general election, voters upheld Referendum 74, a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Washington. Also in November 2012, Washington passed Initiative 50, making the sale and possession of marijuana (in limited amounts) for both medical and non-medical purposes legal. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that in 2007-2008, Washington was one of the top ten states for rates in several drug-use categories among persons age 12 and older: past-month illicit drug use; past-month marijuana use; and past-year non-medical use of pain relievers. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides national and state-level data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs (including non-medical use of prescription drugs), and mental health in the United States. In the most recent Survey, 9.59 percent of Washington residents reported using illicit drugs in the past month. The national average was 8.02 percent. Washington's rate was one of the 10 highest among the states. Additionally, 3.74 percent of Washington residents reported using an illicit drug other than marijuana in the past month (the national average was 3.58 percent). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 58, Number 19 for 2007 reported that as a direct consequence of drug use, 1,003 persons died in Washington in 2007. This is greater than the number of persons in Washington who died from motor vehicle accidents (649) and firearms (548) in the same year. Washington drug-induced deaths (15.5 per 100,000 population) exceeded the national rate (12.7 per 100,000). Washington’s Prescription Monitoring Program was enacted under State Law Chapter 70.225 RCW. The program, which falls under the Washington State Department of Health, monitors controlled substances in Schedules II, III, IV, and V. In 2008, the department suspended the program due to financial difficulties. The department secured new funding in the fall of 2010 to restart the effort to implement the program.

Treatment Episode Data Set, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that during 2010 in Washington, marijuana was the primary drug cited among drug rehab admissions. Following marijuana was stimulants, heroin, other opiates, cocaine, other/unknown, tranquilizers, hallucinogens and sedatives. More and more Washington residents are seeing the need for drug rehab treatment throughout the state. Because not every type of treatment program is right for each addicted individual, there are a number of recovery philosophies, locations and treatment lengths to choose from. The most common types of drug rehabs include short-term care, long-term care, residential care, outpatient care, holistic care, the list goes on. These are a few of the more well-known types of drug rehab programs. Several of these types of care may overlap depending on the drug rehab that you choose to attend. A short-term program is going to last a few weeks to a month or so. These types of programs may be either inpatient or outpatient facilities. Residential care is when the recovering person moves into the treatment facility and lives there during the course of their recovery process. Residential programs can be either short-term or long-term depending on the drug rehab facility. Outpatient treatment drug rehab is when the addicted person attends the treatment facility for a period of time. This could be as little as once a week up to every day spent at the treatment facility. The difference is, with an outpatient program the recovering person goes home at the end of the day. Holistic drug rehab programs offer recovery that does not include drug replacement therapy. They may also offer yoga, acupuncture, meditation and nutritional counseling.