NARCONON BLOG

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Treating Pain While Avoiding Addiction—How Can We Help Pain Patients and Also Reduce Opioid Consumption?

An article in the Washington Post from early April 2019 focuses on Kirsten Gillibrand, a Senator from New York and a possible contender for the presidential candidacy in 2020. The article discusses Gillibrand’s efforts to curb the opioid crisis and the...

ADDICTION

How Many Addicted Parents Have Kids Still Living at Home?

“New research shows more than 600,000 American parents with kids under 18 are addicted to opioids.” That was the headline that caught my eye from a May article in U.S. News . A sucker for headlines and statistic-based research, I clicked on the material...

DRUG INFORMATION

Opioids Are Not the Only Drugs Which Kill

Our country is in the midst of an opioid addiction epidemic. By now it would be difficult not to hear something about this. A story having to do with the opioid crisis can be found in the news just about every day. But it’s not just an opioid epidemic.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The True Cost of Addiction—Sex, Money and Corruption

60 medical experts are currently under federal charges for doling out highly addictive and potentially lethal opioid pharmaceuticals for money or sexual favors from addicts, or for cash incentives from crooked pharmacies.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Many Doctors Are Trained to Reach for Medication First and Solutions Second

The field of medicine is an important profession where lives hang in the balance on a daily basis. It is assumed by nearly everyone without a medical degree that the physician always knows best. We are hesitant to press the doctor whom we believe to hold...

ADDICTION

Naloxone—Does It Help Us or Hinder Us?

Naloxone. This is the overdose reversal medicine, the injection or nasal spray which can bring an overdosing addict back from the brink of death. Naloxone truly is a miracle of modern medicine, but one might be surprised as to the controversy over the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Deaths Related to Fentanyl Are Skyrocketing

If you’ve heard of fentanyl, odds are you know something about just how dangerous and risky this drug is. By itself, the opioid drug fentanyl causes thousands upon thousands of overdose deaths every year. And it happens even when someone is using the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Overdose Rates among American Youth Back on the Rise

Hearing about the effects of our country’s drug addiction epidemic is difficult. It's never a pleasant subject to talk about. But, when we hear about drug addiction or alcoholism occurring in young people, that particular crisis carries with it an extra...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Opioid Pain Reliever Drugs Changed the Drug Addiction Scene

When we work to address the current drug addiction epidemic that has swept our country, we must accept a universal truth. The truth is that the mass introduction of opioid pharmaceuticals (and other addictive pharmaceuticals, for that matter) onto the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Millennials to Inherit More Than Debt, They Face Drug Addiction In Record Numbers

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to hear something mentioned that is negative or discouraging about the day-to-day lives of millennials. They’re up to their ears in student debt. They’re having a harder time finding jobs which can support a comfortable...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Opioid Update

Just about every day when I turn on the news, I see some update or media clip regarding the opioid addiction epidemic. Everywhere we look, opioid addiction disrupts our civilization and stains our communities with its toxic hold on millions of Americans....

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Arkansas, Addiction Crisis. Holding Pharma Accountable, and Helping Those Addicted

Arkansas recently made national news when the state’s attorney general sued three major drug distributors for their alleged role in creating and adding to the opioid addiction epidemic. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge claimed that Cardinal Health, McKesson...

ADDICTION

Why Are Some Addictions Taken More Seriously Than Others?

The subject of drug and alcohol addiction is riddled with stereotypes and stigma. Our negative view of addiction and addicts is actually a big part of the reason as to why we have such a terrible drug problem. We refuse to confront this problem as the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

We Just Celebrated National Prescription Drug Take Back Day—What’s Next?

April 27th was “Prescription Drug Take Back Day,” a day which is celebrated in both April and October. The event was initially created and sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration. And why do we need two days per year where we all get together...

ADDICTION

Washington State, Opioid Overdoses, and One Representative’s Efforts to Solve the Crisis

As concerned as I am about the 19.7 million people in our country who struggle with addiction, I keep my ear close to the ground on all issues drug-related. So when I saw a report from last year in the Golden State Sentinel that presented one representative’s...

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Nuances of Intervention—Addressing the Myths in How Intervention Works

Most of us who know anything about addiction or who have seen this crippling affliction first hand have also heard the term “intervention” tossed around. Intervention is a broad term, with multiple definitions and applications in several fields.

DRUG INFORMATION

Could Legal Marijuana Contain Fentanyl In Addition To Mold, Heavy Metals, and Pesticide?

The marijuana issue is probably one of the most heavily contested segments of the addiction epidemic. Everywhere we look in anything addiction or marijuana-related, there will be an argument over whether or not marijuana is harmful, whether or not marijuana...

ADDICTION

What Can You Do to Build a Better World in Recovery?

Being in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is infinitely preferable to the alternative of living with an active drug addiction or a drinking problem. But that does not mean that living in recovery is easy or straightforward. No one ever said that...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Addiction Is Lethal—The Importance of Getting Help as Quickly as Possible

I’d like to invite our readers to consider an interesting and concerning truism in addiction science. We can all agree that any kind of drug use is dangerous. Any sort of alcohol misuse is dangerous. These are the facts. But there is this interesting,...

DRUG INFORMATION

The Connection between ADHD Medications and Methamphetamine

I’ve often heard different drugs as being described as similar to one another. Many pharmaceutical drugs carry the same chemical compounds. Even some street drugs are close to each other. And we all know the iconic similarities of the horrible street...