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]
Are College Students too Comfortable with Prescription Stimulant Abuse?
In a recent article in the Daily Utah Chronicle, author Hannah Jones reports that students are too comfortable with abusing prescription stimulants. She concluded this, citing a 2001 study done by the University of Michigan and Harvard University wherein 10,904 randomly selected college students were polled from 119 four-year colleges.
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.
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
Deaths by Prescription Drug Overdoses Triple in Last Decade
According to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, the number of people dying from overdoses of powerful opioid pain relievers tripled in just the past decade.
Opioids are pain relief drugs that are chemically similar to opium.
These opioid deaths are just part of a larger epidemic of drug overdose deaths. In 2008, more than 36,000 people lost their lives from prescription drug overdoses. Close to 15,000 of these involved one of these opioid pain reliever (OPR) such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Lortab or methadone. That’s more than three times the number who died in 1999.
Every year, there are more of these drugs in distribution as doctors write more and more prescriptions for these addictive pills.
The CDC report also revealed that in 2009, 1.2 million emergency department (ED) visits were related to misuse or abuse of pharmaceuticals, compared with 1.0 million ED visits related to use of illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
OPRs now account for more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined. OPRs frequently are diverted for non-medical use by patients or their friends or sold on the street. According to national surveys, an estimated 4.8% of the U.S. population aged 12 or older used an OPR non-medically in 2010.
If you wonder why the cost of health insurance is skyrocketing, another study estimated that non-medical use of OPR costs insurance companies up to $72.5 billion annually in health-care costs.
Such painkillers “are meant to help people who have severe pain,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. “They are, however, highly addictive.”
Abuse figures vary greatly on a state by state basis, with the highest rate of abuse in Oklahoma and the lowest in Nebraska and Iowa. Across the country, an estimated 418,000 twelve and thirteen-year-old children abused one of the OPRs. That statistic took a ten percent jump in just one year.
Dr. Frieden said that the overdose deaths reflect the increase in the number of narcotic painkillers that are being prescribed. Every year, enough pills are prescribed to keep every American dosed up around the clock for one full month.
In order to help prevent drug abuse, Narconon takes significant measures to form community coalitions and educate other community groups on how to help get drugs out of our communities. To find out more about what Narconon is doing to effectively educate our youth, form alliances that work, and more about Narconon objectives and its effective drug prevention and rehabilitation programs, please read the following article: http://www.narconon-news.org/narconon/taking-drugs-out-of-the-communities.html.
CDC. WONDER [Database]. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2010. Available at http://wonder.cdc.gov. Accessed September 27, 2011.
Warner M, Chen L, Makuc D. Increase in fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics in the United States, 1999–2006. NCHS Data Brief. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2009. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db22.htm. Accessed October 3, 2011.
Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Prescription for peril: how insurance fraud finances theft and abuse of addictive prescription drugs. Washington, DC: Coalition Against Insurance Fraud; 2007. Available at http://www.insurancefraud.org/downloads/drugDiversion.pdf ??. Accessed September 26, 2011.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: volume 1: summary of national findings. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies; 2010. Available at http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k9nsduh/2k9resultsp.pdf. Accessed October 3, 2011
Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Prescription for peril: how insurance fraud finances theft and abuse of addictive prescription drugs. Washington, DC: Coalition Against Insurance Fraud; 2007. Available at http://www.insurancefraud.org/downloads/drugDiversion.pdf. Accessed September 26, 2011.
Narconon Gulf Coast Review
If the beautiful coast of Florida conjures up beautiful images, it should. Not only is the area picturesque, but there are some beautiful changes going on in the lives of addicts. This beautiful resort boasts a very high success rate for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Any Narconon Gulf Coast review would be remiss not to mention those impressive statistics.
The Narconon Gulf Coast rehab center is located is located in a resort-like setting which has a wonderful view of the ocean. This environment is very conducive to healing and treatment of addiction. There is a one on one staff-student ratio at the center, which provides for a better chance of success. They concentrate on craving reduction, but also follow a treatment program which has been utilized by Narconon for decades.
Any Narconon Gulf coast review would indicate that center was opened by Randy and Debbie Ross, who had previously gone through four unsuccessful attempts at rehabilitation for their son. They had a personal stake in the success of the Narconon Gulf Coast center, and it was a large one. Every possible issue was discussed and dealt with before the doors even opened, including any possible complaint (such as the quality of the food) that a student may have.
They use an extremely positive approach, and Debbie personally makes sure the students are treated with respect from all staff members. There are daily staff meetings during which any positive and problem areas are discussed. This Narconon Gulf Coast Review gives kudos to Randy and Debbie for caring so very much about each of the students, and literally treating them as their own children.
Based on the methods of the other Narconon centers, the Gulf Coast facility uses wholesome, natural, and holistic methods of dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. They also create an excitement about the New Life studies that actually create enthusiasm not only with the staff, but more importantly, the students. They believe that addiction is not a disease of the helpless, but a condition of people who have the power to overcome it, with the right tools and education.
The most impressive Narconon Gulf Coast review includes the facts that although individuals are free to leave at any time, they do not. Who would want to? It is a home-like atmosphere with positive, caring people around to help guide the student every step of the way. The program is excellent, the food is great, the people actually do care, and the facility is located in a resort-like area. No one makes light of the fact that beating addiction can be tough, but there may be no better place to achieve it than this one, which has everything going for it.
Narconon Gulf Coast is not a quick fix, band aid type of program. It literally takes months to complete the program. Individuals did not get where they are in life in only a couple of weeks, so it stands to reason that it would take a comprehensive program to enable individuals to take back their lives, only with a more positive, healthier approach than before.
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 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.
Withdrawal from OxyContin: How Bad is it?
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.
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
Avoid Risks for Drug-Facilitated Rapes
There’s a long list of drugs that are becoming popular aids for the would-be rapist. They can enable the criminally-minded person to slip a tasteless or nearly-tasteless chemical in a person’s drink while they have turned away or perhaps left their drink behind while they dance. Statistically, the most vulnerable group for this type of attack is a young woman, very often one at school or college.
When the woman feels sick or dizzy after fifteen or 20 minutes, the rapist can then help her to her car or offer to take her home, where he then completes the rape. The young woman wakes up the next morning, knowing something is very wrong, feeling sick, but not being sure what occurred. According to one estimate by the Department of Justice, there are 375,000 drug or alcohol-facilitated rapes just among women on American colleges.
“A rape of this kind is just one of the many things that can go wrong in an environment of substance abuse,” warned 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 drug education. “Especially among college students, there are also much higher rates of accident, injury, failures in school and even death among those drinking or using drugs.”
Drugs that are Used
Some of the drugs used to make women unable to defend themselves against rape include: Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), a benzodiazepine, but much stronger than the more common Xanax: In American states along the southern border, Rohypnol is easy to get as it is sold across the counter in Mexico. In other areas, it sold by prescription for sleeplessness.
Alcohol: Its big advantage is that it is legal and considered an “excuse” for unacceptable behavior, particularly on college campuses.
GHB: This drug is often used by body builders to burn fat. It may be stored in a small dropper bottle for easy addition to someone’s drink.
Ketamine, a veterinary anesthetic: This drug acts as a dissociative, meaning that it can cause hallucinations or a dreamlike or detached state.
Ecstasy and methamphetamine may also be used to facilitate rapes. In a circular fashion, drug-facilitated rapes may themselves engender more substance abuse. Women who have been raped are thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol and 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
“While some women are slipped a drug without their knowledge and then raped when they are unable to resist, far more women experience sexual assaults after they have willingly consumed drugs or alcohol,” advised Wiggins. “By far the best way to prevent assault is to avoid drug or alcohol abuse entirely. This keeps a young woman safe from addiction, drug or alcohol-related health problems, assault and unwanted pregnancy.”
For more information on the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, call and speak to one of drug rehabilitation counselors.
Resources
- http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/club/index.html
- http://www.library.northwestern.edu/news/2010/march/drug-facilitated-incapacitated-and-forcible-rape
- http://www.pcar.org/about-sexual-violence/stats
- http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/drugrape.htm
- http://www.rainn.org/statistics
Florida Continues to Provide Southeast States with Prescription Narcotics Likely Due to Inactive Prescription Monitoring Program
As one state after another implemented monitoring programs that enabled them to crack down on prescription fraud, Florida passed legislation that would enact a similar law – but then in March 2011, it approved a move to cancel implementation of the law.
Over the years, Florida has gained a reputation as the destination for drug dealers from other states who want to fraudulently obtain prescription narcotics for illicit sale. In particular, dealers from Tennessee, Kentucky and other southern states have established veritable trade routes to and from Florida so they can supply addicts in their home states. But despite its role in these illicit activities, Florida seemed to drag its feet in enacting legislation. By the time Florida passed its bill (that was then canceled), only one state – Missouri – had not enacted similar laws.
More Prescription Drug Deaths Than Traffic Accident Deaths
Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins explained, “Governor Scott felt that this law would only provide some tracking of prescriptions, might violate privacy and would not strike at the heart of the problem. Still, Florida legislators must address the real problems rapidly or bear responsibility for any prescription drug deaths that occur as a result of drugs improperly dispensed in Florida in the meantime.” In Kentucky, for example, one of the states receiving many of Florida’s illicit prescriptions, prescription drug deaths rose from 403 in 2000 to 973 by 2009. More people now die in Kentucky due to prescription drug abuse than traffic accidents.
National Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowsi appealed to Florida legislators not to kill the bill. He appeared in Kentucky even as the Florida legislation was dying. During that visit, he dubbed Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee as “ground zero” for prescription drug abuse.
“Whether legislation catches up with the problem or not, what remains is that those who have become addicted to prescription drugs or any addictive substance need help to leave that addiction behind,” added Wiggins. “For more than forty years, Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers around the world have been enabling addicts to start living clean and sober lives again.”
Call and speak to one our drug rehab counselors for more information about the Narconon drug rehab program.
Resources:
- http://drugcontrol.flgov.com/pdmp/about.html
- http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/florida-house-committee-votes-to-kill-drug-monitoring-database/1156413
- http://www.marconews.com/news/2011/mar/16/9-sentenced-SW-Fla-prescription-drug-fraud-ring/
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110223/ZONE10/302240028/Officials-Florida-plan-scrap-drug-monitoring-may-cost-lives-Kentucky
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
Inhalants Specialize in Taking Young Lives
Inhalants Specialize in Taking Young Lives
It’s a completely legal drug, found in thousands of stores across the country. It can be used almost under a parent’s nose without their being suspicious in the least. After all, there’s no needles, bent spoons, tiny baggies or roaches left behind. One police officer with a canine partner trained to detect drugs told the story of how his son died from inhalant abuse shortly before his fifteenth birthday, abusing the one drug his dog could never detect.
All a young person needs is a can of the electronic device cleaner known as Dust-Off or a can of spray paint that may even be found on garage shelves. Or any one of hundreds of other common items, from correction fluid to rubber cement, markers, solvents, whipped cream dispensers or hair spray. Substances may be sprayed into a bag and then the gases are inhaled, or they may be sprayed on clothes or rags for inhaling. Dust-Off and similar products may be sprayed directly into the mouth or nose.
The dizzy high from inhalants usually lasts just a few minutes. But any inhalant use, any time, can have unpredictable and fatal effects.
Inhalants Take a Serious Toll on an Abuser’s Health
An inhalant abuser can expect to do serious harm not only to his brain, but also his heart, kidneys and liver, all sensitive to toxins. Some inhalants cause a form of anemia and others can cause permanent damage to peripheral nerves.
Sniffing some gases can cause a sudden and severe irregular heartbeat that can cause death within minutes. This type of death is particularly connected with butane, propane and aerosol inhalation.
Suffocation can also cause death. Some inhalant vapors, like Dust-Off, are heavier than air and replace air in the lungs, suffocating the abuser. When an abuser inhales gases from a paper or plastic bag, this also increases the probability of suffocation. If abusers vomit while they are high on inhalants, some have been known to choke on their own vomit, causing death.
There may be no warning signs that death is just around the corner. There are no signs of who will tolerate the day’s inhalant abuse and who will not. Repeated inhalant abuse greatly increases the likelihood of organ and brain damage.
Statistics on inhalant deaths are hard to determine as the cause of death when inhalants are involved is very hard to determine. Coroners may not be trained to look for the right signs, leading to what some experts claim is severe underreporting of the damage being done. The death may be reported as suffocation or heart problems.
Young People Without Education of Dangers are at Risk
Possibly because of their easy availability compared to drugs like marijuana, cocaine and others, young people are the primary abusers of this substance. Those children in seventh to ninth grade are most likely to abuse inhalants of all ages. It’s a very bad sign that in 2009, a national survey showed that 42 percent of eighth graders did not consider regular use of inhalants to be harmful, and 66 percent didn’t think that trying inhalants once or twice was risky. The wrong way to learn about the dangers is by watching a friend die or risking death oneself just for the sake of a few minutes of “buzz.”
Resources
- http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs4/4770/index.htm
- http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_inhale2.php
- http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/d/dustoff.htm
- http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_inhale1.php
- http://www.enotes.com/drugs-alcohol-encyclopedia/inhalants-extent-use-complications
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
Narconon Report on How Failed Drug Rehab Services Contribute to State and Local Bankruptcies
Recent financial news includes stories about cities and states declaring or considering bankruptcy. The cities of Newark, Vallejo, California and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania have considered the possibility or have taken the plunge. California, Michigan and New York are the states considered closest to the bankruptcy line; Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois are said to be next in line.
According to Joseph Califano, chairman of the National Center on Substance Abuse and Addiction at Columbia University, the costs of substance abuse and addiction contribute to the insolvency of state budgets.
Mr. Califano reports that some 30 percent of Medicaid costs are spent to treat the results of violence and accidents related to substance abuse, or to treat the seventy or more diseases caused or worsened by drug abuse and addiction. On top of that, as many as 80 percent of incarcerated Americans were jailed for drug offences, violent or other crimes committed to obtain drugs or while they were drunk or high.
Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins agrees with Mr. Califano. “One of the best ways to reduce state and local budgets is to bring about lasting recovery to addiction.” Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “When those running into legal or health problems go through one after another drug rehabilitation program, states, counties and cities very often bear the burden of those costs. When those who leave prison on drug charges have no way to permanently rebuild their lives, states and counties stand to pay for future prosecutions and incarcerations unless lasting recovery can be found.”
Expenses from substance abuse and addiction cover a broad spectrum of social costs beyond healthcare and the penal system. Additional costs such as social services including welfare and the foster care system add costs, and lost income from productivity losses and failed businesses cost states and local governments even more. State by state, 94 percent of substance abuse-related costs go to cleaning up the messes created by drug use and addiction. Less than 3 percent is spent on prevention or treatment.
“In a world where addiction can be overcome, we can expect people to complete drug rehab treatment and return to the workforce healthy,” explained Wiggins. “At Narconon centers around the world, seven out of ten graduates stay clean and sober after they return home. Lasting recovery accompanied by the elimination of the expense of addiction is a solution available to any city, county or state.”
For more information on the Narconon drug rehabilitation program, visit www.narconon.org
www.narconon-news.org
Narconon Spokesperson Asks: “Are Schools in American Losing the Battle with On-Campus Drug Use?”
If you examine reports from schools around the country, it could very well appear that schools are losing the battle to keep drugs off campus. The signs are pretty unmistakable.
In Placerville in the California foothills, parents of students at the area’s high schools can buy a $40 drug test for just $10. The test screens for ten drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy. These tests were offered after a survey of one of the high schools in the area showed that half of the students were using marijuana.
In Litchfield Park, Arizona, parents can get the tests for free. And they are going to need them. In February 2011, six boys at a middle school in Litchfield Park shared a handful of prescription pills on the basketball court during lunch. Since no one knew exactly what they had taken of how much, they were sent to a local hospital as a precaution.
On Long Island, drug sniffing dogs have been searching schools for contraband for two years. Before they started their randomly-scheduled rounds, about one student was found with marijuana each month. Since the dogs went on duty, none have.
Narconon spokesperson Bobby Wiggins stated, “If the only way we can keep drugs out of schools is to distribute free drug tests, ban student lockers and have dogs patrol the halls, this is a tragic statement about our ability to provide adequate drug education.” Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and education. “Our students need to be given straight information about drug use that enables them to make their own wise decision when they are offered drugs. And there are very few children who will not be offered drugs.”
Narconon centers around the world provide drug education classes that have been proven to lower substance abuse rates in monitored delivery situations in Hawaii and Oklahoma. “Some parents might be appalled to learn that some drug education courses measure their success by how many students remember what was taught,” said Wiggins. “At Narconon, the only criteria that count are ‘Are fewer kids using drugs? Have some of the students made the decision to stay drug-free and are they succeeding?’ We are successfully teaching kids how and why to make the drug-free choice when faced with drugs being used around them or offered to them.”
For more information about the Narconon drug education classes, visit www.narconon-news.org
