NARCONON BLOG

STATISTICS & TRENDS

An Overview of Nations, Looking at the Prescription Drug Problem on a Global Scale

Drug addiction in the United States is an expanding problem. While we might not want to admit it, much of what created the addiction epidemic that we face today was the rapid expansion of the pharmaceutical industry, the lack of regulation in that industry,...

NARCONON REVIEWS

An Open Letter to Mothers of Addicts

In 2007, my mother and father once again signed me up for a treatment center, in the hope that I would once and for all stop doing everything in my power to kill myself. It was their final attempt to keep them from having to bury their son. “This is...

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Top 5 Mistakes Parents Make When Trying to Get Their Kid to Rehab

Figuring out how to help a loved one get treatment for a drug or alcohol addiction can be daunting. For many families, this will be the first time ever that they are dealing with addiction.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Connection between Binge Drinking and Opioid Use

In a concerning research paper published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was found that more than half of the 4.2 million people in the United States who misused prescription opioids between 2012 and 2014 also struggled with binge...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Financial Disaster and Addiction—A Near Constant Connection

In our efforts to study, research, treat, and understand addiction, it is safe to say that we have learned quite a bit about the subject as a whole. One of the principles we’ve been able to arrive at is that addiction is not merely a crisis that comes...

ADDICTION

Is there a Connection Between Cold Weather and Opioid Overdoses?

I saw an article in U.S. News that shed entirely new and unique light on addiction and drug overdoses. This news piece sought to determine the correlation between increasing overdose statistics and cold weather.

DRUG INFORMATION

The Unpredictability of Alcohol Consumption

When we think of addiction, our thoughts often go to illegal drugs, and narcotics that are bought and sold on the streets and back alleys of inner cities and bad neighborhoods. However, one of the most addictive drugs in the world is entirely legal, very...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Recent Study Shows Pitfalls of The Disease Model of Addiction

Over the last 50 years, the way we look at addiction has evolved. Then, as in earlier times, it was seen as a moral failing or weakness. Individuals who found themselves addicted felt they had nowhere to turn for help, and the social stigma of addiction...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

We are Polluting Our Waterways with Drugs

Can you imagine drug use becoming so prolific, so frequent, so regular and mainstream that our waterways would become contaminated with drug residues? It’s almost unfathomable to imagine this as a true fact, but news stories, research papers, and opinion...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Excessive Dental Opioid Prescribing an Anomaly in the U.S.

It is safe to say that treating oral pain problems is something that dentists often have to do. But how they go about treating such symptoms is another matter entirely.

DRUG REHABILITATION

CBD Isn’t the Answer to Opioid Addiction, Here’s Why It’s Really Just Clickbait

I understand the media has to get its headlines somehow, so I’m usually not surprised by what I see in the news. But the most recent issue of U.S. News had an article titled, “Could CBD Treat Opioid Addiction?“ Such a statement is undoubtedly an...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Slow Progress in Fighting The Addiction Epidemic

After working with hundreds of people who struggled with addiction over the last eight years, I’ve often wondered if our country’s drug problem has an end in sight. I’ve seen addiction in my fellow man in one form or another all my life.

DRUG INFORMATION

The Crisis of Poly-Drug Use

When people think of drug and alcohol addiction, they generally think of a heroin addict or a cocaine addict or a pill addict or an alcoholic . They associate just one type of drug or substance with the individual, as though the individual is addicted...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Connection between the FDA, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Addiction

One of the most common questions I hear regarding addiction is, “How did the addiction epidemic get so bad?” And I can see why people ask this.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

A Planet Drowning in Alcohol

We might not think of alcohol when we think of the world’s most addictive or harmful drug, but alcohol is up there, completely dwarfing narcotic drugs and mind-altering substances. Alcohol is a drug, in every sense of the word, and just because it is...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Alcohol Misuse in Rural Communities—Why Drinking Ends Up Being a “Way of Life” in the Country

According to the Treatment Episode Data Set Report (a research project done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), about 50 percent of treatment center admissions in rural America are for alcohol.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Opioid Prescribing to Young People Still Ongoing

For years, finding data on young adult and adolescent opioid prescribing was more akin to a deep sea treasure hunt than a cursory scan of the internet. There just wasn’t a lot of information out there. But now that’s changing. People are becoming more...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Might Doctors Refocus Post-Operation Opioid Prescribing?

Opioid addiction is the most discussed, most concerning, and most lethal drug addiction problem in the United States today. News of opioid dependence hits media headlines weekly. It is a national public health emergency that threatens the very viability...

DRUG REHABILITATION

How to Know if You Have a Drug Problem

Drug addiction is a complicated affliction. There is no denying that. And now that drug addiction issues have expanded to include an entire range of pharmaceutical substances, this evolution of the drug scene has complicated the issue even further.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Decriminalization, Legalization, or Diversion—What’s the Right Solution?

As our great nation continues to struggle with a sweeping drug problem, the American people have attempted to create new ways and means of addressing that problem. Not all such approaches have been successful or sensible.