Abuse Drugs

At Narconon Arrowhead we realize that in a majority of cases we are dealing with individuals who not only have a drug or alcohol problem but who abuse drugs in the plural sense, meaning more than one drug of abuse. One of course will have a primary drug of abuse, but in this society at this time the ready availability of various legal and illegal substances make abuse of multiple drugs the reality for most. Each drug or substance has its own effects on the individual both mentally and physically. Effective drug rehab methodologies will confront and deal with this reality. Narconon drug rehab methodologies have embraced this reality for over 40 years with the highest long term success rates in the field.

The correct choice of drug and alcohol treatment is a life altering and (more often than not) a life saving choice. Here are some of our suggestions at Narconon Arrowhead for what to look for in drug and alcohol treatment regardless of whether you choose Narconon Arrowhead or not. First, find a program that is drug free including withdrawal (except when medically needed). Handling addiction with more drugs just doesn’t make good sense. Second find a program that offers full detoxification in addition to withdrawal only. Stored drugs and toxins can account for cravings and relapse months or even years after last use. Third in our list of most important drug and alcohol treatment needs is a treatment that fully addresses guilt and depression which almost always accompany drug or alcohol addiction, and in fact can be major factors that led up to the drug or alcohol abuse to begin with. These are of course not a complete list, but are starting points when exploring various treatment options.

Executive Director of Narconon Arrowhead Gary W. Smith reports, ‘Although the number of people coming to us who are abusing pot is a smaller percentage of our total clientele, in the 30 years I have been in the drug rehabilitation field I have not seen these numbers of individuals literally hooked on marijuana and unable to stop on their own. We’ve known for a long time that marijuana use can lead to other drugs but it is shocking to see people whose lives are being destroyed by smoking pot just like others we are treating who are addicted to crack or alcohol. I believe this is happening because the strength of the pot that is being smoked today is probably ten times stronger than the pot of 20 years ago.’

Relapse treatment is best affected before the relapse occurs and not after. After so many losses in this area many addiction professionals feel relapse is often inevitable and needs to be planned for. This is a defeatist mentality. There are solutions to the problems of relapse over and over in an endless cycle of pain and misery. With over 40 years of experience and a 76% success rate Narconon knows the answers to relapse prevention as opposed to relapse treatment. We are a long term facility which fully addresses the three causes of continued addiction, once these hare handled relapse and worry about it just fade away.

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.