It’s no surprise that we have a drug problem in the U.S., with people of all ages getting hooked on everything from legal substances like tobacco, marijuana and alcohol, to hard drugs like meth and cocaine. Even in rural America people are abusing heroin, many because they had became reliant on doctor prescribed opiates and can no longer get them. Our front page this week screams out that even places like Oroville and Tonasket are not immune to the problem.

That’s why it is important to talk about positive things like Timothy House, which recently had their first graduation from their faith-based drug treatment program. Friends and family gathered at Valley Christian Fellowship Church in Oroville to hear Tyler Brenon’s story of addiction. A story that started when he was just a kid and went on until he finally found a program that was right for him. This, after he says several treatment programs failed him because he had learned to game the system. And this, after he watched friends and loved ones die from drugs. Timothy House is run by Jerry and Michelle Weller and is a men’s drug and alcohol treatment facility in Ellisforde. For Tyler it was the right program at the right time.

Sometimes that’s what it takes – no one can force you to become clean and sober – and if you’re not ready no program will work for you. We’ve all seen people who try to clean up their act and fall back into the same patterns, hanging out with the same “friends” who convince them back into a world that’s trying to kill them. Misery loves company.

We hope that people will find the program that’s right for them and find the peace that Tyler has.

Tyler Brenon Gary DeVon/staff photo