Addiction

Growing up in Costa Mesa, Karli Kuhns was like any other kid. She played soccer and loved hanging out with her younger brother. She attended Ensign Intermediate and Newport Harbor high schools. However, as Kuhns approached adolescence, her attention veered. She talked back to teachers and her grades weren't something she bragged about. In seventh grade, when offered alcohol and marijuana, she tried both. By her freshman year of high school, Kuhn was injecting speed. "I started having seizures from it in my P.E. class," Kuhns said.

Addiction is a medical problem (It’s a Gray Area: “Addiction is a medical problem,” Oct. 4). However, it is also a community problem that has a detrimental impact on our society. The majority of addicted individuals who appear on a daily basis in my court are parents. Unfortunately, too often their children are neglected, abused, homeless and do not attend school regularly, as a result of their parents’ addiction. Most of the crime committed in our community is substance-abuse driven.

Laura Murphy suffered from her addiction for 10 years. She sought treatment to break her crack and methamphetamine habit and found New Directions for Women, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center for women in Costa Mesa. The home invites women who have families to live at the home so their family doesn't have to be broken up. The children also participate in the recovery process. Murphy traveled from Colorado to New Directions and her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter now do not have to live without her during their formative years.

ORANGE — Helena Rouhe gave her students an unusual crash course Saturday in how to deal with a drug-addicted family member. The therapist, who works with the New Directions for Women clinic in Costa Mesa, set up a makeshift obstacle course around the track at the Riding Academy of Orange County, scattering a bucket full of water and two buckets full of food. Finally, she led a horse onto the grounds and tied three ropes to its halter, handing each end to a participant.

The Newport Beach Planning Commission has voted to limit the number of recovering addicts the city’s largest rehabilitation home can house in Newport Beach. The commission voted 6-1 late Thursday to pass the agreement. Planning Commissioner Barry Eaton cast the dissenting vote on the commission’s recommendation for an agreement between the city and the rehabilitation home operator Sober Living by the Sea that would limit the number of beds the company can have in Newport Beach to 204 citywide, down from 238 in mid-2007.

A U.S. District Court judge said Monday he will probably move to temporarily stop Newport Beach from clamping down on licensed drug and alcohol recovery homes that house six or fewer recovering addicts. In a 20-page tentative ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James Selna decreed the city cannot force drug and alcohol recovery homes that are already licensed by the state to apply for permits if they house six or fewer people. The city can regulate larger homes and unlicensed homes where six or fewer recovering addicts live, but regulating smaller, licensed homes flies in the face of state law, the judge tentatively ruled.

A U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction Friday to temporarily stop Newport Beach from clamping down on licensed drug and alcohol recovery homes that house six or fewer recovering addicts, but also ruled he would allow the bulk of a city ordinance aimed at curbing the spread of recovery homes to stand. “We’re absolutely pleased,” said attorney Jim Markman, who represents the city on the rehabilitation home issue. “We understood where the difficult areas were, and we are very happy with the court’s reaction to the ordinance as a whole.

Newport Beach faces at least five federal complaints claiming it discriminates against recovering drug addicts who seek treatment in the city. The United States Justice Department could slap Newport Beach with a federal discrimination lawsuit if an investigation into the matter finds wrongdoing on the city’s part, adding to Newport’s mounting legal woes over its regulation of sober-living homes. “We don’t believe the city is violating fair housing laws, but not everyone agrees with us, so that’s a significant issue,” said Newport Beach City Atty.

Two men arrested over the weekend on suspicion of using heroin in an SUV parked on Lido Isle are just the latest sign of the narcotic's comeback among Orange County youths, authorities said Wednesday. Two Lido Isle residents, ages 19 and 18, were arrested on suspicion of felony heroin possession and misdemeanor possession of heroin paraphernalia, respectively, according to police records. Officers said that the pair were spotted at 3 p.m. Saturday off the Piazza Lido and Via Ithaca, using the drug in a grey GMC Yukon.

In 2002, Misty May-Treanor hit the lowest point in her career. In a career filled with so many highs, there have been very few lows. When she was 24, she was down there. It didn't have so much to do with an injury or a missed opportunity. May-Treanor said her mother's death caused her great pain and challenged her love for volleyball, she revealed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Pilot Thursday afternoon. She was in Huntington Beach to promote a contest with Arnold/Brownberry/Oroweat bread.