Rehab Centers – Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada |

Rehab Centers – Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

This article covers addiction and rehab centers in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Topics covered include regional information, addiction statistics, rehab centers and rehab treatment resources in Medicine Hat.

Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada, approximately 105 miles east of Lethbridge and 183 miles southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are surrounded by Cypress County.

Medicine Hat is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), the eastern terminus of the Crows-nest Highway, and the South Saskatchewan River. Nearby communities considered part of the Medicine Hat area include the Town of Redcliff (the city’s northwest boundary) and the hamlets of Desert Blume, Dunmore, Irvine, Seven Persons, and Veinerville. The Cypress Hills (including Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park) is a relatively short distance southeast of the city.

Historically, Medicine Hat has been known for its large natural gas fields, being immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as having “all hell for a basement”. Because of these reserves, the city is known as “The Gas City” and is Alberta’s sixth largest city. In October 2008, Medicine Hat was named one of Alberta’s Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.

Rich in natural resources including natural gas, coal, clay, and farmland, the town was known in the early days as “the Pittsburgh of the West”. A number of large industries located here, under the inducement of cheap and plentiful energy resources. Coal mines, brick works, pottery and glass bottle manufacturing plants, flour mills, etc. became established. The agricultural potential of the surrounding area, both in crop and livestock, also made the town a viable service center with a well-established transportation route.

Today, Medicine Hat prides itself as one of the most economical places to live in Canada, with its unique city-owned gas utility and power generation plant being predominant factors. Major industries have included chemical plants, a Goodyear tire and rubber plant, greenhouses, numerous oil and gas related companies, a foundry, I-XL Industries (a brickworks dating from the 1880s), to name a few.

Medicine Hat Substance Abuse Statistics

Population 65,671 in 2011 (increase of 5% from 2006)
47,000 Canadian deaths are linked to substance abuse annually.
Female addicts are 54% more likely to die prematurely because of their drug use.
CSIS estimates there are roughly 950 organized criminal groups active in Canada (and about 80 per cent derive revenues from illegal drug sales).

60% of illicit drug users in Canada are between the ages of 15 and 24.
About one Ontario student in 50 (2%) said he or she had used crack at least once in the past year. This is about 19,300 students.

Children of addicts are up to 9 times more likely to develop an addiction of their own.
In 2005, about one Ontario student in 20 (4.4%) in grades 7 to 12 said he or she had used cocaine at least once in the past year. This is almost 43,000 students.
Between 1991 and 2007, opioid-related deaths doubled in Ontario.

Oxycodone prescriptions (known by brand names Oxycontin & Percocet) have increased 850% in 10 years.

Cannabis use among Albertans aged 15 years and older was 11.4% illicit drug (Cocaine/Crack, Speed, Methamphetamine/ Crystal meth Hallucinogens, Ecstasy, and Heroin) use in Alberta for the previous year was 11.6%

Addiction in Medicine Hat

Many kinds of drugs can be found in Medicine Hat but there are two drugs which are predominant on the streets of the city, and these are Fentanyl and Cocaine.

Also, Marijuana is a major issue nowadays with the youth of Medicine Hat because there are many people who actually produce marijuana locally, and as we know, this can be the gateway that leads to the stronger substances.

However, more worryingly is the recent trend towards opiate based prescription drugs, in particular fentanyl, which, in the first seven months of 2015, killed 145 people in Alberta.
In October 2015, Five Medicine Hat residents were arrested by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) following a drug bust that resulted in the seizure of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and weapons. An integrated team consisting of Medicine Hat Police Service and RCMP members, made the arrest and seizure on October 9 to conclude a month-long investigation.
Fentanyl is about 100 times more potent than morphine and 20 times more powerful than OxyContin, fentanyl is a synthetic opiate narcotic primarily prescribed to those with chronic pain. It’s known on the street as green beans, green jellies or street Oxy, and can often show up in other drugs.

Rehab Centers and Treatment Resources in Medicine Hat

Medicine Hat has several drug rehab centers but probably not sufficient for the scale of the problem of drug and alcohol addiction in the area.

Furthermore, in most cases, there is no gender distinction in treating drug or alcohol addiction, which is surprising given the amount of research that points to the fact that women are more easily addicted in the first place and require specific tailored treatment in rehab centers to solve their addiction problems.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse has researched the differences of addiction among women and men and found that different factors formed the reasoning behind their use. Possibly because of women’s metabolisms, their bodies react differently to certain drugs such as cocaine for example. Another theory is that women develop addictions because they are psychologically more dependent.

The majority of women accessing rehab centers have either been unable to experience healthy relationships and have become involved in a pattern of unhealthy and abusive relationships, or in at least 85% of cases, have both addiction and mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. Depression can often kill the will to live and disconnect the inner strength that would make it possible to fight their addictions, so, it also important to treat any underlying health issues.

Very few people understand just how scary and difficult it can be to fight an addiction, but the good news is that it’s totally possible with the right help, advice and guidance, and you’ll come out of it as a much stronger person.

If you or a loved one is struggling with substance abuse, please call the 24 hour rehab center helpline here: 1-800-801-8354