Creating a DrugFree World

How Greater Freedom for Mother Russia Turned into a Death Sentence for Hundreds of Thousands of Russians

2011-07-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Certainly the destruction of the Iron Curtain and the opening of trade and cultural exchanges with other countries brought many benefits to the Russian people. At the same time, this shift provided new turf for international crime and drug trafficking organizations that saw an untapped market for their wares.

Economic and civil chaos followed the conversion of the U.S.S.R. to its separate components. Law enforcement bodies were poorly organized and managed. And satellite countries suddenly lost funding, staffing and management influences from the former state government. Good or bad, these influences did lend a certain amount of stability to such activities as border and customs policing.

In this less-regulated environment, drug traffickers established new trade routes from the poppy fields in Afghanistan to the rich consumer markets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other cities.

Chemicals Flow In, Drugs Flow Out of Afghanistan

Internationally, the chemicals needed to turn poppy resin into heroin flow toward Afghanistan. There are hundreds of refining labs situated along the Tajikistan border, converting that resin into a salable product. Both opium and heroin cross from Afghanistan into Tajikistan and from there are conveyed into Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan shares a long, utterly porous border with Russia. In some regions, the border is just a dirt road through bare mountains, with nothing more than a wooden rail barring the way. A couple of poorly-trained and even more poorly-equipped border guards are all that exist to prevent the flow of addictive drugs into Russia.

One charity group raised the money to buy some of border guards drug-sniffing dogs. The dogs starved when the guards sold the dog food for the cash they could get for themselves.

After the U.S.S.R. broke up, many of the newly independent countries had little industry to support their populations. This economic stress encouraged more people to seek employment with the drug traffickers. Kazakhstanis or Tajikistanis willing to take a risk may load their donkeys with illicit drugs and cross the frontier, making more in one trip than their friends are making in a month at a legitimate job, if they can even find one. Others, especially in Kazakhstan, will swallow condoms filled with heroin and fly into Russia, where they drink down cheap alcohol and vomit up the packages of heroin.

Corruption among law enforcement officials and border or customs authorities also contribute to the relative ease with which drugs make their way into Russia. It’s estimated that no more than ten percent of the drugs being smuggled in are detected.

Open Borders Begin to Create More Addicts

As these new channels of trafficking stabilized and expanded, the ones who suffered most were those who sought the oblivion of heroin use and then became addicted. One indicator of the increase in drug use is the number of drug-related crimes. The Russian Federal Service for the Control of Narcotics reported that by 2006, this type of crime leapt to a level fifteen times that of 1996. Added to this rise was a ten-fold increase in the number of drug users known to the government. And the number of regions acknowledging a problem with “serious abusers” grew from four regions in 1985 to more than thirty by 2000.

Many addicts in Russia register with the state in the hope of obtaining addiction treatment. But registration has its downside. Registered abusers can’t get some types of jobs and will not be issued a driver’s license. Registering often confers few benefits as evidenced by the fact that most people are removed from the list when they die, not because they recover from their addictions. The life expectancy of a Russian heroin addict is between four and four-and-a-half years.

Russia’s young people are the ones suffering from the highest rate of opiate addiction, which may be due in part to the shortened life expectancies. Additionally, the average age at which they first use drugs keeps dropping. In the last ten years, it fell from 17 to 14 years of age.

Of those who register with the state, perhaps ten percent will finally enter addiction treatment. Russian drug addiction treatment is referred to as “narcology” and is an heir to old Russian psychiatry. In many cases, the entirety of addiction treatment is a medical detoxification in which other drugs are used to speed detoxification. The addict is then likely to be discharged with a handful of antipsychotic medications or barbiturates to take home. If further treatment is administered, it will probably be in the form of hypnotic commands that convince the addict that if he drinks or takes drugs again, he will die. Some reports estimate that 90 percent of treated addicts relapse in the first year.

Only a third of Russia’s regions possess an addiction treatment facility. As Russia stretches across six and a half million miles, this leaves many millions of people far from any help. While official estimates vary, some reports state that 70,000 Russians die annually from drug overdoses and 50,000 more die from alcohol abuse.

In light of this desperate scene, it becomes understandable why, a few years ago, the Mayor of Moscow suggested that Russia implement laws like those in Singapore that allow drug traffickers to be executed for their crimes.

The people of any society deserve drug rehabilitation that works, not something that buries the spirit under more drugs or hypnotic commands. The outdated technology of narcology in Russia needs to be replaced by a more updated, effective and most importantly, humane technology that actually helps restore the citizens of Russia to productive citizenship and the enjoyment of life to which they are entitled.

Oklahoma City at a Drug Trafficking Crossroads

2011-07-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma City didn’t ask to be placed a major crossroads of drug trafficking activity but that’s what it got. Oklahoma, Cleveland and Comanche Counties are all part of the North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), a federal designation that enables more funding and personnel to be assigned to combat this problem.

As part of the pipeline for drugs being funneled across the border from Mexico and through the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Oklahoma City inherits also some of the drug traffickers, gang activity and drug abuse-related violence. From this HIDTA, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and diverted prescription drugs are distributed to Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Shipments destined for points as far away as New Jersey, New York, Georgia, Florida and Michigan have also been interdicted.

According to the US Department of Justice, Oklahoma City suffers from increased property and violent crime as a result of ample supplies of powder and ice methamphetamine and crack cocaine. Most of the law enforcement agencies in the area report that the highly addictive methamphetamine is the greatest threat to peace and safety. Meth addicts are known for criminal activity carried out so they can continue to obtain more of the toxic substance to which they are addicted. They specialize in property theft, identity theft and credit card fraud.

To Revert These Trends, Those Who are Addicted Must Find Effective Drug Rehab in Oklahoma City

Citizens in Oklahoma City who have fallen prey to the plots of drug trafficking organizations can often only escape by finding an effective Oklahoma City drug rehab. There are 48 drug rehabs in Oklahoma City or within 50 miles. This may sound like a lot but it still leaves a huge treatment gap. In 2009, there were 245,000 people needing alcohol or drug rehab in Oklahoma. But across the state, only about 17,000 people found help at an Oklahoma City drug rehab or one elsewhere in the state. This literally leaves hundreds of thousands of people in the state who are compelled by intolerable cravings to buy and use more addictive substances, no matter what it takes.

The number of people entering treatment includes those who are addicted the most common and most legal drug of all: alcohol. Nearly 7,000 of those who entered substance abuse treatment in 2009 were there for alcohol, either as a primary drug or as a secondary drug they were having trouble with.

Drug addiction even reaches young Oklahomans. In 2009, four children 11 or under entered drug rehab programs to get help for marijuana addiction.

Compared to the rest of the US, Oklahomans were more likely to seek addiction treatment for marijuana abuse, smoked cocaine, methamphetamine and prescription pain relievers. They were slightly less likely to seek drug rehab in Oklahoma City or the rest of the state for alcohol, but this still left 191,000 Oklahomans out of control of their drinking and not entering rehab. Sadly, the top reason these people did not find a rehab service to help them was that they didn’t think they needed help, despite the damage being done by alcohol abuse.

Controlled Prescription Drug Diversion and Abuse is a Growing Problem

As if illicit drugs didn’t create enough of a problem, in the last couple of years, more stolen and otherwise diverted prescription drugs have been distributed throughout the state. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of people entering Oklahoma City drug rehab and rehabs in other parts of the state for addiction to prescription opiates alone has more than doubled, rising from 768 to 1533. In drug rehabs in Oklahoma City and the immediate area, prescription opiate treatment admissions doubled just between 2007 and 2009.

Also in 2009, 248 people lost their lives to prescription drug abuse before they could find an Oklahoma City drug rehab or one elsewhere in Oklahoma that could help save them. Most of the deaths were caused by hydrocodone products (such as Lortab and Vicodin) or oxydocone products such as OxyContin. The other drug that caused too many Oklahomans to lose their lives in 2009 was not a prescription drug but was illicitly-manufactured methamphetamine, smuggled in from Mexico or created locally in small, toxic labs.

One thing is for sure: Oklahomans need help with effective drug rehabilitation that will create lasting sobriety.

Narconon International President Commends the UNODC on Carrying Forward the Debate on Drug Legalization Internationally

2011-07-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

On June 23, 2011, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released their annual report on the state of drug trafficking and abuse around the world, the 2011 World Drug Report (WDR). This report covers such diverse topics as the Afghan opium poppy blight, South American drug cartels moving their wares through West Africa on the way to Europe and the number of people around the world using amphetamine-type stimulants.

For the first time, the WDR was released at UN headquarters, signifying the importance being placed on drug trafficking as a factor in every major international situation: terrorism, security, development, health and human rights. At the report's launch, the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon made this relationship perfectly clear: "Traffickers break more than the law, they break the human spirit. They fuel terrorism and insurgency."

This year's report provided details about the decline in the US cocaine market that was offset by a surging demand for the drug in Europe, the reduced opium poppy crop in Afghanistan that was mostly compensated for by an increase in production in Myanmar, and the growth in demand for synthetics and prescription drugs. In short, though there have been areas of improvement, worsening situations in other areas mean that there is a status quo in the worldwide drug abuse problem.

Is Legalization the Answer, as Some People Claim?

There are those, such as the proponents of Proposition 19 in California, the 2010 attempt to legalize marijuana, who claim that legalization of some drugs will seriously damage the cartels and bring in additional tax revenues. It's also argued that if some often-abused drugs were made legal, some people would lose interest and substance abuse figures would drop. At the same time, billions of dollars are spent in the US and abroad to fight cartels and dealers and get their goods off the street. What's the right thing to do?

According to the Executive Director of the UNODC Yury Fedotov, it's not legalization. During the question-and-answer period after the release of the WDR, he was asked about the fight against drug trafficking by the Mexican government and whether or not this fight that had cost so many lives was the right tactic. Without criticizing the Mexican government's policy in any way, Mr. Fedotov answered, "If we should give up addressing international organized crime, we must be prepared to go farther into legalizing not only drugs but also corruption, human trafficking, money laundering and all other criminal activities. I think it would not be the right way to deal with the situation."

Narconon International President Clark Carr commented regarding Mr. Fedotov's statement: "The trafficking and sale of drugs are serious crimes against human beings that result in 200,000 deaths each year," Mr. Carr said. "Millions of people around the world lose their integrity and self-respect, their families, their possessions and their hope due to illicit and prescription drug abuse. Legalization is not a viable option."

"The truth," Mr. Carr continued, "is that Narconon does not and should not take a political stand on the issue of drug legalization or decriminalization. Narconon International's sole focus is to promote the validity and urgent need for more drug rehabilitation and drug education worldwide."

During the press briefing concerning the WDR, one of its authors Dr. Thomas Pietschmann cited the Rand Corporation's 2010 study of the likely outcome of legalization of marijuana in California. Shortly before Proposition 19 went to a vote in November 2010, the Rand report concluded that legalizing marijuana might cut the drug cartel's profits 2% to 4%. That's hardly the major impact some people were touting.

In his statement accompanying the release of the report, Mr. Fedotov defined a more workable solution. He stated, "Since people with serious drug problems provide the bulk of drug demand, treating this problem is one of the best ways of shrinking the market."

In its forty-five year history of providing drug rehabilitation and prevention services, the international network of Narconon centers has been fighting the drug problem by attacking just this point. Mr. Carr explained: "When someone has become addicted, there is no way to reason with him. The only solution is to break the grip that drug addiction has on him so he has a choice. Until that happens, he is going to be a steady customer of the products the cartels are moving - and from which they are raking in billions of dollars in profits. Around the world in more than 150 centers, daily we fight addiction by rehabilitating addicts and educating the young so they never become customers, no matter how persuasive drug dealers might be."

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program has proven its effectiveness in defeating the efforts of those who wish to distribute these deadly wares. "Seven out of ten of our graduates stay clean and sober after they complete this long-term residential program and return home, and that is good news." Mr. Carr concluded. For more information on the Narconon drug addiction recovery program, contact 1-800-775-8750.

Springdale is Dead Center in Arkansas’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

2011-07-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Springdale, Arkansas is dead center in a section of Arkansas that has been designated a component of the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). This means that this region has a sufficiently pronounced drug trafficking problem to warrant additional personnel and funds to combat it.

Springdale straddles the county line between Benton County to the north and Washington County to the south. These two counties make up the northwest corner of Arkansas and are the only two counties in this part of Arkansas to be part of the HIDTA. This corner of Arkansas is the also second most populous region in the state. Its population continues to grow at a fast rate, expanding from about 46,000 in 2000 to 70,000 in 2010.

Springdale in particular is home to large manufacturing plants, such as Tyson, the chicken and meat packing company; Kawneer, a subsidiary of Alcoa Alumium; Rockline Industries, maker of paper products; Newly Wed Foods and several others. Each of these companies requires trucking to deliver their products and so Arkansas has a huge trucking industry to match their manufacturing and food processing. In Arkansas, one in thirteen people works in the trucking industry.

Businesses Attract Ethnic Groups but Also Let Drug Traffickers Conceal Their Activities

Ethnic groups are attracted to – and are often specifically recruited by – large meat packing plants in the Midwest and South, and Springdale is home to several national companies. A decade or two ago, Asians moved into the area to work in these plants. But now, the primary ethnic group being added to the employment rolls by these plants is Hispanic. As a result, more than 35 percent of Springdale residents are now Hispanic, an increase of 174 percent since the 2000 Census.

What these completely innocent factors mean is that it is easy for not-so-innocent Mexican drug traffickers and their shipments to blend right into this environment that has packages and trucks moving up and down the highways to all the nearby major cities: Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis, St. Louis, Jackson and Dallas.

Unfortunately, drugs being moved through the area also mean that there are supplies for local consumption.

Most of the drugs moved into the area are the responsibility of Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) who are trafficking a diverse supply of drugs these days: methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine (some of which is made into crack cocaine), small amounts of heroin and prescription drugs. Drug busts involving sizeable groups of people working together, some of them Mexican citizens but residents of Arkansas, are not uncommon.

In May 2011, four people were sentenced in northwest Arkansas for distributing meth. One of them was a Mexican citizen who was illegally in the US, who routinely received shipments of methamphetamine from Mexico. In June 2011, 14 people from Southern Missouri and the Springdale area were arrested, also for distributing methamphetamine. Four of those arrested were citizens of Mexico living in Arkansas.

Eliminating Drug Problem in the Area Requires More than Law Enforcement

Law enforcement alone will never be able to arrest enough people to wipe out the drug abuse and addiction problem in this city of 70,000 people. To serve these Arkansans and all the people living in rural areas around the city, there are only four Springdale drug rehabs. Only one of them, the Veterans Administration hospital, offers residential treatment but lists no addiction specialists on their staff. Two of the Springdale drug rehabs specialize in offering methadone or buprenorphine for addiction treatment, which means that further addictive drugs are given to people who wish to kick their addictions.

What people in this area who are looking for Springdale drug rehab need are choices. That is why www.arkansas-drugrehab.org was created. When Arkansas families are up against the addiction of one of their members, by contacting www.arkansas-drugrehab.org at 888-816-0667, they have the opportunity to discover their alternatives for drug rehab Springdale.

In some cases, it is best to move an addicted person out of the immediate area in which they were abusing drugs. That way, old drug-using friends and the drug dealer who does not want to lose a customer can’t readily reach them. This facilitates the recovery process, allowing the person to focus on recovery, not fending off a threat from their former drug dealers. Springdale drug rehab should be a positive experience, in which the recovering addict can focus completely on their drug-free future.

When drug rehab in Springdale is hard to find, www.arkansas-drugrehab.org can help you by accessing its database of more than 10,000 facilities in Arkansas and beyond. The recovery you seek can be yours. The counselors at www.arkansas-drugrehab.org have helped thousands of people realize the dream of sobriety for themselves or a loved one and they can help you through the process of finding drug rehab in Springdale or outside the area.

Drugs in Schools Tend to Affect the Entire Student Body

2008-12-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

Parents may try their best to educate their kids to avoid drug use, but if they then send them to a school where drugs or alcohol use or trafficking is common, their efforts are more likely to fail. This is according to a 2008 survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

According to this survey, one-third of parents surveyed felt that the presence of drugs in the child’s school would not increase his or her risk of drug or alcohol use. But in a 2007 report, CASA stated that eighty percent of America’s high school students and 44 percent of middle schools students have personally witnessed drunk or high students or illegal drug use, dealing or possession on school grounds. And that on average, students who go to schools with higher rates of drug abuse themselves manifest higher rates of illegal drug or alcohol use.

This year, for the first time, teens reported that it is easier to get prescription drugs to abuse than it is to obtain beer. And 43 percent said that they knew where to buy marijuana within a day.

“Drugs are out there and our kids know it very well,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma.

“It helps to keep out our kids safe to educate them on the true dangers of drug abuse and to stay fully involved in their lives by sharing experiences with them and having family dinners,” added Mr. Hallmark.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drugs in Schools or visit the Narconon website.

Prescription Drugs in the Home are the Key to Abuse by Teens

2008-12-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

While figures for some kinds of drug use among teens have dropped slightly over the last several years, prescription drug abuse shows no signs of letting up. Supporting this abuse is the ease with which our young people can lay their hands on prescription drugs to abuse, particularly prescription pain relievers.

A recent report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University shows that one-third of teens who know prescription drug abusers say that these kids get their drugs from home. Another third say they can get these drugs from a friend or classmate.

The annual survey of teen attitudes on substance abuse drew the conclusion that probably half of all prescription drugs being abused by teens are coming from someone’s home medicine chest.

And this ease of acquisition showed in the statistics on prescription drug abuse. By 2007, one in every twenty high school seniors had found and tried OxyContin, a powerful narcotic painkiller with a high, when abused, similar to heroin. While this is bad enough, the statistic of seniors who had abused Vicodin, a painkiller containing hydrocodone, was almost twice as high.

“Prescription pain relievers are addictive, whether it’s teens or adults abusing them,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “We help people of all ages, from eighteen to seventy-five and up, recover the drug-free life they lost. Seventy percent of our graduates remain drug-free after graduation, as a result of our holistic program that addresses the three main barriers to recovery: the cravings, guilt and depression experienced by every addict.”

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drugs in the Home or visit the Narconon website.

Drug Abuse by Teens: Parents Are Both Part of the Problem and Part of the Solution

2008-12-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

A recent study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) shows that many parents fail to take essential actions that prevent drug use or drinking by their teenaged children. At the same time, the study shows that parents who do take these actions have children with lower rates of drug or alcohol use, meaning that they can be part of the solution. The study is the annual Back to School Survey, published each year in August 2008.

The factors found to discourage substance abuse by teens were:
• Being engaged in the teens’ day-to-day life
• Relaxing with them
• Frequent family dinners
• Supervision, especially of time spent with friends on weeknights
• Setting positive examples of healthy behavior.

On the other hand, neglect of these factors was found to coincide with greater drug use.

The study found that 46 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds typically leave home to hang out with friends on school nights, but only 14 percent of parents say their kids usually leave home on these nights. The later that teens are out, the more likely it is that they will be around alcohol and drug use while they are out and the more likely it is that they will join in. Apparently, many parents miss the fact that their teens are leaving home at night.

A startling new result in this report was the increase in the percentage of kids who could quickly obtain marijuana. Twenty-three percent of teens can get it in an hour or less, the highest figure yet. Forty-two percent could get it in a day or less. Of those who could get it in an hour or less, nearly half of the teens surveyed had used the drug.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reports that almost two and a half million people initiate use of marijuana each year, more than half of them 12- to 17-year-old children. And many of these people will go on to use other addictive drugs. The director of CASA, Joseph Califano, reports that “Twelve- to seventeen-year-old children who used marijuana were eighty-five times more likely to use cocaine” than those who did not.

“A certain number of young people who start abusing drugs early will wind up addicted and in need of rehabilitation,” commented Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Drug Abuse by Teens or visit the Narconon website.

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

2008-11-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T15:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T09:22:00.001-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-29T09:05:00.001-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

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 and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. 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?

2008-11-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

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 and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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

2008-11-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-27T14:53:00.000-08:00

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 and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor 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.

Drugs/Alcohol and Transportation Are Always a Deadly Mix

2008-09-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Every day, the lives of millions of people depend completely on the operators of trucks, airplanes, ships, trains and cars being substance abuse-free. In dozens of studies done around the world, in the National Transportation and Safety Board investigations of fatal and non-fatal accidents in the U.S., drugs and alcohol have come up thousands of times as factors in accidents.

As in the collision of the Cosco Busan in San Francisco Bay in 2007. The pilot was suffering from sleep apnea and was taking modafinil, a drug that can cause confusion, difficulty seeing, hallucinations or thoughts of suicide. One report stated that he was also taking Valium.

And as in the collision of the Metrolink commuter train in Los Angeles in 2005 in which the train struck a vehicle at a railroad crossing. The driver of the car, Juan Alvarez, admitted that he had been trying to kill himself by placing himself in the path of the train but had changed his mind at the last moment and left the vehicle. Mr. Alvarez suffered from an addiction to methamphetamine.

The Federal Aviation Administration investigates instances of pilot fatalities, and between 1999 and 2003, it made tests of 1629 pilots who were fatally injured in accidents. Drugs or alcohol were found present in 52 percent of those accidents.

A 2005 study by The Walsh Group in Maryland found that of 168 admissions to a trauma center for motor vehicle accidents, more than 65 percent tested positive for either drugs or alcohol.

“These facts all point out the urgent necessity to send anyone suffering from addiction to treatment that will enable them to live a drug-free life,” emphasized Derry Hallmark, the Director of Admissions and a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Our safety and our very lives might depend on that person who is addicted. They might be driving our bus, administering medical treatment, or being an air traffic controller. For our families to grow up in a safe environment, we must enable people to overcome addictions and achieve drug-free lives.”

To read the entire article, please go to: Transportation and Substance Abuse. Or visit the website of Narconon Arrowhead.

Drug Overdoses Are the Second Leading Cause of Unintentional Injury Death in the U.S.

2008-09-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Effective Rehab Becomes an Essential Service as We Lose More Citizens to Unintentional Overdoses than Ever Before

The mortality rates from unintentional drug overdoses have been rising steadily since the early 70s, and in the last ten years, the number of these deaths has reached historic highs. Even the “black tar” heroin epidemic of the mid-70s and the crack cocaine peak in the 90s did not approach today’s numbers.

In 2005, the most recent year for which this data has been studied, 22,400 people died of drug overdoses. As a comparison, 17,000 people died from homicides that year, and only traffic crashes account for more deaths than overdoses.

But it’s not heroin or cocaine that’s leading the list of fatal drugs. The top class of drug is prescription drugs such as opioid painkillers which were listed as the leading cause of death in 38 percent of the cases. Methadone alone contributed 50 percent of the opioid painkiller deaths.

Considered as a group, prescription drugs such as painkillers and sedatives such a benzodiazepine totaled 45 percent of the deaths, whereas cocaine, heroin and amphetamines only amounted to 39 percent of the deaths. Studies have shown that a high percentage of those who die of prescription overdoses have a history of substance abuse, that many have no prescriptions for their drugs, and that some alter the drugs by crushing or dissolving them.

“Prescription drug use is so broadly acceptable in our society that, as a result, many addictive drugs are highly available,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma.

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

A Young Woman's Recovery from Devastating Addiction

2008-09-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is the story of a young woman I recently met and had a chance to interview on her recovery from addiction: Three short years ago, I was smoking crystal meth and snorting OxyContin every day. I was completely hopeless and out of control. My life was spent dancing on a pole in a nightclub, just to be able to afford the next hit that I was going to take in the club’s bathroom.

Self-respect did not exist. Instead, it was replaced by a false sense of confidence that I exhibited to all those who came in contact with me. I hated my parents, my life, and myself. I thought that drugs helped me feel “normal.” I didn’t realize that the drugs just kept the more basic problems out of sight.

On October 9, 2005, I hit that "bottom" that you hear addicts talk about. That moment is as fresh for me as yesterday.

That moment came when I was all alone, sitting in a hospital emergency room. I was covered in blood and looking through my cell phone for someone to come help me. I saw the other people in the ER all had family or friends with them. None of the “friends” I had been getting high with for years would come help me. My family refused to have anything to do with me.

I’d started bleeding heavily a few hours before. Just before I drove myself to the ER, I shot up crystal meth and OxyContin. In the ER, I found out that I was four months pregnant and miscarrying. I was so out of touch that I didn’t even know I was pregnant.

For hours, the nurses monitored my hormone levels as I waited for my unborn child to die inside me. Finally, the doctor came in and let me know that last hit I had taken had killed my baby. Trembling and hysterical, I called my mother. She didn't believe anything I told her because, like a typical addict, I had been lying to her and manipulating her for years.

That was the moment I hit bottom. Instead of calling anyone else to help, I turned my cell phone around and took a video of myself, makeup smeared down my face from crying. I told myself in that video, “Remember this moment.”

For the rest of this story, please visit: A Young Woman's Recovery. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Fight Crime by Eliminating Addiction

2008-08-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

In every state in the Union, crime and arrest statistics show the relationship between drug or alcohol abuse and crime. And Texas is no exception. An examination of ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program) statistics shows that between 50 and 60 percent of adult male arrestees in four Texas cities tested positive for cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates or PCP in 2000. The numbers ranged from a high of 59 percent in Laredo to a low of 52.9 percent in San Antonio. Marijuana was the top drug found in Dallas, and 45 percent of all arrestees in Laredo tested positive for cocaine.

The same year, the economic impact of drug or alcohol abuse in Texas was an estimated $25.9 billion. This means a cost of more than $1,200 for every man, woman and child in the state.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy states the connection this way: “Most directly, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture or distribute drugs…drugs are also related to crime through the effects they have on the user’s behavior and by generating violence and other illegal activity in connection with drug trafficking.” Illicit drug users are about 16 times more likely than nonusers to be arrested for theft, 9 times more likely to be arrested for assault.

The loss of life to drugs or alcohol is another cost that it’s hard to put a price tag on. Thousands of Texans lose their lives each year to substance abuse. In 2002, 1,677 people in Harris County and 1,070 people in Dallas County died this way.

“Whether a person starts using drugs first or starts committing crimes first, the result is the same: a dwindling spiral of loss of self-respect and hope that leads to more drug use and more crime,” said Gary W. Smith, Executive Director of Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation and education centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma.

To read the rest of the article, go to: Fight Crime by Eliminating Addiction. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

National Recovery Month Points Out Necessity of Acting Early to Eliminate Addiction

2008-08-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

September is the time to celebrate National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. That makes September the right time for families to approach family members with an addiction problem to help them find their way onto the path to recovery now.

When families realize that a son, daughter or other member is having a problem with drugs or alcohol, the natural tendency is to try to help them find a new job, a new place to live, or help them out with bills or legal fees. All too often, however, this route leads to tens of thousands of dollars invested without that expense resulting in recovery from addiction. By the time many families start a serious search for rehabilitation, their financial options are severely limited and their emotions have been ravaged. The addicted person may have been through multiple stays in jail, may have lost their children, spouse, health, business and everything they own by this time.

“Many addicts promise to quit but in fact, can’t get clean without help,” stated Derry Hallmark, Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead, one of the nation’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “When a person has a pattern of continuing to use drugs or alcohol despite damage to life, family and work, that should tip a family off to the need for rehab. If a family continues to bail out the addict from one problem after another, they are actually helping the addict continue their addiction rather than insisting on recovery. Their insistence may be what that addict needs to face the drug or alcohol problem.”

To read the rest of the article, please click here:
National Recovery Month. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Parents Need to Know How to Protect Kids from Drugs in Schools

2008-08-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

According to a study by the Columbia University National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, eighty percent of high school students in American have personally witnessed drug use or possession or drunk or high students at their schools. Forty-four percent of middle school children have had the same experience. The study also showed that students in drug-infested schools are much more likely to use drugs or alcohol themselves.

Until school systems learn how to turn this situation around, a student’s primary line of defense is his or her parents. To protect their children, parents must learn what changes may indicate that the student has started abusing drugs or alcohol. Symptoms include:

Missed classes, lateness, incomplete or missing assignments, falling grades

Accidents, mistakes

Sudden, unexplained weight loss or gain

Neglect of school, work or family affairs

Discontinuation of hobbies, sports or group activities

Deterioration in appearance or hygiene

Change in communication with family or good friends

Secretive behavior

Missing money or unexplained money or new and expensive items, missing items of value

Health problems, change in sleep patterns, runny nose, cough, irritated skin, hangovers

Explosive arguments, often over small matters

To read the remainder of this article, please go to:
Parents Need to Know How to Protect Kids from Drugs in Schools. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

The Road to a Miracle: From Hell’s Angel to Helping Addicts Achieve Drug-Free Lives

2008-08-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

It was a long road from being a Hell’s Angel addicted to amphetamines to finally becoming a productive drug-free individual spending his life helping others get off drugs.

The road started in New Jersey where George Veliskakis grew up. It then led through the Hell’s Angels and amphetamines and then through a heroin addiction George battled while running a boxing gym. Fortunately, the road finally arrived at a drug-free life in which he could help others overcome the addiction problems he had suffered from.

George’s first encounter with drugs came after he lost an eye while being abused by other kids. “They were teasing me about being Greek and one of them accidentally stabbed me in the eye with a knife,” George explained. While in the hospital, one of the nurses convinced George that he needed a painkiller for the eye injury. “I only realized years later what happened,” he went on. “The nurses wanted to get some morphine for their own use so they got me to ask for a painkiller when I wasn’t even in pain. They gave me a little, laughed when I got high then they got high themselves. Many years later when I got injured and actually needed painkillers, these memories came back to me and I figured out what had been going on.”

In his 20s, George joined the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club. He began to use and sell amphetamines and other drugs and spent two terms in jail. After the second jail term, he decided to get clean and return to the athletic world that had helped him succeed when he was a young man.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: From Hells Angel to Helping Addicts Achieve Drug-Free Lives. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Effective Rehab Enables Native American Man to Reclaim his Life from Drugs and Alcohol

2008-07-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I interviewed Gilbert Moses, Jr., who came to Narconon from the Tulalip Reservation north of Seattle. Gilbert is at the end of his program, just about ready to graduate. Here's an excerpt from his story. To read the entire story, click the link at the end.

Gilbert Moses, Jr. was a young Native American man that many people tried to help starting when he was fifteen years old. That was when he starting taking alcohol to school, keeping it in his locker. Soon after, he was kicked out of school and got into trouble with the law for fighting. Unfortunately, it took many years for him to find a program that would both relieve him of the need for alcohol and his tendency to get into fights.

It wasn’t that he didn’t try to find help. Multiple trips to rehab failed to give Gilbert the tools and life skills he needed to stay clean. Drinking progressed to drugs. “Every time I left a rehab,” Gilbert commented. “I went back into the same situation. I kept getting in trouble and losing jobs. I got sober in rehab but didn’t learn how to stay sober. It was a dwindling spiral.”

After 25 years of attempts to get and stay clean, Gilbert’s tribal counselor asked him if he really wanted help. Gilbert looked at the time he’d spent in jail and how the same problems kept coming up over and over again. He said yes, although he didn’t expect the next rehab experience to be very different from the ones he’d done in the past. He was about to find out that some rehabs are very different. He flew to Canadian, Oklahoma to the long-term holistic drug rehab Narconon Arrowhead.

To read this entire story, please go to: Native American Man Reclaims Life. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

Young Vancouver Musician Restores His Goals After Overcoming Cocaine Addiction

2008-07-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to interview one of our graduates, Jordan Field. Jordan is a very talented young musician from Vancouver, British Columbia. His story is a reminder that is it possible to leave addiction behind if you have the right program. Here's the beginning to his story. To finish the story, just click the link at the bottom.

Like a lot of teenagers, Jordan Field was rebellious in his teenage years. However, not every rebellious teen becomes addicted to cocaine when they hit their early twenties, but Jordan did. Fortunately, Jordan found a drug rehab that taught him the life skills he needs to live drug-free from now on, freeing him to concentrate on his musical talents.

“I’ve been a musician and a dancer most of my life,” Jordan said. “But when I got into using cocaine and ecstasy, I lost sight of my goals completely.” Somehow, Jordan managed to keep his drug use a secret from his family. “I was staying up for three or four days at a time on cocaine. Finally it hit me that if I want to succeed in life and in my musical career, it won’t involve drugs.”

To finish this story, please go to: Young Musician Restores Goals. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

$60 Million Still Being Poured Into National Anti-Drug Campaign Proven a Failure

2008-07-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

A study by the Rockville, Maryland research group Westat, validated by the General Accounting Office, showed that $1.2 billion of taxpayer money was pumped into a youth anti-drug campaign that failed to show a positive result. The campaign was the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign that ran between 1998 and 2004, created and run by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a branch of the White House.

The Westat group measured improvements in drug use or opinions of drug use by students and found that the campaign, rather than lessening drug use, “may have promoted perceptions among exposed youth that others’ drug use was normal.”

Even parents receiving these drug messages were not impressed. The Westat review showed that more parents talked to their kids about drugs subsequent to being exposed to the campaign but did not monitor their children’s drug use any more vigilantly.

Still, the ONDCP was bold enough to recently ask Congress for another $130 million to continue the campaign. On their website they complain of a lack of support when the response was just $60 million for this failed campaign.

How many kids could Narconon drug education reach with $130 million? We'd even settle for $60 million. There are plenty of measurable results from our drug education outreach, based on the surveys done of students at the end of our presentations.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: $60 Million. Or visit the website at Narconon Arrowhead.

How Do You Help Someone Who Doesn't Want to be Helped?

2008-06-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

If there was a disease suffered by one out of every ten Americans over twelve years of age, wouldn’t you agree that this disease was raging out of control? That’s exactly the situation that exists with drug abuse and dependence.

The government agency that monitors the statistics on drug abuse and dependence is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA). In 2006, SAMHSA estimated, based on tens of thousands of surveys, that more than twenty-two million Americans were suffering from drug or alcohol abuse or drug or alcohol dependence. This compares to the Centers for Disease Control’s estimate of 1.1 million Americans who are HIV positive and it’s twice the number of people who suffered from all types of cancer combined.

To read the entire article, go to Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime. Or visit the website at Narconon Arrowhead.

New Booklet Supports Efforts to Conquer Addiction

2008-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

New Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime Supports Senator Jim Webb's Efforts to Conquer Drug Abuse and Addiction. As acknowledged by Senator Jim Webb in this month’s hearing of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, America’s drug war has failed to curb the numbers of citizens abusing and becoming addicted to drugs.

The most recent National Survey of Drug Use and Health reported record-breaking levels of illicit drug abuse. Other federal agencies report rapidly multiplying numbers of Americans in custody and hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year in a vain attempt to curb the problem.

In 2006, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than 23 million Americans aged 12 or older needed treatment for illicit drug or alcohol abuse. The Bureau of Justice Statistics cites more than half a million more were in custody for drug charges.

“These raw figures by themselves don’t tell the whole tale,” stated Gary Smith, the Executive Director of Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “You have to look at the fact that those needing treatment have families and that more than twelve million of them are employed either full-time or part-time."

For the entire press release, please go to: New Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime.. Or visit the website at Narconon Arrowhead.

The Five Stages of Drug Use

2008-06-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Every minute of every day, around the clock, five people try an illicit drug for the first time. That adds up to nearly three million people per year. Tragically, more than half of these initiates are under 18.

People using drugs go through several stages on their way to full-blown addiction:

Stage 1: They’re curious about drug use; they may ask questions or ask to join those using drugs. They willingly listen to stories about the effects of drugs. They watch others obtaining drugs or using them.

Stage 2: They experiment with drugs and discover the effects. This is usually social, recreational use carried out as part of a group, usually on weekends. The peer pressure of the group use is enough reason for many people to continue to use drugs.
To read the entire article, please go to: Five Stages of Drug Use. Or visit the website for Narconon Arrowhead.

NEW! Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime

2008-06-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

When a loved one is addicted to drugs, alcohol or other substances, families can be desperate for help. But what kind of help is often provided? Addiction treatment using other addictive substances is the norm. In fact, most medications used for addiction treatment become substances of abuse themselves -- which means that people use them to get high.

What any family wants -- and what addicts themselves want, down deep -- is addiction treatment that truly brings about addiction recovery for a lifetime.

Now, Narconon Arrowhead is releasing the Guide to Addiction Recovery for a Lifetime. This new booklet, available free for the asking, will guide a person from my loved one is addicted to drugs or alcohol all the way to my loved one has made a lasting recovery from their addiction. This valuable guide even includes instruction on how to do an intervention to get the addicted person into treatment.

For your free copy, call 1-800-468-6938 today or visit www.stopaddiction.com. Or visit the Narconon Arrowhead website.

SALVIA: Hallucinogenic drug legal in most states

2008-06-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

While many people have never even heard of Salvia divinorum, an estimated 750,000 Americans not only knew about it but consumed it last year. Salvia divinorum is a variety of sage plant, fully legal in most states, that is used by those looking for a drug-induced altered perception experience.

Depending on how the drug is taken, onset of the effects may just take seconds and last for five minutes to half an hour. The Drug Enforcement Agency lists these effects of the drug: Perceptions of bright lights, vivid colors and shapes; distortion of body movements and body or objects; state of feeling unwell; uncontrolled laughter; a sense of loss of body; overlapping realities; hallucinations; incoordination; dizziness; slurred speech.

Salvia is acquired through the internet or from retail stores in states where it is not yet illegal. The effects are so powerful and uncontrolled that it’s recommended that new users or those about to use a high potency of the drug have a “sitter,” a person who remains sober and looks out for the safety of the drug user.

There are no federal laws controlling its possession or use. Twelve states have made this drug illegal or regulate its sale and use while thirteen more states have pending legislation. For the last two years, a debate has been waged online and in various media about the need to prohibit the possession of the substance. But once you’re outside the circle of those interested in taking or controlling mind-altering drugs, the name Salvia divinorum may draw a blank among parents, school officials and even some law enforcement personnel.

The most vivid way of finding out for oneself what this drug is like is to tune in to www.YouTube.com. Do a search for “salvia” and more than four thousand results will come up. Watch a few of these videos and then decide for yourself how you think the drug should be handled.

“Young people who are not educated about drugs and their dangers may try Salvia or other drugs just because they hear their friends talking about them,” said Ryan Thorpe, Director of Admissions of Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation and education centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Peer pressure is one of the biggest influences in the initiation of drug use and in the decision to continue to use drugs. Unfortunately, just a few uses of some of the drugs our young people use is enough to get them addicted. Preventing drug use initiation is far easier and less expensive than rehabilitation.”

For more than forty years, the Narconon network of more than 120 centers around the world has restored drug and alcohol abusers and addicts to a clean and sober lifestyle. The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez in Arizona State Prison, and is based on the humanitarian works of L. Ron Hubbard. For more information on how you can help a loved one addicted to drugs or alcohol, contact Narconon Arrowhead at 1-800-468-6933 or visit the Narconon Arrowhead website. Or visit the Narconon Arrowhead website.

Understanding Addiction and How to Heal Addicted Lives

2008-06-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been baffled by addiction, you're not alone. Family members and close friends are commonly baffled by the phenomena their loved ones go through -- often for years before they realize what they are up again.

The manifestations of addiction are very often missed by parents, wives and employers. All they know is that they are having problems with a loved one. They are missing work, money is suddenly in short supply, there are lost days and weeks and tempers are short.

To help educate the public on addiction so they seek help in time to save the addict, and to provide the true data about how addiction is truly eliminated, Narconon Arrowhead has published the booklet Healing Addicted Lives.

An article describing the availability of this booklet can be found here: Healing Addicted Lives article

The booklet can be read online at: HAL booklet

Introduction to a DrugFree World

2008-06-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is my own personal blog as a Narconon Arrowhead staff member. You may know that we're the largest Narconon in the world, treating hundreds of drug or alcohol addicts at any one time. I wanted a way to tell people about the world inside Narconon and wonderful life-saving wins that people have here. I also wanted a place to explain to people why drug education and addiction treatment are such vital ways to put your energies.

I am constantly researching the worlds of drug use/addiction/trafficking and drug treatment. More of this information needs to be made available to the public because the media has the lid clamped on pretty tight. There are cities with terrible drug problems in which the media is not saying a thing, perhaps to protect the city's image and property values.

As I come across information that I think it is important, I'll post it here.