Narconon Georgia

New Hope of a Lasting Recovery in Georgia

The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program began being delivered in the Atlanta area in 2001. To date, more than 300 graduates have learned to live drug-free through this program that has a 76 percent success rate.

As many as 50 people at a time can progress through the eight phases of the Narconon program, starting with a drug-free withdrawal and proceeding all the way to the restoration of self-esteem and personal values. A high staff-to-student ratio means that those on the program can receive the one-on-one attention they need to succeed in their recoveries.

Located in Norcross in the northeast suburbs of the metropolitan area, the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program provides life-saving services to those living all over the Southeast, and as far north as Kentucky. Narconon of Georgia is licensed by the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

Anti-drug activities in the community and drug education lectures provided at schools and clubs are further ways that the Narconon staff help create a future in which all citizens of Georgia are free from substance abuse and addiction.

Video: Another drug-free life from Narconon of Georgia

Narconon Georgia Graduates Narconon Program

Video: Narconon Drug Rehab Before and After Drug Addicts


Narconon of Georgia talks about suffering from drug addiction

In the last fifty years, Georgia has emerged from being a sleepy corner of the South to being a major commerce and financial hub, with Atlanta in the lead. As business ventures have grown, so has grown the infrastructure that supports that business. This fact has not gone unnoticed by Mexican drug trafficking organizations wishing to streamline and expand their drug distribution channels in the U.S.

In just the last few years, trends in arrests, seizures and drug distribution activities have indicated that the Atlanta metropolitan area is becoming a more important nexus for drug traffickers. Increasingly, drugs are transported via I-20 to the Atlanta metro area where they are stashed for local distribution or for transshipment to other East Coast and Southern cities.

Traffickers are also consolidating their cash in the area to make bulk shipments back to the Southwest border and on to Mexico. In 2008, two major seizures were made of this consolidated cash: $7.65 million from a house in the Atlanta area and $29 million seized from a vehicle that had originated in Atlanta and was headed for the Southwest border.

Standing at the crossroads of East-West and North-South interstates and possessing extensive transportation, shipping and business infrastructure, Atlanta is unfortunately a perfect location to support growth in the drug trafficking business. Increased drug and cash seizures and drug-related violence provide evidence that drug trafficking organizations are taking full advantage of this fact.

Georgia Drug Production Trends Shifting

In general, other than the conversion of powder cocaine to crack cocaine, drug production in Georgia is low. There are some marijuana grows detected and some small-scale methamphetamine labs are seized from time to time. But two incidents in December 2008 suggest that Mexican drug trafficking organizations may be establishing an Atlanta base for increased methamphetamine production.

First, law enforcement officers in North Carolina found 90,000 pseudoephedrine tablets in a vehicle that was headed from New Jersey to Atlanta. Pseudoephedrine is a precursor drug commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and is often procured through the efforts of many individuals who go from one drug store to another, buying the legal limit of cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine.

And second, in a Cobb County bust of a large methamphetamine lab, the manufacturers did not need pseudoephedrine. Instead, 180 pounds of liquid methamphetamine smuggled in by a Mexican drug trafficking organization meant that the lab workers could manufacture meth without needing to circumvent the laws restricting the sale of cold medications. They could convert that liquid meth directly into powder or ice methamphetamine.

As Always, Drug Trafficking Creates Human Tragedy

Federal surveys indicate that one out of every fourteen Georgia citizens is in need of drug or alcohol addiction treatment – and that is by their own admission. If you add those who abuse prescription drugs without realizing that they are addicted or those who consume alcohol daily but consider that they don't have a problem, what would those numbers reveal?

Coincidentally, the number of people in Georgia who are on probation (for any crime, not just drug crimes) is the same: one in fourteen.

Sadly, each year, nearly a quarter million Georgians who feel they need alcohol rehabilitation do not get it, perhaps due to unavailability of treatment facilities. And nearly 100,000 people who feel they need treatment for drug addiction do not receive it. Without effective, lasting help for those who have become trapped in addiction and without effective drug prevention for those who are not addicted, the lives of many thousands of Georgians will be forever damaged or destroyed. Fortunately, the Narconon center in Atlanta provides both services.