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.

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.

Babbitt’s arrest information was made public in accordance with a Fairfax City police general order that says they will release information on any arrest of public officials, including federal officials, for any criminal charge or serious traffic charge (e.g. driving under the influence, reckless driving).

The FAA has been in the spotlight for the past few years and suffered weeks of criticism following revelations last spring that at least nine air traffic controllers had fallen asleep on the job or were unresponsive to calls.

The FAA has also been plagued by a rash of pilots who were violating federal regulations regarding alcohol and flying.

In November of 2009, a United Airlines pilot was arrested in London’s Heathrow airport before takeoff for allegedly drinking too much before entering the cockpit.

In 2008, 13 pilots violated the Federal Aviation Administration’s alcohol-related rules. Their rules state that pilots can’t fly if they have a blood-alcohol level of 0.04% or higher, half the legal driving limit in most states. They are prohibited from drinking any alcohol in the eight hours before reporting for work, a provision known in the profession as the “bottle-to-throttle” rule.

British law is even stricter with a 0.02% limit, a level which can be reached with about one regular beer.

Despite these regulations and attempts to have other crew members look out for the safety of all passengers, alcohol is a pervasive problem, and not just among professional pilots.

The problem of alcohol abuse reaches to the top and bottom rungs of society, and once an alcoholic, it is extremely hard to break free of the addiction. Anyone can have a few drinks from time to time, but when an otherwise rational person chooses to drink excessively despite the damage it may be causing to their health, work, finances, and relationships, and they cannot quit of their own accord, it may be termed alcoholism.

Only effective alcohol abuse rehab programs with a proven track record can ensure that you or a family member will become free of this societal and personal curse.

Narconon objectives have been helping alcoholics and other drug addicts to live sober and drug-free lives for 45 years. Narconon has programs all over the world, in six continents and more than 40 countries.

For Narconon school drug education programs to help educate kids about alcohol and other harmful drugs, contact a Narconon center today.

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/news/a/drugnews.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-11-12-pilot-drinking-episodes_N.htm

According to recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overprescribing and abuse of prescription drugs have been climbing. Following right behind those statistics are addiction and overdose death statistics. While a decade or so ago, the main drugs killing people through overdoses were drugs like heroin and cocaine, these days far more people are being killed by prescription drugs – drugs that were intended to make life bearable for people with chronic pain or other serious conditions.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6043a4.htm?s_cid=mm6043a4_w

Mirroring this shift is the pattern of admissions to addiction treatment at Narconon drug recovery centers across the country. In the thirteen rehabs in the US that use the standardized Narconon addiction treatment protocol, the common pattern is an increase in the number of prescription drug addicts, as many as half of all admissions at some centers.

“The number of people needing to recover from prescription drug addiction – especially painkillers – has reached epidemic levels,” warned Bobby Wiggins, drug education specialist for the international headquarters of Narconon, located in Los Angeles. “More young people are abusing these drugs as well, so much so that abuse of prescription drugs threatens to overtake the use of marijuana by teens.” Mr. Wiggins cited the National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which reported in that in 2009, nearly a million 14 and 15 year olds had abused a prescription drug at some point in their young lives. This is nearly eleven percent of all children of this age.

http://oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k10NSDUH/tabs/Sect1peTabs1to46.htm#Tab1.1A

“Young people see their parents using these medications and then may see the drugs being abused in television shows and movies. Young people who feel they are stressed or anxious or are just curious or bored may take a few pills for their own use,” Mr. Wiggins explained. “But as the young people get older and have more means and freedom, this occasional use can become abuse and addiction very easily.”

The CDC report reviewed the number of drug overdose deaths in the US between 1999 and 2008 that were related to prescription drugs and then noted that opiate pain reliever use contributed to the largest number of drug deaths. Out of 36,450 drug overdose deaths in 2008, a specific drug or drugs were named in 27,153 deaths. Opiate pain relievers were responsible for nearly 74% of these deaths. Non-Hispanic whites and American Indian/Alaska Natives were the hardest hit, with three times the deaths of Hispanic whites or African Americans.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6043a4.htm?s_cid=mm6043a4_w

According to SAMHSA, there were 142,000 people admitted to addiction treatment facilities for problems with pain reliever addiction in 2009. But of all those who need treatment for addiction, fewer than 10% actually get treatment. Of those who did not receive treatment, only about one in twenty felt that they needed help with addiction. The remainder did not see the problem even though they fit the criteria for dependence or addiction. This means that there are probably around a million and a half Americans struggling with addiction to OxyContin, Roxicodone, hydrocodone (sold as Lortab, Lorcet or Vicodin), morphine, methadone, or the many other drugs on this list.

http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm#7.3

“The solution to this problem is multi-faceted,” reported Mr. Wiggins. “The CDC encourages the states to implement greater controls over opiate prescribing. The public must be better educated on the dangers of prescription drug abuse and there must be effective drug rehabilitation available.”

SAMSHA data gathering also found that in 2008, nearly four times as many of those people entering treatment for the second, third or more times reported pain reliever abuse as repeat admissions did in 1999. This follows the trend of broader prescribing and abuse followed by higher numbers of those addicted.

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k10/230/230PainRelvr2k10.htm

Mr. Wiggins concluded, “The cycle of addiction is broken when treatment eliminates the key factors that have been discovered at Narconon: guilt, cravings and depression.” At Narconon rehab centers around the world, seven out of ten graduates remain drug-free after they go home, whether they are getting help for alcohol, heroin, cocaine or prescription pain relievers.

In this study, prescription stimulant drugs including Adderall, Ritalin and Dexedrine were found to be the second most-used illegal drugs among college students, following only behind marijuana. These prescription stimulants were seen by students as academic performance enhancers, but the physical and sociological risks of using these substances should far overshadow any potential academic gain.

In fact, the illicit use of psycho-stimulants such as those named above were part of the students’ perceived competitive edge while fighting for higher test scores and better grades, as revealed in an undercover college drug raid at Columbia University in 2010. This raid, nicknamed “Operation Ivy League,” found students regularly buying and selling illegal drugs.

Perhaps college students learn this complacent attitude early in life, as the phenomenon of prescribing drugs begins in this country (as well as others) very early in life. In fact, strong prescription stimulants are commonly prescribed to children in this country. In 2007, about 5.4 million children aged 4 to 17 years old were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About two-thirds of those so diagnosed were medicated.

Drugs like Adderall are compounds of different kinds of amphetamines. Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a prescription stimulant that possesses structural similarities to amphetamine, but its pharmacological effects are more similar to those of cocaine.

It seems all too commonplace and accepted that young children are placed on highly addictive drugs such as these. These drugs are extremely dangerous even though millions of children are taking them.

The physical symptoms are quite serious enough, not to mention the legal complications involved. The selling of a prescription to another student or possessing these prescription stimulants without a prescription is illegal. A student who is convicted of illegal possession or distribution of prescription drugs can incur fines of hundreds or even thousands of dollars and a potential felony conviction.

The potential for so much negative impact should overshadow any perceived “test score advantage” that taking such drugs might offer and opinions vary on whether or not the drugs do, in fact, offer any academic advantage. The results of prescription stimulant abuse can include long-term addiction from which is hard to break free.

It isn’t just the college students who are too comfortable with drug use and abuse. Many segments of society are far too accustomed to “popping a pill” to solve any random difficulty they face in life.

The Narconon program has been offering effective drug abuse education, treatment and rehabilitation for more than forty years on six continents of the world. Narconon has effective education and rehab programs in more than 120 locations which offer life-saving results, and it has done so since 1966.

To learn more about the effective program used at Narconon to combat drug and alcohol abuse among college students as well as any other segment of the population, please read: http://www.narconon-news.org/program/narconon-alcohol-drug-treatment.html.

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.

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.

How bad is it when an addict tries to stop taking OxyContin? If you do an internet search for “OxyContin withdrawal symptoms,” you’ll find a list like this: Muscle aches, yawning, sweating, insomnia, agitation, anxiety, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea and vomiting.

• http://www.drexelmed.edu/home/HealthEncyclopediaArticles/DiseasesandConditions/Opiatewithdrawal.html

None of them are pleasant but it doesn’t sound that bad. But does that represent the real picture? And if it doesn’t, how can you find out what it’s really like?

A little-known secret is that support groups and chat rooms for people going through the same illness or drug problem are places where you can get the dirty secrets of what an illness, addiction withdrawal or medical treatment is REALLY like. The people writing comments on those boards are the ones living the problems, not the doctors who want to sell their medical treatments or drug rehab programs.

So what kinds of withdrawal experiences are OxyContin addicts describing on these sites? They are graphic and utterly miserable. Here are a few excerpts from their stories.

“I stopped taking them and got extremely nauseated. I was sweating heavily then going through hot and then cold flashes. I could not control the coughing or yawning. I couldn’t sleep, my heart was beating fast and I was so depressed, I seriously contemplated suicide just so I would not feel so awful.”

“My withdrawal was hot and cold sweats, leg cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. It was pure hell. It lasted for two or three weeks of no sleep.”

“There was no sleep for me for almost ten full days. All my bones ached severely. I couldn’t ever sit still. I had a lot of back pain and headaches. I would have done just about anything to get the medication back.”

“It’s like the worst flu ever. You sweat and vomit, can’t control your bowels. You shake and just wish you would die.”

• Statements adapted from the postings on www.oxyabusekills.com/stories.html.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that withdrawal from OxyContin and other opiates can be far better than this, if the withdrawal is done at a Narconon drug and and alcohol rehabilitation center.

Every drug rehabilitation starts with withdrawal, but the Narconon staff go to great lengths and have unique procedures for making the process as comfortable as possible. Because most addicts have been neglecting their health, the Narconon drug withdrawal step starts with getting lots of good food, vitamins designed specifically for drug detoxification, and calcium-magnesium drinks into the recovering person.

The nutrition is followed by one-on-one walks with staff and “assists,” gentle physical and mental re-orientation and relaxation processes that help calm the mind and the body of the recovering addict.

The effect of all these steps, repeated over and over again throughout the day, is that the severe discomfort of opiate and opioid withdrawal is toned down to a tolerable process for most people.

“The difference is so great for some people,” stated Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for the international offices of Narconon, “that some addicts think they may have somehow skipped withdrawal entirely. But they didn’t. It’s just that this process is effective in making withdrawal something that can be faced. It no longer has to be a barrier to recovery for someone who is desperate to get clean and sober again.

“Some people realize that if they can get through withdrawal this successfully, that there is something special about the Narconon drug rehabilitation program, and that they truly have a shot at lasting sobriety by graduating from this program,” Wiggins added. “A person who wants their life back can have it by doing the Narconon drug recovery program.” There are more than 120 Narconon centers around the world, dedicated to eliminating substance abuse and drug addiction through effective rehabilitation and drug education.

Give us a call if you need help with drug addiction or to get more information about the Narconon drug rehabilitation program. Our counselors are here to assist youl.

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.

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