Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #10: Addiction Can Be Overcome

Addiction is one of society’s most severe and tragic ills, creating the loss of life, wealth, families, happiness and productivity. For years, a solution has been sought that will free addicts from trap of in addiction. Solutions abound, starting with incarceration and proceeding on through tens of billions spent on an alphabet soup of federal and state agencies.

Out in society, rehabilitation services are based on everything from ancient philosophies to brand new ideas. Nationally, more than 11,000 drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers offer help. Over 55,000 Alcoholics Anonymous groups offer support and guidance to the recovering alcoholic and 25,000 Narcotics Anonymous groups help drug addicts. Federal dollars support the development of a roster of drugs created to treat addiction’s cravings or symptoms.

The result is a bewildering maze of treatment options. Many treatment options treat addiction as a chronic, incurable brain disease that requires medication, the same as diabetes or heart disease. Some addiction services believe that an addict will always be an addict and will never recover.

“Our experience is that the right program enables a person to leave addiction behind,” noted Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. Mr. Hallmark went on to describe how the Narconon program achieves its 70 percent success rate. “Our recoveries start with a sauna and nutritional program that flushes drug residues from the body to help the person reduce or even eliminate cravings. Unless cravings are addressed first, most addicted people can’t focus on their recovery. Next, counseling helps a person leave the pain and grief of addiction behind, and life skills training teaches them how to live a new, drug-free life.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to Addiction Can be Overcome. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #9: Lost Productivity

In the workplace, substance abuse exacts a huge price. According to Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, substance abuse costs American business an estimated $166.5 billion each year. Studies in the workplace have found that substance abusers higher numbers of accidents and illnesses. Heavy alcohol users are nearly twice as likely to have changed employers three or more times in the past year.

A 2008 study by Norwich Union showed that a third of workers admitted going to work with a hangover and 15% confessed that they had been drunk at work. A recent survey of human resource professionals found that substance-abusing staff created problems through absenteeism, untrustworthy behavior, damage to the company’s reputation, poor job performance, increased medical costs and conflicts between staff.

The good news is that when a person is employed prior to entering treatment for substance abuse, they generally have a better chance of recovery than a person who was unemployed before entering treatment.

“Simply by eliminating substance abuse and addiction, companies can achieve greater overall productivity from their employees,” noted Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Those pursuing careers have their best chance of success when they are free from substance abuse. Narconon Arrowhead is proud to support the productivity of America by providing drug and alcohol rehabilitation services with a 70 percent success rate. Every year, we return hundreds of individuals to their homes and their workplaces with a renewed ability to live clean and sober.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to Lost Productivity. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: # 8: Lost Potential

When a drug overdose steals a young life, we lose that young life’s potential. When any person becomes addicted to alcohol, illicit drugs or prescription drugs that are being abused, families lose the bright person they loved and all the potential they knew was resident in that beloved son or daughter, brother, sister or parent.

Unfortunately, the highest levels of alcohol dependence occur in 18 to 20 year old Americans, according to the Surgeon General’s Office. Additionally, 5,000 young people a year lose their lives due to injuries involving alcohol, 1,900 of them from auto accidents.

A 2007 study from The National Center on Substance Abuse and Addiction reported that nearly half of America's 5.4 million full-time college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once a month.

“These years are when a person should be studying for a career or getting started in life,” noted Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “When a young person becomes dependent on or addicted to drug s or alcohol, it can seem more tragic because that person has not yet had the chance to achieve their full potential. Narconon Arrowhead has had great success in helping addicted people young and old achieve their potential by learning to build themselves drug-free liees. Seventy percent of our graduates successfully leave that addiction behind when they graduate.”

To read the rest of the article, please go to Lost Potential. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: # 7: Trafficking Violence

Should we care about drug trafficking violence across our southern border in Mexico? Does it have any impact on Americans?

For background, consider that in the last year, border towns and cities within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border have experienced record levels of violence and murders as the drug cartels compete for turf. In the last year, more than 3,700 killings related to drugs and organized crime have occurred in Mexico, up from about 2,700 last year. In Tijuana alone, there have been 99 people killed just since September 26th. Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, has seen more than 1,000 killings this year.

Most law enforcement officials walk off their jobs, are targets for murder or feel helpless to prevent further crimes.

John Walters, the head of the White House, talking about the crimes being committed just across the border, admitted that some traffickers “come across (the U.S. border), kidnap, murder, carry out assassinations.”

And then there is the cost. Congress has thus far sent $400 million in aid to Mexico for their anti-drug efforts. The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, has complained that because America is the world’s largest market for illegal narcotics and because it provides much of the weaponry used by the cartels, it should focus more attention on these problems.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Trafficking Violence. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: # 6: Economic Burden

Any family that has had one of their members addicted to alcohol, prescription or illicit drugs knows the cost of that addiction in anguish, fear and sadness. However, there is another cost that every family pays for addiction, whether someone close to them is addicted or not. That is the economic burden of addiction, paid for in health care costs, low productivity, welfare, accidents, property damage, the legal system and incarceration, crime, child and domestic abuse and all the public and private facilities that provide counseling, rehabilitation and treatment.

In 1992, this cost was estimated at $246 billion dollars. In 2006, according to the President of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, the bill was approaching $1 trillion. This means that every person in the U.S. is paying close to $3,000 a year, one way or another, for the substance abuse problems in this country.

“What happens on a national scale also happens on a small scale to families,” noted Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Very often, families facing a loved one’s addiction problem don’t realize what they are looking at. Addicts routinely become manipulative of those close to them so they can continue to get the alcohol or drugs they are addicted to. This manipulation can create financial hardships for families.”

Addicts commonly complain of an unfair boss, an unjust arrest, bad breaks, thefts or threats and so prompt family members to help them out of a fix. But in truth, they are hiding their addiction behind a smokescreen. Many addicts empty bank accounts or steal items out of the home to finance their addiction. This can go on for years, bankrupting a family. Then when the truth comes out and the family wants to get the addict into rehab, they may be financially unable to do so.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Economic Burden. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: # 5: Destroyed Families

There are few American families that completely escape the trauma and stress of someone’s addiction. A 2007 survey showed that twenty million people aged 12 and older abuse an illicit drug each month, and 17 million people are heavy drinkers. As a result of this substance abuse, more than 23 million people 12 or older are addicted to illicit drugs, prescription drugs or alcohol. That’s a lot of spouses, parents, siblings and children addicted or affected by addiction.

According to Joseph Califano, the director of Columbia University’s National Center on Drug Abuse and Addiction, the legacy of addiction is broken families, spousal violence, child abuse and teen pregnancy. No stratum of society is exempt from this damage, no profession or trade escapes addiction’s effects.

Alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine in particular are related to incidents of domestic violence. One of the results of this damage in America is the highest rate of divorce in the world. Children of divorce with all the disruption that accompany the process commonly have higher rates of drug and alcohol use during the separation and early years of the divorce.

“When an addicted family member comes home over the holidays it’s very common for the other family members to gloss over the problem and pretend it doesn’t exist.” noted Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “They are just hoping for a few happy moments with the person who has probably been largely missing from their life for awhile. But in fact, the holidays may provide the only opportunity the family has to intervene in that person’s substance abuse and get them into an effective rehabilitation program.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to Destroyed Families. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #4: Crime Rates

It’s easy to find the connection between substance abuse and crime. Start by examining arrest statistics. In 2003, nearly 74 percent of adult male arrestees in testing sites across the U.S. tested positive for one of nine drugs including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates or alcohol. Forty-four percent of those arrested tested positive for marijuana, 30 percent had used cocaine and more than 11 percent were positive for methamphetamine.

Also, illicit drug users are about 16 times more likely than nonusers to be arrested for theft, nine times more likely to be arrested for assault. A survey of inmates in state prisons in 1991 found that 30 percent of those convicted of burglary and 31 percent of those convicted of theft reported that they committed their crimes to get money for drugs.

“It’s not that every drug user also commits crimes,” said Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “However it is very common that a person who has become addicted to drugs will do and say things that he or she never would have done if they were not addicted. Families will see this when their addicted son, daughter, spouse, parent or other family member makes it to a holiday event, their first visit home in a long time. The guilt and depression felt by addicts can generate conflicts and arguments between the addict and his or her family.”

Guilt and depression along with cravings are the major barriers that must be overcome to reclaim a productive, enjoyable life after addiction. To succeed, rehabilitation must address these barriers that keep addicts trapped in the addiction.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Crime Rates. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #3: Domestic Violence

It’s one of our greatest tragedies: men and women who anticipated a loving relationship instead find themselves experiencing violence at the hands of the loved one. In the U.S., nearly one third of female murder victims are killed by an intimate, and the proportion is increasing.

The World Health Organization reported that alcohol consumption, especially at harmful and hazardous levels, is a major contributor to the occurrence of intimate partner violence and that violence is more severe and more likely to result in physical injury when alcohol is involved. Fifty-five percent of American women who had been assaulted by a partner believed their partners to have been drinking before the attack, and 20 percent of men who were attacked by women stated that the woman had been drinking before the attack.

This relationship between alcohol and abuse or violence means that successful rehabilitation of those addicted to alcohol can go a long way to reducing the trauma and loss of domestic violence.

“No one wants to be an addict, no matter what the addicted person says,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “One of the tragic aspects of addiction is that the condition masks itself. By survey, the primary reason that addicted people do not seek help is that they think they don’t need help. Families can help that person break through that barrier. In our experience, families play a large role in the recovery of people who come to Narconon for help.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Domestic Violence. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #2: Child Abuse

If you hurt yourself using drugs or alcohol, that’s bad enough. If you hurt children in your care, that’s a different thing entirely. Children are generally helpless to defend themselves against abuse or neglect by substance abusing caregivers.

Various reports estimate that between 40% and 80% of child maltreatment cases are related to substance abuse. Heartbreaking stories of neglect and abuse can be found in every state in the Union, ranging from children being locked in closets while their parents seek drugs, to the baby who was given cocaine to silence her cries and the infants whose cribs are in the same room as the methamphetamine labs. Also, it’s estimated that a half million babies are born each year who are suffering from prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol.

“Children are some of the most tragic victims of drug and alcohol addiction,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “When addiction really takes hold, the drug controls the person rather than the person controlling the drug. A deeply addicted person will value their next hit of cocaine or meth or OxyContin more than they value the welfare of their children.”

According to federal agency studies, children whose parents abuse alcohol or drugs are almost three times more likely to be verbally, physically or sexually abused and four times more likely than other children to be neglected. Children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop alcoholism or other drug problems.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Child Abuse. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Ten Reasons to Take Action Against Addiction: #1 - Overdoses

It’s the call no family wants to get: there’s been a drug overdose and you need to come to the hospital. Maybe it’s for a son or daughter. Or it could be for a spouse, sibling, parent or even a best friend.

Fortunately, medical science has developed antidotes to some commonly abused drugs that can save lives, if they can find out which drug was taken in time and if the overdose was not too severe. Unfortunately, some people take too much of a drug or get help too late to survive an overdose.

Since the early 1970s, mortality rates from unintentional drug overdoses have been rising steadily. In 2005, that rate had reached 22,400 drug overdose deaths. The same year, there were just over 17,000 homicides. In fact, in the category of accidental deaths, drug overdose deaths are second only to deaths from vehicle crashes.

What’s more, illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin are not the major contributors to this increase. The greatest increases have come from prescription pain relievers and sedatives such as Valium. When abused, these drugs can easily become addictive and repeated abuse can lead to mistakes such as overdoses.

“Drug overdoses are a terrible and unnecessary way to lose our loved ones,” declared Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Canadian, Oklahoma. “They are particularly unnecessary because addiction can be addressed with a holistic, drug-free program such as the one we deliver at Narconon that enables the addicted person to replace addiction with a productive, enjoyable life.”

When the holidays come, some addicted people will avoid family events from the shame they feel due to their addiction. Others will make the trip home. Surveys show that most families try to overlook the addiction so everyone can have an enjoyable holiday, but as one former addict put it, “It was like ignoring the elephant in the living room. Everyone knew it was there but no one wanted to say anything.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Overdoses
Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Thirty Million Impaired Drivers Each Year Make Our Roads Hazardous

A new survey reveals that in some states more than 25% of drivers have driven after consuming alcohol, in the last year. This means more than 30 million impaired drivers on the road. What’s more, nearly one in twenty drivers across the country reported having driven under the influence of illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin or prescription drugs used nonmedically.

An earlier study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration pointed out that 29 percent of drivers 15 to 20 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol. The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving states that an estimated 15,827 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes in 2002. That’s 37 percent of the total number of traffic fatalities.

These stark figures paint a very grim picture of the kind of damage drinking and driving can cause. But of course, fatalities are just one kind of damage being created. There’s also injuries and billions in medical and quality of life costs.

Problems really arise when a person is addicted to alcohol or illicit drugs and constantly drives impaired. These people not only endanger others, they are at risk of death or serious injury every day.

“When families know a son, spouse or other member has a chronic problem with alcohol or drugs, they may be saving his or her life if they find an effective rehab program,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “When a person makes a lifetime recovery in an effective rehab program like the one at Narconon, he protects his own future and the futures of adults and children he may pass on the street every day.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Impaired Drivers. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

McCready’s Addiction Problem is Just Like Anyone Else’s, Just More Public

When a celebrity is dragged through the headlines for years, facing rehabs, arrests, incarcerations, probations and more, it’s the same fate suffered by millions of addicts. In their cases, paparazzi, reporters and tabloids make the fates excruciatingly public.

In millions of homes around America, the same scene plays out more privately. Take the case of Mindy McCready, known for several hit country tunes and albums in the mid-1990s. Starting in 2004, Mindy began a public decline, hitting mile markers for overdoses and attempted suicides, assaults given and received, multiple arrests, community service, probation and rehab in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee. Mindy’s drugs of choice, based on arrest records, have been alcohol and OxContin.

Government surveys estimate that more than 22 million people fall into the same category as McCready, abusing illicit drugs, prescription drugs or alcohol to the point that the use damages the abuser’s life.

And the damage spreads outward from there. A 2004 survey found that 63 percent of those surveyed stated that they had been impacted by someone’s addiction, mostly family members.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: McCready Addiction. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Far From Being Harmless, Current Marijuana is More Potent, Dangerous and Addictive Than Ever Before

The various proponents of marijuana legalization or use in medical treatment might have you believe that marijuana is a natural and harmless substance. A Spanish study does not support this concept.

In sheer numbers, marijuana users beat out any other drug users. In 2006, nearly 15 million Americans 12 and older used the drug in the past month. For comparison, abusers of prescription drugs numbered 7 million and 2.4 million were cocaine users.

But the most dangerous change occurred in the potency of the marijuana being smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, Canada or other foreign countries. Potency of pot seized in 1980 averaged less than 2 percent THC, marijuana’s intoxicating ingredient. By 2007, the average potency had increased to almost ten percent, with some samples testing as high as 13 to 33 percent. And as to the effects of THC, a study of cannabis users executed in Spain in 2002 suggested that the heavy use of cannabis can induce a psychotic disorder that includes depression, hallucinations and depersonalization as symptoms.

What makes marijuana additionally dangerous is that so many young people see no harm in using the drug, an attitude that can easily lead to chronic use or dependence. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that in 2006, more than 4 million Americans aged 12 and older fit the criteria for dependence or abuse of the drug, which means that these individuals continued to use the drug despite personal, mental or social harm.

“Facts on the effects of marijuana must be carefully evaluated by anyone who has someone close to them who is a heavy or chronic marijuana user,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Since so many people start using marijuana at such a young age, we could be losing our best minds to a marijuana addiction, rather than grooming our children for good careers and productive, enjoyable lives.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Marijuana Addictive. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Is Methadone Treatment Obsolete?

For opiate addicts, such as those addicted to heroin, opium or synthetic opiates such as hydrocodone, methadone has allowed them to cease use of the addictive substance without painful withdrawal symptoms. Once a person has been on methadone for awhile, treatment protocols vary. Some addiction treatment practitioners taper a person off methadone and some will keep a person on maintenance treatment, meaning that the person may be on methadone for the rest of their lives.

In recent years, some opiate addiction treatment practitioners are campaigning for a change in methadone treatment guidelines, stating that this indefinite maintenance with methadone is the best idea. One study from 2000 found that 80% of those who quit methadone treatment relapse within three years. Some practitioners may consider this a reason to keep opiate addicts on methadone indefinitely but some see a different logic.

“If a person’s only choice is addiction to an opiate or taking methadone prescribed by a doctor, then methadone might be a logical form of treatment,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “What many people don’t know is that they have the choice of the tolerable withdrawal process that is offered at Narconon Arrowhead.” At Narconon, the withdrawal phase is followed by a precise, proven method of detoxification that for many, results in greatly lowered or even eliminated cravings.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Is Methadone Obsolete?. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Effects of Addiction Spread Much Farther Than Previously Thought

If you pay attention to government surveys, you’ll learn that more than 20 million people suffer from addiction to alcohol or street drugs, or they are dependent on prescription drugs that they have been abusing. But a recent survey of American adults shows that the effects of addiction stretch much farther than this.

In 2004, 63 percent of adults surveyed said that addiction had impacted their lives, most of them because of a family member’s battle with drugs or alcohol. That means that more than 135 million people struggle either with their own addiction or that of a family member or someone close to them.

This doesn’t measure the number of children who are without a father or mother because they are in jail, in rehab or simply gone. Or the number of children who have parents at home but suffer neglect or abuse because of the drug use. It doesn’t measure the lost productivity or the number of businesses that have had to close because an owner lost everything to substance abuse or an employee embezzled enough to close the doors.

Substance abuse and addiction exacts a terrible toll on America. And successful recovery programs can be few and far between. Many rehabilitations state success rates between 5 and 20 percent.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Effects of Addiction. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Save Kids' Lives by Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse

A new study just published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine notes that thousands of children aged five and under have been poisoned by prescription painkillers in the last few years. Eight of these children died and 43 suffered life-threatening injuries. Another 214 experienced moderate effects.

Drugs included in the study were opioid painkillers such as oxydcodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Opioid drugs are similar to opiate narcotics such as morphine but are not derived from opium. Another drug in the list was buprenorphine, a newer drug used in the treatment of opioid addiction.

Opioids can cause such a suppression of the respiratory system that young children simply stop breathing. The rapid growth in the number of prescriptions in the last decade means that tens of millions of households have opioid painkillers present, increasing the threat to young, curious children.

“Opioid pain relievers provide a better quality of life for those in severe pain, but they are also addictive,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma. Narconon is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, offering a full range of services from in-patient rehabilitation to free consultations to those struggling with addiction and referrals to treatment programs. “If a person finds they can’t quit taking these drugs when they are no longer needed, that person needs help to overcome that addiction. Every household that can be freed from opioid pain relievers is a household that is safer for young children.”

Opioid painkillers are not only dangerous to young children. Older children seeking substances to abuse commonly obtain prescription medications from family members. Leftover prescriptions and medications stored in medicine chests or purses are the primary source for teens who abuse prescription drugs.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Save Kids' Lives. Or visit the website of Narconon Arrowhead.