BY MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Opioid addiction is an ongoing problem in the United States, and one St. Joseph treatment center aims to curb opioid abuse at the local level.
Mark Puckett helped start the St. Kolbe-Puckett Center for Healing after the death of his son as a way to help others avoid the loss he suffered.
The center offers different forms of treatment, including some medically assisted options.
"We offer Suboxone treatment for opioid addiction and Suboxone is a medically assisted treatment," Puckett says. "It allows the individual to come off the opioids and it allows them to function and have a normal life."
Puckett adds that this treatment has been met with some backlash, however.
"You know, a lot of people will say, 'You know, you're just trading addictions.' That's not true," he said. "I like to tell people, 'Look at it like this - you go to the doctor and you've developed high blood pressure and the doctor says you're going to take this prescription to control your blood pressure.' That's what Suboxone does - it controls that urge."
The St. Kolbe-Puckett Center opened three years ago and has run completely off of donations. Even if you can't donate, Puckett says word-of-mouth advertising is a great help as well.
"Put the word out about St. Kolbe-Puckett, if you know somebody that is struggling with addiction, tell them to give us a call," Puckett says. "We have peer support specialists there that, even if they are not ready for treatment, that peer support specialist can help guide them down the road they need to go down."
Services at St. Kolbe-Puckett are free for those who are trying to recover.
The center provides many forms of counseling along with medical treatments to help aid in recovery. For more information on St. Kolbe Puckett, you can find their website HERE.