NARCONON BLOG

DRUG INFORMATION

The Connection between “Tamper-Resistant” Opioids and Skyrocketing Communicable Disease Crises

Opioid painkillers are a class of drugs which started off seeming like a good idea but which instead ended up creating the worst addiction epidemic that our nation has likely ever seen.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Did Hawaii Become the Meth Capital of the U.S. and How Can We Help?

Crystal meth. Meth. Ice. Speed. Crank. Chalk. Glass. Wash. Pookie. These are all slang names for methamphetamine, a drug which grows in global public use every year. Across most parts of the United States as well, use of meth has increased.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Three Countries and Their Drug Problems

We hear on the news these days that the U.S. struggles with an “opioid epidemic,” “an addiction crisis,” or a “national public health emergency.” All of this is true. But what we don’t hear about are the addiction struggles of other countries.

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Implications of One’s Environment in Addiction Recovery

An addict is a creature of habit, someone who tends to use drugs and alcohol in the same places, usually even at the same time of day. It’s called a habit for a reason.

DRUG INFORMATION

The Real Cost of Marijuana—A 200 Billion Dollar Problem

Does marijuana use relieve nausea or cause it? For as many as 2.75 million people each year, it may cause not only nausea but also severe abdominal pain and intense vomiting. But the treatment is simple: Stop smoking pot.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Work, Community, Family, and How Social and Economic Disparities Affect Addiction

“Addiction does not discriminate.” How many times have we heard that line? But what if I said to you that addiction does discriminate? What if I told you that discrimination in addiction is part of the fundamental reasons why we have such a cataclysmic...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Friends and Addiction—How to Help

One of the most common questions I hear is, “How can I help my friend with their drug habit?“ To people who don’t use drugs and alcohol, a substance abuse addiction can seem strange and confusing. Why would your friend continue to use a substance...

DRUG REHABILITATION

How a Recovering Addict Can Use Decision-Making, Life Skills, Personal Ethics, and Other Tools for Staying Sober

Life in recovery can sometimes be difficult and challenging. But the struggles of life in general are why recovering addicts need to have the tools for staying sober.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Is Criminalizing Drug Use During Pregnancy the Answer?

I was surfing through U.S. News the other day when I came across a news story that really caught my eye. U.S. News posted an article titled, “Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Pregnant Women Abusing Drugs is Not Child Abuse.”Having worked in addiction...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Can We Mobilize to Reduce the Opioid Epidemic?

In light of what may be the country’s worst substance abuse epidemic, the American people look high and low for answers on how they can do their part to resolve the addiction crisis. This is especially true if they had addiction touch their own life...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Can We Use Diplomatic Solutions for Reducing Drug Trafficking?

Let’s talk about diplomacy, a word that gets lost in translation too many times to count. More specifically, let’s talk about diplomacy and how the U.S. could use a diplomatic methodology to reduce drug trafficking from foreign nations.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Trauma and Pain Can Drive Addiction

We’ve often heard the question “Can someone be predisposed to addiction?” The question indicates that there can be something inherently or genetically different about a person that makes him more likely to use drugs and alcohol.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

New Study Finds that Fentanyl Is Grossly Overprescribed

The term “over-prescribing” is one we hear with frequency today. Over-prescribing is a phenomenon where a doctor administers a prescription for too much of a drug. Such can manifest by a doctor giving a patient a medicine for too long…

DRUG REHABILITATION

Learning How to Get Clean the Right Way—What Not to Do

When it comes to addiction and treatment, we see information all the time that acts as reminders of what we should do. But what about some advice on what we shouldn’t do?

DRUG INFORMATION

Make Informed Choices: The Value of Getting Informed on What You Are Putting into Your Body

In all of our advancements as a species, the human race still struggles with its shortcomings. We’re actively working on them, but they’re still there.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Helping a Sibling Who Suffers from Addiction—A Unique Situation

Your brother or sister struggles with drug addiction or alcoholism. You want to help them, but you don’t know how. Maybe you’ve approached them before and they’ve rebuked your efforts to help.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Why Addicts Need Rehab

In 21st century America, drug and alcohol abuse is becoming more common, perhaps more common than it ever has been before. We are faced with a drug addiction epidemic, a crippling nightmare that has caused more than twenty-four million Americans to become...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

2019: Caring for Women Must Include Reversing Losses to Overdoses

Ensuring that women in the United States and around the world receive equal protection must also include reversing our current radical increases in female overdose deaths.

DRUG INFORMATION

Opioid Addiction and Health Complications

We’ve heard the story time and time again regarding drug overdoses and fatalities. We know that drug use is highly dangerous because it is highly fatal.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Ten Questions to Ask a Treatment Center

You are a parent, a spouse, or a son or daughter of an addict. You’re looking for help for your loved one. Or you are yourself struggling with drug addiction or alcoholism, and you need to find help. The first thing to know is that help is available....