Hope for Alcoholism Treatment
Many families have learned the frustration of trying to help an alcoholic family member when they did… [more]
Crack Cocaine Recovery
The devastation that crack cocaine wreaked on America in the late 1980s was about as destructive of families… [more]
Teen Alcohol and Prescription Drug Use May Create Need for Rehab
It may come as no surprise to parents of teenagers that there is often a hidden world among teens that… [more]
Should Parents Use Drug Tests if More than Half of All High School Students are Abusing Drugs?
In light of recent study results that show that more than fifty percent of schoolchildren have abused… [more]
How Pain Killers Can Lead to Addiction
How Pain Killers Can Lead to Addiction It can often happen that one inadvertently gets hooked on pain… [more]
The Benefits to Your Community of Effective Drug Rehab
If one looks at the costs of drug treatment, law enforcement, the judicial system and welfare costs due… [more]
How do you know if Addiction is a Disease?
You may have heard that addiction is a disease, but let us examine how that premise fits into the treatment and recovery from drug addiction.
Many professionals and even government agencies present that idea, and support it with brain scan images and even plenty of scientific data.
However, if a completely different idea could result in full recovery from drug addiction, it seems that this would disprove the idea that addiction is a disease.
This will become clearer as you read on.
How does classifying addiction as a disease benefit anyone?
For one thing, we know that if addiction is classified as a disease, one would need to go to the doctor for medical treatment. This means about 22 million potential American patients in the form of drug addicts, plus tens of millions more outside the U.S. who would be treated by the medical industry. Pharmaceutical companies are busily working on creating more drugs to market to this segment of the medical industry.
In the past, pharmaceutical companies have sold heroin, morphine, opium, codeine and methadone, just to name a few drugs, which at one time were sold as non-addictive, and then later found to be as addictive as other drugs they were replacing. Recently, there are drugs prescribed under the brand names of Suboxone and Subutex, both formulations of buprenorphine that are given to addicts to help them get off other drugs or alcohol. These may all be prescribed for long-term “control” of drug addiction. What this means actually, is that a person trades one drug for another, and continues to take it, sometimes for years, providing a steady stream of income for both the doctors who prescribe and administer the drugs and the pharmaceutical industry who sells them.
Another point to take into account is that when one classifies addiction as a disease, its treatment is often paid for under medical insurance.
If one believes that addiction is a disease, then one might not consider other drug treatment regimens such as nutrition, faith-based, or other alternative methods of overcoming addiction. However, the fact is that nutrition, faith and other alternatives each have a part in helping many people to live a sober life following their addiction experience. By continuing to define addiction as a disease, it also allows one not to take responsibility for his condition, pointing to the “I’m sick” excuse as the reason for continued drug taking.
A more accurate definition of addiction would be a condition wherein one repeats compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol or other similar substances despite the negative consequences, whether physical, social or mental. Usually, it also consists of both a physical and psychological dependency on the substance abused, and the appearance of withdrawal symptoms when removing the addictive substance.
In 1966, William Benitez, who founded Narconon, wrote this about his understanding of what addiction was:
“I realized that drug addiction was nothing more than a ‘disability,’ resulting when a person ceases to use abilities essential to constructive survival. I found that if a person rehabilitated and applied certain abilities, that person could persevere toward goals set, confront life, isolate problems and resolve them, communicate with life, be responsible and set ethical standards, and function within the band of certainty.”
Mr. Benitez found that he could apply the written works of L. Ron Hubbard on the mind and human spirit, to recover from his heroin addiction after many years of failing to overcome the condition. He continued by developing the first form of the Narconon program and had good results with other inmates recovering from their addictions. Later, after his release from prison, he started by opening the first Narconon center in Los Angeles, California and continued to help several hundred addicts return to sober lives.
If one reviews the average recovery rate from conventional programs in the U.S. dealing with addiction, most centers say that 16% to 20% of people recover from addiction. Some treatment modalities have lower rates.
But, at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, seventy percent of graduates remain clean and sober after completion. This is one of the best recovery rates in the entire addiction rehab field.
If you are considering Narconon services for you or your loved one, consider your own philosophy of drug recovery. Then talk to a Narconon intake counselor and learn all the details of the Narconon program. Call today to get accurate, scientific-based data to help you make your decision.
Is Addiction a Disease?
By some specialists, addiction is stated to be a disease comparable with other diseases like diabetes or hypertension. With this mindset, patients who come in for drug abuse and addiction treatment can be told that this disease is incurable and the best that can be done is to “manage” the addiction with other drugs.
Several drugs have been tested and a few have been approved by the FDA for treating certain drug addictions, such as methadone, buprenorphine (brandnamed Suboxone or Subutex), benzodiazepines and Antabuse. These are used to treat addiction in some treatment centers, making it easier for them to bill insurance companies for their rehab treatment.
Unfortunately what this treatment actually does is prolong a dependency on drugs, just substituting different ones than those the patient came in on. Curing drug addiction with drug addiction certainly doesn’t offer a lasting cure.
In fact, there are countries where a heroin addict, for example, is given access to free clean needles, safe houses, and even free drugs at times, so he can maintain his drug habit but avoid some of the other public health perils that his addiction can lead to. HIV, AIDS, hepatitis and other life-threatening diseases are common in drug addicts and are often the result of injecting themselves with contaminated or reused needles.
The theory underlying this type of treatment is that drug addiction is not only a disease, but an incurable one, and once one is a drug addict, he will remain one for his lifetime.
Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers do not believe that drug addiction is a disease at all. In fact, it is not their experience that addiction is incurable. From all reports, both staff and people who have undergone the Narconon program found it is fully possible to recover from drug addiction and enjoy a healthy and productive life. It is even commonplace at Narconon that people completing the program resume their lives with a totally fresh outlook, free from the cravings that drove them to constant drug use before rehab.
Seventy Percent of Narconon Graduates Stay Drug-free
This may sound unrealistic to some people, but it is the common experience of hundreds of thousands of people who have been helped to break the addiction cycle at Narconon over the past 45 years. Seventy percent of Narconon graduates stay drug-free and sober after completing the program. Narconon offers real help for drug addiction.
Narconon does not use legal drugs to help people recover from illegal substance addiction.
In the Narconon drug-free program, one first goes through a surprisingly tolerable withdrawal period, followed by an intensive detox on the unique Narconon New Life Detoxification Program. It is during this stage of the program that many participants report a much lower desire for drugs or even no cravings at all after this part is completed.
Then, Narconon ensures that the person will be able to maintain his drug-free state by learning important life skills. These include the skill he needs to face and handle those reasons he originally became addicted to drugs. He works at improving his communication skills; he finds out the reasons that people experience ups and downs in life; and he learns who to associate with instead of those who helped him become or stay addicted to drugs.
He also learns how to take responsibility for his past actions, including making up the damage done to loved ones. And, before he completes the Narconon program, the student has charted his own course for his future drug-free, healthy and productive life.
Narconon exists on six continents and there are more than 50 Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers around the world.
Call a Narconon rehab program today for more details or to get some information about Narconon school drug education programs.
What is Addiction?
The definition of addiction is a condition that consists of a repeated, compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance despite the adverse social or mental or physical consequences. Often this is accompanied by a physical or a psychological dependence and tolerance, and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal.
The person addicted to drugs or alcohol may truly desire to quit and may make many promises to do so, but despite his sincere desire to stop and get clean, he cannot seem to do so. In these cases, the problem is addiction, and the individual needs professional help to get and stay sober.
There are many drugs of choice, and one can become addicted to any one of several illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine or marijuana. One can be hooked on “speed” type drugs such as methamphetamines or amphetamines, or to any form of alcohol. Lately there has been a huge increase in addiction to prescription drugs, particularly the opioid painkiller oxycodone, sold under the brand name OxyContin.
In fact, people can even become addicted to inhalants, which are “huffed” or inhaled, such as compressed air for cleaning computers and spray paint.
Another category is the synthetic drugs often referred to as “club drugs.” These include GHB, Rohypnol and ketamine. These have addictive properties too, although one might consume them initially unintentionally (such as Rohypnol, which is known as the “date rape” drug). And many people become addicted to more than one drug.
You Can Overcome Drug Addiction
Whatever drug one is addicted to, when one has decided to actually get free of the addiction, there is help available.
The Narconon program is a drug-free program which has helped many tens of thousands of people to get off drugs and stay off them for the past 45 years. It consists of two main phases.
In the first phase, one rids the body of the harmful effects of drugs, and detoxifies it with a very effective yet tolerable program. The newly arrived person to a Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation center will be given plenty of good nutrition and supplements such as vitamins and minerals. In addition he experiences one on one counseling and physical assists, much like gentle massages which make this first withdrawal phase much more tolerable than one might expect.
After the initial withdrawal, he is ready for the unique Narconon New Life Detoxification program. This deep detoxification consists of daily moderate exercise, time in a dry-heat sauna, and more nutritional supplementation. The length of time needed to fully rid the body of the toxins and drug residues lodged in the fatty tissues of the body will vary from person to person, but following this step, most Narconon students (not patients) report reduced or no drug cravings.
After completing this step, the Narconon student goes on to the second phase, where he will study six more courses giving him several key life skills needed to return to a life without dependency on drugs or alcohol. His former addictive life choices are replaced with healthy drug-free alternatives. He learns how to confront, communicate and control his life without resorting to drugs for escape. During this time in the program, he also really regains his self-respect and his own moral compass, and only graduates the program when he has a workable plan for living a drug-free and alcohol-free life.
Seventy percent of Narconon graduates remain drug and alcohol-free two years after completion of the program. When you or a loved one is ready to overcome drug addiction, call a Narconon rehab center and a representative will assist you.
Debate over Marijuana and Medical Marijuana Continues
Marijuana, whose botanical name is Cannabis sativa, has been used by humans for thousands of years. The main psychoactive (affecting the mind or behavior) chemical is tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC. For over 3,000 years, the dried ground leaves, flowers, and stems of the plant have been smoked, eaten, chewed, or brewed as a medicine to relieve symptoms of illness.
In the 1920s, as a result of Prohibition, the use of marijuana as a psychoactive drug began to grow. Even following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, marijuana (along with morphine, heroin, and cocaine) continued to be widely used.
In 1937, 46 states banned the use of marijuana. Less than fifty years later, in 1985, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave approval for the use of two psychoactive chemicals from marijuana to prevent nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy in cancer treatment. Medical researchers also propose using marijuana to ease the effects of glaucoma, as a bronchodilator (a drug that helps open the bronchial air passages in the lungs), and as an antidepressant. Because of these uses, the term “medical marijuana” was coined.
Medical marijuana use has surged in the 16 states and the District of Columbia that allow its use. But states and cities are also still wrestling with the question of what medical marijuana is, or should be. Many states and the Federal government still consider the drug illegal, and so the sixteen states with legalized medical marijuana have laws which are in conflict with some Federal laws at this time.
Many different opinions have been voiced by voters in different states and the legislatures vary significantly in their acceptance of such legalization. The federal government continues to oppose any decriminalization of the drug. And while the Obama administration has indicated some leeway when it comes to medical marijuana, raids on dispensaries and growers by law enforcement agencies are still common – even in California, where the industry effectively began in 1996, with the passage of the landmark Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana.
In any case, recreational, non-medical use of marijuana has been steadily increasing among teenagers. According to a December 2011 government report, one out of every 15 high school students smokes marijuana on a near daily basis, a figure that has reached a 30-year peak even as use of alcohol, cigarettes and cocaine among teenagers continued a slow decline. The long-running annual study, called the Monitoring the Future, conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, questioned more than 46,000 students from 386 public and private schools nationwide. Overall, about 25 percent of 8th, 10th and 12th graders who took part in the study reported using marijuana in the past year, up from about 21 percent in 2007.1
The popularity of marijuana, which is now more prevalent among 10th graders than cigarette smoking, reflects what researchers and drug officials say is a growing perception among teenagers that habitual marijuana use carries little risk of harm. That perception, experts say, is fueled in part by wider familiarity with medical marijuana and greater ease in obtaining it.
If you or your loved ones are regularly using marijuana or other drugs, there is a way out that is effective and drug-free. The Narconon program has been effectively helping to rehabilitate drug addicts and alcoholics since 1966.
The Narconon school drug education program is also available to help educate kids about the dangers of drugs.
Resources
http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html
http://drugabuse.gov/newsroom/11/mtf11overview.html
Global Alcohol Abuse Claims 2.5 Million Deaths a Year
According to the World Health Organization’s Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH)1, harmful use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths annually. The report also mentions that there are 60 different types of diseases where alcohol is a significant causal element.
Alcohol, as any family member of an alcoholic knows too well, also causes harm to the well-being and health of people surrounding the drinker. In 2005, the worldwide total consumption was equal to 6.13 liters of pure alcohol for every person aged 15 years and older. This is just what was recorded, and unrecorded consumption is estimated to make that statistic about thirty percent higher.
In 2010, WHO launched its first global report on substance use disorders and resources to deal with this global problem of epidemic proportions.
As part of this project, the WHO collected data from 147 countries, which representats 88% of the world’s population. One of its findings was that alcohol kills 35 people and illicit drugs kill four people per every 100,000 people annually.
Dr. Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse said that alcohol and illicit drugs are harming millions of people the world over in many different ways, including injuries, cardiovascular disease, HIV, Hepatitis C and several cancers. Dr. Saxena added, “WHO’s new report on substance abuse lays out what resources exist today in different parts of the world to reduce this harm, and highlights critical gaps in service delivery which should be overcome.”
Men are more likely to be affected by alcoholism and its burden of disease and injuries, which in 2004, accounted for 7.6% of all diseases and injuries among men. In the same year, 1.4% of women’s injuries and disease were linked to alcohol use, according to the report.
Another report also published by WHO, also calls for action to reduce the health impact of harmful alcohol use. In their Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health3 published early in 2011, data is provided on over 100 countries on alcohol consumption. In this latest report, they found that twenty percent of men in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries die from alcohol-related causes.
Harmful use of alcohol has other significant impacts on public health:
Almost 4% of all deaths worldwide are related to alcohol. Most alcohol-related deaths result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis.
Globally, 320,000 young people aged 15-29 years die annually, from alcohol-related causes, accounting for 9% of all deaths in that age group.
From 1999, when WHO first began to report on alcohol policies by various countries, more than 34 countries have adopted some type of formal policies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Restrictions on alcohol marketing and drunk driving have increased, but there is no clear movement on most preventive measures. Many countries have weak and ineffective alcohol policies and prevention programs, according to this report.
Narconon has been helping alcoholics and drug addicts to effectively deal with their addiction and get sober and straight and stay that way for more than 40 years. Since 1966, on six continents of the world, each Narconon rehab center has effectively helped people stay free of alcohol.
If you suspect a family member might be an alcoholic, call today.
Resources:
http://www.who.int/gho/alcohol/en/
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/Media/en/
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/alcohol_20110211/en/index.html
Alcohol Potentially a Fatal Poison
Headlines of USA Today proclaimed in October, 2011 that Amy Winehouse, who was well known to have been battling drug and alcohol abuse problems, ultimately died after drinking too much alcohol. She was found to have died of an “unintended consequence” of her drinking.
Her death was not ruled a suicide by the London coroner because she presumably didn’t realize that by drinking so much she pushed her blood alcohol level over five times the legal limit for drunk driving, and that this level was potentially fatal.
Her tragic death points out the actual risk factors involved in chronic excessive alcohol abuse. Amy was trying to battle the addiction according to this report, and had been prescribed, among other drugs, the sedative Librium to help her cope with the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, but clearly she couldn’t cope with those symptoms and literally drank herself to death.
Excessive drinking can cause death in many ways. One is the aspiration of vomit which can lead to asphyxiation; another is poisoning of the respiratory center in the brain. Of course, fatal automobile accidents and fights and violent crimes resulting in injury are some others.
Sadly, many college students and other young people who watch others drink excessively or even laugh at others who are passing out due to alcohol, later say they wish they’d sought medical attention for their friends. In many cases, these students end up feeling guilty for alcohol-related tragedies which could have been prevented.
Knowing the signs of alcohol poisoning would help, and also knowing what to do if one suspects someone they know has alcohol poisoning are crucial educational measures to prevent more needless deaths.
There are common myths about sobering up including taking a cold shower, drinking black coffee and sleeping it off. But these don’t work and could be dangerous as they overlook the fact that alcohol levels can keep climbing after drinking stops.
The only thing that reverses the effects of alcohol is time, which unfortunately is something your friend may not have if he is suffering from alcohol poisoning. Also, because many different factors affect the level of intoxication for each individual, it is hard to gauge exactly how much is too much alcohol consumption for one person.
Here is what happens to the body when it gets alcohol poisoning:
Alcohol depresses some of the nerves involved in involuntary actions of the body like breathing and the gag reflex which prevents choking.
Vomiting is a common response to alcohol drinking to excess, as alcohol is a stomach irritant. A person who is unconscious due to intoxication can inhale this vomit and therefore die of asphyxiation.
After a person has passed out in a drunken stupor, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) can continue to rise in their body. This is because the alcohol in the stomach and intestines keeps being absorbed into the bloodstream and it circulates throughout the body. Therefore it is dangerous to think the person will be okay if you just let them sleep it off. Their BAC can reach such high levels that they stop breathing before the body can break down the alcohol into harmless components.
So, what should one do if you suspect your friend has alcohol poisoning? First, know the danger signs, such as mental confusion, stupor, coma, vomiting, seizures, slow breathing and irregular breathing. Also, hypothermia is a symptom of alcohol poisoning, which can be evaluated by the paleness or bluish color of the skin, as well as a cold feel to the body.
Second, don’t wait for all these symptoms to present themselves in your friend. If you see one or two, it is time to call 911 and get help. If your friend is unconscious due to excessive alcohol consumption, they may never wake up.
You can take action also by seeing that any friend or family member who uses alcohol to excess gets help at a reputable and effective drug and alcohol rehab center. Surprisingly, in a 2009 study, nearly two-thirds of all alcohol addicts never even seek help to recover from their addiction.
Narconon has been helping alcoholics and other drug addicts to get sober and straight and stay that way for over 45 years on six continents of the world.
Call a Narconon alcohol treatment center if you know someone who needs help with alcohol abuse.
Resouces:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2011-10-26/amy-winehouse-pathologist/50927104/
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/factsaboutalcoholpoisoning.aspx
Mexican Drug Cartels Responsible for Deaths of More than 40,000 Since 2006
According to a recent New York Times1 article, Mexico is deeply engrossed in a battle with well-financed drug cartels.
The Mexican government says more than 40,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calder took office in 2006 and threw the might of his federal police and military at the cartels. However, the death toll for 2010 was 15,237, the heaviest yet. The violence has been fueled by a splintering of drug organizations under siege, which leads to escalating rounds of bloody infighting over territory and criminal control. Some of the battles have spanned the border with the US, and now many heroin addicts in the Midwest of the US can trace their heroin usage to drugs supplied by the Mexican cartels.
In October 2010, the Mexican government announced that it was preparing a plan to radically alter the nation’s police force, hoping to instill a trust the public has never had in them and to choke off a critical source of manpower for organized crime.
In October, a New York Times article described how American law enforcement agencies have significantly built up networks of Mexican informants that have allowed them to secretly infiltrate some of that country’s most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations.
This is probably only the tip of the iceberg, however, as the problem of drugs from Mexico infiltrating the US is growing at an alarming rate. More and more American families are affected by this influx of illegal drugs, and despite the best efforts of Mexican and American authorities, it seems the supply of the drugs is endless.
How does one really stop this ever-burgeoning crime and drug wave? The answer is to cut down the demand for illegal drugs. This is a daunting challenge which will need to be approached by everyone, not only those directly affected by drug abuse. A concerted effort by churches, community groups, government, police and others will need to sincerely attack the drug dealers and ultimately the drug abusers so that they don’t have such a large demand for drugs.
But, if you or your family member has been directly affected by drug abuse, you know that it is a very difficult pattern to break. In fact, only with an extremely effective rehab program do drug abusers stand a chance of changing their destructive patterns and turning around their lives.
Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs are making a significant dent in the problem. The Narconon program has been helping all kinds of drug and alcohol abusers for over forty years. It boasts a success rate of seventy percent of its graduates who stay clean and sober for at least two years after they complete the program.
There are even simple programs which allow a friend or family member to help the addict to safely and comfortably withdraw from the drug. This “First Step” program has already been successfully introduced in many parts of Mexico, and its acceptance is rapidly growing.
Call one of our representatives if you need help finding a Narconon drug rehab center.
Resources:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/drug_trafficking/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/us/31border.html
Prevention of Over-Consumption of Alcohol
Although you often hear alarming statistics about how much alcohol is consumed and the consequences of over-consumption, the issue really becomes much more direct and personal when it affects you, your family, friends or close associates. The societal implications and public health issues raised by alcohol excess was the topic of a few recent research reports, conducted by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The broad implications also apply on a personal level.
It is fairly well known that drinking and driving is a significant factor in automobile injuries and deaths in the U.S. In fact, alcohol was involved in forty percent of traffic crash fatalities and seven percent of all crashes in 2003, which tallied more than 17,000 fatalities and over 275,000 car accidental injuries, according to the NHTSA study of 2004.
In 2008, the NHTSA study found that car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and that one out of three of those deaths are alcohol-related. Moreover, teen alcohol use kills about 6,000 people each year, more than all illegal drugs combined.
If you or your family members have been involved in one of these accidents, you understand quite well the desire to get drunken drivers off the road, and more to the point, prevent them from drinking and driving in the first place. Many organizations such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and others have sprung up and are working very diligently to lobby against drinking and driving.
It is evident that alcohol and its repercussions have potentially devastating consequences for both the individual and society.
But, how does this situation change? Is it just by better laws or enforcement of the existing laws? The NHTSA study states that while laws exist that restrict sales to intoxicated patrons and at events like “happy hour”, they can reduce alcohol-related harm only if they are adequately enforced. Enforcement or rather, lack of enforcement of these laws becomes one key to handling the issue.
Many states have program that try to increase compliance and enforcement, and some of these could be used as models for other states to adopt.
Prevention of drinking to excess by adequate educational programs early in school is another key to reducing alcohol-related destruction. Effective education which gets at the youngest children, as early as elementary school, is needed to change this behavior pattern.
By junior high school it is already too late. Although recent trends show that younger teens are binge drinking less (reduced from 9% to 6.4% among 8th graders in a recent study), there are still 15% of 10th graders reportedly binge drinking, and 22% of high school seniors who report that they have drunk 5 or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks, according to the 2011 study.
When one has an alcoholic in their midst, or when one’s family has been involved in these tragic accidents, the issue becomes very personal. If you are faced with the personal wreckage that living with an alcoholic brings, or if you want to help someone to successfully stop abusing alcohol or other drugs, there are several effective programs you could choose.
Narconon is one program which has been helping to broadly educate young people and getting people off drugs and alcohol effectively and with great success for over forty-five years. In over 50 countries around the world, Narconon has safely and successfully used its drug-free methods to help tens of thousands of addicts and alcoholics to live sober and drug-free lives.
We do not have Narconon meetings, but for more information and to learn how the Narconon drug and alcohol rehab program works, please read this article: http://www.narconon-news.org/program/narconon-alcohol-rehab-program.html.
Resources:
DOT HS 809 878 Revised February 2005, Preventing Over-consumption of Alcohol Ð Sales to the Intoxicated and “Happy Hour” (Drink Special) Laws, National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/alcohol/pireweb/images/2240pierfinal.pdf
(NHTSA, 2009) Full cite: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts 2008: Young Drivers”. DOT 811 169. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2009. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811169.PDF
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2004). Traffic Safety Facts 2003: Alcohol. DOT HS 809 761.
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/809897.PDF
Hingson, Ralph and D. Kenkel. “Social and Health Consequences of Underage Drinking.” In press. As quoted in Institute of Medicine National Research Council of the National Academies. Bonnie, Richard J. and Mary Ellen O’Connell, eds. Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003.
http://drugabuse.gov/infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html
http://drugabuse.gov/newsroom/11/mtf11overview.html
Marijuana Users’ Risk of Automobile Crashes Nearly Three Times Higher than Non-Users
In a new review of accident studies and statistics, drivers using marijuana are at a much greater risk of being involved in automobile crashes and even of dying in one. The study’s author, Dr. Guohua Li of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, found that this risk also extends to users of other drugs besides marijuana.
In fact, in a large U.S. survey in 2009, it was estimated that more than 10 million people had driven under the influence in the prior year. Also, it revealed that in tests of drivers who had died in a car crash, 28 percent had tested positive for drugs other than alcohol. More than eleven percent of drivers in general also tested positive for drugs other than alcohol.
Marijuana is the second most commonly found drug after alcohol. And, as might be expected, the risk is even higher if the driver had also been drinking alcohol.
Authors of this study published online Oct. 4 in Epidemiologic Reviews believe their findings are especially relevant in light of recent moves to legalize medical marijuana in many states. However, none of the studies in this group looked directly at the use or effect of medical marijuana, now legal in 16 states plus the District of Columbia.
Experts cite that marijuana may interfere with reaction times and coordination, among other effects. The immediate effects of taking marijuana include rapid heart beat, disorientation, lack of physical coordination, often followed by depression or sleepiness. Some heavy users suffer panic attacks or anxiety. Marijuana is a hallucinogen which means that it is a substance that distorts one’s perception of the world around him.
The authors of the new study said it is critical to determine the crash risk related to marijuana in different doses, strengths, and administration methods, such as smoking versus vaporization.
They did conclude that the more the drug that was smoked, both in terms of frequency and potency, the greater was the likelihood of a crash.
These studies looked at effects on drivers in different time frames: some assessed marijuana use as little as one hour before driving while others looked at use as long ago as one year. According to one study cited, driving skills are acutely affected for three to four hours after use.
Couple these findings with the fact that marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, and that more than 14.4 million individuals reported that they had smoked marijuana at least once during the previous month, according to a 2007 survey in the U.S., and the future of automobile safety policy comes into question.
Despite some people’s opinions, marijuana is addictive and people often cannot stop using it when they want to, thus increasing their risk of accidents, causing harm to themselves and others.
Narconon has been successfully rehabilitating drug and alcohol addicts for the past 45 years, with its very effective, drug-free methods of withdrawal. Narconon has centers in 50 countries and offers residential rehabilitation as well as outpatient options in some places.
If you know someone who has a drug abuse problem call a Narconon drug rehab counselor today.
Resources:
- http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-10-14/Pot-smoking-may-more-than-double-crash-risk/50774786/1
- http://epirev.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/10/04/epirev.mxr017.abstract
- http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana.html
Narconon Spokesperson Asks “What is Our Wish for Our Young Adults? Probably Not Abusing Prescription Pain Relievers!”
What would we want for our young adults? As future business owners, legislators and professors, they should be completing their educations, starting their careers, and giving the next generation its start.
Unfortunately, too many are getting their plans for the future derailed by prescription pain reliever abuse and addiction. As an example of one of the prescription pain relievers seeing the most growth, OxyContin was introduced to the United States in 1996. In 1998, only 1.5 percent of all drug addiction treatment admissions for those between 18 and 24 were for prescription pain relievers.
Some very effective marketing for OxyContin followed and prescription numbers began to skyrocket. By 2008, US sales of OxyContin alone topped $2.5 BILLION. And by 2008, treatment admissions for pain reliever addiction in the 18 to 24 age bracket hit 13.7 percent of all drug rehab admissions. The percentage of admissions for those between 25 and 34 increased from 2.1 percent to 13.5 percent over the same ten years.
“When it comes to abuse of prescription pain relievers, the only protection is a good education on drugs,” stated Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for Narconon. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education. “The person trying to sell you an 80 milligram OxyContin tablet is not going to warn you that the drug is addictive. And Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of OxyContin is certainly not going to make this plainly known.”
When Purdue Pharmaceuticals was fined more than $630 million dollars in 2007, the US Attorney’s Office charged them with failing “to adequately warn consumers of the risks,” particularly the risk of addiction. But by 2007, it was too late for many people who had already become addicted or even overdosed on “Oxys.” Many other people will never read or hear about this charge and will make the very common assumption that “if a doctor prescribes OxyContin, it cannot be harmful.” Tragically, this will be a fatal assumption for some people. For others, it will rob them of their plans and goals, their families and perhaps even their freedom, if they are unlucky enough to become addicted and lose it all.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxycodone
OxyContin or its generic version oxycodone is not the only prescription pain relief drug addicting our young adults. The list is long. By their generic names, the list includes: codeine, fentanyl (calculated to be at least 50 times stronger than heroin), hydromorphone, meperidine, morphine, pentazocine, dextropropoxyphene, methadone (used both for opiate addiction treatment as well as pain relief), and hydrocodone combinations sold as Vicodin, Lortab and Lorcet. All opiates create euphoric effects when abused by crushing and snorting, injecting or smoking.
- http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/18862/ndic_2010.pdf
Most of those who succumb to prescription drug abuse are abusing more than one drug at a time and are not the holders of a legitimate prescription for the drug or drugs that killed them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found this in a statistical analysis of those who died of prescription drug overdoses in West Virginia in 2006.
More than 79 percent of these people actually had multiple substances in their bodies at the time of death. These multiple substances included other prescription drugs, alcohol and/or illicit drugs. The same analysis showed that 63 percent had no prescription for the drugs they were abusing.
Naturally enough, deaths follow the increase in prescriptions being issued and admissions to drug addiction treatment. The number of people dying due to unintentional opioid overdoses increased from 5,547 in 2002 to 11,001 in 2006, a 98 percent increase.
“Without sufficient education on the risks of abusing prescription drugs, young and old alike are taking their lives in their hands when they snort or shoot oxycodone, hydrocodone or any of these drugs,” stated Wiggins.
“That’s why Narconon drug and alcohol rehab centers around the world offer drug education classes to schools, civic groups and corporations, wherever young and career-minded people gather. “Addiction must be treated on both fronts: rehabilitating the addicted individual and preventing the young from using or abusing substances that might result in addiction. With both lines of attack at work, we intend to achieve a drug-free future for all.” Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and Narconon drug education groups operate from major cities on every continent.
For more information about the Narconon drug rehabilitation and education program, contact us by phone or email.
Narconon Spokesperson Issues Urgent Warning: New York City Becoming Inundated with Opioid Prescription Drugs
A new report paints a very grim picture of the escalation of prescription drug consumption in New York City. Narconon Spokesperson Bobby Wiggins of Narconon International warned that increases in New York City serve as a harbinger for effects that are rolling out across the rest of the country. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education.
In March 2011, Bridget Brennan, New York’s special narcotics prosecutor, testified that prescriptions for oxycodone doubled in the city over the past three years. Ms. Brennan defined the problem with a frankness seldom seen: “The public flat out needs to be better informed about how widespread the problem is and how dangerously addictive these substances are. It’s pure opium. And that’s an addictive drug.”
In 2007, 500,000 prescriptions for OxyContin and its generic form oxycodone were filled in the five boroughs of New York City. By 2010, the number had jumped to more than one million. This means one prescription for one of every eight people, or 13 percent of the population.
But in Staten Island, there were enough prescriptions for this addictive painkiller issued to supply 28 percent of the borough’s population. Add hydrocodone, another popular opioid painkiller, and the supply increases to 33 percent.
In Brooklyn and the Bronx, oxycodone prescriptions increased 116 percent and 120 percent, respectively, between 2007 and 2010.
In a 2010 visit to a New York City drug rehabilitation center serving US military veterans, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske noted that one in eight active duty military personnel are also current users of illicit drugs, primarily prescription drugs.
- http://www.vosizneias.com/78820/2011/03/16/new-york-ny-1-in-8-new-yorkers-is-on-oxy-pain-killers
- http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press10/111010.html
High Drug Crime Numbers Follow High Prescription Numbers
How many of these prescriptions wind up in the illicit market? There is no way to know. But one index may be found in a similar increase in drug crime and emergency room visits.
Drug Crime: In these same three years, the special prosecutor’s caseload of prescription drug arrests constituted just 6 percent of her total workload. By 2010, the proportion of the caseload devoted to this type of arrest more than doubled, arriving at 15 percent. Ms. Brennan noted the high levels of violence that accompanies the black market sale of prescription drugs.
Every year, about 80,000 people with drug or alcohol problems leave New York City jails and return to the community or the streets. Few received any drug recovery treatment while they were in jail. Without any substantive help, they are likely to re-offend, return to drug or alcohol abuse and possibly return to jail.
Emergency Room visits: In New York City, for every 100,000 people, more than 150 of them will visit an emergency room for abuse or misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. Add to this another 62 who consumed alcohol along with their pharmaceutical drugs, another 39 who added an illicit drug and 32 who abused both prescription and illicit drugs together.
Of these ER visits, thirty were for opiates/opioids and of these, nearly 12 per 100,000 people in New York City visited an ER for abuse or misuse of oxycodone. With more than eight million people in the city, this brings the total number of visits to almost 1,000 per year for oxycodone alone .
- http://www.samhsa.gov/statesinbrief/CityReports/7401_MetroReports_NewYorkCity_NY.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16739041
“When you have a situation spiraling out of control like this,” stated Wiggins, “one component of the solution must be effective drug rehabilitation programs like the one administered at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers around the world. In more than 120 Narconon drug rehab centers, the Narconon drug recovery program results in seven out of ten graduates returning home knowing how to stay clean and sober.”
Contact us immediately if you know someone who has a problem with drug addiction. Our drug rehabilitation counselors are always on standby to help.
Narconon Spokesperson Reports: Appalachian Region Hard Hit by Ruthless Prescription Drug “Cartels”
Sometimes there are statistics that just take your breath away. Like this one: “Law enforcement officers estimate that 90 percent of all property crimes committed in Cabell, Lincoln, and Wayne Counties, West Virginia, stem from OxyContin abuse.” That statistic illustrates the pain and problems existing in Appalachia due to the prevalence of prescription drug abuse throughout the area.
http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs40/40380/drugover.htm
The Appalachian mountains stretch, depending on who is describing them, from Maine to Central Georgia, and from Eastern Ohio to the Coastal Plains. The core of the Appalachians is generally considered to be Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia and these areas bear the brunt of the prescription drug abuse problem. But outlying Appalachian areas are just as hard hit in many cases.
Like Scioto Country in Eastern Ohio. Few families escape the curse of having at least one of their members addicted to prescription opioids. Sometimes more than one, as in the case of the Mannering family, who lost one daughter to a drug-related murder and a son to prison on drug charges.
Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins commented, “Drug dealers bringing prescription pain killers into this area are essentially predators, seeing an opportunity to reap huge profits for very little risk when they can find a corrupt medical professional to dispense the drugs. The ones who suffer most are the families at the distribution end of the supply chain.” Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education.
Babies Tested Positive for Drugs
In Scioto County, nearly one in ten newborn babies tests positive for drugs. Fatal overdoses have quadrupled in the last ten years and surpassed traffic accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/20drugs.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
One report stated that the Appalachian region of Kentucky experienced drug-related deaths at four times the rate of the rest of the state. And a law enforcement officer commented that more people in Ohio died in 2008 and 2009 of overdoses than died in the World Trade Center attack in 2001.
http://www.reachoflouisville.com/SIG/Appalachia.pdf
One of the oddities of the drug abuse in the area is that much of the illicit prescription drug supply comes from other states, particularly Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania or Ohio.
South Florida has been a particular problem for Kentucky law enforcements for years. Individuals board planes in Kentucky, visit pain clinics in South Florida and return with hundreds of pills to dispense for a dollar a milligram or more when it’s OxyContin.
In March 2011, Dr. Michael Shook pleaded guilty to illegally distributing 25,000 doses of OxyContin and methadone from the Lauderhill Medical Clinic in Oakland Park, Florida, to Kentuckians who made the trip south. Conveniently, his clinic even had an on-site pharmacy.
By late 2008 and all of 2009, 90 percent of the Lauderhill Medical Clinic’s patients were from Kentucky. For $6,000 a week, this doctor performed limited or no exams and prescribed addictive narcotics that were taken back to Kentucky for illicit sale. Some of the same patients also visited former doctors Randy Weiss of Philadelphia and Lloyd Naramore in Ohio for more supplies. Dr. Shook faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and the lingering knowledge that he supplied the drugs that could have caused hundreds of overdose deaths far from home.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/kye/press/march/shook_michael_sent.html
In 2009, the number of people traveling to Philadelphia and Ohio for illicit supplies of narcotics skyrocketed. In just four month’s time, the number of people visiting out of state pain clinics on a regular basis increased from 10 to an astonishing 140. In one clinic in Philadelphia, Dr. Timothy Hall managed to dispense 200,000 pills before being caught. In some areas, so many people are involved in these drug trafficking rings that they are now being referred to as cartels.
http://www.facesofdrugabuse.net/documents/2011-conference/presentations/6-prescriptions-addressing-the-epidemic.pdf.
http://www.claiborneprogress.net/view/full_story/10677996/article-%E2%80%9CPill-Mill%E2%80%9D-dismantled
The potential profitability of this type of drug ring is staggering. Each supply of 180 OxyContins can score the drug dealer between $14,000 and $18,000 once the drugs are sold.
Fighting Drug Addiction
“At Narconon centers around the world, we are fighting the drug abuse and addiction problem with our successful in-patient drug recovery programs and our proven drug education curriculum,” added Wiggins. “We will continue to support families who wish to rescue their loved ones from drug addiction with our long-term residential drug rehab program and educate young people and employees on the real dangers associated with substance abuse.”
Narconon drug rehabilitation services and drug education classes are available at more than 120 centers on six continents.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you know someone suffering from drug addiction. Our drug rehab counselors are here to help.
Addictive Prescription Drugs Constitute a “Growth Industry,” Warns Narconon Spokesperson
As prescription drug abuse and overdoses hit new highs among Americans, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has just announced its new strategy to bring these numbers down. While some illicit drugs like cocaine have lessened in popularity, prescription drug abuse has been increasing. In evidence of the growing popularity of these drugs to abusers, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that nearly one third of the people who abused drugs for the first time in 2009 chose prescription drugs to abuse. Overdoses have increased five-fold since 1990. And for the first time, deaths from prescription drug misuse have exceeded deaths from gunshot wounds and, in many states, deaths from traffic accidents.
- http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/rx_abuse_plan.pdf
- http://ofsubstance.gov/blogs/pushing_back/archive/2011/02/22/51827.aspx
“While this kind of drug abuse is a ‘growth industry’ so to speak, it’s not the kind of growth that benefits your citizens,” commented Bobby Wiggins, the director of Narconon for drug education. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “We commend the ONDCP and the Food and Drug Administration for taking action to increase awareness of the problems resulting from reckless prescribing or from just letting unused drugs sit in the family medicine chest.”
As Drug czar Gil Kerlikowske announced the strategy on April 19, 2011, he said that by and large, Americans are ignorant of the fact “that what’s inside the medicine cabinet can kill.” In particular, teenagers are susceptible to abuse and addiction because they may consider medications prescribed by the family doctor safer to abuse than street drugs. And when the family fails to safely dispose of old prescriptions, it can be easy for a young person to get the drugs he wants out of the medicine chest.
Part of the strategy included requiring manufacturers of extended-release and long-acting opioid medications to help mitigate the inherent risks of these drugs by financing education for doctors on proper pain management, patient screening and to ensure that patients use the drug as prescribed.
Some opioid addicts started out using these drugs for a legitimate medical need. As the body builds tolerance, patients feel they need more of the drug to keep the aches and pains away so they may abuse the drug and finish their prescription. After the patient finishes the prescribed dosage, the Dr. may simply cut the person off, sending this now-addicted person into illicit use. An addict may get desperate enough to harm someone to get the drugs he feels he needs. Also, he or she may resort to illicit drugs as a substitute. Doctor-shopping, prescription fraud or theft may provide the addicted person with the prescription medications they feel they need to be able to function normally.
The medications frequently abused by opioid addicts are: hydromorphone (marketed as Dilaudid, among other names), oxycodone (ingredient of OxyContin), morphine, oxymorphone (brand named Opana and others), methadone, and fentanyl (a synthetic opioid 50 to 80 times stronger than heroin).
“It’s vital to plan for drug prevention through education and drug recovery through effective drug rehabilitation at the same time that you get these prescription drugs off the street. People who are already addicted must have somewhere to turn,” Wiggins concluded.
Admissions at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers across the U.S. have been seeing increasing numbers of admissions to treatment due to prescription drug abuse. In some centers, half of the addicts entering treatment are recovering from prescription drug addiction. But no matter what the substance of abuse is when a person enters rehab, the Narconon program still results in seven out of ten graduates remaining sober after they return home.
Narconon Spokesperson Questions Advisability of “Rapid Detox” Services for Opiate Addicts
It may sound like a miracle. An opiate addict can be anesthetized and wake up several hours later on the other side of withdrawal pain and discomfort. Is it really that easy? And is that the only way to experience a tolerable withdrawal?
Withdrawal from opiates can be daunting enough to prevent addicts from entering treatment. Those in withdrawal from opiates and opioid drugs usually experience deep muscle and bone pain, agitation, insomnia and anxiety. They may also go through painful abdominal cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and nausea. In most cases, opiate withdrawal usually lasts for three to fourteen days or even longer. http://www.hsc.mb.ca/addictions/Media/Opiate%20Withdrawal.pdf
One solution is to treat the symptoms of withdrawal with other drugs such as sedatives to reduce anxiety. Another solution is the medical service referred to as “rapid detox.” This involves placing the addict under general anesthesia and then injecting him or her with Naltrexone or other drugs which block the action of opiates on the body. At the very least, it is expected that the addicted person will be unconscious during the worst of the withdrawal process. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000949.htm
Some drug rehabilitation centers administering this treatment place the addict under a general anesthesia for four to six hours. A few advertize an ultra-rapid detox of just an hour. Others take as long as eight hours. While the person is unconscious, they receive large dosages of Naltrexone and/or other drugs.
Facilities that administer this treatment promote its safety and claim that they can compress the equivalent of eight days of withdrawal into one eight-hour period of anesthesia. But this isn’t what the National Institutes of Health (NIH) say.
The NIH states that there is no evidence that these programs actually reduce the amount of time spent in withdrawal and that there have been several deaths associated with the procedure. Additionally, any time a person is under general anesthesia, there is a risk to his or her life. The longer the anesthetized period, the greater the risk.
The NIH also states that the procedure is unproven and so the fact that it presents a risk of death significantly outweighs any potential and unproven benefit of the service. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000949.htm
On top of that, there’s the cost which can run as high as $13,000 for three days of treatment and monitoring after the anesthesia wears off. Plus, once the rapid detox is done, the person still needs to recover from the psychological addiction and change his or her lifestyle and ability to make drug-free decisions.
On top of the harm that might be done by the opiate the addict has been taking, Naltrexone has its own list of grim side effects. In this case, the side effects reported include: anxiety; appetite loss; chills; constipation; diarrhea; dizziness; depression; headache; joint and muscle pain; low energy; nausea; nervousness; sleeplessness; stomach pain and cramps and vomiting. Isn’t it interesting to note that many of these are the same symptoms of withdrawal from other opiates?
But it gets worse. Adverse effects of Naltrexone can also include severe allergic reactions with hives, itching and difficulty breathing; confusion; hallucinations; severe vomiting and diarrhea; and suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Liver damage can result from large dosages of the drug. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000853/. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/naltrexone-side-effects.html
Then there is this very simple question – “For a person addicted to drugs, how does it empower him or the resposible party in his life to get him through withdrawal under anaesthesia?”
The question is, “Is there any humane alternative?” Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins had one to offer. “At the Narconon drug rehabilitation centers, we have developed a way to make withdrawal far more tolerable by using nutritional support and one-on-one care by our staff,” he said. “Addicts normally arrive at a drug rehab after a long period of neglect of their health. Add to that the fact that drugs rob the body of nutrients like the B vitamins and vitamin C. We have found that the administration of nutritional supplements specifically designed for those in drug recovery greatly eases the impact of withdrawal.”
Added to this is a liquid calcium-magnesium drink that calms muscle spasms and tends to reduce anxiety. And Narconon staff work continuously with each recovering addict to perform “assists,” gentle physical and mental relaxation exercises that help reorient the recovering addict and help ease him or her through the effects of withdrawal.
“The result is an experience that is tolerable and confrontable and which gives many recovering addicts new hope that this time, they can succeed because they have been participating right from the begining”, Wiggins added.
Call us to get more information about the Narconon Drug Treatment program. Our counselors are ready to assist you.
narconon-news.org
How an Internet Pharmacy Caused the Death of a Man Whose Only Complaint was Back Pain
It took a widow’s complaint about the Internet pharmacy that sent her husband unauthorized prescriptions before a Kansas Internet pharmacy was shut down. In 2008, the Kansas Board of Pharmacy received a report from a woman whose husband had just died of mixed drug intoxication, saying that he had not received those drugs from a legitimate source. By the time the investigation was done, an astonishing list of crimes, ignorance, neglect and utter lack of integrity had been assembled.
The widow reported that her husband had hurt his back in a car accident and had become addicted to Carisoprodol (Soma), a muscle relaxant that is also a drug of abuse. When his regular doctor would not increase his prescription, he turned to Hogan’s Pharmacy in Lyons, Kansas, run by pharmacist Rick Kloxin. On August 25, 2007, he took nine pills before going to bed and then later died, slumped over next to a pool of his own vomit. He was in the habit of taking as many as ten pills before bed every night.
Widow Tracks Down Internet Pharmacy
After his death, the widow tracked down emails from the Internet pharmacy to the man at his workplace, reminding him to reorder his medication. She also had FedEx verify that the packages he was receiving with his medications were from Hogan’s.
“If this man had been able to get addiction treatment to get him comfortably off these medications, he would not have had to die,” stated Bobby Wiggins, a spokesperson for Narconon. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives from addiction by providing effective drug rehab and drug education. “But you combine his failure to receive effective drug rehab with the criminality of the Internet pharmacy, and you have this tragedy.”
A Violation of Kansas Law
A review of the pharmacy’s practices revealed that they would not only dispense controlled substances on the basis of no more than a questionnaire, they also felt free to change the patient’s answers on the questionnaire to fit the drugs they were selling and shipping. What’s more, the staff who dispensed the drugs had no pharmacy training, a violation of Kansas law.
In most cases, the prescription labels were simply emailed from the pharmacist’s home and then filled by clerical staff. The shipping clerk in the office was sending out 600 to 1000 orders every day to locations all over the country, far more than the pharmacist was able to review. The pharmacy also maintained three unlinked databases of patient names and never cross-checked them to make sure that a patient was only placing one order for a prescription, rather than one order per database.
Pharmacy Shut Down
“Because of shady practices in a business as life-and-death as a pharmacy, this man was denied the medical attention he needed and lost his life,” Wiggins added. “The good news is that the State of Kansas wisely shut this Internet pharmacy down and canceled the Rick Kloxin’s license. Mr. Kloxin was later charged with three felonies and several misdemeanors.”
To learn more about how the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers can help a person addicted to prescription drugs like Carisprodol, call and speak to one of our drug rehab counselors.
Resources:
- http://www.kansas.gov/pharmacy/Disciplinary%20Orders/KloxinRick.pdf
Narconon Spokesperson Defines the Problem with Designer Drug Manufacture, Abuse and Addiction
When you’re a drug trafficker, you don’t care what drugs you’re trafficking, who takes them, or who gets hurt. The only goal in sight is profits and power. So when it gets difficult to deal in one substance of abuse, if you can get your hands on another substance to traffic or deal, so much the better. This need to deal any substance that will make profits, that you can tell your customers will get him or her high, has given rise to an international increase in the manufacture and sale of “designer drugs.”
Designer drugs are those substances engineered to mimic illicit drugs, but which are not (yet) illegal or controlled. For example, mephedrone is an engineered drug that is similar to khat, a plant substance abused by some East Africans in Africa and the Americas. In many countries and even many states in the U.S., mephedrone is not yet illegal. “Spice” is a synthetic that mimics the action of cannabinoids, or marijuana plants and their products. “Spice” was just declared illegal in an emergency action by the DEA in March 2011.
“It’s obvious that this is a problematic pattern that is not going to just vanish,” stated Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehab and drug education. “Susceptible people intent on finding substances to abuse will continue to fall prey to this industry. Some people will become addicted to these substances and some will wind up in the emergency room or even die.” Mephedrone, for example, has been linked to three suicides and more than 160 ER visits in the State of Louisiana alone.
The usual pattern is that the synthetic is marketed as a legal high or as something misleading, like the “bath salts” or “plant food” label being used for mephedrone. Eventually, legislators catch up and outlaw the substance. Trafficking and sales then go underground. Currently, this pattern is taking place all over the world. In Europe, 16 designer drugs that are not yet illegal are being monitored. In Japan, the number is 51.
A similar problem exists with the trafficking of precursor chemicals. Illicit drug manufacturers take advantage of chemicals and substances used to create drugs of abuse that may not yet be illegal or controlled. As long as they can legally move them and convert them into substances that can be abused, they are in business. In some cases, legal precursors can be converted into abusable substances by anyone with a simple understanding of chemistry and an ability to find the instructions on the Internet.
“The only safety exists in an understanding that substance abuse carries risks,” added Wiggins. “Whether it’s abuse of cannaniboids that are natural or synthetic, or the latest club drug being touted by the drug dealer at the rave, the only way to avoid addiction, health damage or even death is just to stay away from all drugs of abuse, no matter what you are told about how ‘harmless’ or ‘natural’ the drug is. It’s not worth your life to find out you were wrong.”
For more information on the Narconon drug rehabilitation program, visit www.narconon-news.org
References
- http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2011/March/designer-drugs-are-escalating-out-of-control-according-to-incb.html
- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Drugs/marijuana-substitute-spice-hitting-streets-putting-kids-hospital/story?id=10118951
- http://www.thesttammanynews.com/articles/2011/01/07/news/doc4d264c1c50dd9996430887.txt
- http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarcweb.nsf/resources/BulletinsEDRS2010/$file/EDRS+December+2010.pdf
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephedrone
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_cannabis#United_States
Mephedrone, a New Drug, Legal in Most States, is Taking Lives, Reports Narconon Spokesperson
It’s a dangerous drug associated with suicides, paranoia, hallucinations, chest pains and high blood pressure. But it’s legal across most of the US. All a vendor has to do is label the drug “bath salts” or “plant food” and outside of just a handful of states, it’ll be legal to sell.
It’s mephedrone. Chemically, it is about the same as the active ingredient in khat, a plant-based drug mostly used by East Africans at home or abroad. It can be snorted, smoked or injected. The yellowish or whitish powder first began showing up in 2007 and rapidly made its way across the globe, appearing quickly in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania and Israel. It’s now illegal across the European Union, and Australian health workers are being warned to watch for it due to its rapid expansion into the club scene in that country.
One survey of UK dance and club enthusiasts showed that 41 percent had used the drug, nearly all of them in the prior year. It’s a stimulant and a hallucinogen.
“There will always be people who are willing to make a profit by providing chemical highs to those who don’t know any better,” stated Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through drug rehabilitation and education. “Those people who are into getting high may not ask any questions about the purity or safety of a drug and they can and do suffer serious effects. The laws can’t always keep up with the new intoxicating products on the market.”
For reasons that are not clear yet, Louisiana has been hardest hit by the drug, and the first to make it illegal. Three suicides have occurred in the state by people who had taken the drug within days, and more than 160 requests for crisis help have been received, the great majority reported by emergency room physicians. Kentucky was the next hardest hit, with 23 calls for crisis help in the same time period.
Websites selling mephedrone covertly refer to it as “bath salts” or “plant food” and urge the reader to buy mephedrone so they can have a beautiful garden. But at $35 a gram, that makes for a very expensive garden. As bath salts, they may appear under the names Ivory Wave, Ocean, Charge +, White Lightening, Scarface, Hurricane Charlie, Red Dove, Cloud-9 and White Dove and will show a manufacture in China or India.
“Young people who like to party particularly attracted to this drug,” added Wiggins. “When a person can’t stop abusing substances even when they cause harm or put the person in danger, that person needs help overcoming an addiction. That help could just save his or her life.”
For more information about the Narconon drug rehab program, visit www.narconon-news.org
Narconon Spokesperson Asks, “Would States Legalize Marijuana if They Thought it Was Dangerous and Addictive?”
First medical marijuana and then legalization of marijuana – in some states, steady inroads are being made into eliminating marijuana prohibitions. At the moment, fifteen states have allowances for medical marijuana dispensing and use. Thirteen states have passed laws decriminalizing marijuana, usually allowing small amounts for personal use. But would anyone support these laws if they thought that marijuana was either damaging or addictive?
One factor that must be taken into account in investigating this area is that not all cannabis is created equal. Since 1975, the Marijuana Potency Monitoring Report from the University of Mississippi has been testing weed samples for potency by measuring the contents of THC, the active ingredient – the component that gets people high. In 1975, the average THC content across all types of domestic and non-domestic marijuana was .71 percent – less than one percent THC.
As higher prices can be obtained for weed that have a higher THC content, plenty of work has gone into increasing the content of this chemical. And that work has been productive.
“People who support these decriminalization or legalization measures may not realize that the drug they are endorsing keeps getting stronger, year by year,” stated Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “Over the thirty-two years ending in 2008, the average potency of marijuana has increased from less than one percent to 8.5 percent. That’s almost a twelve-fold increase.”
But 8.5 percent is not anywhere near the maximum content detected. One sample provided a THC content of (add emphasis here) 37 percent. In 2009, the highest THC content detected was 27 percent. Growers continually experiment with hydroponics and changes in growing conditions to increase the THC.
“There’s a huge difference in the effect of a 1 percent THC sample to an 8.5 percent sample or a 27 percent sample,” Wiggins added. “There is every motivation for growers to increase the THC content any way they can. The more THC content, the more addictive cannabis will be and the more permanent those customers will become.”
As to whether or not marijuana is addictive, consult statistics on addiction treatment admissions to treatment for addiction to marijuana have increased from nearly 200,000 in 1997 to close to 300,000 in 2007. Almost 40 percent of those admitted for drug treatment were using no other drug. In 2009, marijuana was involved in emergency room admissions more than 375,000 times, equally divided among the under-20 group and the over-20 group.
“Those who can’t quit marijuana use even if they see it is damaging their lives need addiction treatment just as much as the heroin addict,” concluded Wiggins. “Every year, we help those who have become addicted to marijuana claim their lives back. At more than 100 Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation and education centers around the world, we help people return to clean and sober lives.”
Visit www.narconon-news.org for more information about the Narconon drug rehabilitation program.
Smuggling Efforts Reach New Highs in Sonora, Mexico Reports Narconon Spokesperson
With the billions of dollars of profits that are raked in each year in the illicit drug trade, there is enormous motivation for traffickers to innovate new smuggling methods. The last year has seen homemade submarines bringing loads of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, cocaine smuggled into the US in Easter eggs, and new, sophisticated tunnels dug under the US-Mexico border. And then there are the usual vehicles with drug packages hidden in the frames, seats, doors, roofs or gas tanks, and pedestrians with drugs taped to their bodies or hidden among their belongings.
In late January 2011, traffickers in the Mexican state of Sonora came up with a new one: a nine-foot catapult that would sling packages of marijuana far across the international border.
The US National Guard in Arizona monitoring a remote video feed spotted the primitive catapult that was hauled into place next to the international border by a team of men, and then was used to toss four-pound packages of weed over the border. The National Guard tipped off the Mexican military and military personnel disrupted the operation, seizing 45 pounds of marijuana and the catapult but making no arrests.
“The efforts of drug cartels to get their products into our neighborhoods is never-ceasing,” stated Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education. “Once the drugs are in this country, traffickers and the drug dealers distributing the products on the street draw no lines. They will sell their addictive wares to anyone without concern for destroying lives. The only protection comes from avoiding substance abuse and finding lasting recovery from addiction.”
Wiggins cited the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that said that nearly half of all addiction treatment admissions were repeats. When the addictive substance was an opiate, the proportion of repeat treatments went up to 60 percent. “As long as addiction treatment fails, Americans will continue to be customers of the drug cartels. That is why Narconon centers have developed a workable system of helping people achieve a lasting recovery. Since 1966, drug addicts have been learning to live clean and sober, the Narconon way.”
In more than 100 Narconon centers around the world, seven out of ten graduates succeed in staying clean after they go home. For more information on the Narconon drug rehab program, visit http://www.narconon.org
“Million Dollar Doctor” in Missouri Serves to Warn Public that Prescription Drug Abuse is Still Thriving
It just seems that some people don’t learn very fast. The Drug Enforcement Agency website lists seventy doctors who have gotten themselves arrested for prescription fraud, sometimes resulting in injury and even death for their patients. Newspapers across the country carry stories – Louisville, Kentucky; McLean and Manassas, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; Cleveland, Ohio; Norwalk, Connecticut; Orlando, Florida – of doctors who lose everything after they are arrested for illegally distributing prescription painkillers, sedatives, sleep aids and anti-anxiety medications. But these doctors are amateurs compared to Dr. Bruce Baker of Independence, Missouri.
Working with two accomplices, Dr. Baker distributed more than a million dollars worth of OxyContin and Oxycodone between 2006 and 2010 when he was arrested. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of pills were reimbursed by medical insurance and Medicare, meaning that Dr. Baker racked up insurance fraud charges as well.
One “patient” all by herself received prescriptions for nearly 2,400 pills over a three-month period.
Dr. Baker gave up the fight and pleaded guilty in February 2011.
“Without criminal doctors like Dr. Baker, the seven million people who abuse prescription drugs each year would not have such plentiful access to these drugs to abuse,” stated Bobby Wiggins, a spokesperson for Narconon. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating substance abuse and addiction through effective rehabilitation and education. “In 2007, three-quarters of a million people wound up in emergency rooms due to their prescription drug abuse, and more of these visits involved oxycodone or OxyContin more often than any other prescription drug.”
As far back as 2005, a media report showed that OxyContin was one of the drugs most often associated with fatalities, both among legitimate users and abusers.
“But putting Dr. Baker into jail does nothing for those who became addicted to these opioid painkillers,” said Wiggins. “The only thing that helps those people is getting them into a drug rehabilitation that will not give them more opioid drugs and call it treatment. This is what is happening in thousands of drug rehabs across the country. The opioid drug many addicts are getting at these rehabs is called buprenorphine. At Narconon, we help every addict recover their own self-esteem and integrity without giving them drugs of any kind. Instead of drugs, we use nutrition, a sauna detoxification program and one-on-one care. It works.” In seven out of ten cases, Narconon graduates go on to live clean and sober lives after graduation from the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
For more information about the Narconon drug rehab program, visit www.narconon-news.org
