Which Countries Are Best for Drug Rehab?

So which countries are best for drug rehab? Different countries go about their war on drugs differently. While in the United States, President Ronald Reagan used propaganda in film, television, and video games to coincide with strict law enforcement in order to raise awareness in the dangers of drug and alcohol addiction in the 1980s, the Philippine’s own incumbent (at the time of this writing) President Rodrigo Duterte chose to instead increase arrests and give his police force more carte blanch in the 2010s.

This has resulted in the capture of almost 5,000 drug personalities and the surrender of 690,000 individuals, but at the cost of the deaths of 1,000 people, many of whom innocent citizens. Reagan’s anti-drug propaganda, meanwhile, has served as a laughing stock to many of the new generation in hindsight, especially in how little it actually helped in keeping drugs off the streets. He is also criticized for the jailing of minorities and impoverished over low-level drug possession, as though punishing the victims instead of helping them out.

With that in mind, what are the best countries for drug rehab? Which ones have the best approach on the matter between the two extremes of the U.S. and the Philippines or even the infamous Colombia?

Drug Rehab in the United States

In any case, U.S. drug rehab centers have learned from the mistakes of the past, resulting in services that are more attuned to treating addiction as a disease rather than a crime like back in the days of Reagan Era drug policies. As a result, the U.S. remains one of the best countries for drug rehab in the world.

With that said, when it comes to which countries are best for drug rehab, it’s hard to beat the U.S. with topnotch rehab centers like the following:

• Aton Center: Aton Center is the top rehab service in the U.S. It offers high-end addiction recovery treatment center located in the bills and beaches of San Diego. It has a complete menu of services, including medically assisted detox, behavioral therapy, individualized therapy, and 12-step programs.
• Malibu Beach Recovery: As for Pacific Palisades’ Malibu Beach Recovery rehab center, it offers individualized yet holistic treatment that’s gender-specific to boot. Its specialties include dual diagnosis treatment, inpatient and outpatient programs in one clinic, yoga, and creative arts therapy.
• Tranquility Woods: Located in Pasadena, Maryland, the Tranquility Woods rehab center offers a comprehensive addiction recovery plan that includes 5 to 8 hours of counseling weekly, private and semi-private rooms, acupuncture, massage therapy, and dual diagnosis treatment on top of a weekly family support program.
• Sabino Recovery: Sabino Recovery in Tucson, Arizona is a holistic recovery treatment center that provides standard therapy procedures such as dual diagnosis treatment and behavioral therapy along with more exotic or alternative activities like sleep lab testing and assessments, art and movement therapy, music and sound therapy, equine therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
• McLean Hospital: Belmont’s McLean Hospital is a longstanding and long-running psychiatric affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. It’s been helping patients out with chemical dependencies and psychiatric illnesses since 1811. It has moved along with the times and offers standard services like sober living homes, behavioral disorder treatment, and medical detoxification.
• Bluff Plantation: Located in Augusta, Georgia, the Bluff Plantation is Georgian’s pride when it comes to individualized, multidisciplinary, evidence-based treatment plans. Its main claim to fame is incorporating both traditional and holistic treatment paradigms, resulting in rehab activities like exercise, nutrition counseling, mindfulness meditation, aftercare support, and Trauma and Associative Awareness Therapy (AAT).

Drug Rehab in the United Kingdom

When it comes to which countries are best for drug rehab, you can’t leave the U.K. out of the debate for sure. So is the United Kingdom one of the best countries for drug rehab? It most certainly is among the first-world countries in the world even though it falls short to the high standards of the U.S. and its myriad of options.

One UK rehab facility that meets the cut of international-grade rehabilitation is The Priory Group. It’s a behavioral health center that treats substance abuse and behavioral addictions along with mental health conditions (dual diagnosis). It has the following benefits and services:

• Body Image Therapy: Therapy for how you perceive your body, like in the case of bulimia.
• Occupational Therapy: You will be taught how to handle occupational hazards of the mental variety better.
• Assertiveness Therapy: You will get therapeutic advice on how to be more assertive without resorting to substances for help.
• Family Support Groups: Your family will also be involved to keep certain members from acting like enablers and to assist the addict all the way through the recovery process with people he could trust.
• Psycho-Dynamic Therapy: This is where your feelings are explored in a supportive type of environment.
• 12 Months of Free Aftercare: This is designed to assist recovering addicts to stay on track with their sobriety after completing rehab.
• Exercise and Activity Classes: Exercise and other activities can help you get your mind off of drugs and alcohol.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: You will be tasked to recognize your negative behavior, with your awareness assisting you in changing any unfavorable actions you tend to do.
• Speech and Language Therapy: This is another therapy type using speech and language for positive reinforcement.
• Psycho-Educational Workshops: These workshops cover all aspects of healthy addiction recovery, including what you eat or what your diet is.
• Creative and Experiential Groups: Creativity can go a long way to fill the void of drugs.
• Educational and Vocational Programs: Such programs are particularly handy when it comes to aftercare and helping you pick up the pieces of your life once sober.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): This state-of-the-art PTSD treatment involves having the patient recall distressing images while doing bilateral sensory input, such as hand tapping or side-to-side eye movements.

Drug Rehab in Portugal

Curiously, the best countries for drug rehab are apparently those who’ve faced some serious drug challenges themselves. Like Switzerland, Portugal faced a serious drug problem in the 1990s itself; it specifically had to deal with widespread heroin, cocaine, and cannabis use all throughout the decade.

According to the Transform Drug Policy Foundation or TDPF, Portuguese drug-related deaths severely worsened around this time as Hepatitis B and C, AIDS, and HIV rates skyrocketed among individuals injecting drugs and sharing needles. Here’s what you should expect with Portugal’s drug rehab policy at present:

• Drug Law Reform and Decriminalization: In response to the worsening health problems of Portugal’s drug-using populace throughout the 1990s, Portuguese lawmakers enacted one of the world’s most extensive drug law reforms in 2001. They decriminalized the low-level usage and possession of drugs.
• Penalizing the Makers of Drugs Instead of Their Clients: The trafficking, dealing, and manufacturing of illicit drugs is still punishable by law under the justice system of Portugal. However, those who possess the drugs for personal use aren’t given punishment or penalties. Instead, the person in question will face the local panel under the Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction.
• The Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction: The panel in this commission is composed of professionals in the field of social work, health, and law. They’re the ones to decide the sanction to be put on the individual caught with the possession of drugs. In essence, they’re sanctioned instead of jailed for their act.
• The Sanctions Involved with Drug Possession: The sanctions involved range from community service to fines. Most important, those suffering from drug addiction will be required by the panel to undergo drug addiction rehabilitation in one of many of Portugal’s fine drug rehabilitation facilities. These centers have increased government funding to ensure better work.
• Favorable Results from the Policy Change: The results of Portugal’s policy changes have resulted in the decrease of drug-related problems such as a decrease of drug law violations according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime or UNODC. From 44 percent of people imprisoned in the country due to drugs in 1999, the percentage has dropped all the way to 24 percent in 2013. The deaths among adults in the country have decreased to 3 deaths per a million citizens compared to the EU average of 17.3 deaths per a million people.
• Destination Rehab When It Comes to Portugal: Local Portuguese citizens and substance addiction rehab tourists alike can both enjoy high-quality rehabilitation wellness centers that focus on harm reduction, addiction prevention, addiction treatment that goes from detoxification to individualized therapy, and aftercare to ensure social reintegration when the treatment process is finished.

Drug Rehab in Switzerland

In terms of which countries are best for drug rehab, Switzerland should be in the discussion too because it doesn’t only have its own share of quality programs and rehab centers for its own citizens, it also has them for the so-called rehab tourists engaging in a bit of rehab tourism.

By the end of the 1980s, there was a huge rise of dependent Swiss heroin users, which is evident in various cities having “open drug scenes”. They also had to contend with the spread of HIV and AIDS that coincided with the country’s worsening drug problem.

So how did Switzerland go from a country with huge drug problems to one of the best countries for drug rehab? It’s because it mainly approaches drug rehab in a revolutionary fashion. It’s all about focusing on reducing harm.

• Some of the Most Luxurious Addiction Treatment Centers: Many a celebrity and rich person gravitate towards Switzerland because they can afford its state-of-the-art luxury rehab centers. With that said, the country also has special offers for middle-class addicts through discounted rehab tourism packages for luxury treatment.
• What Harm Reduction Entails: Aside from massive public awareness drives on drug use consequences (that are much more truthful and straightforward than the anti-drug propaganda of the Reagan Era), Swiss drug policy emphasizes therapy and reducing harm rather than criminalization of drug addicts.
• Medical and Psychological Care: Swiss rehab also offers the requisite medical and psychological care that patients require, but in a more holistic fashion. In order to achieve sobriety, both health and social consequences of drug and alcohol abuse are reduced, especially in light of the stigma of being an addict. The patient isn’t “blamed” for his addictions but rather treated for having them.
• HAT Program: In 1992, Switzerland implemented the Heroin Assisted Treatment program that’s unusual and you won’t see in the U.S. or U.K. It involved giving heroin addicts medically controlled doses of heroin in order to wean them from heroin usage, prevent drug addict exclusion or being ostracized from society, and to minimize the spread of disease from using illegal or unsanctioned DIY needlework.
• Ensuring Safe Injection: Drug Consumption Rooms or DCRs were provided to addicts and clean needles were distributed through the 1990s Needle Exchange Program to boot. While the Swiss haven’t eradicated illegal drug use and excessive alcohol consumption, their approach to addiction treatment has helped steadily decrease deaths related to drugs from the 1990s to the 2000s. In 1991, there were 405 deaths. At present, there are about 152.

Drug Rehab in Thailand

Thailand is one of the top choices when finding which countries are best for drug rehab. How is Thailand able to compete with the U.S. and U.K., which both have international-grade treatment centers? Or with Switzerland and Portugal, which has some of the best drug possession policies (better than the U.S. at the very least) and government assistance for ailing addicts that treat their condition like a disease instead of a crime?

With that in mind, here are the benefits of going to drug rehab in Thailand, which happens to be one of the best countries for drug rehab in the world.

• Initial Program Assessments: The addict’s issues will be assessed completely, including if he or she has issues regarding mental health in order to best serve him in a dual diagnosis context. Their individualized treatment will then run the whole gamut of holistic treatment services for their mind, body, and spirit.
• The Dual Diagnosis Context: In case you’re struggling with both a mental health condition and substance addiction, you can depend on places like Lanna Rehab because it’s fully equipped for cases involving dual diagnosis and individualized therapy. It’s complete with expert medical personnel, certified therapists, and international-grade amenities.
• Inpatient and Outpatient Bases: The facility doesn’t only individually tailor treatment on a case-by-case basis. It also offers rehab in both inpatient and outpatient bases in accordance to how intense a treatment you need. Even if you’re a destination rehab tourist, you can get less intense outpatient treatment to allow you to enjoy you’re “vacation” in Thailand more.
• Tranquility and Quality: The point of going to Thailand to undergo rehab is to find a stress-free and trigger-free place for you to recover and heal.  Thailand in and of itself is a sought-after destination for vacations. It’s also a high-quality place for medical and dental tourism thanks to its high number of facilities open for business for foreigners as well as its own citizens. It’s quite relaxing, peaceful, and grounded so as to prevent stress for triggering potential relapse.
• Competitive Pricing: The country has a competitive edge among other countries in terms of rehab services by having competitive inpatient rehabilitation treatment prices. In places like Lanna Rehab in Chiang Mai, you can get rehabilitated in 28 days for just $10,000. This includes travel costs, food, and board. This means you can pay roughly half of what you’d normally pay in the U.S.A. or other western countries yet still get a full package, world-class program at that fraction of a price.
• Licensed By the Government and Professionalism: There are even rehab centers that are licensed by the Thailand Ministry of Health to certify their authenticity and quality, ensuring you that you’ll get professional rehab treatment all throughout. What this treatment entails includes a western-accredited clinical team, international-grade therapists, and state-of-the-art treatments you’ll also see among the best rehab clinics stateside as well as the rest of the world.
• A Serene Environment: You can either go to the scenic mountains of Northern Thailand or the similarly secluded area of Chiang Mai as well as luxury beach locations near the capital of Bangkok. The best Thai rehab centers are like five-star resorts that have medical and psychiatric facilities included so that the patients feel at ease while recovering. They’re given loads of breathing space at facilities boasting of a subtropical climate, swimming pools and/or beaches, and greenery.

In Conclusion

The U.S. and the U.K. remain some of the most complete and dependable places to get drug treatment due to the high-quality of their rehab centers. This is followed by Switzerland and Portugal, who chose to not punish their addicted citizens and to treat their addictions as diseases instead of crimes.

However, more and more people are increasingly looking elsewhere for treatment due to the expensiveness of rehabbing in a stateside inpatient treatment facility, particularly those that feel like a resort mixed with a hospital. The food and rent as well as activities included in these wellness centers can be availed of elsewhere at more affordable rates, particularly in far-off places like Thailand.

You can get roughly the same quality of treatment at a quarter of the price even when you take into account the travel expenses. What’s more, the whole point of drug and alcohol addiction rehab is to dramatically improve your chances of recovery by removing yourself from the environment that led you to become an addict in the first place.

You want a change of scenery and a healthy distance away from your “demons” so that you can enjoy what are essentially rehab treatment and a touristy vacation in one complete package.

Visit Lanna Rehab in Thailand, One of the Premier Countries for Drug and Alcohol Rehab

The Lanna Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center is a holistic wellness facility that uses international-grade techniques, state-of-the-art equipment, and fully certified medical and psychiatric personnel. The center serves as one of Thailand’s vanguards in upholding the solid reputation of rehab treatment in the country. The name “Lanna Rehab” is on the shortlist of world-class holistic rehab services in not only Thailand but also in Asia and the rest of the world.

Visit the center today and find out why it has helped make Thailand one of the premier destinations for substance abuse rehabilitation and aftercare. Contact them for a free assessment today. Their hotline is available 24/7 and it’s toll-free to boot.