Detoxification has a long history in Mississippi, evolving rapidly over the past forty or so years. At the end of World War Two detox centers were thinly disguised flophouses that only offered assistance to those withdrawing from alcohol. Medications were provided but in some hospitals offering detox, patients were actually kept addicted because the medical staff saw drug abuse not as a primary problem compared to mental problems they wished to treat in the addicts. The centers and hospitals offered vitamins and replacement drugs to the recovering addicts. Some patients battling addiction stayed in the treatment centers for only fourteen days. More recently the processes have changed and Mississippi now has a large diversity of detox programs.

All of the research and medical findings have led to the new and innovative procedures available to addicts in the state seeking addiction recovery. Rapid detox or Ultra Rapid Opiate Detox has joined the other programs and helped make and end of painful withdrawal. Medications are also used in alcohol detox to curb pain and some lessen the pleasure the body receives from alcohol consumption. Many of these detox centers and drug rehab facilities are successful in removing the cravings for drugs. The drug rehab centers support detox by helping teach methods of drug avoidance and maintaining success of the detox treatment through counseling and support.

Though the actual long term rate of success is only 5% due to the widespread belief that detox is rehabilitation. More education needs to occur for addicted residents to understand the difference between detoxification and rehabilitation. Just removing the toxins from a body does not reduce a mental addiction. Drug rehab is the next step in addiction recovery. It is the course where an addict learns about their addiction and themselves. Counseling is available in these facilities for both the addict and their families. It is recommended that an addict search for treatment centers that have both detox and rehab located in the same building as the patient is more likely to follow through with rehab. Some centers also have holistic methods in place, such as vitamin therapy, massage, and other techniques that will relax a recovering addict and make them more likely to continue addiction recovery.

New medications available to recovering addicts have made opiate detox more successful than ever. Pain free withdrawal is now available to nearly all individuals with an addiction. Heroin detox, opiate detox, alcohol detox, and other addiction detox is eased by the medications that have been recently released. The medications will help speed detox allowing the recovering addict to enter drug rehabilitation sooner and lower the risk of not completing detox. Rapid detox has become a preferred method of detoxification, especially for opiate detox because of the quick detox rate and the lack of withdrawal symptoms felt by the addict during the treatment. Addiction detox through this method is still not a total rehabilitation but in some cases has become a ‘revolving door’ in which addicts return again and again. Educational campaigns have been launched in some areas of Mississippi to break the detox and relapse cycle.