Narconon Drug Rehab Offers Relief to New Jersey Families
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Of all the regions of the country, New Jersey and the Northeast have perhaps been the most deeply affected by the epidemic of heroin use. In fact, New Jersey struggles with a much higher rate of heroin use than average. According to CBS News, there are about a million heroin users in the entire country but New Jersey has an estimated 128,000 heroin users. It appears the state is home to more than six times the average number of heroin users. This is catastrophic for New Jersey’s families.
Statewide in 2015, there was a loss of 918 lives, the highest annual death toll yet. Overall, deaths from drug overdoses jumped 21% in just one year (2014 and 2015) and health experts believe the numbers will go up more.
The Burden of Monmouth County
In 2014, New Jersey law enforcement personnel were, for the first time, equipped with the opioid antidote naloxone (brand named Narcan) and trained in its use. On its website, the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office lists how many times naloxone was deployed in the county each year and how many people were not able to be saved. Using these numbers, it’s possible to roughly estimate what the number of overdose deaths in this one county might have been if naloxone had not been used. This chart shows those numbers.
- The gray areas represent the number of people lost to overdose.
- The red areas show the number of people saved with naloxone who might have otherwise been lost.
- In 2016, instead of losing 164, Monmouth County may have lost 353 if there were no easy antidote for an opioid overdose.
This is just a rough look at the situation as surely some of the people saved by naloxone might have been able to be saved in some other way if this antidote were not available. It’s simply a horrifying look at how bad it could have been in this one county in New Jersey.
Recovery for New Jersey
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration publishes the numbers of people admitted to publicly-funded drug rehabs in the state. As can be seen in the graph below, heroin has been the top drug sending people to rehab every year but one since 2002. Post-2014, some of the people going to rehab for heroin will include those addicted to or unwittingly sold fentanyl or one of the other drugs in this family.
Of course, a quarter to a third of those headed to rehab are going because of alcohol. And marijuana is the primary drug creating problems for a significant number.
Recovering the brightness of life and the ability to protect one’s own sobriety is hard but it can be accomplished when the damage caused by addiction is addressed. Part of that damage is the inability to make the right decisions at the right moments. The Narconon program has been helping individuals learn these vital skills for decades and we can help someone you care about.
The State of New Jersey lies parked between two of the primary hotbeds of drug trafficking and consumption on the East Coast — the Philadelphia metropolitan area and New York City and surrounding metropolitan areas. As a result, the regions of New Jersey adjacent to New York City and Philadelphia — Passaic, Essex, Union, Morris, Bergen and Camden Counties — are the hardest hit areas when it comes to the movement and consumption of illicit drugs. The burden of this drug abuse becomes drug addiction for too many New Jersey citizens.
Both major metropolitan areas are highly suitable for supporting the illicit drug trade. High proportions of ethnic populations, abundant transportation facilities, hundreds of financial institutions that enable the conveyances of drug proceeds back to foreign countries, and a shortage of effective drug rehabilitation and drug education services are a volatile mix.
International Patterns of Drug Trafficking and Distribution
The number of ethnic groups, drug trafficking organizations, street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs that conspire to distribute illicit drugs into New Jersey creates a bewildering mix. African-Americans, Asians, Caucasians, Columbians, Dominicans, Jamaicans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, plus street and motorcycle gangs either cooperate or compete for the business. When one group decides to acquire more territory, violence normally results.
In New Jersey, drug dealers have moved south out of New York City into the smaller towns and rural areas of the state. Some dealers wish to escape the higher levels of law enforcement in the city and some are looking for new customers in previously untapped markets, particularly those peddling heroin. Members of the Crips street gang have been found to be recruiting new members in smaller towns in New Jersey, infiltrating public and private schools. In Camden, the Bloods street gang has been increasing its control of drug distribution, taking it away from smaller neighborhood gangs. The result of this competition is always higher levels of violence.
Cocaine prices have been fluctuating in the last two years, either thought to be subject to price manipulations or because there is more attention on smuggling cocaine to Europe, reducing the supply to the Eastern Seaboard. Some dealers have turned to dealing heroin instead of cocaine, and some abusers of prescription narcotics are turning to heroin as it is usually cheaper. The result is more demand for heroin and higher rates of addiction and need for addiction treatment.
Patterns of Drug Abuse and Addiction
Like every other area in the United States, marijuana is widely abused, but it is not considered the most major threat in the area. Cocaine is identified as the primary threat, with heroin abuse right behind it. Both cocaine and heroin are often involved in drug-related deaths in the New York-New Jersey area. More than 1000 people in this metropolitan area died in drug-related incidents in 2007. Of New Jersey counties, only Morris County (31 deaths) and Union County (55 deaths) were represented. Opiates, cocaine, alcohol, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants were the top drugs involved.
As 83 percent of these deaths were accidental, overdoses can be assumed in the majority of cases. And most of them were multi-drug deaths. Opiates, such as heroin, methadone and prescription opioids, and cocaine were the only drugs responsible for single-drug deaths: 45 due to heroin alone. One hundred eighty-five people died from cocaine use alone. It’s not known how much of that cocaine had been converted into the smokable form, crack cocaine.
Area Lacks Sufficient Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers
A survey done of New Jersey residents in 2006 estimated that more than 650,000 people had used marijuana in the prior year, more than 250,000 had abused prescription pain relievers and more than 130,000 had used cocaine.
As for alcohol abuse, more than one and a half million people were estimated to have engaged in binge drinking each month (five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting for a man and four or more drinks for a woman).
The young were not exempt from drug or alcohol abuse, either. Of young people between 12 and 20, 303,000 drank alcohol and more than 200,000 engaged in binge drinking. Nine thousand youth between 12 and 17 had also been cocaine abusers.
Hundreds of thousands of people need help with drug and alcohol recovery but are not getting help. The survey estimated that 139,000 people needed help recovering from drug abuse and 449,000 needed an alcohol addiction treatment program - but neither group received any help. In some cases, this is due to the denial of the problem by the addicted person. This is why interventions work. A person needing drug rehab may never be able to make the move on their own. But with help, they can be gotten into a treatment center suitable for their particular substance abuse problem.
What is expected in New Jersey is more heroin abuse and more people, primarily young people, abusing controlled prescription drugs such as narcotics, antidepressants, stimulants and muscle relaxants. Without addiction treatment for the people who find they can’t quit using cocaine, heroin, marijuana or other drugs when they want to, addiction numbers may climb. Without alcohol treatment centers for those who need treatment for alcohol addiction, many thousands of people will continue to suffer the losses that commonly accompany substance abuse and addiction.
How Can Narconon Help?
For fifty years, the Narconon program has been offering a way back to health and productivity. The program is drug-free and utilizes a deep detoxification step to brighten one’s outlook plus a thorough life skills training component. Therapy is not performed in group meetings during or after the program and no one is asked to admit that they will always be powerless over their addictions. Narconon is, therefore, an alternative to traditional rehabs.
Many people have chosen this program specifically because it is not a conventional program—especially if they have already been to multiple rehabs without success. Over these five decades, more than 40,000 people have made this choice. Starting with a single rehab in Los Angeles, the network now extends around the world. Narconon centers can be found in locations like Taiwan, Nepal, Denmark, Mexico, the United States and other countries.
Starting on the Path to a Drug-free Life
The first phase of Narconon program is the drug-free withdrawal. This is begun once any needed medically assisted wean down is completed, which is often the case if someone has been using heavy alcohol, benzodiazepines or certain other drugs. Now the individual is ready to fully come off the addictive substances and start safely on the path to a drug-free life. Drug-free withdrawal at Narconon consists of round the clock care, generous nutritional supplements to rebuild the physical damage and deficiencies caused by drug abuse and techniques that assist in relieving the pain and discomfort associated with withdrawal. Once the person is fully off the drugs (aside from any medications for physical conditions prescribed by the doctor), sleeping and eating well, they are ready for the next step.
Success Requires A Clear Mind as Well as a Clear Body
In the language of most rehabs, “detoxification” means supporting a person while he comes off the drugs he was using. At a Narconon center, it means something different. Here, it’s a sauna-based activity that activates the body's ability to flush out old, stored toxins. After years (or even decades) of drug or alcohol abuse, the body has stored residues from all those drugs. Even years later, those residues are capable of affecting mood and clarity of thinking. But once they are washed away, one’s outlook becomes clearer and brighter.
The New Life Detoxification combines time in a low-heat sauna to generate sweating, a specific regimen of nutritional supplements and moderate exercise. Day by day, toxins are released and washed away in the sweat. Finally, clarity of thinking, more energy, and a more optimistic outlook return.
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Learning Essential Skills
Lengthy addiction has the effect of destroying a person’s life skills. The basic abilities are still there, simply obscured by the turbulent years spent addicted, guilt and accumulated pain. The Narconon program walks a person through a step-by-step method of re-acquiring these skills.
The first skill addressed is the ability to differentiate a social personality from an antisocial personality. Associating with antisocial personalities in the past helped this person feel defeated, hopeless and willing to use drugs. Social personalities will support one’s sobriety in the future. It’s vital to know the difference and know how to deal with each kind. By putting this lesson to work in one’s life, it’s possible to understand how one’s life came unraveled. And one knows much better how to prevent it in the future.
Next, a person must understand how one loses self-respect and integrity. Basic principles of this lesson are taught and a person uses them to get honest and straight again. As addiction is accompanied by many lies and manipulations, it is a great relief when a person realizes he deserves to get well and have a happy life.
Finally, problem-solving skills are taught. Each person must know how to overcome defeats and remain stable even if there are setbacks. Learning these skills helps a person avoid relapse.
A person in New Jersey might choose the Florida Narconon rehab facility for recovery. Other choices include Colorado, California, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The same program is received at every location so the choice is yours.
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