NARCONON BLOG

DRUG INFORMATION

Skittles Party By Teens Is Not What It Seems

A Skittles party could take the form of a home filled with teenagers where everyone brings all the prescription medications they have on hand and pool them. Then anyone at the party who wants to abuse a pill just dips in and grabs whatever they want.

ADDICTION

Saving Our Youth: Study Finds Most Alcohol, Drug Abuse Starts in Teen Years

Recent surveys of teens and young adults have turned up a startling new fact. More than one study finds most alcohol and drug abuse starts in teen years.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Marijuana Use Higher than Tobacco Among Teens While Alcohol Use Goes Down

Marijuana use among teens is more common than cigarette smoking according to the most recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And far more teens are drinking than smoking cigarettes.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

It’s No Surprise that Drug Use Goes Up as Jobs Go Away

Reports from Florida show that when economic stresses mount related to unemployment, more people may be reaching for a pill. Particularly, in this region, OxyContin is often obtained illicitly, as from a drug dealer or by theft. Or it could be obtained...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Why it’s Not Surprising that Heroin Use Soars for Suburban Teens

Recent news reports are describing the increases in heroin abuse among American teenagers. These are not urban teens but suburban ones. Heroin rates in large Northeastern cities have always been higher than in suburbs or rural areas but that trend has...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Across US Unregulated Prescribing Means Abuse Of Opioid Drugs Hit All-Time High

One after another, media are waking up to what drug enforcement and police have known for some time. When you lose a large number of people to painkiller overdoses, you have to admit that abuse of opioid drugs hit an all-time high.

DRUG INFORMATION

Study Finds Quarter of Suicide Victims are Intoxicated at Time of Death

After reviewing 58,000 suicide cases from across the US, researchers concluded that alcohol played a definite – and tragic – role in these deaths . While numbers varied by gender and ethnic background, on average, nearly a quarter of those who killed...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Teenage Drug Abuse Reveals the Inadequacy of Drug Education Outreach

There are some signs of improvement in recent surveys of teenage drug abuse, but those improvements are offset by areas in which the situation is worse. When the situation is viewed as a whole, what is obvious is that our young people are not getting the...

DRUG INFORMATION

Will Canada’s New Oxycodone Formulation—OxyNeo—Solve the Prescription Pain Reliever Problem?

After years of negotiating, Purdue Pharmaceutical and the Canadian Government finally settled on a way to improve the abuse and addiction problem that exists with OxyContin. On March 1, 2012, the new formulation called OxyNeo hit the shelves of pharmacies...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Recovery From Addiction Does Not Have to Be Infinite

Everyone around an addicted person sees that he loses more life skills the longer he is addicted. He stops being able to communicate openly, he has secrets – things he does not want anyone to know. He has done things he would never have done were he...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

In Some Regions of US, Heroin Abuse Worse and First Time Users Younger

It was bad enough that millions of US teens were abusing prescription drugs in increasing numbers over the last decade. Now, many of them are switching to heroin at a very young age, younger than ever seen before.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The Litany of Heroin Deaths in Alabama Illustrates Fatal Dangers of Addiction

The shift from OxyContin to heroin and people trying to get high after getting clean are some of the reasons for the upsurge in deaths in Alabama. In May 2012, the Birmingham News provided some grim insight into the fatal results of addiction.

DRUG INFORMATION

Fake Marijuana May Be Endangering Young People Who Think it is Safe and Natural

A new drug commonly called Spice or K2 poses particular threats to those who might want to abuse marijuana but don’t want to have that drug show up on a drug test administered by an employer or parent.

DRUG INFORMATION

Adolescent Drug Abuse Grows into Addiction Requiring Treatment

America’s young people continue to experiment with drugs in increasing numbers and at increased risk. The annual survey on adolescent drug abuse, the Monitoring the Future survey, shows that while alcohol consumption is declining slightly, more youth...

DRUG INFORMATION

While Crack Cocaine Initiates Have Dropped, this Drug is Still Ruining Lives

Between the mid-1980s and 2002, hundreds of thousands of Americans started using crack cocaine each year. This number finally began to decline and by 2010, fewer than 100,000 people were starting to use crack cocaine each year.

ADDICTION

Spit Test for Drugs Speeds Hiring Process and Weeds Out Those Abusing Drugs

Drug or alcohol abuse in the workplace is a concern for employers for obvious reasons. Intoxicated employees have more accidents and are gone from work more often. It’s estimated that 65% of all job-related accidents are related to substance abuse.

DRUG INFORMATION

The Hidden Dangers of Ecstasy

It’s long been known that Ecstasy pills can contain just about anything. Methamphetamine, heroin, caffeine, inert fillers or it could actually contain methylenedioxymethamphetamine. Otherwise known as MDMA or Ecstasy.

DRUG INFORMATION

Are Teens Abusing Prescription Drugs While Parents Remain Unaware?

In reports from multiple sources, the picture is being drawn of increasing teen prescription drug use. One such report comes from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and Columbia University( CASA).

DRUG INFORMATION

Study Reveals Alcohol is Never Safe During Pregnancy

Opinions have varied widely on when it’s acceptable for a pregnant woman to drink. It wasn’t until 1973 that researchers identified Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), that collection of symptoms that show up in newborns when mothers drink, usually heavily,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Should Parents be Using More Drug Tests?

With more than half of all high school students abusing drugs, should parents be drug testing their kids? Parents should take note of recent reports on drug abuse among teens and young adults and also those that find that when parents speak out against...