Alcohol addiction can be as lethal to an addictive personality as drugs can be. When a person cannot stop drinking or using drugs, the results are usually the same: Lives ruined, debilitation, degeneration and possible death.

Addiction recovery programs can work only when they are well staffed, well funded and open to anyone who needs their services. In Ohio, theDepartment of Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services provides the steps to bringing those on the brink with addiction back to the world of productivity and normalcy.

Ohio has a drug and alcohol prevention program that is budgeted in the hundreds of millions. In order to stop the addiction before it begins, the funds and marketing are created to stave off additional millions needed once addiction takes hold.

Detoxification, halfway houses, counselors and therapists are available in both prevention and recovery programs. The primary problem in addiction of any sort is having the addicted person admit to that addiction. It is only then that a real program can be determined for recovery.

Treatment in Ohio has a 40 to 80% success rate. Ohio considers addiction a chronic disease and believes that any chronic disease is treatable. Facts for addictions would surprise many: Addiction is considered a brain disease requiring proper intervention and treatment for continued recovery. Relapse rates for treatment of alcohol, cocaine and other opiates are less than those for hypertension and asthma. They are equivalent to those of diabetes and all chronic conditions.