Another one of many celebrities struggling with prescription drug abuse is Matthew Perry, former star of “Friends” TV show and current star of ABC’s “Mr. Sunshine.” He has had a history of substance abuse and has gone twice to rehab for treatment of prescription pill addiction.

Celebrities aren’t the only ones fighting the battle with prescription drugs. In the state of Florida, prescription drug abuse is an epidemic. In fact pills are involved in 75% of all the drug-related deaths and on average, 11 people die daily in Florida from prescription drug overdoses.

In the United States, more people are now abusing prescription drugs than heroin, cocaine and ecstasy combined. The drug of choice for a growing number of users is oxycodone, a synthetic opioid sold under the brand name OxyContin. OxyContin is essentially synthetic heroin made in a lab by pharmaceutical companies. Oxycodone has become the most-abused prescription drug in the United States, with hydrocodone coming in second, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s annual count of drug seizures sent to police drug labs for analysis.

Current TV’s series Vanguard aired a disturbing documentary, The Oxycontin Express, in which South Florida was labeled “the Colombia of prescription drugs” and exposed the difficulties facing law enforcement in dealing with prescription drug abuse in what is truly a national epidemic.

Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott finally signed a bill into law in June of 2011 penalizing doctors who overprescribe painkillers, and authorizing a database that monitors prescription drugs in an attempt to control the state’s widespread “pill mills.”

How to Overcome Drug Addiction

But what if you, a loved one or a family member is faced with this highly-addictive drug problem? What would you do? How do you tell if a rehab program is effective? What will work to get one off of drugs for good? Is there a drug-free solution?

Fortunately there is help available. One can rid oneself of the addiction and live a productive, drug-free life again. Narconon is a very effective program, founded more than 45 years ago, which helps the prescription pill addict find his way back to health and sobriety. Narconon drug rehabilitation centers exist worldwide, on six continents and specialize in drug-free detoxification and treatment methods.

The Narconon program consists of two phases. In Phase one, the recovering addict will experience a physical rehabilitation. During the first part the person entering a Narconon will have one-on-one counseling and assistance and plenty of nutritional supplements to replace those destroyed during drug use. This makes for a more tolerable withdrawal. This is followed by the unique Narconon New Life Detoxification Program composed of daily exercise, time in a dry-heat sauna, and more nutritional support. Upon completion of this part of the program, many recovering addicts report fewer cravings for drugs.

However Narconon rehabilitation does not stop here, as this is just the first phase. The issues which led the person to abuse drugs have to be handled in order for him to return to a drug-free life. In Phase two, the student at Narconon studies several life skills courses helping him to rebuild his self-esteem, ability to communicate and control of self and his environment. In doing this, he handles the underlying reasons the person used drugs in the first place.

The Narconon program differs from many others in that it does not substitute one drug for another, and it offers the life skills necessary to live a drug-free life. Once a person graduates the program, there are no Narconon meetings to attend. The person is able to apply the life skills attained to live drug-free.

If you or a family member has a prescription drug abuse problem, call a Narconon rehab center for assistance.

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.

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.

Many people who are faced with the prospect of drug rehab are not enthralled with the idea of taking one drug to get off of another. In fact, many heroin addicts who were given methadone to “cure their addiction” are now addicted to methadone. The cure was to substitute one drug for another!

At Narconon, no drugs are used to replace the drug addict’s drug of choice. The rehab philosophy Narconon uses is a holistic approach, addressing the entire person, his lifestyle, his relationships with his family and friends, and how he can successfully get off drugs and stay off them.

Many families are seeking a non-traditional program which really produces results. In particular, this may occur when the drug addict has gone from one rehab to another, never really breaking the cycle of addiction. The reason for this is that the real core issues of handling his life haven’t been addressed. Drugs were a solution for him for some area of his life he could not confront and handle. Until he makes this change, so that he has skills to confront and handle those areas, the revolving door pattern of drug rehab will continue.

What really qualifies a drug rehab programs as successful is their sobriety rate after completing the program. In most US Rehab programs there is about a 16 to 20 percent success rate. In some other countries of the world such as Russia, there is no real drug-free future envisioned. Instead, the drug addict is treated after rehab or “narcology” as they call it, by using barbiturates for the rest of his life.

A Drug-Free Life is Achievable

With a completely different philosophy that says a drug-free life is not only possible but completely achievable, the Narconon drug and alcohol treatment program helps to repair the damage done by drugs and alcohol first, and then addresses the life skills needed to handle life. In that way, the graduate has the skills needed to stay sober and live a productive, drug-free life when he returns home.

The staff at Narconon understands the pattern of addiction and that some recovering addicts are battling the urge to use drugs again and return to the addictive lifestyle.

One part of the program that helps to eliminate those urges is the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program. It consists of a very specific regimen of nutrition, including good food, minerals and vitamins, and some moderate exercise along with daily time in a dry-heat sauna. The program has been proven to flush out the drug residues and toxins from the body. Once these are eliminated, those completing say that their drug cravings reduce or are gone and slow, unclear thinking goes away too. Many addicts report that following this phase of the program, they also have more energy.

This is only one of eight steps of the program, and once one has completed this step, the person at Narconon will study and learn many life skills which will help him to reverse the damage he has done during his drug addiction. He will learn to make better decisions and to start a life that is controlled by his own restored moral compass and not determined by the need to get a “fix.”

Narconon program results speak for themselves. Fully seven out of every ten persons who complete the program stay drug-free and sober at least two years after graduation. Narconon mettings are not needed either.

Drug addiction doesn’t have to be a revolving door of rehabs that don’t work. There is hope for a drug-free life and thousands of people have found the help needed at Narconon.

The Narconon program exists on six continents of the world. Call a counselor to learn more about Narconon and its non-traditional drug treatment program.

Worldwide drug use has climbed to epidemic proportions. You could talk about stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine or other drugs such as heroin, opium, morphine and other opiates. Or you could look at marijuana, hashish and prescription painkilling drugs taken for non-prescribed purposes. All in all, there are tens of millions of people abusing drugs all over the world. This doesn’t even include those who abuse alcohol.

In a recent report on national drug usage from 2009, it was found that illicit drug use in the United States had risen to its highest level in eight years. In the 2010 edition of this report, the rate of use held steady (8.9 percent in 2010 compared to 8.7 percent in 2009), and both remained above the 2008 rate of 8.0 percent.

More disturbing is that in the group of young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate increased even more than in the general population, from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 21.5 percent in 2010. This increase seemed to be driven largely by a rise in the rate of current marijuana use among this group of people.

The 2010 report showed that while some areas are improving, overall there were 22.6 million Americans age 12 and older who were currently using illicit drugs.

These are just statistics. The real situation is even more devastating when the drug scourge attacks your own family. If you have a child or other family member who has walked down the road of trying drugs, trying some more drugs, and then being hooked on drugs, you know what heartbreak and sadness is like, seeing your own loved one unable to break out of the shackles of drug abuse.

There is Hope

Fortunately there is hope. Narconon offers a holistic, drug-free treatment program which has been effectively helping people to get off of drugs and stay off them for more than 45 years. Effective drug abuse treatment brings a person back to life! He may have lost his job, she may have lost her friends and even close ties with families, but if the person can be gotten to a Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, there is an excellent chance of finding his or her way back. Each individual experiencing the Narconon program recovers his self-esteem, his personal integrity and his determination to live life fully and without the crutch of drugs or alcohol.

No matter what drug or drugs have been abused by the individual, Narconon helps the person to get back the bright viewpoint he once had on life, before he got hooked on drugs. It is a long-term program that really works. There are no Narconon meetings to attend after graduation. In fact, Narconon has tracked its graduates and found that seventy percent of them are clean and drug-free two years after completing the program.

Narconon centers exist all over the world, on six continents, so it is likely that there is one near you. If you would like to help your loved one to fully recover using an effective, holistic drug abuse treatment program that really does restore life, call Narconon today at: 800-775-8750.

US Dept of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (2010). Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-38A, HHS Publication No. SMA 10-4856Findings). Rockville, MD.

And Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-41, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4658. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2011.

It is a fact that peer pressure is a tremendous force in determining individual behavior. At Narconon we learned early on that peer training would go a long way to solving problems of drug abuse long before it starts. Peer leaders are a tremendous resource, and with the proper training are very effective in educating their peers on substance abuse and other subjects.

In order to take advantage of this fact the Narconon Peer Leader Training Program has been developed and refined over many years. Students are trained on the skills which enable them to become competent leaders amongst their peers. They are, additionally, trained in the methods of drug abuse prevention. Combining these skills they are then encouraged to take an active role in working with their peers to combat substance abuse. The first, and most important thing which is accomplished in this program is the instillation of a true desire to help their fellows. Once this is accomplished the peer trainee is taught how to show that life is better without drugs. This is accomplished through a series of exercises and lessons in communication and listening skills. Training in the nurturing of interpersonal relationships and means of relaying information on alcohol and other drugs to other children in such a way as to have that information absorbed and inspected is stressed.

As with any other pursuit involving relationships with others, the development of excellent communication skills is paramount. Our students participate in training exercises aimed at increasing ability to capture and focus attention, face and address issues they might otherwise shy away from, develop and sharpen listening skills, relay communication accurately and effectively. All of this depends on one most important factor – the peer leader must have his own confidence level raised to one of complte certainty.
Before being designated a Peer Leader the student is required to demonstrate complete competence in the relay of information to their peers.

The second segment of the drug education training program involves gaining learning skills which enhance the student’s ability to work with people of different ages and literacy levels so that they can overcome the barriers to communicating information to them.
No two programs are identical in content. Each program is specifically tailored to the needs of the particular group, taking into consideration such factors as the group’s purpose, goals and activities. Emphasis is placed on creating a more functional group that will become, and remain more active in the school and community. The above skills are then applied to the specific theme of the program. Some of the specialized programs available are:

• Leadership skills and positive role models
• Conducting effective community projects
• Alcohol and drug education
• Violence prevention and mitigation
• Public speaking

Drug Educator Training Workshops

In addition to its peer training programs, Narconon also provides training programs for drug educators. Narconon objectives were developed to provide skills involving the primary methods and tools used in the Narconon program, so that professional educators can take advantage of the classroom setting in imparting proper, effective drug abuse education to their students.

More comprehensive training is also available at the Narconon International Drug Rehab Training Center, located in Canadian, Oklahoma.

This includes disease and injuries to the drinker himself, and through his dangerous actions such as drinking and driving or violence, those injuries he causes to others. Alcohol is a direct cause factor in more than 60 types of diseases and injuries and a component cause in 200 others.

Alcohol is indeed the most popular drug on the planet and kills far more people worldwide than any other drug. It is the cause of death in nearly 4% of all deaths worldwide, greater than those caused by HIV/AIDS, violence or tuberculosis. While not everyone who drinks alcohol is abusing it, so many are that it is a public health problem of global proportion.

Taking into account how many people are thus affected by alcohol abuse, it would be wonderful if there were an effective alcohol rehab program that really works!

An Effective Alcohol Rehab Worldwide

Fortunately, there is an effective alcohol rehabilitation program worldwide. It is called Narconon, and has been in existence for over 45 years. It was started by a man named William Benitez in an Arizona State Prison, as he needed help to recover from his own heroin addiction that kept landing him in jail and saw that other prisoners needed similar help. It is based on the research and work of humanitarian and author L. Ron Hubbard.

A Narconon alcohol treatment center is not a typical drug and alcohol rehab center. At Narconon each person entering the program is treated as a student, not as a patient. During the entire Narconon program each student is learning more and more things about himself and about ways of dealing with life without the need for alcohol or drugs. One learns to take control over his previous alcohol or drug solutions to problems he would not confront directly. In the course of the Narconon program, one goes through eight individual courses, each of which gradually gives back more of the person’s own personality and his desire to live a drug and alcohol-free life.

In the first step, he is withdrawing from the alcohol while being given plenty of one-on-one assistance and nutritional support and supplementation with vitamins and minerals. In this environment, it is possible for the person to begin to see that life can be lived without the crutch of alcohol.

In the next step, he will go through the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program, which gets the residues of drugs and alcohol out of the fatty tissue of the body, where it has been stored. Without the residual toxins in the body, it is far less likely that the person will crave the drugs or alcohol he once was addicted to.

Outside Influences Can Help Create More Alcoholics

One problem which alcoholics who are not able to control their drinking often engage in is called “binge drinking.” This involves consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting. This trend has been increasing recently among young people. It has even taken its place in the social media networks. For example, on Facebook, alcohol abusers are bragging about how much they can drink in one sitting, a factor that some researchers say adds to the increasing alcohol consumption and binge drinking among youth.

Alcohol abuse is a societal problem and one that we need to take much more seriously. Although pervasive, it rarely ranks as a top concern until it affects you, your family, or your loved ones. When that happens, there is a solution. Narconon drug and alcohol rehab centers exist on six continents in more than 50 locations worldwide.

It is possible to find an effective alcohol rehab program at Narconon. Call today!

Resources:

Global status report on alcohol and health.
World Health Organization. ISBN 978 92 4 156415 1 (NLM classification: WM 274)
© World Health Organization 2011.

Perhaps as an effort to keep the pharmaceutical industry from interfering in its enforcement, the law prohibits the pharmacy industry from funding the drug monitoring system. This new system is to be funded by local law enforcement agencies.

Right after passage of the bill, two Orlando clinics were raided by federal authorities as part of a larger pill mill investigation. According to investigators, one of the Orlando doctors wrote prescriptions for more oxycodone than had been written in the entire state of California.

Here are some of the provisions of the new Florida law:

It creates a prescription-drug monitoring database that tracks the purchase of all controlled drugs.
It forces clinics to keep actual track of patients who receive prescriptions and to report them if they develop drug-abuse problems.

It provides minimum fines of $10,000 and six-month suspensions for doctors who overprescribe painkillers.

It creates a first-degree misdemeanor offense for a pharmacist who fails to report anyone who tries to fraudulently obtain drugs.

It tightens the rules for writing prescriptions, keeping medical records and written pain treatment plans.

There are several more provisions in the law, but overall, its purpose is to crack down on the wrongful and far too common practice of over-prescribing opioid prescription painkillers, and to curtail or stop the clinics which go into business simply to supply illegal drugs to patients who are addicted to these painkillers for the “high” rather than for any legitimate medically mandated use.

It took several years to pass the database. Efforts by proponents were repeatedly limited by legal challenges and lobbying over privacy rights. Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, and State House Republican leaders opposed the creation of the database, saying it raised too many privacy concerns and that it was not the most effective way to curb the problem.

The real problem of course, is to curtail the demand for such pain clinics, and the drugs they so willingly dispense. In order to do that, one has to address the drug problem more completely including treatment for those who are addicted to these and other drugs. When one is suffering from addiction to any drugs, and particularly the opioid, heroin-like painkillers, it is a huge challenge to both the drug addict and the families of drug addicts to get the person clean and sober again.

Narconon has been effectively treating drug addicts for over 45 years in 50 countries around the world. They have even started to train other drug rehab programs in their drug-free withdrawal methods, in what is termed the “First Step Program.” This program also allows for families to follow guidelines of a regime of withdrawal that can be done at home by anyone that can follow the instructions of the program.

If you need help with drug addiction, contact a Narconon rehab center today. We are here for you.

Wall Street Journal “Florida Governor Signs Bill Regulating Pill Mills” June 3, 2011

The New York Times “Florida Shutting Pill Mill Clinics” September 1, 2011.

However, the risk of HIV among heroin users could increase due to drug agency budget cuts as Europe adopts stricter austerity measures. HIV epidemics among drug injectors continued to pose “a major health problem for many countries bordering the EU”, the agency stated.

Greece reported a large outbreak of new HIV infections among drug injectors in July, with 170 known cases to date, the report said. Recent increases in infections were also found in Bulgaria, Estonia and Lithuania.

Heroin use in Europe was relatively stable, where there are an estimated 1.3 million regular users, the agency said. But there were also “positive signs that cocaine use may have peaked and that cannabis use continues to decline among young people”.

Approximately four million people in Europe used cocaine last year, according to the Lisbon-based EMCDDA, the agency that collects and analyzes information for European policymakers.

But the report also stated that Denmark, Spain, Italy and the UK, which are among the countries with the highest levels of cocaine use, reported a decline in use in 2010, echoing a similar trend in the US and Canada.

“The financial burden associated with regular cocaine use may make it a less attractive option in countries where austerity is now the order of the day” the report said. Also according to the EMCDDA report, “the drug’s ‘positive image’ as part of an affluent lifestyle, is being challenged by a growing recognition of cocaine-related problems,” including increasing numbers of hospital emergencies and deaths.

Furthermore, the report states that heroin use continues to account for the largest share of drug-related disease and deaths in the EU, but the number of fatal overdoses – 7,600 reported in 2009 – may be “just the tip of the iceberg.” There may be as many as “10,000 to 20,000 problem opioid users who are dying each year in Europe” from overdoses, disease, suicide and other causes.
The fact remains that there are still millions of cocaine users in Europe and around the world. Families still despair of saving loved ones who go to rehab over and over again in attempts to recover from addiction.

What do you do if you have a cocaine problem? Or, your family member is hooked on cocaine? Narconon has been helping cocaine addicts to get free of their addiction and staying clean and drug-free for over forty years. Narconon uses a holistic, drug-free approach to drug rehab that works! There are Narconon centers in fifty countries on six continents of the world.

Narconon school drug education programs are also available to help kids understand the dangers of using drugs. Call today to schedule a drug education presentation.

Resources:

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/annual-report/2011

www.emcdda.europa.eu/events/2011/annual-report

In a recent article in the Bhutan Times, the writer discusses measures that have been taken by the Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency (BNCA) to curb drug use in their kingdom. Concerns about drug use are high because it primarily affects the country’s youth, and because of a rising trend of oral and injectable consumption of pharmaceuticals like dextro-propoxyphene based drugs, synthetic opioids.

So in this landlocked country in Southern Asia, bordering China, and approximately half the size of Indiana, how do drugs infiltrate the population, and moreover, how does one stop them from taking hold of the youth?

The author of this article in the Bhutan Times asks the BNCA director, Kinley Dorji, “What do you think are the main reasons for increasing drug use in Bhutan?”

His response points to the universal need for effective drug education. He says that it is difficult to comment on the reasons for drug use in Bhutan in the absence of scientific evidences. But he thinks the lack of drug education, drug free entertainment, and easy access to alcohol and marijuana, among other things are responsible. Additionally, the lack of education and options for self direction and self development are lacking he thinks. He points to parents and teachers and their roles and responsibilities in bringing up children with drug free ideologies.

Further, when asked about the roles that parents and teachers play a role in curbing drug abuse by young people in Bhutan, Director Dorji commented once again on the need for effective drug education.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently sponsors international efforts to educate people on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse so that there are fewer addicted people who need treatment. The WHO notes that more than 2.5 million people die each year just from alcohol-related causes. More than 300,000 of these people losing their lives are young people who died far before their time. The WHO states that alcohol abuse is one of the leading risk factors for poor health. Through the distribution of more information on the dangers of drug abuse and excessive alcohol abuse, the WHO follows a strategy of improving the health of the peoples of this world through education and prevention.

This is good advice for anyone trying to combat drug abuse, and reflects the philosophy of many drug prevention and rehabilitation programs. In particular, the Narconon program focuses on effective drug education as the primary tool for drug abuse prevention.

There are no Narconon meetings to attend, but Narconon has drug education and prevention centers in more than 120 locations around the world that are prepared to deliver effective presentations, and over 50 drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers on six continents of the world.

Please read the following article to see how effective drug education from Narconon differs from many other drug education programs: http://www.narconon-news.org/program/narconon-drug-education-program.html.

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http://www.bhutantimes.bt/index.php?option=com_content

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/gsrhua/en/index.html