I love this story. A Colorado man by the name of Gene put technology to work when he needed help intervening on behalf of his girlfriend’s drug addiction. He purchased a live Rover tracking device from RMT Tracking and installed it on her car to monitor where she was going to buy drugs.

Usually used for tracking fleets of company vehicles, recovering stolen cars, and locating missing persons, this might be the first time a GPS device has been used in conjunction with drug addiction.

The Mission: To Monitor and Protect Her Life against Drug Addiction

Her exact location, speed and direction of travel, along with a complete tracking history could be viewed from his personal computer. The device also created an electronic geo fence which logged her travel routine outside of a particular area.

Every time she went out to buy drugs, he just followed the virtual scent she left behind. “I would show up and nobody knew how,” he said. Dealers stopped selling to her because they knew Gene would be following close behind.

He credits the device with allowing him to help reach out to her and give her the impetus to get the help she needed. “You can’t imagine all the things she said to me when I told her – but of course, that was the addiction talking, not the person.”

The Need for Innovative Drug Addiction Interventions

Gene makes an excellent point – addiction makes it impossible for a person to behave rationally. Simply suggesting to a loved one that they seem to be having a problem with drugs or alcohol can be easily dismissed or covered up.

• If you suspect that something’s going on, act on it. Look into it yourself rather than rely on the person to provide you with the answer you want to hear. Ask yourself if what you’re hearing fits the pattern of what you are seeing. Question every move and ferret out the hidden motivators. Look at every rational explanation and try to blow it out of the water. Don’t take no for an answer.
• Friends and family are on the front lines when it comes to the war on drugs. Educate yourself on the behaviors of drug addicts, the physical as well as the psychological symptoms, and compare what you know about your loved one with what you read about from the experts.
• Secrecy and denial are the biggest roadblocks to recovery. When we can face reality about our loved one’s situation, we can help them realize it isn’t as shameful as we once thought.

Did Gene have the right idea for intervening? Do you wish someone would have done something similar to help you? Or do you think it’s intrusive?

If you like this post subscribe to the feed

"GPS Tracking Device Saves Drug Addict’s Life" posted in drug intervention.
Subscribe: comments.