Effective Drug Rehab for Illinois
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In Illinois, it comes as no surprise that Chicago is a hotbed of drug trafficking and distribution. Chicago has been a transportation crossroads since the early days of the railroads. That characteristic suits drug cartels and traffickers just fine. Similarly, drug trafficking routes have long been configured to get products into and through the Chicago area, some moving on to Canada and others branching out to smaller metropolitan areas throughout the Great Lakes and Midwest regions.
The same resources that permit vast transportation of commodities enhance the abilities of cartels and regional distributors to get their products to market. There are two major airports and several smaller ones, six Interstates, a vast body of water that connects Illinois to several other states and Canada, dozens of huge railroad yards, hundreds of trucking companies. It would be hard to design a distribution center more effective for the movement of illicit cargoes.
The Problems on Illinois and Chicago Streets
Chicago has long been home to open-air markets for heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances. These days, however, updated methods of drug distribution have enabled highly addictive drugs to penetrate the suburbs and even small towns and rural parts of Illinois. Cheap cell phones, emails, text messages and social media have enhanced the distribution of these products.
Heroin, marijuana, cocaine and controlled prescription drugs were listed as the biggest threats by Illinois law enforcement personnel. Of these, heroin was the one identified as causing the biggest problems and the fastest growing problems as well. One study found that heroin users were involved with three times as much crime as non-heroin users. Admissions for treatment of heroin addiction almost matched those for alcoholism and marijuana admissions were only a few percentage points lower.
Inquiries from those seeking to recover from addiction or their families are welcomed from Illinois cities and towns.
Illinois Drug Addiction and Treatment
Within Illinois, the leading drug market is the Chicago metropolitan area, which serves as one of the country’s largest drug markets and a national-level distribution center. Drugs shipped into Chicago are destined not only for the local market but also for states across the Midwest and the Eastern states.
Illinois possesses some astonishing statistics that have bearing on the extent of the problem.
- It’s estimated that between 100,000 and 130,000 people in the Chicago metropolitan area are members of organized gangs. By and large, organized street gangs control the retail distribution of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana throughout the metropolitan area.
- More than one million people in the state are dependent on or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs. More than 800 thousand fail each year to get alcohol addiction treatment that they admit they need and more than 200,000 need and don’t get drug addiction treatment.
- Out of a state population of 12 million, nearly 200,000 are on probation or are in jail.
The Problem Moves Out of the Inner City
At one time, the solution to high exposure to drug addiction and all its accompanying ills was simply to move to the suburbs. The latest trend in the spread of narcotics is the movement into the suburbs and even to rural areas of Illinois. Gang members such as the Latin Kings, the Bloods, the Crips, the Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords control the majority of the retail trade in crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin and marijuana within the urban environment.
Now, some gang members have broken off from the tightly controlled core group of gang members and have taken their colors to new markets with new customers. This trend has brought new violence to the suburbs as inner-city gangs push out the existing drug dealers. Law enforcement agencies identify the violence connected with gangs to be the most serious crime threat to the state.
One of the Largest Drug Abuser Populations in the Country
According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, the Chicago area has one of the largest populations of substance abusers in the country. Cocaine, often crack cocaine, and heroin are the major threats, followed by marijuana.
In Illinois as in other states, the results of heroin or cocaine abuse, counting both powder cocaine and crack cocaine, are generally more severe than the results of any other kind of drug abuse. More people received addiction treatment services in Illinois for heroin or cocaine addiction than any other type of addiction, including alcohol treatment. In 2007, 33,169 heroin addicts received drug addiction treatment and 19,238 people addicted to cocaine were treated in rehab centers in Illinois. That compares to 18,427 people who received treatment for alcohol addiction. Nearly 13,000 people needed and received drug rehabilitation for marijuana addiction.
Illinois is a Destination for Drugs from All Over the World
As one of the major drug distribution points for the Eastern and Midwestern states, Illinois receives a high quantity of the same drugs that plague other regions of the country. Unlike other American metropolitan areas, Chicago receives all four of the main types of heroin: South American, Southeast Asian, Southwest Asian and Mexican heroin. The large ethnic population, seaport, airports, interstates and plentiful financial institutions all add up to an environment in which the illicit drug trade can prosper.
The 2008 seizures of addictive drugs is a measure of the quantities of drugs flowing through the interstates, the package services and postal service, being carried on couriers or being trucked in from the Southwest border of the United States.
- 5454 pounds of cocaine
- 258 pounds of heroin
- 20,550 pounds of marijuana
While street gangs rule the retail end of operations, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs are being trafficked into the area by Columbian, Mexican, Nigerian and other West African drug trafficking organizations. These organizations usually establish stash houses where they store their drugs and consolidate millions of dollars of cash for outbound shipment across the border.
Law enforcement agencies recently noted the discovery of stash houses in Bolingbroke, Romeoville, Plainfield, and Joliet. In one house, $1.4 million in cash and 119 pounds of cocaine were recently seized. These discoveries provide further evidence of the movement into the suburbs by dealers and traffickers.
In Illinois as Elsewhere, Recovery Requires Restoring Life Skills
While a person is addicted, their life skills simply erode. In the place of rational decisions, the compulsion to use drugs or alcohol rules their choices. As the months of addiction wear on, one’s self-esteem and integrity are ground into nothing. For a person to even give themselves a chance at sober happiness, they must recover their ability to make choices based on the greatest good for themselves and others around them. This improvement doesn’t happen overnight and it is hard to achieve in group meetings.
At Narconon drug rehab centers, there is a unique system of rebuilding a person’s skills for sober living. No substitute drugs are used as part of the rehabilitation program, and there are no formal meetings mandated. Here, the emphasis is on restoring one’s true viewpoint and ability to think and decide based on rationality.
When one arrives at a Narconon center they begin with the drug-free withdrawal phase. This would begin only after any needed medical wean down that may be required for heavy alcohol use, benzodiazepines, or certain other drugs. In these cases, a person can then begin the Narconon drug-free withdrawal which assists the person to fully come off drugs or alcohol. In the case where a person has a need for medication for a physical condition, they would, of course, continue that medication on the advice of his physician. The drug-free withdrawal consists of around the clock care where nutritional supplements and special techniques are used to help alleviate the pain and discomfort of any withdrawal symptoms.
The Narconon program takes most people eight to twelve weeks although some people need more time. There is no set time limit for this program. What is truly important is that a person regains the abilities and skills needed.
From Detoxification to Problem-Solving
There is a Narconon drug rehab centers within easy reach of Illinois residents. A short flight to the southwest can bring one to Narconon Arrowhead in Canadian, Oklahoma.
Here, the focus is on repairing the damage addiction creates. Part of the process included the deep detoxification procedure called the New Life Detoxification. Combining time in a low-heat sauna with exercise and a strict regimen of nutritional supplements enables the body to reach deep into fatty tissues and extract residues of earlier drug or alcohol use. These residues have appeared to be associated with unclear, foggy and slow thinking and cravings. By the time the detoxification process is complete, many people say they have stopped having drug dreams and that their cravings are much lower—sometimes, they’re even gone.
Next, a series of precise exercises called the objectives helps lift each person’s burden of trauma and upset. As this series progresses, participants regain control over their actions, decisions and even their thoughts. No longer do compulsions rob one of the power of choice.
Finally, the essential life skills for sober living are taught and then practiced with the guidance of Narconon staff. Each person wraps up this program with a carefully crafted plan to re-enter a sober life, putting these skills to thorough use. The result is the ability to enjoy life sober—perhaps for the first time in years or even decades.
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Narconon Provides Help for Those Who Urgently Need Recovery from Substance Abuse
Substance abuse treatment for alcohol consumption or drug abuse must work holistically for it to have a lasting effect. In other words, it must treat the damaging effects of substance abuse on the body but then it must also help the addict learn how to build a new drug-free life, sometimes from the ground up, when addiction has destroyed everything.
A thorough detoxification followed by counseling and life skills training enables a person in a drug rehab program to see things in a whole new light so they can live an enjoyable, productive life again. Drug abuse and addiction do not need to be an endless curse. With the Narconon residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, lifetime addiction recovery is within reach.
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