Louisiana Mother Pushes for New Drug Rehab Laws

Stephanie Parker, a Haughton, Louisiana resident, is working to change how Louisiana courts handle involuntary commitment to drug rehab after her daughter nearly died from methamphetamine addiction.

Parker’s daughter, 26, is a Type I diabetic and became addicted to meth after her leaving her husband just one year ago. Since then, Parker’s daughter has made 10 trips to the hospital emergency room and intensive care unit for high blood pressure and infections.

Parker has been unable to reason with her or get her agreement to receive addiction treatment. Doctors who have treated Parker’s daughter have been unable to intervene because local laws prohibit it. As a matter of fact, the only circumstances where an adult drug addict in the state of Louisiana can be forced into drug rehabilitation are when the person has gotten arrested for drugs or when he or she has been involuntarily committed by a psychiatrist.

One of Parker’s comments to the Shreveport Times emphasized the emotional trauma suffered by family members: “It’s not just killing her. It’s killing my mama and me. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep.”

Parker is wrestling with one of the age-old problems of addiction. The nature of drug addiction causes the addict to refuse treatment. He (or she) doesn’t want anything that will stop him or her from taking more drugs. Deep down, every addict wants to get better. He may simply need the help of family to start down that road. 

Intervention is one method we recommend to get your loved one to rehab. This involves a trained drug counselor coming to you and reasoning with the addict to seek treatment. This can work much better than trying to blackmail or coerce a person into rehab. Experienced interventionists know how to draw out the person’s own heartfelt desire for recovery.

Our Louisiana drug rehab program has effectively helped many people who were originally unwilling to receive drug abuse treatment. Not only have we staged hundreds of successful interventions, we have also helped people who only were coming to rehab by court order. Even these people can decide to turn their lives around and achieve a lifetime of sobriety.

Our long term drug rehab helps even the toughest of cases. Call a drug counselor now at 1-800-473-0930 for immediate help.