'Recovery High': 'Vanguard' Trailer

The fact is that these schools are saving kids from going back into a harmfull situation. A kid who goes to treatment, does all that hard personal work, completes it successfully, and goes back to their old High School has a 90% relapse rate. Recovery schools give these youth a fighting chance to maintain their sobriety so they can finish school with a diploma. There is no magic bullet fix for addiction, there are a few things that really work with proven statistics, this is one of them. Thank you for your time and attention to this issue.

What has happened to taking responsibility for one's actions? One cannot continue to blame the schools, teachers, the system, etc. It's a problem that starts at home. Unfortunately kids in these situations are typically exposed to drugs at a very young age and cannot escape the cycle without some degree of support and intervention, however at some point making excuses for the recidivism becomes unacceptable and they will have to pay the price.

Wow, super lame.

Two of our children, now in their late 40s, are recovering addicts. It started in HS. We wonder if a place like this would have saved one or both of them decades of hell, and their parents and children decades of misery and disappointment.

They now live as prisoners of their wasted lives, even though now clean and sober. That is to say, the years most of us spend becoming adults were completely given to their addiction. Intervention is never too early! Even if it doesn't take, they have that much learning internalized for the next rehab; and with rare exception, there is always more than one.

Still burnt by watching Adam Yamaguchi speak poorly of marijuana as he was riding along with the DEA a couple years back... Almost glorifying the drug warriors... (not impressed by the gorilla cultivators either, but two wrongs are just that)

Portugal has it figured, they have a whole generation of young people who wouldn't care to think of even using marijuana because it's not "cool" anymore, it's not rebellious, it's not trendy... They've also seriously cut down on the amount of opiate addicts, with the "new addict" figures being extremely low.

It's all in policy, and although these schools may help in some places, they aren't going to solve the problem our "Scarface" culture and the lure of easy money have created.

I'd rather live in a society where my child was properly educated, and quality treatment was available everywhere, where the stuff was all legal and offered at a price low enough to keep it from being a potential "criminal" enterprise...

And if my child were wanting to "experiment" I'd rather them go ahead and do it, within the described environment and find out first hand it's not worth it. Treatment and clean needles would be available, but the child would have little to no interest under those circumstances.

(and no I don't mean small child I mean near adulthood, and you know what with the government providing it, they'd have no access because no criminal would make money off of it, and adult addicts wouldn't share.)

All this mandated cup pissing is for the birds...

Joe--what is important about place like Recovery High School is that keeps these kids having someone who is looking out for them, and keeping them responsible--if they keep failing drug tests the program sends the school sends them to further treatment either at the state funded detoxes (2 week programs) or the state funded 90 day programs.....these a pretty unique as most states don't even have these. I know from personal experience that the kid who go to recovery high school when they leave tend to do better than the kids who go back to their old environment. I have heard from many kids who struggle with addiction that they would rather go to environment like recovery high school than their old environment. Many kids who are drug addicts feel like outsiders in their schools, and recovery high school offfers them a place where they are with people who struggle with the same issues as them. Addiction is NO joke, and even if they do not get sober and stay sober as teenagers...it gives them a BASE for sobritiy---and with that they can keep it forever...and is also ruins their high...these things they learn in treatment or at recovery high school stay with htem.

Hmmmm. I have to admit that i am concerned at hoopla about the recovery high school movement. There is zero evidence that the recovery high's yield positive outcomes. There is also a body of evidence that suggests that programs such as this promote aberrant behavior vs pro-social recovery oriented behaviors. Further there is evidence that suggests that drug testing in schools at best does little if anything and can have negative effects on help seeking behaviors and youth trust in adults. Finally, the school person who said "For may of our students this is their last chance" is a dope. This is high school for youth....Not hospice care.

are you kidding me!!! these kids have no idea what addiction really is. let them spend 12 years of their life in the grasps of heroin. this program is only glorifying what these kids THINK they feel.

David Bohrman,
I think Vanguard is the best investigative journalism on television.

Recovery High.. High Recovery better name. but i get it cuz of the school is a high school. i thought the kids need more rules that do that stuff they seem to give them less rules. i would want to know the recovery and how well that school does. 2nd chance school for those that would have no school due to there drug use. kind of like giving the drug users a job that could not have a real one because of drug use. good idea just dont know if it will work or is. can not wait to check out the show tomorrow "Recovery High" premieres on Monday, August 8 at 9/8c on Current TV

I can't wait to see this. Great job NSRHS!

This is awesome! I am so glad Vanguard featured the positive things Massachusetts is doing to combat our serious substance abuse crisis. Great work. I can't wait to see the final product!