Finding Effective Addiction Treatment in Georgia
Like most other parts of the country, Georgia struggles with the misuse of and addiction to prescription opioids. What is an opioid? It’s a synthetic drug chemically similar to opium-like oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl. Every year, abuse of these drugs costs each person in Georgia $246, totaling $2.48 billion for the whole state. Costs come from law enforcement, welfare, foster care, business losses and medical costs, among others.
Actually, if you figure in the abuse of all drugs plus excessive alcohol use, the bill for each Georgian shoots up enormously. Each year, one way or another, each person shoulders a cost of $2,581. It’s obvious that Georgia has a massive need for effective drug rehabilitation to reduce the cost, pain, heartbreak and loss of life that accompanies addiction.
Narconon: A Fifty-Year Success
Georgia has access to the Narconon drug-free rehabilitation program in its neighboring state, Florida. In a beautiful garden setting in Clearwater, Florida, the Narconon program helps residents from all over the Southeast regain control of their lives. Narconon is a residential program with a unique approach to recovery.
There’s also no set time limit for completion of the program. What really matters is that an individual has gained the skills needed to make sober choices after he (or she) goes home. These skills are critically important at those moments a person might be tempted to escape stress or problems by using more drugs.
For fifty years, this approach to recovery has enabled tens of thousands of individuals to regain their sobriety. There have never been any drugs used as part of treatment because none are needed. (Of course, anyone who needs medication for a physical condition would continue to follow the advice of his physician.)
Clearing One’s Thinking and Sharpening Perceptions
In the muddy condition most people find themselves in after years of addiction, it’s hard to focus on building a new sober life. The Narconon Program is one of the few programs that attempts to alleviate this with an additional detoxification process. These residual toxins remain behind, largely in fatty tissues, after the body has broken down the bulk of drugs or alcohol consumed and eliminated them. Washing them away brightens a person’s outlook and helps calm the cravings that were driving him, day and night.
The procedure used to flush out these toxins is called the New Life Detoxification. It’s a combination of specific nutritional supplements, moderate exercise and time spent sweating in a low-heat sauna. Those completing this step talk about their increased energy and lower cravings. Families may comment that this individual “sounds like himself again” as he washes away these old toxins.
Following this detox is a step called the Objectives. The purpose of this step is to reacquaint a person with the real, tangible world around him. Anyone who talks to someone who’s stoned, high or drunk can see that he has a poor perception of the world and worse control over his actions, movements and decisions. On a gentle gradient, each person learns to see the world as it really is, and regains control of his actions and even his thoughts and emotions. This is a critical improvement for someone who wants to take control away from drugs and run his own life again.
The Most Vital Life Skills
A person could go home then, but he would be going home without some vital skills he will need to negotiate challenging moments in life. He needs to know what kind of people he should associate with, if he is to remain sober, and what kind of people would bring his valuable sobriety to an end. He needs to understand how a life of integrity can be maintained, even in challenging situations.
And he needs to understand how to overcome obstacles and solve problems that come up. Without these skills, he might seek the escape of drugs as a way of avoiding problems.
At the end of the Life Skills component of the Narconon program, each student takes what he’s learned and works out a plan to re-enter his life on a new sober basis. He’ll talk to a staff member from the Narconon center periodically over the next couple of years to review his progress and make sure he is successfully using what he learned.
Meeting the Challenges in Georgia
When the Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996, all eyes turned in the city’s direction. The city also caught the attention of foreign drug cartels who were shipping products to major cities on the East Coast. Cartel members quickly established a drug distribution center in Atlanta. They were able to utilize the investment in infrastructure that accompanied the Olympics and a greater influx of minority population that allowed them to blend in.
More changes in trafficking and delivery methods have brought heroin, pills, methamphetamine and other drugs into small towns and even rural areas of Georgia. In short, drugs can be found in any corner of Georgia, no matter how remote. It’s the families that suffer from this assault—the mothers and fathers who lose a child, wives and husbands who lose loving spouses, and small children who lose a caring parent.
Ending addiction in Georgia requires access to a program capable of offering lasting recovery from addiction. And that is what is offered by Narconon Suncoast in Florida.
More Information about Drug Rehab in Georgia: