Coconino County is located in the northern portion of the state of Arizona. The county has a population of almost 135,000 people as of the 2010 United States census. But being one of the ten largest counties in Arizona isn’t always a good thing, as it can mean having more problems with things like drugs and alcohol. This is even more true since the nation’s drug epidemic began, and the number just keeps getting worse. From 2015-2017 there were 71 drug overdose deaths in Coconino County, the eighth-highest amount for a county during that time period in the state, according to a report published by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. As you can see, this shows exactly how many people’s lives could have been saved with proper drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.
One thing we’ll never know is how many more people are addicted to drugs and alcohol and needing treatment services to save their lives. There are reports that attempt to gauge this number, however, this is never accurate. If we only look at people who sought drug and alcohol treatment services, we will miss all the people who need help but have never reached out for it. If we poll people, there is a strong chance that everyone will not be honest. Addiction is highly stigmatized, and many people are afraid to admit they’ve had issues in the past or currently do. Also, we cannot poll the entire county, so a sample would have to be multiplied out to reflect the current population. This means that any mistake or dishonesty in sampling will be multiplied out as well, creating a massive margin for error. We just do not know how many people are out there struggling, but we can assume it’s a lot.
One of the primary ways that people die from drug use is due to opioids. Opioids are a very dangerous category of drugs because they can be so potent and addictive. These drugs kill from overdose by respiratory failure. Opioids slow breathing and other central nervous system functions, so taking too many of them can slow vital organs to the point they stop working. This often happens accidentally because the person misjudges the potency of what they are consuming. It can happen easily because of a phenomenon known as tolerance. Tolerance means that a person gets used to the drugs and it has less of an impact on them. Tolerance occurs because drugs throw a person’s system out of balance. In an effort to maintain balance, the body counters the drug's effects over time of regular use. Because of this, it begins to take more and more of the drug to produce the same effects. Even worse, when the person doesn’t take the drugs now their system is out of balance and will suffer what’s known as withdrawal symptoms. These are extremely unpleasant effects that are the opposite of what the drug produces. So, a drug like opioids that kill pain and cause the person to feel comfortable and sleepy will leave a person with withdrawal symptoms of pain, restlessness, and insomnia to name a few. This is often what compels the person to keep using drugs even though they don’t want to anymore.
Here is a list of the different drug rehab centers in Coconino County, Arizona. The list can be incomplete so please do not hesitate to contact one of our treatment specialists at 1-800-304-2219.
