National Alcohol Screening Day – Finding Help

National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) is April 8, 2004, and its purpose is to raise public awareness about the consequences of risky drinking and alcohol’s effect on general health. NASD activities seek to identify those with drinking problems, from risky use to alcohol dependence, and get these people the help they need to successfully deal with their alcohol use problem. This day is cosponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If you’re looking for help with an alcohol problem, or if you’d like to volunteer to help at a NASD event, where can you go?

National Alcohol Screening Day has an online screening event locator. If you want to partner/participate/attend, you can find out if there's already an NASD event nearby. Here's the URL: http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/locator/NASDmap.htm. To use the on-line event site locator, click on the state where you would like to find a site and then click on a city or town in your area. Names, locations and numbers of each site will be listed. Sites can be contacted directly for directions and hours for the free alcohol screenings.

Then what? If you need help dealing with alcohol problems, where can you go? You can find the right alcohol abuse treatment program with the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator, sponsored by SAMHSA. This searchable directory of drug and alcohol treatment programs shows the location of facilities around the country that treat alcoholism, alcohol abuse and drug abuse problems. The Locator includes more than 11,000 addiction treatment programs, including residential treatment centers, outpatient treatment programs, and hospital inpatient programs for drug addiction and alcoholism. Listings include treatment programs for marijuana, cocaine, and heroin addiction, as well as drug and alcohol treatment programs for adolescents, and adults. Here’s that URL: http://www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov/.

The theme of NASD this year is “Alcohol and Your Health: Where Do You Draw the Line?” If you want help with an alcohol problem, or if you want to help, these two locators can help you draw the line between seeking and finding help.