Narconon Drug Rehabilitation and Edutacion

Consumer Reports Knows Opiates are Ineffective for Chronic Pain

Consumer Reports magazine tests, reviews and reports on everything from refrigerators to pickup trucks, offering the kind of insight that can be achieved by hiring knowledgeable testers and reviewers. In 2014, they published an article on the dangers of painkillers. As America found itself deep in a massive opiate addiction and overdose problem, Consumer Reports exploded three common misconceptions related to painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin, Lortab, Percocet and other opiate or opioid (synthetic opiates) drugs. The first myth they exploded was that opioids work well for chronic pain. They note that 90% of people suffering from chronic pain are prescribed…

American Seniors Struggling with Growing Rates of Drug and Alcohol Addiction

While most media attention is understandably on the teens and young adults who are struggling with addiction or even losing their lives, seniors constitute another group of Americans who suffer similar problems. In multiple news stories over the last year, it’s seen that seniors are more likely than ever before to have problems with alcohol abuse, marijuana use or addiction to painkillers or other pills. Those in their 60s up to early 70s were young adults in those years that drug use became far more acceptable – even the norm in some circles. As they age and suffer the loss…

A Primary Step to Overcoming Addiction

A writer sent us a message asking for the number one tip for overcoming addiction. This is a very powerful question. While there are many aspects to consider, our years of experience enables us to offer an answer many families have found vital when trying to save an addicted loved one’s life. Very often, a family trying to help their loved one with an offer of rehab is rebuffed. Why would he (or she) ever refuse the help? Because he’s his own worst enemy, locked into the guilt over the harm he’s done and depression connected with the destruction of…

Is Ibogaine the Solution to the Opiate Epidemic in Vermont?

The small and beautiful State of Vermont has been struggling with one of the country’s worst heroin and opiate painkiller epidemics. In 2014, Governor Peter Shumlin dedicated his State of the State Address to the growing problem. He said that in the prior year, nearly twice as many people died of heroin overdoses as the year before. And since 2000, the number of people entering treatment for heroin had increased more than 770%. In a state of 626,500 people, that meant that 4,300 entered treatment. It’s appropriate for the Governor Shumlin to make heroin prevention and recovery a top priority…

Why do Addicts Lie and Manipulate?

Nearly every family of an addicted person encounters this shocking fact: The addicted lie and manipulate those around them. Even those who have long been close to one’s heart – like one’s children or a spouse – will lie to one’s face, These were people who were loved and trusted, sometimes for decades before addiction came to live in the home. It’s a brutal reality that it takes some families years to come to grips with. Some families never do come to grips with it. But every day that a family fails to realize that they are being lied to…

How Does Love Become Enabling?

Ask any expert in addiction recovery if enabling is wrong and they will all tell you the same thing: It’s the worst thing you can do for an addict. To make sure we are all talking about the same thing, here’s a definition of enabling: Enabling consists of actions and behavior that shield the addicted person from the consequences of his or her own actions. They are usually well-meaning efforts to solve problems the addict should be solving. Therefore they allow the addicted person to continue to make choices that are destructive to their own survival and the survival of…

What is Behind the Changing Trends in Drug Abuse?

A look back through history shows that patterns of drug abuse in the U.S. never stay the same for long. In the 1950s, tranquilizers like Miltowns and plenty of alcohol were being abused. In the 1960s, it was marijuana, speed and hallucinogens like LSD. In the 1970s, there was lots more marijuana followed by a flourishing cocaine market in the 1980s. In the second half of the 1980s, crack cocaine cut a destructive swath through urban areas. In the 1990s, while overall drug use numbers had dropped, increasing use of heroin, methamphetamine and club drugs like Ecstasy began to be…

Just How Easy is it For Teens to Hide Their Drugs?

If you’ve ever suspected one of your children of using drugs, you may have tried going through their pockets and their backpacks for pills, weed or other drugs. The sad truth is that any teen who wants to hide drugs has the ability to hide them so well that even a thorough search by a concerned parent won’t find them. How do they figure out where to put them? If they have the ability to access the internet for research or to buy a book, they have access to detailed instructions on how to hide drugs (or anything else) in…

At Narconon Centers, Independence Day Means More than Barbeques and Fireworks

When holidays roll around, it’s traditional for the staff at Narconon centers to go to work to provide festivities for clients in rehab. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s – for many of these clients, it’s the first sober holiday they’ve had in years, perhaps even decades. Holidays mean family events and that’s a painful subject for a person who has lost everything to heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, pills or alcohol. Now, these individuals have made the decision that the future is going to be very different from the past. At Narconon, these people are learning to build new sober lives so they…

The Benefits of a Sober Summer and How to Achieve Them

In summertime, there’s more barbecues, pool parties and trips to the beach, more outings to night spots and theme parks. There’ll be more coolers filled with beer and quiet moments on the beach or in parks when a private toke might go unnoticed. While this is a great time to enjoy the company of your friends and family, some people who have been trying to stay clean and sober may find too many opportunities to relapse. It may take a little more work than usual to maintain sobriety when presented with temptation every time you turn around. To offer some…