This is the second in a series of Gulf Coast Newspapers reports examining the economic effects of joblessness, state cutbacks for mental health programs, the easy availabilities of recipes for cheap meth manufacturing and increases in drug and alcohol use.

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — Nurses, counselors, lawmen, “soccer moms” and the general public are increasingly turning to drugs, alcohol and prescription medications to deal with the stress of household and economic uncertainties.

Jonathan Armstrong, director of Baldwin Court Services, oversees about 20,000 drug testings for the Baldwin County Department of Human Resources, child custody/welfare court cases, the Baldwin County Drug Court and other agencies.

He said prescription drugs is the biggest change in trend he has seen. But the perennial trilogy of alcohol, THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and methamphetamine are still mainstays.

“The biggest change I have seen is the prescription drug use,” Armstrong said. “It is affecting all demographics of society. Stress has to be a contributing factor for the use of drugs and alcohol whether it be job loss, fear of job loss, pending retirement, and just the uncertainty in America today.

“It seems that everyone is suffering or stressing over something. The news is bleak in every sector of life so some find that drug and alcohol are a way to cope or forget about todays problem.”

Armstrong, a former Baldwin County Commission and head of the testing program for more than a decade, said the most common drugs of abuse are alcohol, marijuana and meth. But many are finding alternatives such as paint sniffing to heroin to achieve an altered state.

“We see it everyday — nurses ,counselors,soccer moms, police, family members,” Armstrong said. “There are just not very many families where there is not a relative that drinks more than he or she should when they drink.

“There are not many families where there is no use of alcohol or prescribed meds anymore.”

The drug screening numbers include multiple visits for clients on a regular testing schedule. Prior to testing, staffers ask for prescription drug use.

“I can tell you it is a large number.

“These are good people,” he said. “Soccer moms are going for Lortabs. Many think since it’s a prescription, it is OK. Stay-at-home moms can’t get out of bed. Maybe the presidential elections were a factor; I know it affected me.

“Some people don’t have an ‘out.’”