More sober living programs popping up on campuses

“It was a safe space with people who were trying to do what I was trying to do,” said Ryan, 25, who asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy. “No one was talking about going out and getting drunk. It was the antithesis of my previous dorm experiences, where the shackles are off and people go crazy.”

The nation’s opioid epidemic is focusing new attention on a strategy Rutgers pioneered in 1988. Last year, Gov. Chris Christie signed a law that requires every state-run college and university in New Jersey to offer sober housing if at least a quarter of its students live on campus. The law gives schools four years to comply, but the College of New Jersey was already preparing to open a sober dorm, which it did last fall. Elsewhere, Texas Tech opened substance-free housing in 2011. Oregon State University will offer such accommodations this coming school year.

Sober dorms are a “major new development in the recovery movement. They’re unique because they get to the heart of the beast,” said Robert DuPont, a psychiatrist who specializes in drug abuse. DuPont, who heads the Institute for Behavior and Health, a drug policy think tank based in Rockville, Md., served as the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse from 1973 to 1978.

Recovering on Campus

During a year in which Kevin was struggling with addiction, he spent about $4,000 on alcohol and drugs, including Oxycontin pills – a single one cost him $25 on the street.

“Hey Kev, listen – you ever try an Oxycontin pill before?” Kevin said his friend asked. “Listen, you can take it, and just don’t do it again. You know, it’s a great experience – it’s a great kind of high and everything, and you don’t have to take it again.”

“I promise.”

After about four months passed, Oxy became too expensive for Kevin – so he began snorting heroin for three months. It wasn’t until he was about to use the drug through an IV that he said he realized he needed to get some help.

Kevin, who asked not to include his last name in this story because of the societal stigma that surrounds those struggling with addiction and in recovery, is now a 21-year-old undeclared freshman. He took some time off from school during his first year to recover. Now, he’s doing well in school and about one year and five months clean.

Kevin wasn’t alone. There were about 23.5 million Americans addicted to drugs and alcohol in 2010, according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. Drug use is highest between those 18 to 20 – 23.9 percent used an illicit drug in a month-long span in 2012, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported last year.

Addiction recovery app makes its debut

Ryan Brannon saw the need for a mobile app to help recovering addicts of his generation when he was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania two years ago.

With a team of 13 friends and people he found through college networking or online advertisements, Brannon formed a nonprofit, raised $70,000 and is now on the doorstep of filling that need with the public release of the app, My New Leaf.

At the nonprofit’s office in Saltsburg last week, the app was unveiled in a “ribbon cutting” ceremony before members of recovery agencies that are being asked to test and review it for the next month.

“The release was a very nerve-wracking experience for me because we were finally showing (the app) beyond pictures,” Brannon said. “It was a relief that they were receptive and impressed.”