Drug Addiction

Drug addiction has been called, and deservedly so, the plague of the modern world. There is hardly a family in the world that hasn’t been impacted by drug addiction in one form or another. Current thinking has not been successful in curbing this plague let alone solving it. Traditional treatment options have simply failed to deliver on any significant level. For over 40 years now Narconon has been delivering a non-traditional approach to healing addiction with proven, consistent, long-term results. Narconon is a long-term and drug free approach that actually empowers the individual to not only cease use and end cravings, but delivers into his hands the skills and abilities to move forward and face life’s challenges without resorting to drug or alcohol use out of desperation. A drug free productive lifetime is our specialty!

Opium addiction has a long history. It was a problem in the 1850’s when morphine was developed as a non-addictive substitute. Morphine was soon a bigger addiction problem than opium. The morphine problem was ‘solved’ with another opium derivative – Heroin, which proved to be even more addictive than either morphine or opium. In the middle and latter parts of the 20th century along come methadone as the cure for heroin. You guessed it, methadone is stronger, more addictive, and more life threatening than any of the opium derivatives that came before it. Ask any methadone addict, or addiction professional dealing with methadone addiction and withdrawal. By the 1990’s the mortality rate from opium derivatives was estimated to be 20 times greater than the general population.

Drug abuse can and does take many forms. The corporate CEO addicted to cocaine, The college alcohol and drug binge party, A small child mis-diagnosed and addicted to Ritalin, the housewife unable to get through the day without her anti-depressants, to the hardworking husband now trapped in the use of painkillers. There is hardly an American household who doesn’t know someone adversely affected by drug abuse. At Narconon Arrowhead drug rehab facility we deal with the individual affected by drug abuse. Each has their own story and each has individual issues and problems needing confronted and solved in order to achieve a lasting and permanent drug free and productive lifestyle. Not labels and categorizing of people, but life skills learned and applied to the individual to resolve their situations.

Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol or other substances despite adverse social, mental and physical consequences. Next to methamphetamine, cocaine creates the greatest psychological dependence of any drug. Compulsive cocaine use develops much more rapidly when the substance is smoked rather than snorted. A tolerance to cocaine develops quickly – the addict soon fails to achieve as much pleasure as he or she did from the same amount of cocaine earlier. Thus more and more cocaine is needed more and more often to maintain the same effect. Along with this increased use come increased health risks.

The cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort, or physical or emotional pain. Drugs or alcohol are used in an effort to find relief. Short term temporary relief is found which give the drug or alcohol value in the eye of the user. When confronted with the problem, pain, etc. again in the future the individual is prone to use the drug or alcohol again. The problem arises when it takes more and more of the drug or alcohol to get the same effect and instead of handling the source of the problem or pain the drugs are continually used to mask the symptoms while the problem itself continues to get worse. The drugs and alcohol themselves create new physical problems, shut of awareness and ability, all of which simply increases the symptoms to the point of the person being obsessed with finding and using the drugs or alcohol to numb himself, despite consequences to self and family.